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  #1   ^
Old Sat, Jul-14-18, 10:53
Robin120's Avatar
Robin120 Robin120 is offline
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Posts: 4,140
 
Plan: low carb
Stats: 171/125/145 Female 5'9
BF:
Progress: 177%
Location: DC
Default First trimester- what did you eat?

Hello,
I know this is a very quiet thread but maybe some of those with babies who are now in college will chime in?

I started IVf and should have my implantation surgery in 32 days. Woohoo!!!!

I'm a type i diabetic and have been low carb for about 14 years (around 30-35 net per day).

My Dr wants me to bump up my carbs slightly, and we both feel comfortable with 50-60 per day. I know many people have had very successful pregnancies in ketosis, but after everything we have been through i don't want to risk a thing and I know 50-60 will be manageable on the diabetes front.

I am taking prenatals, but still a little worried about folic acid. Any other nutrients i should be extra focused on (compared to non low carb pregnancies)?
I also don't eat red meat, so I plan to eat mussels and shrimp a couple times each week and lots of leafy greens....

Here is an example of what I imagine is a good day- anything that jumps out that I am missing?

Breakfast
Flaxmeal "bread" with almond butter and berries

Lunch
Bowl with spinach base, avocado, roasted winter squash, beets, chicken sausage

Snacks
Greek yogurt, roasted seaweed snacks

Dinner
Spiralized carrot "noodles" with sesame peanut sauce, sauteed broccoli and siracha tofu

Snack- pumpkin seeds

Day 2
Breakfast
Flax toast with half an avo smashed and an egg

Lunch
Bowl with spinach base, shrimp, goat cheese, roasted peppers, lentils

Snacks- Greek yogurt, dehydrated okra crisps

Dinner
Chicken burger with pickles, cheese, avocado
Carrot "fries"

Snack- celery with almond butter and a fresh apricot

Thanks!

Last edited by Robin120 : Sat, Jul-14-18 at 11:35.
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  #2   ^
Old Sun, Aug-26-18, 21:59
Ms Arielle's Avatar
Ms Arielle Ms Arielle is offline
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Posts: 19,169
 
Plan: atkins, carnivore 2023
Stats: 200/211/163 Female 5'8"
BF:
Progress: -30%
Location: Massachusetts
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Hi, Im no expert, though my kids are in High school not college. WHen I read DANDR, he was very clear that no dieting was allowed and I ate all the good stuff, just at higher levels that had me gaining weight more than my baby weight.

However, I have raised horses for a number of years, and lambs arrive in the spring.... so I know a little about pregnancies. lol

As very bite counts, you might put a little meat protein in every meal.

FOlic acid, a definite must, and before pregnancy is even better. A good multivitamin is also a must.

A wide variety of vegies, from many sources. As much organic as you can manage.

Be thoughtful about where your meats and seafood come from. As you will be more susceptible to illnesses-- the immune system is suppressed to carry the " foreign" baby. And all fresh vegies and all vegies should be heated thru to kill off harmful organisms.

Wash your hands a lot, and protect yourself from unnecessary illnesses.

DUring the middle months, most if not all mothers become anemic. The blood volume soars, and obviously weight soars too to accommodate all the extra fluids.

In reality we dont need to eat many extra calories until the last trimester. I lost 10 pounds the last month, and my boys were very big. They kept growing the last month while I was loosing.

My point is the baby will take what it needs, as long as you have it somewhere to be accessed.

That is where every mouthful counts-- eating high quality food.

Im sorry I cannot help with the ketosis. ANd the type 1 diabetes. But I admire that you live keto, as I have a friend that has been thru two pregnancies as a type 1 and I cannot convince her to look at keto.
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  #3   ^
Old Sun, Aug-26-18, 22:10
Ms Arielle's Avatar
Ms Arielle Ms Arielle is offline
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Posts: 19,169
 
Plan: atkins, carnivore 2023
Stats: 200/211/163 Female 5'8"
BF:
Progress: -30%
Location: Massachusetts
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also, I have sincw learned that our babies pick up good bacteria thru vaginal births. c-sections disrupt the conveyance of these bacteeria. So perhaps before you are pregnant start eating lots of good sources now before pregnancy: yogurts, kefirs, raw sauer kraut, probiotc pills, etc.

Might be something to look into asap as you will be limited on some foods which become high risk for a pregnant mom.
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  #4   ^
Old Mon, Aug-27-18, 13:04
tess9132 tess9132 is offline
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Plan: general lc
Stats: 214/146/130 Female 5'4"
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I just want to say pregnancy is one of those times that you may just have to wait and see. Especially that first trimester. You may have crazy food aversions that you can’t get past. I would say eat what you physically feel will work for you at a given time and don’t feel guilty. Obviously avoid straight up sugar at all costs, but if the only thing your body is telling you that you can keep down one day is French fries, go ahead and eat the fries. And you may even find you’ll begin craving red meat. Crazier things have happened to women during pregnancy The good news is most women get over aversions after a few months and you can focus all your good eating habits then.

Also, as someone who lost weight during every pregnancy, I can repeat with confidence what my doc told me - it’s more important to take prenatal vitamins before you become pregnant than in your first trimester.

Good luck with the implantation! Fingers crossed for you and your little one!
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  #5   ^
Old Mon, Sep-03-18, 11:15
Robin120's Avatar
Robin120 Robin120 is offline
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Posts: 4,140
 
Plan: low carb
Stats: 171/125/145 Female 5'9
BF:
Progress: 177%
Location: DC
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Thank you Ms Arielle- i am most definitely not dieting ( not trying to lose an ounce), I'm a little thin to begin with. But, yes I want to keep my blood sugar perfect- of course that isn't reasonable and I'm super tightly controlled, but the hormones are a nightmare on a T1D.
I'm so happy your friend was blessed with 2!
Thanks for the tips-i have been on prenatals for about a year (it has been long journey), and agree probiotics are extra critical. Good reminder!

And thank you Tess! I hope I start craving steak!!! i gave up vegetarianism about 6 years ago for health. And I struggle with beef and pork. I think it would be healthier for me to eat them, but they tend to creep me out. I do push myself to try small portions here and there. Maybe this will get me to do better there!

Last edited by Robin120 : Mon, Sep-03-18 at 17:35.
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  #6   ^
Old Mon, Sep-03-18, 11:49
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Meme#1 Meme#1 is offline
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Plan: Atkins DANDR
Stats: 210/194/160 Female 5'4"
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Progress: 32%
Location: Texas
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Hi Robin,
I have one DD who has not liked most meat for some time. Lately she has eased into beef, even eating some steak and fajitas and chicken but only with no bones or skin and she will not eat pork at all in anything or any form.
Will you try beef burger patties?
How about beef hot dogs?
Fajitas?
Beef mixed into spaghetti sauce?
Shredded chicken in a salad?
Bacon?
eggs?
I'll think of more............
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  #7   ^
Old Mon, Sep-03-18, 17:40
Robin120's Avatar
Robin120 Robin120 is offline
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Posts: 4,140
 
Plan: low carb
Stats: 171/125/145 Female 5'9
BF:
Progress: 177%
Location: DC
Default

Thanks Meme- I love chicken, turkey and eggs (as well as fish and seafood).
I just struggle with beef and pork, although I do eat bacon
every month or two. With beef, it has been random, maybe a few times over the past year.... I always had bloating and cramping and upset the next day. It's a work in progress.
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  #8   ^
Old Mon, Sep-03-18, 18:05
Meme#1's Avatar
Meme#1 Meme#1 is offline
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Posts: 12,456
 
Plan: Atkins DANDR
Stats: 210/194/160 Female 5'4"
BF:
Progress: 32%
Location: Texas
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I was thinking of it as eating to enrich your blood with B Vitamins and Iron and that would be red meat. I shouldn't even mention eating liver for iron but French Pate is a good place to have it. In the first trimester when you're making a baby, the blood volume your body needs to produce increases.
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  #9   ^
Old Tue, Sep-04-18, 21:54
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Meme#1 Meme#1 is offline
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Posts: 12,456
 
Plan: Atkins DANDR
Stats: 210/194/160 Female 5'4"
BF:
Progress: 32%
Location: Texas
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Folic Acid is also really important to prevent neural-tube defects.
https://www.marchofdimes.org/baby/n...be-defects.aspx
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  #10   ^
Old Sat, Sep-08-18, 06:40
Robin120's Avatar
Robin120 Robin120 is offline
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Posts: 4,140
 
Plan: low carb
Stats: 171/125/145 Female 5'9
BF:
Progress: 177%
Location: DC
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Thanks Meme-yes, I have been taking prenatal for about a year now (you are supposed to them 6 months before you concieve, who knew?). Those have folic acid.

With beef, if it is just a bit in way a Chinese stir fry with other proteins like chicken and shrimp, it has been ok. Something about the texture doesn't remind me of steak. So maybe a hot dog wouldn't bother me. I do love chicken dogs!
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  #11   ^
Old Sat, Sep-08-18, 08:20
Ms Arielle's Avatar
Ms Arielle Ms Arielle is offline
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Posts: 19,169
 
Plan: atkins, carnivore 2023
Stats: 200/211/163 Female 5'8"
BF:
Progress: -30%
Location: Massachusetts
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Beef- are you eating conventionally produced beef? Most of us do. Or organic grass fed?? As you eat very little of the beef, you might try the best beef you can find for organic grass fed beef. Also Bison is also available. Perhaps divide the meat into portion sizes you eat, and wrap them well and freeze the extra.

Meats vary more than we think. One producer has looked for a very old breed of cattle and is now raising it, as it was the meat of our ancestors, and not a new breed. An interesting concept, as we know A1 became prevalent in more recent years, when the old breeds are A2 types. ( this is proteins in cows milk), think goats and Jersys versus Holsteins. )

Last edited by Ms Arielle : Sat, Sep-08-18 at 08:38.
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  #12   ^
Old Sat, Sep-08-18, 08:41
Ms Arielle's Avatar
Ms Arielle Ms Arielle is offline
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Posts: 19,169
 
Plan: atkins, carnivore 2023
Stats: 200/211/163 Female 5'8"
BF:
Progress: -30%
Location: Massachusetts
Default

Folic acid was too low in our food nationally so the government required it to be added to our cold cereals. For a while spina bifida had, unfortunately, become too common. It is rare now. BECAUSE we supplement.
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  #13   ^
Old Sat, Sep-08-18, 11:45
Meme#1's Avatar
Meme#1 Meme#1 is offline
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Posts: 12,456
 
Plan: Atkins DANDR
Stats: 210/194/160 Female 5'4"
BF:
Progress: 32%
Location: Texas
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I was going and over some things with DD3 and Choline came up.

Read this:

Diabetes and Choline

Physiologists first identified the role of insulin deficiency in type 1 diabetes by studying the disease in dogs. In 1889 they produced diabetes by simply taking out the whole pancreas from these dogs and, after scrambling for a couple decades to identify the active component, they cured the diabetes with insulin in the early 1920s (6). As cured as their diabetes was, the insulin-treated dogs nevertheless developed severe fatty liver degeneration and ultimately died of liver failure. Adding raw pancreas to their diet, which was composed of lean meat and sucrose, cured the problem. As researchers attempted to discover what it was in raw pancreas that cured the disease, they found in the early 1930s that egg yolk lecithin, which is abundant in choline, could cure it (7). And then they found that choline alone could cure it (8).

It later turned out that the dogs became deficient in choline and methionine without a pancreas because they weren’t producing the digestive enzymes needed to free up those nutrients from the foods they were eating. Thus, simply providing them with the digestive enzyme trypsin could cure the fatty liver (9).

We now know that choline is necessary to produce a phospholipid called phosphatidylcholine (PC). This is a critical component of the very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) particle, which we need to make in order to export fats from our livers. The amino acid methionine can act as a precursor to choline and can also be used to convert a different phospholipid called phosphatidylethanolamine directly into PC. Thus, the combined deficiency of choline and methionine will severely impair our abilities to package up the fats in our livers and to send them out into the bloodstream (10).

https://chrismasterjohnphd.com/2010...-and-egg-yolks/

The comments have a lot of interesting info also.
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  #14   ^
Old Sat, Sep-08-18, 18:23
Ms Arielle's Avatar
Ms Arielle Ms Arielle is offline
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Posts: 19,169
 
Plan: atkins, carnivore 2023
Stats: 200/211/163 Female 5'8"
BF:
Progress: -30%
Location: Massachusetts
Default

Thought of another aspect....

My background is livestock: feeding pregnant mothers, and babies , primarily sheep.

One consideration when it is time for breeding is that the mothers must be ingood physical condition. That means, carrying a moderate amount of body fat, and if not, increase the feed so that the ewe is gaining weight, and after pregnancy, continues to gain weight until reaches that moderate amount of body fat.

My point is that underweight mothers tend to not get pregnant in sheep, cattle and horses. I assume the same is in humans.

As you are working so hard to be ready for this big event, I felt this was important enough to add.

Wishing you the best!!
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  #15   ^
Old Sun, Sep-09-18, 10:45
Robin120's Avatar
Robin120 Robin120 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 4,140
 
Plan: low carb
Stats: 171/125/145 Female 5'9
BF:
Progress: 177%
Location: DC
Default

Ms. Arielle- that is so cool. I went to the state fair a couple weeks ago, and saw a baby calf so young, mom still hadn't expelled the placenta.
I definitely have not gone for grass fed, it has been mostly a bite or two of Chinese delivery. The rest of my meat (poultry) is free range, so I should try buying some beef and letting my DH make it. He loves to cook and loves beef, so left overs are not a concern!

And yes, I was 128 pounds when I began seeking treatment. I was so thin due to a very serious neurological illness i had a few years back. I was a healthy weight and dropped 40 pounds. I recovered and gained 18 pounds back, but struggled to do so. I was told getting my weight to 138 would be ideal for pregnancy.
I fluctuate with the hormonal treatments, but I am about 130. The cause of my infertility was found to be a dwindling number of eggs, not related to being a little thin. For reference my BMI is 19, so considered healthy although apparently 20-25 is best to conceive.
And yes, I'm on folic acid- I know we get most in cereal and bread that is fortified

Meme- wow, that is interesting connection!!! Going to read it now.
In 1920, we eventually discovered insulin on a beagle
I never knew we studied diabetes in dogs prior to the insulin trials.
There is a really interesting documentary about the discovery. It follows the research, how lax rules for animal research were, and the eventual discovery and first little girl saved from diabetes. It's a great watch for anyone interested in medicine.

Thank you both so much!

My first round of ivf was cancelled due to a lack of follicles (each contains one egg, you want 8). I got one, but we get to begin again soon, and I'm very hopeful. Once we get ivf procedure, our chances are 60 percent per cycle or 85 percent within 2
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