Anyone with impaired Glucose tolerance/ Gestational diabetes in 2nd/3rd trimester?

[crazymiracle]

Hiya,

I had my GTT at 24 weeks and turns out I have impaired glucose tolerance. I have seen the diabetes midwife and also seen the dietician. They have taught me how to test myself 4 times a day.

I'm trying to be on a very controlled and balanced diet but still not able to get my sugars completely under control. I think I have another 3 days to try on the diet and i dont succeed in controlling the sugars, they might put me on medication.

I am now 26 weeks pregnant - so still have a long way to go and wondering if there is anyone else there who is in a similar position as I am. Any tips on diet? Any experiences to share?

[Petalouda]

Hello,

I had a GTT on Thursday - still waiting for results.

Not too hopeful, I'm pretty sure it'll say I've got GD.

In which case I'm going to make sure we see the dietitian (DH has pku and is on a low protein diet = high carb, which will be tricky for me to have a low carb diet too!).

Were the diabetes midwife & dietitian helpful? I must admit I'm quite skeptical.

Good luck with it, let me know how you go.

[deemented]

I had GD in my last pregnancy, and i just couldn't control my blood sugars, and ended up on insulin from being about 30 weeks.

It was hard work, and i had a good few hypo's - especially in the mornings.

Tried to control it with diet but nothing worked and it was more damage limitation in the end til DS was born (induced) at 39 weeks.

[llareggub]

Just a quick post from me. I had GD with my 2nd child, who is now 20 months. I was diagnosed at 16 weeks because I was tested early as there were suspicions that I'd had it with my first child, and also have PCOS.

I adopted a very strict diet and still ended up on insulin, which was entirely due to my condition, not because I wasn't following the diet. So don't be too hard on yourself if you find it difficult to control.

At the time I was devastated, partly due to the rubbish nurse (I hesitate to call her a specialist nurse) who was almost gleeful when she told me that my son would have to go into special care after the birth, which turned out to be complete bollocks.

Still, every cloud had a silver lining and I finished my pregnancy a lot lighter than I did at the beginning. 20 months on, and I'm 5 dress sizes smaller than I was pre-pregnancy.

My top tips:

Bacon, bacon and more bacon for breakfast! My GD was much worse in the morning so I couldn't even eat porridge.

Eat lots and lots of veg, protein and carbs like sweet potato in the evening. Follow the low GI diet for suggestions.

I used to snack on things like cheese and apple together, which satisfied my sweet cravings.

Get as much exercise as you can. It lowers your blood sugar naturally so will help control your GD. I kept this up after the birth as it got to be such a habit.

My son was born via VBAC and was on the 50th centile, so not a big baby at all. He weighed 7 and a half pounds, and my first baby (with the suspected GD) weighed 8 pounds 12 at 37 weeks.

[llareggub]

Oh, and do as much research as you can about it. Inform yourself as much as possible. My hospital had a policy of sending all babies born to mothers with GD to special care for 24 hours, which was contrary to the NICE guidelines.

I strongly believed that the best place for my son was with me, unless there was a clinical need, obviously, so lobbied my consultant, midwife, Head of Midwifery and various other people to get this changed. In the end I had to have a letter from the Head of Midwifery stating that my baby could remain with me unless there was a need for him to go to special care.

They like to do this so that they can monitor the baby's blood sugar for 24 hours. This is done via a heel prick test, but this can be done by any midwife on the ward, so no reason to go to special care. Do prepare yourself for this though, as they heel prick was worse for me than it was for my son! Breastfeeding will help sort out your baby's blood sugar so try and do it as much as possible after the birth.

[Petalouda]

That's all really reassuring - thanks folks!

Especially llareggub, the actual food suggestions are really helpful! I've been wondering what I might actually eat if the test is positive!

[crazymiracle]

Thanks for the input guys. I am trying to control myself with my diet as much as possible and though I am eating healthy and pretty much starving myself i do have the occassional high.

Incidentally, is it right that you have GD only if your sugar level is higher than 11.2? Mine has never gone up that high - and I'm wondering whether they will still put me on insulin.

THe dietician is going to call me tomorrow - to hear my readings for the past 4 days - lets see what she has to say. Will keep you updated.

Petalouda, have they called you yet? If not, that might be a good sign...

[xkatyx]

Hi i have GD was diagnosed at 24 weeks and now 34 weeks, am managing on diet alone!

It is grim, i hate not being able to eat what i want when i want.

My sugar level was 8.2 when i got diagnosed i was told anything above 7.8 on the GTT.

[Alibabaandthe40nappies]

Hi - I was diagnosed just before Christmas but my sugar readings are all really low, and I'm not even following the diet too strictly. I'm wondering if the test was done wrong or something they are so low - 4-5 after meals.
I see my consultant tomorrow so hoping for some answers.

Petalouda - they were on the phone to me 9.30am the day after my GTT. Is it a question of no news being good news? Hope it is :)

[LilRedWG]

crazymiracle - do not practially starve yourself. Eat little and often, have low GI options, such as granary bread instead of wholemeal or white.

[Alibabaandthe40nappies]

I missed that. No you mustn't starve yourself.

Have things like nuts around to snack on, cheese to eat with fruit. You aren't supposed to be starving, you need to eat and feed yourself and your baby.

[Petalouda]

Hey All,

Ali yep, no news was good news. Heard from them today that I don't have GD. So pleased! Might get my maternity unit birth yet - and I can keep eating chocolate!

Thanks for all the info though folks, and good luck to you all. xx