Gestational diabetes help

[Thecatsmother11]

So I’ve had glucose in my urine at my last 3 appointments so I’m being referred to (I think) the diabetes clinic. I’ve just realised I have no idea how to manage this before I hear back from the clinic. Do I definitely have GD? What should I or shouldn’t I be eating/doing? I’m 34 weeks and really worried about making my baby unwell. Any advice welcome!

sugar in urine doesnt neccessarily mean GD. it can be a sign of it. For now cut down on the sugary foods, try to have protein based meal with small portions of carbs and lots of high fat foods.

If you are diagnosed with GD then the gestational diabetes uk website is amazing.

Have you had any scans. do you know how big your baby is as that's usually a big sign

oh and no "white refined carbs" switch out for wholemeal bread, pasta, rice etc. Potato's are ok in small doses.

I’m surprised you didn’t get referred after the first time you had glucose in your urine!

Definitely check out the Gestational Diabetes UK website, it is amazing. They have a brilliant Facebook group as well which really helped me when I was diagnosed with GD.

Basically if you do have GD you need to eat low carb, high protein and fat. I don’t think it would hurt to have a look at the website and try to follow some of the principles while you are waiting to be diagnosed.

Exercise is a great way to manage your sugar levels with Gd. You will get a lot of advice about keeping your carb intake low but a regular good walk or swim can really help. There's only a few weeks to go, so it won't be too challenging to follow a diet closely (i did have one higher sugar moment after diagnosis and it was on Christmas day) i was 'discharged' from the GD consultant after two months of no high readings (including that slight blip on Christmas day). They will also give you a glucose resistance test. They will probably want you to cut out carbs and maybe a growth scan for your baby. After the birth there will be tests to check your baby doesn't have any diabetes of their own. Best wishes!

@Bells3032

sugar in urine doesnt neccessarily mean GD. it can be a sign of it. For now cut down on the sugary foods, try to have protein based meal with small portions of carbs and lots of high fat foods.

If you are diagnosed with GD then the gestational diabetes uk website is amazing.

Have you had any scans. do you know how big your baby is as that's usually a big sign

Thank you! Yes I had a growth scan at 32 weeks and baby was measuring 50th centile.

@RunnerDuck2020

I’m surprised you didn’t get referred after the first time you had glucose in your urine!

Definitely check out the Gestational Diabetes UK website, it is amazing. They have a brilliant Facebook group as well which really helped me when I was diagnosed with GD.

Basically if you do have GD you need to eat low carb, high protein and fat. I don’t think it would hurt to have a look at the website and try to follow some of the principles while you are waiting to be diagnosed.

Thank you, I’ll have a look at the website and FB group. The first time there was just a trace of glucose, second time it was high but she told me just to cut down on carbs and sugar before the next appointment?! Which was this morning and there’s still glucose even though I was really careful.

@3scape

Exercise is a great way to manage your sugar levels with Gd. You will get a lot of advice about keeping your carb intake low but a regular good walk or swim can really help. There's only a few weeks to go, so it won't be too challenging to follow a diet closely (i did have one higher sugar moment after diagnosis and it was on Christmas day) i was 'discharged' from the GD consultant after two months of no high readings (including that slight blip on Christmas day). They will also give you a glucose resistance test. They will probably want you to cut out carbs and maybe a growth scan for your baby. After the birth there will be tests to check your baby doesn't have any diabetes of their own. Best wishes!

Thank you! I’ve recently taken out a gym membership to go swimming on mat leave so will make the effort to go every day and hope that helps. Honestly I would happily follow a really strict diet plan, I just need to be told what it is and don’t want to make things worse before I hear back about a referral!

If you want to follow a strict diet plan then what worked for me with GD is

• no sugar
• no cereal
• no flour based foods (bread, pastry etc)
• no mashed baked or roast potatoes
• no white rice

Basically no high GI carbs

I ate a lot of protein and fat - snacks were avocados, nuts, plain greek yoghurt, hard boiled eggs. Lots of meat, butter and dairy generally as well as veg. Had small amounts of low GI carbs like lentils, brown rice, pearl barley or new potatoes.

Didn’t go low fat at all, in fact eating carbs with fat lowers their GI which is good for GD. Some women did used to get advised to go low fat for GD but this is now outdated I believe.

I ate a a handful of nuts between meals which seemed to help avoid spikes.

Some people find they can eat certain carbs without getting a spike, this is trial and error and only possible once you get your testing kit.

I didn’t try going for a walk after/before a meal as I was working FT but have heard this can really help.

long post sorry! the key is, ditch the high GI carbs like sugar flour and mash. Eat more protein and healthy fat, and veg.

Bells is right - super healthy lower carb eating - not no carb. Stick with brown and lasting carbs and make sure to eat regularly and evenly ie not snack at lunch and large eve meal - go for calories evenly spaced.

Exercise is good to use up excess blood sugars but best thing is to keep eating right first. Gestational diabetes is slightly different to type 2 as when preg you need 4x as much insulin and so your body is clearly struggling - this also comes with a threat that you could remain type 2 after birth or it could go away now to come back much later on - I had GD and it was only just over but felt very rough till they sorted out some insulin for me. I was 38 and once I had given birth it went away literally overnight till I was around 50 but I also have strong family history. Have they spoken to you about testing etc? I would probably keep yourself a food diary NOW so you can go with that and they can talk through your choices and what could help immediately but yes lots of .stuff online too

@minipie

If you want to follow a strict diet plan then what worked for me with GD is

• no sugar
• no cereal
• no flour based foods (bread, pastry etc)
• no mashed baked or roast potatoes
• no white rice

Basically no high GI carbs

I ate a lot of protein and fat - snacks were avocados, nuts, plain greek yoghurt, hard boiled eggs. Lots of meat, butter and dairy generally as well as veg. Had small amounts of low GI carbs like lentils, brown rice, pearl barley or new potatoes.

Didn’t go low fat at all, in fact eating carbs with fat lowers their GI which is good for GD. Some women did used to get advised to go low fat for GD but this is now outdated I believe.

I ate a a handful of nuts between meals which seemed to help avoid spikes.

Some people find they can eat certain carbs without getting a spike, this is trial and error and only possible once you get your testing kit.

I didn’t try going for a walk after/before a meal as I was working FT but have heard this can really help.

long post sorry! the key is, ditch the high GI carbs like sugar flour and mash. Eat more protein and healthy fat, and veg.

Do this! 👆 NHS dietary advice for GD is a joke. The UK GD Facebook page and website mentioned above is great.

Another thing to note is that if you have any sort of diabetes its important to keep on top of any infection like toothache, skin breaks, utis etc. Any infection will race away if sugars in the blood are high and you need to look out for things proactively so go to the dentist and get teeth checked over (incl any gum disease) make sure you treat any scratches or sores and kee them super clean including regular spots, drink plenty of water to keep hydrated even if you have to go to the loo a bit more often thats fine

I am a type 1 diabetic (have been since childhood), and am currently trying to conceive. So I am in a very different situation to you (already pre-existing diabetes, and thus have been getting advice etc since pre-conception). I am currently trying to keep my glucose levels in what would be the targets I have during pregnancy. I had an appointment with the hospital dietician the other week, and she said to help keep within those targets eat a maximum of 30g of carbs per meal (15g for snacks), and to not eat carbs after 7.30pm - this will help with your fasting glucose overnight.

PPs have also given some great advice, and the online Facebook support groups etc are amazing.

Good luck and remember you are doing an amazing job! (Sometimes you will have hiccups, but you are only human, and don't beat yourself up over small things, especially the ones that are often out of your control.)

@CurzonDax I have been advised to have a small amount of carbs and fat before bed (I have an apple and cheese) and going over 12 hours without any sugar at all can cause your liver to burn fat and dump glucose making your fasting levels higher.

@Bells3032 - That's quite possible. As I said, mine is a different situation (pre-exisiting etc), and everyone's diabetes is different (even when the same kind). I also suffer from insulin-resistance, and the dawn phenomenon (of which it is advised to avoid carb snacks just before bedtime).

OP needs to speak to the diabetes clinic and do what works best for her. Plenty of people on online support groups who will also offer their own experiences/advice, and generally just give decent support, but it may not always work for the individuals.

everyone's diabetes is different (even when the same kind)

This, a million times over. Cumulative family experience of 100+ years of Type 1 here, it's not an exact science, everybody has to discover what works for them – and what doesn't. Hence the differing advice as to whether to have carbs before bed or not.

Good luck, OP, lots of good advice on here already.