How to Survive Your Baby Shower with Gestational Diabetes: 5 Tips

The Reality Check Nobody Talks About

The thing about gestational diabetes is that it doesn't just change what you eat; it changes how you move through social spaces. Food becomes charged with meaning in ways it wasn't before. A slice of cake isn't just dessert—it's a decision requiring calculation, monitoring, sometimes explanation.

But your baby shower shouldn’t be a source of stress during what's already an overwhelming time. It's just that yours will require a bit more intentionality than you originally imagined. 

Understanding Gestational Diabetes: The Quick Version

Let's start with what gestational diabetes actually is: your body, dealing with the hormonal chaos of pregnancy, becomes less efficient at processing glucose.

This is not a moral failing or something you did wrong; it's biology being complicated, as biology tends to be. About one in six pregnant women develop GD.

The good news? For most women, it's completely manageable with the right approach to food, activity, and monitoring. And although it's worth staying on top of your long-term diabetes risk, GD resolves after you deliver your baby. (Well, the placenta, more precisely.) 

The point being: this is temporary, even if it doesn't feel that way when all you want is to enjoy a cupcake in peace.

1. Reframe the Food Conversation

The hardest part about celebrating with gestational diabetes isn't actually the food—it's the stories we tell ourselves about the food. The guilt of saying no to Aunt Sarah's famous lemon bars, or the anxiety about explaining why you're passing on the signature shower cocktail (even the mocktail version, if it's loaded with fruit juice).

I've found it helpful to flip the script. Instead of thinking about what you're avoiding, focus on what you're choosing: you are choosing to take care of yourself and your growing baby. Everything else is secondary. 

Only you (in consultation with your doctor) can decide what’s right for you. That might look like a completely GD-friendly shower, where you embrace activities over sweets. It might look like a "three-bite rule”: savor three really good bites of something special, then switch to a more blood sugar-friendly option, if a small taste of something sweet proves more satisfying than avoiding it entirely and feeling left out. Or, it might be deciding that, for a couple of hours, you just want to behave like a “normal” pregnant person. 

GD is a marathon, not a sprint. Depending on your specific physical (and mental!) health, talk to your doctor about which approach is right for you. After that, embrace it and enjoy it. 

2. Plan Your Menu with Strategy and Grace

If you're hosting your own shower (or have input into the planning), you have the luxury of building the menu around foods that work for you. If someone else is hosting, a gentle conversation beforehand can work wonders.

Here's what I've learned about party foods that actually taste good and won't send your blood sugar spiraling:

The foundation foods: vegetable crudité with really good dips, a cheese board with nuts, deviled eggs, things-wrapped-in-bacon, etc. Build in plenty of safe-for-you, not-punishment foods that just so happen to play well with your blood sugar, so you won't go hungry or feel deprived. 

The strategic indulgences: You don't have to avoid every sweet thing at your own celebration. The key is pairing and timing. A small piece of cake alongside some protein and fat won't hit your system the same way a big piece cake alone would. Greek yogurt or unsweetened whipped cream with berries and a swizzle of dark chocolate feels festive, but contains fat, fiber, and protein to help keep your levels stable.

Drinks that don't feel like suffering: Sparkling water with raspberry ice cubes, unsweetened iced tea with lemon and mint, iced coffee with cream and cinnamon, poured into the most celebratory glasses in the party aisle. 

The goal isn't perfection—it's finding a middle path that lets you participate in the joy without feeling badly afterward.

3. Real Menu Ideas for a Low-Carb Baby Shower (or Gender Reveal or Bridal Shower)

Here are some actual examples of low-carb party foods:  

20 Smart Party Foods for Gestational Diabetes:

• Deviled eggs (with bacon bits and chives, or topped with pimento) 
• Tomato-mozzarella-balsamic-basil skewers 
• Salt-and-vinegar pistachios 
• Vegetables sticks with hummus, guacamole, or ranch 
• Fresh berries with (no sugar added) whipped cream
• Fancy cheese (plus low-carb crackers, if you can handle them) 
• Zucchini pinwheels with herbed ricotta 
• Edamame with flaky salt 
• Shrimp, carrot, and cucumber spring rolls with peanut sauce 
• Cucumber rounds with cream cheese and everything bagel seasoning or egg salad 
• Marinated olives 
• Stuffed baby peppers 
• Spiced meatballs with labneh 
• Cherry tomato-bacon-iceberg lettuce-blue cheese dressing skewers
• Chicken caesar salad cups 
• Feta-olive-marinated pepper skewers
• Egg bites with crispy cheese 
• Bacon-wrapped asparagus 
• Broccoli, ham, and cheddar “tots” 
• Sausage-stuffed mushrooms 

Drink Alternatives:

• Unsweetened iced tea with lemon
• Sparkling water with fresh fruit / herbs 
• Infused water with cucumber and mint
• Coffee (if you're still drinking it during pregnancy)

Pro tip: If there was ever a time to embrace freezing ridiculous ice cubes, this is it!  

4. Build Your Support Network and Navigate Food Questions Like a Boss

Here's the thing nobody tells you about gestational diabetes: it makes you a reluctant expert in social dynamics. You'll get questions—some well-meaning, some nosy, some that feel judgmental even when they're not meant to be.

Pregnancy is exhausting. Managing a medical condition during pregnancy is more exhausting. Hosting or attending a party while doing both can feel overwhelming if you don't adjust your expectations.

Let your closest friends or family members know about your dietary needs ahead of time. Having allies who understand why you're making certain choices takes pressure off you during the event.

And if you anticipate nosy questions, having a simple, standard response at the ready can help immensely. Then pivot the conversation to something baby-related or ask the person a question about themselves. (If that makes you uncomfortable, designate someone you trust to be your advocate—someone who can redirect pushy relatives or help you gracefully exit conversations that feel draining.) 

This day should be a celebration of you, and your growing family. You don't owe anyone a detailed medical explanation. Your health management isn't a dinner party topic unless you want it to be.

5. Games and Activities That Don't Center Food

Even when your focus isn't on the menu, planning a gestational diabetes-friendly baby shower can still be really fun. 

Some activities I have personally enjoyed: decorating onesies (surprisingly meditative), creating a time capsule for the baby with notes from everyone, a photo booth with props, advice cards for new parents, or coloring baby blocks. 

These activities naturally shift the energy of the party. Instead of everyone gravitating toward the dessert table, people engage with each other and with you in ways that can be really meaningful. 

The Practical Bits

If your numbers spike during the event, don't panic. Parties are inherently stressful, and stress affects blood sugar too. Learn from it, adjust if needed, and move on. Remember to drink lots of water. 

Consider the timing of your shower, too: mid-morning or early afternoon often work better than evening events, both for energy levels and for blood sugar stability.

The Bigger Picture

Your baby shower should be a celebration of you and your growing family. Having gestational diabetes simply means you're approaching it with a bit more strategy than someone else might. That's not a bad thing – it's good self-care.

Managing gestational diabetes often feels like it's about restriction, but it can be helpful to reframe it as practice in paying attention. Your baby shower is a celebration of transition—from pregnancy to parenthood, from couple to family, from one version of yourself to another. Approaching it with more intentionality doesn't diminish the celebration; it just makes you more present for it.

Truthfully–will it be the same experience you would've had without gestational diabetes? No. But it can still be joyful, still meaningful, still very much a celebration.

At the end of the day, you should leave feeling happy rather than guilty, which (hopefully) is its own kind of gift.

The Bottom Line

Remember, this is temporary. You're not signing up for a lifetime of dietary restrictions; you're making choices that support both your health and your baby's development during this specific phase of pregnancy.

Most importantly, don't let perfect be the enemy of good. Do your best, enjoy your special day, and give yourself grace if everything doesn't go exactly to plan.

Where Can I Get More Support?

GD Kitchen! I created this resource to solve a problem I wish someone had already solved before my first GD pregnancy. I teamed up with OB Rachael Sullivan, DO and nutritionist Jamie Askey, RN, so that you'll have all the resources, and all the confidence, I didn't have myself.  

Looking for more? Check out the Blog, or try six free recipes here.

What else do we offer? The GD Starter Pack and The Recipe Membership.