Hi!! I’m am 11 weeks pregnant with my 3rd child and I need help! I completely credit our keto diet with our pregnancy. With the first 2, I went low carb to get pregnant and then immediately swapped back to a high carb diet. I had 2 pretty difficult pregnancies and had gestational diabetes with my first and had to take insulin. I also had “morning sickness” for 9 months with both children and threw up the entire pregnancy. With this baby, I have stayed keto. I have upped my carbs some but only to around 50g a day and I’m really not counting macros, I just eat and listen to my body and I can usually tell from how I feel what I need to eat. Lots of lean protein has mostly been what makes me feel best… too much fat makes me sick. But, what I need help with is my doctor and the registered dietian I was sent to. I went into my doctors office and told my doctor that I would not take the traditional 1 hr glucose test. I told her I had not eaten refined sugar or flour in months and that I had no plans to start and I would not be drinking glucose to satisfy them. I agreed to monitor my blood sugar 4 times a day and go to diabetic and nutritional counseling. So, I had that lovely meeting this past Tuesday. My blood glucose is fine… it’s usually around 100 2 hours after meals. The highest blood sugar I’ve had was 125 and I blame a coconut flour biscuit for that spike. The dietian listened as I told her my personal experience with a ketogenic diet. I am a believer but today she called me back and said that after research she could not recommend a diet lower than 150g of carbs per day. Their big concern is that I happened to mention my glucose meter can check ketones too and that my ketones that morning had been .4. The nurse and the dietian both immediately started talking about diabetic keto acidosis and telling me how ketones are harmful for fetal brain development. It’s absolutely infuriating! I would love to hear stories about keto pregnancies and if/how you dealt with “nutritional counseling “.
Thanks,
Candace
Keto pregnancy help
Hi Candace!
I noticed your post is a little older and unfortunately you didn’t get any responses, but I’m thinking you must be around your due date by now. I’m wondering if you changed doctors, or did you just up your carb intake? I’m in my 2nd month now and really hoping to avoid fights with doctors over the glucose testing issue. My last pregnancy I was not let and I gained 60 lbs.! Not this time! And the trips to the doctor were awful and invasive, and it all ended in a c-section. Trying to make different choices this time around. How did your pregnancy go? And if you already gave birth, congrats!!
Hi,
Congratulations! Yes, I changed doctors and my due date is April 15. I’m scheduled for a c-section on the 11th because I had c-sections with my previous 2 pregnancies but our nurse midwife seems to think our little girl may come on her own before then.
I have stayed pretty close to keto my entire pregnancy. I have upped my carbs some but only to around 50 carbs a day, nowhere near the amount they wanted me to eat when I went to “nutritional counseling”. Mainly, I’ve allowed myself a few French fries or a baked potato along but still no wheat or sugar. This has been the easiest pregnancy I’ve had. My blood pressure has been great. I had to take blood pressure medication with my other 2 pregnancies. I did not do glucose testing, although I did track my blood sugar for my doctor and FINALLY convinced them all that I am not diabetic. They did an A1C at the beginning of my 3rd trimester and it was 5.4. I’ve actually gotten to the point where I’m almost zero carb because I find that’s what makes me feel the best. I did have to go back to eating some carbs because after a week at zero carb, I lost 11 pounds from one visit to the next (in a week) and the dr got very concerned even though the baby was growing without any problems. We had an ultrasound last week, and the baby is 7 pounds, 6oz and scored a perfect 8/8 on all the ultrasound biomarkers. I also have not gained any weight in 9 months, I’ve actually lost about 15 pounds over the course of the pregnancy and I’ve had no problems with swelling.
I did have some higher fasting blood sugars in the beginning. By “higher” I mean it would be 105 instead of below 100. The doctor in maternal fetal medicine immediately wanted to put me on nighttime insulin and I refused. I started making sure I ate a snack before bed and I would set an alarm for exactly 8 hours after I went to bed and wake up and check my blood sugar then. It was always below 100 which is what they wanted. My post meal blood sugars were always fine. I also never used the word “keto” in the doctor’s office.
they just knew I was following a healthy diet.