High and Pregnant - aka Carb-Counting Woes

Every time I eat out I am reminded of why I don’t most of the time (well, besides the financial reasons). 

In the last four months, my blood sugar has been over 200 mg/dL a handful of times, and all but one of them involved eating out. 

There was the French onion soup/ battered French fries/burger day. It was a good day. B and I spent the day shopping and walking around on a beautiful spring day, and had lunch at a fancy place. And even though we shared the soup and I removed half of the bread from my burger, those battered home-made French fries got me! I was stuck in the 200s for three hours, and was chugging water and rage-bolusing in the middle of the local market. 

Then there is BBQ sauce. I really like it. There is a great place nearby where we live and that is the place we always go to on any occasion that we do go out pretty much. The BBQ there is amazing, but between the sweet and tangy sauces, and the fried pickles, I tend to mis-estimate the total carb-count grossly. Not to mention the greasiness and protein load that doesn’t help the IR. Really, I can only do BBQ sauce responsibly if I make the meal myself, carefully spooning out the designated amount of sauce onto each individual rib.

Then there is of course the Chinese food. Every once in a while (maybe once a month) I get a craving for Chinese. I give into it maybe every third month. I regret it infinitely every single time. Again, sweet-sauce, fat load, hidden carbs = nightmare. But it tastes so good GRRR….

But those are rare occasions so… What irks me the most is when I try to be as responsible as possible and still fail miserably. 

Like this past Sunday, when I had to work, and decided to have lunch at Bruegger’s Bagels. Knowing that a 70-80 g carb count is a no-go for me, I carefully went over their menu online to choose responsibly. I settled on the Blue Burger sandwich – served on rye bread with cheese and apple cider coleslaw, and totaling 35g carb (for the whole sandwich, according to their website). I checked my BG before I even walked over there, and took a half of a unit of Humalog because I was 120 mg/dL. Upon receiving my sandwich and decaf coffee (my first try at drinking decaf – it was kind of gross; aside – I drink 1 regular cup of coffee with breakfast every day, but wish I could have 3 or 4 a day) I diligently bolused 3.5 units for the 35g carbs. I ate half the sandwich, went back to work, finished up there, and ate the other half after that (in an effort to delay the carb absorption). I thought there was what seemed like A LOT of quite sweet-tasting coleslaw in my sandwich, and I was starting to question whether I had taken enough insulin. Upon getting into my car to drive home less than an hour later, I was 154, and did not hesitate to bump another half unit, thinking I was good to go now. Upon arriving at Walmart about an hour later, I found that I was now 232. I bolused  a unit, did my shopping, and was still in the low 200s upon arriving home. I chugged water and we took the dogs hiking. Upon getting back I was finally 97, tossed back a handful of blueberries to stave off a low (as I still had IOB), and was a pretty 82 before dinner.

It’s frustrating because I did everything in my power to prevent the high. It wasn’t my fault that the person assembling my sandwich over-stuffed it with coleslaw. It wasn’t my fault that that day I was taking a Dexcom break (maybe that WAS actually my fault, but I like treating myself to a device-free day or two (or three!)) Anyway, back on Dexcom went that same day. 

I guess I can conclude that when eating out it’s just safest to stick with a Greek salad + chicken – my go-to – it always results in perfect blood sugar, because it’s low carb, so how off could I possibly be?

In other news, I have been stressed and busy. My anatomy scan is next Monday and I am excited and nervous. I have also been feeling the baby move, which is cool. At 17 weeks along it is very very subtle and quite inconsistent, but I can usually get him to move by poking at him or using a cold water bottle (I am already torturing my child) – JK. I will keep you all updated J