"When I was pregnant with my daughter in 2007 I discovered the Specific Carbohydrate Diet towards the end of my pregnancy. I didn't need to navigate the whole 'what to do about the gestational diabetes testing.' This time around (after almost a year and a half break from SCD), my ulcerative colitis has not been behaving. So at 24 weeks pregnant I started back on the SCD. I felt immediately better. But I knew that the gestational diabetes test was coming up. I asked my regular OB, and they said there was no alternative. I scoured the Internet, and the only alternative I could find was jelly beans. And while they are far more delicious than the nasty orange drink, it didn't help my case.

"After finding no answers I decided to just suck it up and take the test. This was quite possibly the worst idea ever. Yes it messed up my stomach a bit, but I failed the test, though barely, with a number of 156. I couldn't believe it. I thought I would be able to know if I had GD! And I had been feeling quite great! So they told me that I needed to do the 3 hour test. I called my high risk OB at that point because I had begun to wonder if being on the SCD had changed the way my body processed things. I was unable to get a hold of her, so foolishly I decided to go through with the 3 hour test the next day. I knew I didn't have GD. I guess I just wanted to prove them wrong. So I went in and drank an even more nasty concoction of orange drink and wasted 4 hours of my time. I passed, though barely.

"Still skeptical about whether this test was really accurate for me, I decided to do a more thorough search of the Internet. I found a few places in which they revealed that the sweetener in the drink is not pure glucose. It is corn based, and the typical body breaks down the more complex sugars into glucose. So I felt like I had my answer. I do not eat corn or any other starch for that matter. Wouldn't my body be confused as to how to break it down and what to do with it? Wouldn't it take longer to convert to glucose and then show an inaccurate reading in my blood? And the answer is yes. I finally got a hold of my high risk OB. She specializes in diabetic patients (in addition to a few of us with IBD's). And she was absolutely frustrated that I had been given this test. She said that the diet I am on would definitely interfere with the test and that I should not have taken it. She must have apologized 10 times!

"So lesson learned. SCD and the standard gestational diabetes testing do not mix. Now I do not know what the alternative would be. Amy's OB let her eat a "sugary" SCD breakfast instead. So perhaps that is something that can be brought up with your OB well in advance of the testing. And I hope that some of you can avoid the hassle, worry, frustration and discomfort that I experienced!"

Thanks, Emily, for the details of your experience. If any readers are looking for related information, check out my SCD Pregnancy Tips and SCD & Breastfeeding. And you can find some great SCD recipes to fulfill those pregnancy cravings at bethsblog.

Our pediatrician thinks that 2-month-old baby Leo may have a milk protein intolerance (fussy, spitting up, flecks of blood in his stool), so I have had to eliminate dairy from my diet since it passes through my breast milk. The good news is that after three weeks, Leo's symptoms are nearly gone. The bad news is that it's hard for me to get enough calories if I'm eating SCD without the legal yogurt, cheese, and butter. And most of my go-to SCD recipes contain some form of legal dairy, which means I need to rethink my meal repertoire once again. As a quick fix for this problem, I've been trying my luck with a more traditional dairy-free diet minus wheat. I have been eating oat flour bread and some rice, potatoes (usually in chip form), sugar, and corn products nearly every day. I've still been eating SCD legal almond flour muffins and cookies, made with coconut oil instead of butter. (If I eat the legal stuff it will negate the illegals, right?)

Although I am not feeling really bad, I am starting to worry that I'm on the path towards it. The past couple weeks I've started noticing more mucus in my stool and some small streaks of red blood in the mucus. Also, my tummy is pretty tender if I press on it; if I have baby Leo stand on my belly it feels bruised, for lack of a better description. I could continue to eat this way and see how I do. My gastroenterologist says he can give me a round of prednisone if I have a flare while breastfeeding. But I worry that if I end up with a bad flare, I might have to go back onto the heavy meds like 6MP, and I'd have to wean Leo. I hated how I felt on 6MP. I don't want to go there again.

So, now it's back to SCD for real but MINUS dairy for Leo's sake. It will take some creative thinking. It was hard enough to do SCD in the first place, but once it became my norm it was much easier. Without yogurt, cheese, and butter, I will need to eat more meat, eggs, avocados, and olives to get the calories. SCD legal deli meat for lunch and a veggie and a fruit, and a couple legal coconut macaroons seem to fill me up. Also, I'll need to bake more almond flour treats to curb my cravings for the "real" baked goods that my hubby and kids eat (and maybe I'll come up with a decent dairy-free SCD bread loaf). And eat more larabars and peanut butter. I know I can do it, it's just especially hard because I'm really hungry from breastfeeding and really tired from having a new baby, and because I've had a taste of all the yummy illegal foods that I hadn't eaten for so long.

For some reason I have this feeling of entitlement, like I've paid my dues and now I should be able to eat what I want. But I have to keep telling myself that being healthy is the most important thing. Especially since I've got three young kids to take care of. I wish to be lucky enough for SCD to heal my gut. To be able to return to a healthy version of "normal" eating. Now I'm realizing that I may have to eat SCD indefinitely...this is hard for me to swallow.

Here are a few ultrasound photos of our boy. The "boy -->" photo was one of the first images we saw during the ultrasound. I was surprised by how obvious it was!

Our house has two small kid bedrooms on the main floor, and soon we will have three kids. The plan is for Sophia, who will be 5 when the baby is born, and Cassidy, who will be 27 months, to share Sophia's current room. The baby will acquire Cassidy's. Sophia likes the idea of sharing her room, and with some rearranging it will just barely fit two junior beds. We'll have to put the bookshelf in another room (baby's room?). I'm annoyed about that. I want the books in the big girls' room. But it's really the only feasible solution. We thought about bunk beds for two seconds and then the vision of daredevil Cassidy swinging from the rafters of the top bunk slapped us back into reality.

Into our house, small house that it is, we will welcome another wee one. I think we can make it work. We'll be ever so cozy.

The first several weeks of this pregnancy were very nauseating. But now I'm beginning to feel better, which is such a relief. Especially since the Specific Carbohydrate Diet I follow for Crohn's disease doesn't allow soda crackers. Over the past weeks I've eaten a few illegals here and there when nothing else has sounded good. I've noticed a little bloating and gas but other than that I think my body is doing ok with grains and sugars in small amounts. I suppose it's possible that the pregnancy hormones are helping my condition. And maybe following the SCD quite strictly for 2+ years has healed my gut to some extent. That would be lovely!

Cassidy also started saying "juice" yesterday. I had given her chocolate milk in her sippy cup (she doesn't like milk, but I keep trying), and after taking a big swig she looked at the cup in disgust, looked at me, and pleaded, "juuuuice!" The girl knows what she wants!

A few of my mom friends and I had a "ladies night" last month, and at the end of the evening I had a chance to commiserate with the mom of a "spirited," as she calls him, 3 year old. Like me, she'd been feeling at her wit's end for a long time. She mentioned a book called "Raising Your Spirited Child" that had helped her accept her son's sometimes challenging personality. Later I looked at the reviews online and decided on a similar book that was purported to give useful, practical tactics for dealing with my child, "Setting Limits with Your Strong-Willed Child: Eliminating Conflict by Establishing Clear, Firm, and Respectful Boundaries" by Robert J. MacKenzie, Ed.D.

"Setting Limits" is exactly what I needed. I love this book. LOVE it. Looking back, I realize that there has been far too much cajoling, persuading, bargaining, rescuing, and overlooking. I mean, when the only way you can get your kid to take a bath is to make up a fantastic story, complete with funny voices and theme songs, and your kid STILL screams and flails...And when you avoid asking your child to pick up her toys because you know you'll have to ask her 400 times and she will ignore you and then end up in a crying fit while YOU pick up the toys...And when you have to put a door handle lock on your child's bedroom because she won't stay in bed, and she responds by kicking and body-slamming the door and screaming loud enough to make the neighbors wonder...And when you try so hard to work things through and talk it out and try again and then end up so enraged that you are this close to spanking, which you are totally opposed to...Not so good.

Reading "Setting Limits," I've discovered that my temperament and Sophia's are quite opposite. She's definitely strong-willed, and I'm the compliant type. That's probably why Sophia has been a mystery to me. I'd been assuming that she, like me, would want to obey Mommy because it's the nice thing to do. But alas, my strong-willed girl wants to do things HER way, when SHE wants to, and because SHE says so. Yikes. No wonder I haven't been feeling like I'm in charge. I guess I haven't been.

So, now I have tactics for dealing with Sophia—tactics that work for her temperament. When it's time to clean up, she needs me to say: "It's time to put these toys away before you do anything else. If you don't clean them up, I will need to take them away for the rest of the day." Or this: "It's time to go to school. I'm setting the timer for 5 minutes and then you need to be ready. If you are not ready, you will not be bringing your favorite toy to school." Here's another good one: "It's time to get ready for your bath. If there is any screaming or fighting, you will have a time out when the bath is over." And time outs are with a timer. Three minutes, unlike my previous system of, "You can come out when you are feeling calm, Sweetie." And those are just a few of the clear, firm, and respectful tools I've pulled from the book.

It's been a month of using the methods in "Setting Limits," and I can honestly say that I really feel in control. I say what I mean; I mean what I say; and Sophia knows it. I think she feels more secure now that Mommy has taken charge. Our relationship seems much stronger and more loving. And I know she is aware of the change. I recently heard her tell Cassidy,"If you put my toy in your mouth, then I will have to take it away from you. OK, you put it in your mouth, so now I'm taking it away." Um, wow. I swear that was a scenario straight out of the book. It's working!

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November 11, 2008 10:03:40 AM
Hi Amy,

Just found your blog on a search of "scd diet + breastfeeding" on google. I'm inspired by your story. I have ulcerative colitis and have been flaring on and off since I was diagnosed 1 1/2 years ago. I flared throughout my pregnancy, was hospitalized for a week, and then gave birth 7 weeks early after a placental abruption. Anyways, my daughter is 8 months old and healthy as can be, but I am still flaring. I'm thinking of trying the SCD diet, but not sure I'll get all the calories/nutrients required to keep breastfeeding. Are you still breast feeding Cassidy? Had you talked to your doctors about this at all? Thanks for any help you could offer.
Sincerely,
Audra
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November 11, 2008 9:01:32 PM
Hi Audra,

I'm sorry to hear about the health issues you've been having. I know how hard it can be to feel sick while taking care of a baby. I hope that I can give you some answers about my journey with SCD to help you decide if you want to try it. First off, I am still breastfeeding Cassidy four times a day, and I'm for the most part feeling great on the diet. I did have a flare several months ago when I cut down on feedings. I think this flare-up was related to hormone fluctuations. So I went back to the intro diet from "Breaking The Vicious Cycle"" (BTVC), and stayed on that for a few weeks. That got me back to a healthy place, and I've been feeling great since. I spoke with a nutritionist when I was pregnant, and she agreed that the SCD is very healthy as long as one includes enough fruits and veggies. She also said the homemade yogurt (I make it from whole milk) and the almond flour baked goods are a great source of calcium, calories, and vitamins. I also take a prenatal vitamin, calcium citrate, and Omega 3-6-9.

My doctors are all thrilled with how I'm doing and say that I'm eating healthier than most of their patients who eat a "normal" diet. I've had no trouble keeping enough weight on and actually am up about 5 lbs over my pre-SCD weight. You may lose a little weight at first with the intro diet, but once your body gets adjusted and you figure out how many calories from foods other than bread products you need to eat during the day, it should get better. Here's what I ate today as an example of what you might need to eat in order to get enough calories to breastfeed and keep your weight up (I won't include water in my list, but I do drink a lot of it all throughout the day):

breakfast:
2 eggs
1 cup homemade whole milk yogurt mixed with...
1/2 cup frozen wild blueberries
8 oz apple cider

snack:
banana with peanut butter

lunch:
2 slices of Lois Lang's Luscious Bread (from BTVC) with butter & honey
1oz cheese
1-2 cups homemade tomato soup (canned tomato juice, with homemade yogurt, salt, pepper, & honey)
handful of baby carrots
apple

snack:
cashews and raisins
dried prunes

dinner:
Parmesan Walnut Encrusted Chicken from Raman Prasad's "Recipes for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet"
1 cup pureed butternut squash (with honey, butter, salt & pepper)
asparagus
1/2 c applesauce

snack:
homemade Peanut Butter Brownie
1/2 c homemade yogurt

Let me know if you have any other questions about anything at all. Starting the SCD is a really big deal and it helps to have a support system, whether it be family, friends, or Internet buddies like me. :)

Cassidy did NOT choose to dress up and was somewhat disgruntled when I stuffed her into a hot, yellow, fluffy bundle of cuteness. We weren't sure if her costume was a duck or a chick—the top half had a very duck-like bill, but the bottom half didn't have webbed feet. Chick? Duck? We decided she was either a "chuck" or a "dick," and for obvious reasons we went with "chuck."

In stark contrast to the lightheartedness of our 3.5 year old's serenade...these videos of Sophia were filmed moments before we pulled into our driveway to find that our kitchen window had been smashed with a rock, and someone had gotten away with our large flatscreen TV, laptop, Wii, and Xbox 360 (and our sense of security and trust in humankind). One of the worst parts about it was cleaning up the window glass covering every square inch of the kitchen. Not my idea of a fun Saturday afternoon. Why oh why can't everyone just think back on preschool, sing silly songs about green freckled frogs, and remember that there's a big difference between "sharing" and "stealing"?