Gestational Diabetes question...

[grumpeeduck]

We are giving my friend a baby shower and she has just found out she has gestational diabetes. Of course, we want the shower to be all about her and a wonderful time for her while knowing that she has to watch sugar, carbs, and really doesn't need artificial sweeteners. I would appreciate any ideas for a dessert. Thanks for your help!

 

[PirateKate]

Fresh fruit is probably the best you can do for dessert, if you don't want to use sweeteners.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I would do fruit. I was at a baby shower that had fruit for dessert.

There was a carved out watermelon that had "wheels" of cantalope slices and was filled with fruit. It looked like a baby carriage. The woman who did it said it was easy to make. I don't know where she moved to though so I can't ask her how she did it for you.

 

[dzorn]

If her sugar is under control for the most part, a small piece of cake should be fine.

I was an insulin during my pregnancy and the doc OKayed it for my shower as I was usually very stict with my diet. Insulin natural or injected doesn't cross the placenta so you don't want the baby to get use to high sugar levels because when he/she is born it will not longer have the high blood sugar that mom provided and you want the baby to have normal insulin levels on its own. An very occasional high should not be a problem for the Mom.

Both DD had no sugar problem when born.

Have her check with her doctor but as long as she keeps her diet in moderation (plenty of protein not a lot of carbs), a small amout of dessert should be fine.

Denise in MI

 

[squirrel]

How about fruit with a yogurt and cool whip dip?

 

[ADisneyQueen]

I had G.D. and was allowed a small brownie on my b-day, but mine was controlled with diet. One thing my friends did was bring me chocolate when I was in the hospital- it was so nice! I am a chocoholic and not having any was hard. Maybe you could give her some coupons at the shower for desserts and bring them after she has the baby or a gift card for ice cream or chocolates.

You could ask her if she wants a sugar free cake. I was allowed a little bit of artificial sweetners.

 

[Rachie0507]

I had GD with my youngest. Honestly, the natural sugars in fruit would send my blood sugar sky-high!! I could have a 1/4 of an apple OR a handful of grapes at a meal, the rest was lean protein and/or non-starchy veggies.

Talk to the Mom-to-Be about how she feels. I went to showers, birthday parties, holiday parties, etc while pregnant with GD. I wasn't sad or bothered one single bit to pass on dessert. It was for the health of my baby and that was all that mattered!!

 

[Minnie Melissa]

I agree that you should talk to the Mom to be. I had G.D. during pregnancy and it was controlled by my diet as well. Hope the shower goes well!!

 

[burnurcomputer]

If the shower is going to be a suprise ask Mom-to-be about how she is doing on her diet. Just ask general questions and make comments like "My Aunt had diabetes and when she eats ________ her sugar gets really high. Do you have that problem?"

There are so many different levels of diabetic care needs. It would be best to do some covert checking to see what is a trigger for her. If her shower is a known event, you can ask her to question her doctor about what they would advise. My first GD pregnancy I couldn't eat carrots or tomatoes (even after my HEG) because they shot me through the roof! I had insulin with that one, taking over 50 U a day. Crazy! But I had oral drug for control for my last 2 and ate carrots untill the cows came home.

I had 3 GD pregnancies. The first was with number 2 (now 10). Back then it was so darn hard to find items with reduced carbs. Compare it to now and pregnancy related GD is so much easier. Its easy to find carb reduced foods and they have really come down in cost. With a bit of thought you can have a great party and still stay in her diet

 

[Sadie22]

It's the whole meal, not just the dessert! Her needs may be different from anyone else's. Ask the expectant mom what her doctor advised and what she would like to have to eat. Hopefully she is in control enough not to pig out.

 

[I*heart*MickeyMouse]

My GD was controlled by diet, for both of my pregnancies, except the last 5 weeks for both kids I had to do insulin before bed and after breakfast. I learned with my first pregnancy, my body had different 'trigger' foods - pizza was the worst, and english muffins too! I could eat a small piece of cake, a few cookies, fruit, many of the "obvious" trigger foods that you'd think would be bad for a diabetic.

If the shower is a surprise, and you can't talk to her dh about her needs, then just make sure you have a wide range of foods for her to nibble on... carbs, protein, fruit, veggies, and lots of water for her to drink

 

[grumpeeduck]

Thank you all so much for the wonderful advice! The shower isn't a surprise, so we will ask her what she would like to eat. I am meeting with the other lady that is giving the shower today to plan the rest of it, and we may just wait on finalizing the food until the expectant mom decides what she would like. She literally just found out about this a week and a half ago. I've learned a ton from my DIS friends and I know it will be a great shower!!

 

[MSSANDRA]

I agree to ask her and offer a variety of choices. Maybe stuff for mini sandwiches and she can just eat the meat and cheese. Fruit, veggie tray and a normal cake should be ok and she can make her chocies.

 

[WDWorBUST]

I just had the exact same thing happen to me. I found out last Tuesday that I had Gestational Diabetes and my shower was yesterday. My hostesses had fruit at my request, chips and dip and went ahead with the cake. I had a small amount of fruit and a small piece of cake and was fine (I did eat lunch right before leaving for the shower so things would be less tempting). If she just found out she doesn't know what her trigger foods are yet. I'm still figuring that out....but I did discover pizza is one and biscuits are fine (apparently....not that I plan to eat them every day). It is challenging, but honestly has been easier than dieting to lose weight because it comes down to the health of my baby. I can tell you that in all honestly I had an amazing shower and it wouldn't have been any less amazing if there hadn't been food at all.....just getting together with friends and celebrating our new bundle of joy was enough.

 

[shelby101301]

Try a cannoli type dessert, either in he shells or as a dip. I used to make it with the ricotta cheese (not custard!!!), freshly made real whipped cream and just a hint of sweetener or real sugar. A little goes a long way. just beat it all together. Pairing protein with the carbs will help level out her sugar levels.

You can also dice chocolate chips very small...those little shavings can add a ton of flavor without all the carbs/sugar.

I agree with the PP - it's not just dessert, it's the whole meal you can pair fruit and yogurt together, that's too much carbs! On average, I was allowed 45 - 60 carbs per meal.