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Childbirth

Gestational diabetes, being induced - experiences / advice please

3 replies

JaffaJaffaJaffa · 08/10/2017 20:39

So I'm being induced at 37 weeks, due to a few reasons one of which is gestational diabetes. I'm told by my midwife and consultant that this means being hooked up to insulin and glucose (midwife even mentioned bedpans, how glamorous) and I'll be quite restricted in terms of moving about due to the drips etc during labour, also that they won't let me go longer than 24hrs - they'll also keep us in for a few days to monitor everything. So my questions are; has anyone gone through this? Just how restricted is my movement going to be? Can I get up and walk around? Is there any point in buying a birthing ball? I'm just afraid that the combination of being induced and having restricted movement is going to make this an awful labour...

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Katescurios · 08/10/2017 20:47

Are you in the UK?

I had gd and was on insulin twice a day by the end, I was induced at 37 and a half weeks as a result.

I'm in the UK and the induction went great. Wandered in at 8am, they monitored my bp and baby with a belt round my belly for about an hour then I had a pessary inserted against my cervix (like a tiny tampon).

I wandered around the hospital grounds, read, did some knitting then went to bed on the ward. It was hot so didn't sleep well but that was the worst of it.

The next day I was checked and they were able to break my waters about 1pm. Contractions started within the hour and by 6.30pm I was holding my little girl.

No drips, no being bed bound.

I self administered sugar tests and insulin up until I went into labour.

Gas n air inky as by the time it started to hurt enough to think about anything else I was ready to push. We stayed in overnight as they needed 2 sugar level checks on baby and I never needed insulin again.

Have they explained why you would need to be on a drip and bedbound for labour?

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JaffaJaffaJaffa · 08/10/2017 20:59

I am in the UK yes. They've said I'll need to be on drips is due to my insulin dependence - I'm currently on 4 injections a day of varying dosages and the maximum amount of metformin, so they said they'd take over and monitor my medication as soon as I go in.

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JaffaJaffaJaffa · 08/10/2017 21:01

I should add that I'm currently 34+3 and they expect my insulin dosages to go up between now and when I'm induced.