Gestational Diabetes - HELP!

[heron22]

Hi
I am 34+4 and have gestational diabetes. Taking metformin tablets and keeping a low GI diet. Had a scan today and baby is 6.5 lbs, so he is big but not overly big.

Question please: will it be safe for me to go to full term, ie, 40 weeks? or do i need to deliver early, eg, 38-39 weeks?

thanks! any personal experiences much appreciated!

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Hi there - this thread is a little old. [[https://www.mumsnet.com/pregnancy/gestational-diabetes
If you want to read more about gestational diabetes, we’ve got some information here]]. MNHQ

My friend has just had her baby after gest diab, met and low gi.

She found that despite being really really really strict, after 37 weeks her sugars were just not adequately controlled.

She was also having very regular scans. Again, at 37 weeks something wasnt quite right. So in combo the decision was made to induce at 38 and a bit.

She had one prostin, and went into labour, no syntocinon, no epidural, normal delivery, actually not a big baby.

So, anecdote, and what little I know professionally (am anaesthetist), can say it is possible to go to term with gest diab. but there are lots of provisos, and I think most women do end up being induced for one reason or another.

Hi Heron,
I chose to go to term (and beyond) with both my two after a diagnosis of GD, but my understanding is that most people don't.

My first baby was 9 lbs 6 oz, (didn't have gd in that pregnancy) and I knew I could give birth to a baby on the larger size. I also wanted a home birth (with an independent midwife)and as few interventions as possible, hence didn't want to be induced.

I didn't discover I had gd until very late in my second pregnancy, when it war really too late to make any useful dietary changes. My son was 101bs 12oz, but was born vaginally at home at 41 weeks with no significant damage to either of us.

In my third pregnancy I was diagnosed at the start of my 3rd trimester and I was determined not to allow my baby to grow fatter than my second.

I'd had a scan which had put his head circumference and femur length well above the 75th centile, which made him a much bigger baby than my second whose head circumference had only ever been around the 50th centile . I was very, very strict with my diet - almost no carbs - just a cup full of porridge in the morning and a very small amount of basmati rice in the evening. Other than that, very, very little. I mostly ate veg (no potatoes), nuts, meat and fish. I would only allow myself one piece of fruit a day and that had to be with a meal. No fruit juice in between meals. It was much stricter than the diet the hospital dietician gave me. I also tested my blood sugars LOADS to give me an idea of how I was doing.

My third baby was born two days after his due date weighing nearly 2lbs less than his brother. It was a straightforward birth (well - long, horrible labour but the birth itself was normal).

I know there are increased concerns about stillbirth with diabetic pregnancies which is why they induce type 1 diabetics early. I'm not sure if that rationale is also used for GD pregnancies. My feelings are that studies on stillbirth rates done on women with pre-existing diabetes really can't and shouldn't be extrapolated to women with diet controlled gestational diabetes which sets in in the third trimester.

If you want more information on GD the Kmom site is good - American but lots of helpful information. here

goodluck with the birth!

Hi Heron, I had GD in my first second and third pregnancies. I was induced with all of them at 37 weeks but that was only because i wasnt keen on delivering a huge baby, as it was they were all 8lb plus three weeks early so was not the worst idea. I think the main thing about having a baby early or an induction with GD is to avoid big babies getting stuck with shoulder dystocia or as Gabygirl has mentioned the increased risk of stillbirth. I dont know for sure the ins and outs of that as i was under the impression from my obstetrician that any type of diabetes increased your risk of stillbirth if you go too far over but i cant be absolutely sure as have never looked into it and have always taken their word as gospel iyswim.
I am on my fourth pregnancy now the last one being 11 years ago and i had a GTT at 14 weeks this time as there was glucose in my urine and my fasting blood sugar was really quite high not to mention the end result being really high. My diabetes specialist has deduced from this that i have actually been type two diabetes for quite a while now without realising it given that it has been 11 years since my last child so i am on alot of insulin (40 units 4 times a day) but i have so far managed to keep my lo around the 95th percentile thanks to good control of my blood sugars.
You can probably go to term as long as you are carefully monitored but its up to you and what you feel happy with. You are pretty close now and those growth scans can be really hit and miss ( im 31 weeks and had a growth scan and they said he is 4 and a half lbs ) Im having a CS at 37+6 this time though as in view of the fact that i am not a GD anymore but a type two diabetic i just want lo out safe and sound at term, im having a CS due to a monumental cockup in my induction the last time but my first two were fine and went swimmingly. Whatever you decide you will be helped all the way by a diabetes specialist and obstetrician so dont worry ... they will keep a close eye on you and your baby Good luck!

Whoops - sorry, put wrong link in: here

Re: shoulder dystocia..... from my point of view it was a trade off. My understanding is that induction itself, epidural anaesthesia and instrumental birth increase the risk of shoulder dystocia. My personal feeling was that I'd cope with an extra pound of baby if I was able to be mobile and adopt helpful positions for second stage. I've also done a lot of reading about shoulder dystocia and have discovered that really severe cases are rare.

Rosie - I'm not aware of studies showing higher rates of stillbirth in populations of women with diet controlled gestational diabetes diagnosed in third trimester. There are apparently slightly higher rates of stillbirth in women with severe (by which I assume to mean insulin controlled) gd in pregnancy. The majority of women with gd don't fall into this category.

Thats true gaby, even with my first i wasnt diagnosed with GD till about 4 weeks before the birth and i think they induce as routine and to cover their own backs. I have personally known someone who has suffered shoulder dystocia though and have to say that even if it is as rare as you say its something that i, personally would be keen to avoid. That said there is no reason whatsoever why we arent able to push out a relatively big baby i think all i was saying was that i would prefer not to given the choice.

Like i said in my previous post all bets are off with regards to GD anyway in this particular preg for me as i am being treated as someone who had pre existing diabetes anyway. There is usually a good reason for induction though and i was always told (rightly or wrongly as i didnt investigate myself just took the experts word as gospel) that diabetes,( whether type one/two or GD) increases your chances of complications, i.e. stillbirth and certainly things like hypertension and the like. I think if it is mild enough to be controlled by diet though and is found late enough like for instance Herons that she probably doesnt have too much to worry about and cases are assessed on an individual basis by caregivers so there is probably as good a chance as any of Heron avoiding an induction of she wants to.

thank you all for your personal stories. i will have a good read!

Hi Gabygirl, thanks for the link
Hi Rosie
After reading your posts, I think that i will be on the safe side and deliver early, as my doc wants, at around 38-39 weeks. i will need another section, cos i had a section with my DS1.

i agree that docs want to cover themselves and for me, i would want to get my baby out safely. when it comes down to it, i am not too fussed about going another 2 weeks and risking complications - stillbirth is just too terrible to even think about!

i am currently taking 850mg of metformin 3 times a day. my doc says that if this level of medication does not control my blood glucose enough, the next step would be insulin shots which i am very keen to avoid.

After a clear GTT at 28 weeks, I was diagnosed as GD at 38 weeks. I was induced at term and dd arrived weighing 8.10 on her due date. Still not sure if that's big or not. But at that stage it was too late to make any changes to diet and have any effect.

heron, I would go with what your doctor decides, I have 3 DC - have had GD in all 3 pregnancies - and ended up on insulin (which isnt terrible honest - you don't even feel the shots) I have been delivered at 36w 37w and 38w the hospital I deliver at have a policy of delivering GD women at 38 weeks. All have ended up natural births, with no complications.

hoping it goes well for you

Heron - something I didn't mention in my post was that in my third pregnancy I supplemented my diet with small amounts of dry cinnamon (you know - the sort that goes on buns!). About 1 - 2 grammes a day. Cinnamon brings your blood sugars down. It's quite effective. If you're going to try it you need to use ordinary cinnamon, not cinnamon oil, which is contraindicated in pregnancy.

I also supplemented with Omega Mum fish oils as had read that omega 3 and 6's might increase sensitivity to insulin. Won't do you any harm anyway - they're designed for use in pregnancy.

I do think though SquidgyBrain that doctors should be clear on the risks of induction and early delivery for babies and for mums. (for example the chances of babies needing admission to SCBU with breathing difficulties is much higher when they're delivered at 37 weeks than at 39 weeks or at term)

The risks and benefits associated with going to term and beyond will be very different for different women, depending on their diabetes. My SIL has type 1 diabetes where she had difficulty controlling her blood sugars throughout pregnancy. She was induced early with all three of hers - like you she had three normal births. For women like myself with diet controlled gd the the risks and benefits are very different. I sometimes think that doctors have a very weird way of looking at these things: they only emphasise the risks of not intervening, even though there is a massive amount of literature showing that there are also signficant risks to intervening. Personally I think you need to know both so you can weigh them up and come to a decision that's right for you and your baby. In my case not intervening with early induction was the right thing for me and my babies - I had two healthy births which I recovered from quickly and two babies born in excellent condition who breastfed well. I feel very lucky that I had someone with expertise on my side who was able to go through the complexities of this issue in a way that made it possible for me to make an individual decision.

you are spot on right Gabygirl. each woman is a bit different.

in my case, induction is out of the question. i was told by my doc that in terms of lung maturity, there is no difference between 38-39 weeks.

i will try the dry cinnamon. did you just put some in your food? when you say small amount, do you mean, like a pinch?

i am already taking omega fish oils

hi squidgybrain, i think my doc has policy of delivering at 38-39 weeks for women with GD.

A quarter of a teaspoon is about a gramme.

You could sprinkle it on your porridge or have it on some granary toast with a bit of brown sugar and butter (yum!) I put mine in a capsule and swallowed it as I was off bread because of my blood sugars. I took two grammes a day, one in the morning after breakfast and one in the evening after dinner.

Re: respiratory morbidity, the Royal College of Obtetrician's current guidelines on CS suggest a halving of the risk at 39 weeks, compared to 38 weeks. So at 38 weeks over 40 babies per 1000 have significant respitory problems at birth, compared to under 20 per 1000 at 39 weeks. Not sure how diabetes affects this though.

gaby girl, I guess my point is I would listen and make an informed decission - my DS that was induced at 36wks (i had steroid shots at 33wks as it looked like they needed to deliever me then) was done so as I had some worrying symptoms that were pointing to his placenta not doing so well - which is one of the risks of GD - which is also why stillbirths is such as risk. Yes it is a bigger risk of intervention - as other people had pointed out but for me the choices were either be booked in on the Friday afternoon for a c/s or go in on the wednesday and try for induction (they were so keen to do this they started to induce me on Christmas day) it took quite a lot of effort to get me into labour - 3 lots of gel ect)

as far as I am aware - an OB will not deliver a baby early (before 38wks)unless it is seen as medically necessary - for either mum or baby. For me I would rather deliever my child at 37wks than 40wks with diabetes due to the effect that it can have on the placenta but perferably somewhere between 38 and 39wks which has never been possible for me

Heron dont worry about the insulin shots as they arent that bad, ive been taking them for nearly 4 months now and they dont hurt compared to some things that you have inject!

I too have been told that ostensibly (unless the many scans that diabetic women have are wrong and your dates are way off) 37 weeks does constitute a pregnancy term and that there is a sufficient amount of surfactant to ensure that lo is able to breathe effectively but to play it on the safe side they generally induce/perform c section at 38 weeks.

I think the benefits outweigh the risks if you have your baby at 38 weeks due to the risk of stillbirth which comes with having diabetes in pregnancy so if it is indeed the case ( and again i was not aware of this ) that the royal college of obstetricians recommened waiting till 39 weeks to minimise the risk of respiritory problems then you can bet your bottom dollar that there is a good reason why specialists will rarely go over 38 weeks in the case of women with diabetes gestational or otherwise.

I followed but not to the letter the diet that was suggested to me by the dietician at the hospital and in conjunction with insulin i was on have controlled my diabetes really well no need to be too brutal ( its Christmas after all! ) but if you need to inject insulin eventually or just for a few weeks before your delivered dont worry about it, its not a failure on your part ok

Squidgy is someone else who like me has had no problems delivering a little early due to her GD/diabetes and so you can probably fairly safely assume that your doctors know best and you will have a happy healthy baby within the next couple of months. Just wanted to say if your having a CS like me soon dont forget to take in your Arnica ... lots of people have recommended it for effective post op healing - hope this helps!

Sqidgy im with you on the choice of delivering baby sooner rather than later as placental detioration is something that my consultant has consistently warned me about, just last week i had a bio profile to check that lo is doing ok and that placenta is doing what it should for him luckily so far so good.

Heron this is why your doctors probably want to keep a nice close eye on you and your lo, like youve said stillbirth just isnt worth considering and in my mind when i have two specialists looking after me ( a consultant diabetes specialist and an experienced obstetrician ) just read squidgys post above and wanted to agree wholeheartedly with her and that your caregivers know whats best for you and your baby

you all have been so kind and generous with your time, giving me advice on GD. i cannot tell you what a load it is off my mind to have people like you to talk to

Rosie, you're right, i should not beat myself up about having GD... and i will take Arnica, as i will be having CS. Just out of curiousity, how often are you getting a scan to check health of baby and placenta?

i am having scan every couple of weeks.

Yep same here hun, every two weeks or three at a push for growth scans - at this stage they just like to check that baby doesnt exceed 100 percentile. My little chap is currently on the 95th so hes fairly biggish and im not 32 weeks till Saturday ... My obstetrician is fab and she always says to me whenever she sees me that i need to keep a close eye on babys movements as that is a day to day indicator of how he is doing. I see my diabetes specialist virutally every week as my body is becoming pretty much insulin resistant(as i was told it would towards the end) so i am injecting quite alot but i was also told thats the sign of a healthy diabetic pregnancy as if you suddenly need less or get more hypos than usual this can be a sign of placental malfunction. I only had that bio physical profile done because i had noticed a decrease in lo's movements and they take that seriously but it turns out he is fine and its only because he is becoming short on space in there They can tell on the growth scan how your placenta is doing by the amount of water that surrounds your baby and with various other factors such as consistant growth, as long as you get that even if it is on the larger side you will be fine - your placenta doesnt just malfunction overnight thank goodness hence the need to keep a fairly close eye on you now you have been diagnosed so that they can see whats what.

I for one will be very glad for six weeks this Friday as my diabetes is such that i feel my little man will be safer outside my body at 37+6 than inside - plus its my first boy after all my lovely girls so im very excited

I know when i was told that i had GD the first time when i was only 20 with DD1 and i was like you, very worried and i wasnt even aware of the implications. That was 16 years ago and this like i said is my 4th time now so im a little more chilled about the whole thing - you will be fine hun and get to meet your lo really soon - its nice to have people to chat with and not everybody agrees and im sure lots of people have different experiences but im of the opinion that the best thing for you and your baby is to listen to the professionals as invariably they know best. I know mine do and have mine an my babys best interests at heart.

" like youve said stillbirth just isnt worth considering"

Errr, no. My point was that the risk of stillbirth is not the same for all diabetic mothers and that the balance of risks and benefits of early delivery are also not the same for everyone.

I'm very conscious that although the OP is happy to have her baby at 38 weeks there may be other people reading this who have GD who are not completely happy about the idea of induction or c-section significantly before term because of what they know about the health risks for them and their baby involved in these interventions. I do think that if someone has concerns about treatment protocols it's worth pointing out that there isn't necessarily a consensus among all doctors as to what's the best course of action for GD pregnancies and that therefore it's not cut and dried that all women with GD need to be delivered at 38 weeks or before. It really depends on the individual - women who are injecting insulin, women who have had their gd diagnosed early on in pregnancy and women who have pre-existing diabetes have different risks from women with late onset, diet controlled diabetes. BTW, I was also cared for by a highly experienced and respected obstetrician and an obstetric diabetic specialist and neither suggested I be induced before term. Maybe they were less concerned about the size of my baby because they knew I'd delivered a baby over 9lbs before.

Gabygirl and no one is suggesting that your pov is any less valid just that everybody has a different approach and some risk factors can be taken into account according to individuals and their pregnancys. I have had my babies at three different hospitals and all of the specialists looking after me concourred that in all cases of diabetic women GD or otherwise that delivery of the baby was more sensible on or around 38 weeks. I also dont see how you can say that delivering someone at term which i always understood to be 37 weeks is significantly early unless of course there is a monumental mistake with regards to dating which lets face it is unlikely. I think it is obviously an emotive subject for you and i congratulate you on the healthy delivery of your large baby but as you yourself have pointed out this is not always the case for everyone and all i have ever been aware of, and i have had had experience of both GD and now type two diabetes is that all the specialists that i have encountered prefer a delivery around 38 weeks.
I am sure you are right and it is obviously encumbent upon you to point out that the stillbirth risk is different for women with varying degrees of diabetes but all i was saying when i said "stillbirth isnt worth considering" is that i am currently pregnant and have had this risk pointed out to me several times but not only in this pregnancy but in previous ones too so it was always a huge consideration for me. The only one infact.

I have had late onset diet controlled diabetes (which incedently puts you at risk of Pre Eclampsia too) in my first two pregnancys and no one said to me that my risks were any less than they are with this one where i have had pre existing diabetes, its not good for either mother or baby thats the bottom line for me - your criteria may be different but i too am conscious that other women with GD will read this thread and hopefully will make an informed descision just like you, i and the OP has done.

rosie - I went into labour at 40 + 10 with my first. If I'd been induced with her at 37 weeks that would have been more than 4 weeks before she was ready to be born, and to me that wouldn't be acceptable, unless there was significant risk to her in continuing the pregnancy. Ditto for my second, who was born at 41 weeks, and my third who was born at 40 weeks.

I'm interested as to whether you were given any clear indication of what the actual risks might be for you when it came to the risk of stillbirth, in statistical terms? Because I think the numbers are actually quite important.

"all of the specialists looking after me concourred that in all cases of diabetic women GD or otherwise that delivery of the baby was more sensible on or around 38 weeks"

What - they actually said that protocols surrounding timing of delivery are exactly the same for type 1, type 2, early onset gestational diabetes, insulin dependent diabetes, non-insulin dependent diabetes, well controlled non-insulin diabetes, gd where there is no history of macrosomia and diabetes where there is a history of macrosomia and/or shoulder dystocia? What question did you ask that elicited that response? Whether people have said it to you or not - the risks are different for people with pre-existing diabetes. Women with type 1 and type 2 diabetes have much higher rates of stillbirth if their blood sugars are not well controlled around the time of conception. This is not the case with well controlled late onset gestational diabetes. Yes - there is still a slightly higher risk of stillbirth, but it's nowhere near that of women with pre-existing diabetes. I think people need to know this. Late onset mild gd is very common now. Women need to know the risks but they don't need a whole load of shroud waving and terrorising about the risks of stillbirth, or for it to be suggested that the risks are the same for everyone - they're not.

Re: pre-eclampsia, this is a different issue. Obviously if you develop this problem in pregnancy then it needs to be addressed. But just being at greater risk of it doesn't justify early induction in my view, if there are no other pressing reasons to induce. After all, the majority of women with GD don't develop pre-eclampsia, even when they go to term.

Gaby no i wasnt given the numbers (most likely because i didnt ask for them) and i didnt ask doctors to clarify their protocols from each and every type of diabetes, there was no need. I have given this fairly sweeping statement (do as your doctors say) based on my own fairly extensive by now experience and what i am going through right now plus other womens that i meet through the clinics that i attend. I think that you are right to point out that there is almost certainly a differentiation in risk factor according to the severity of of diabetes but no this was never pointed out to me. As i have stated before, the reason that all of my girls were born at 37 weeks was because i was treated exactly the same at the end of each pregnancy and from what i can tell attending the diabetes clinic each week and the joint obstetric clinic every two weeks currently other women are the same. We do chat and i can honestly say that even the ones who are reluctant to be induced appear to understand the risks of macrosomia, stillbirth and shoulder dystocia to them and their babies regardless of the type of diabetes that they have.

To pick up on a point as well, it was explained to me that the only reason that stillbirth is more of a risk when your blood sugars are poorly controlled at conception is because of malformation of the heart, the hospital i am at now (Swindon Great Western) does a routine cardiac scan on all ladies from 24 weeks found to have early onset GD or as in my case pre existing type 2 diabetes. Once this has been done from what i can gather (and believe me i do still ask lots of questions even though this is my 4th diabetic pregnancy) then the risk becomes nominal. i asked this because my blood sugars must have been really quite high at conception and i was very worried because obviously i didnt know that i had diabetes and i had had a miscarriage last Novemember at 11 weeks. Once this was done though the doctor told me that i had as good a chance as any diabetic lady of not having a stillbirth due to high blood sugars at conception.

I can only relay what i am told at clinic by the people that look after me, clinicians have differing opinions and the way that they look after women i would hazard a guess is much of a muchness in view of the fact that they have to follow medical guidelines and to be honest i do pretty much as im told just because i dont want to put my son at any sort of risk.

All of my caregivers across the last 16 years have said that i need to be induced at 37 weeks ( bar this one who is more comfortable with a 38 week delivery ) because of having diabetes, obviously they know that in some cases its been fairly mild GD and for example in my third its been quite early on and has quickly become insulin dependent, so yes that to me says that the protocols surrounding most of the types of diabetes that you can get apart from the more serious type one elicit the same response, early delivery.

I completely understand your view that not all pregnancys are the same and i think that it is a good thing that you are well informed enough to make the decision with your consultants to go ahead and wait till 41 weeks and 40 weeks respectively but i believe that for me and probably for alot of women the risks of stillbirth/macrosomia are too much to take and would not choose this option even if it is such a small risk as you state. If you are closely monitored and you are happy as are your consultants to go past the 40 week mark then that is fair enough but the OP asked for experiences and opinions and if she puts together yours, mine,squidgys and anyone else who decides to post on here combined with her consultants i believe she will most likely come to the same kind of outcome as MOST women who are diagnosed with GD, which is the early delivery of her baby.

Your earlier post of doctors being clear about the risks posed to your baby with respiritory problems if delivered before 39 weeks should be a matter of course and i cannot for the life of me think why this has never been pointed out to either myself or anyone i know with diabetes. As i have said i was always under the impression that a pregnancyfull term was 37 weeks and that delivery was relatively safe from then onwards. I can only surmise that the reason that doctors perhaps dont point out the risks of delivery at 37 weeks (and this is one ill have ask my doctors about next week) is because they consider it to be more dangerous for a diabetic woman to continue with her pregnancy past 37/38 weeks than to deliver her baby a bit later and negate any breathing problems?

Im not going to split hairs and say that each and everyone of my consultants over the last 16 years has said outright that every type of diabetes should warrant the need for early delivery, its just that i have had two of the three types now and have been told the same thing for each of them. So have all of the women who i know from my clinics so yes obviously we arent as informed as you of the statistical numbers involved for early/late induction of late onset diet controlled diabetes but as you have pointed out the risk factors obviously will vary hugely. If anyone else reading this thread has this condition diagnosed then it is something that they can take up with their doctors because ultimately thats what counts and nothing that you or i will say will make much difference. You are saying do not take for granted the fact that you HAVE to have an early delivery as it depends on the severity of your diabetes and i am saying that from what i can gather experience wise MOST doctors will ask that you deliver relatively early to negate the risks that we have discussed above.

good morning rosie and gaby, i read your posts with great interest.

the only thing i have to add is that when i saw my consultant last monday, he said to me that as far as lung maturity of the baby, there is no difference between delivering at 38 and 39 weeks. in fact, he said that 39 weeks is optimum time! he also agreed with my obgyn that i should not be allowed to go to full term.

i understand that other consultants will have differing opinions.

i am 42 years old and will be 43 in march next year, have a history of pre-eclampsia. so these 2 factors would contribute to leaning towards an earlier delivery.

for me, all i am interested in is the health of my baby. i am now more conscious than ever in paying attention to my baby's movements!

another 3.5 weeks to go for me !

Merry Christmas to you all!

are you both pregnant at the moment? if so, when are your due dates?

Morning Heron ,
Im 37 next month so have been doing this a while but have a nice 11 year gap since my last one ... have three girls aged between 16 and 11 so im anticipating no probs on the babysitting front!

I got married 4 weeks ago to my lovely DH and moved my girls from Guildford in Surrey to Wiltshire to be with him this May just gone (i was at the university of Surrey in Guildford but originate from Devon before that) and this will be his first baby and was a real surprise as after my miscarriage i was doubtful about getting pregnant again, everyone keeps asking will i have another but i said i will see how this pregnancy and delivery goes ... its tempting though isnt it!?

I too have a history of pre eclampsia ( funnily enough only getting it in my first pregnancy ) but my obs said that my chances were vastly increased this time not only because they are anyway according to her either with GD or type 1 or 2 diabetes but also as i have a new partner ... dunno how that works and why it increases the risk but shes the expert! Consequently ive been having a blood pressure series every two weeks to keep a close eye on it but so far so good.

Im 32 weeks on Saturday and will have my CS on 6th Feb at 37+6 so 6 weeks to go on Friday, (orginal due date of 21st Feb) am very excited here. Like you Heron i am keeping a close eye on my lo's movements probably more so than i would have done before but am conscious that movement if you arent being monitored every day gives a good indication of babys wellbeing. I think that its a good idea to take on board everyones mindset and thoughts with regards to how to keep yourself and your baby healthy when you have diabetes of any type and all i can talk about is my experiences and the advice that i have been given, i still stand by what your obs says, squidgy has said and what my specialists say which is early delivery is best for both mother and child. I can understand why Gaby wasnt keen on delivering her child perhaps up to 4 weeks early and went to 41 weeks but for me its a no brainer, i would be worried sick and know for a fact as i have been told this by doctors that the longer they stay in there the more your chance of stillbirth increases ... be this a number crunching exercise or not - statistics dont really have a huge impact on me, if im told i need to deliver my baby early to be on the 'safe side' then thats what ill do.

Also just to add to what you were saying Heron about your doctor saying there was no difference in lung maturity from 38 to 39 weeks this must be true as my girls were all delivered at 37 weeks which i suppose over 10 years ago was the current thinking and its been upped to 38 weeks now.

Wow only 3 and a half weeks to go ... how exciting! Do you know what you are having? Is this your first too?

Morning Rosie,

I am having a little boy, i already have the most wonderful (i am biased!) 4 yr old boy. DS is so so happy to have a baby brother. DS was delivered at 37 weeks due to pre-eclampsia, but he was fully able to breathe on his own and was a very good size - 8lbs.

My obgyn also said that having a different partner would mean greater chance of pre-eclampsia. Not sure why! also i had very bad postnatal depression after i delivered DS. i was on medication and therapy for ages. so this time, i am pre-empting and saw a psychiatrist to start the whole process, ie, start medication again. i will be on very low dose anti-depressant (the same one i took last time, and was able to breast feed as well). and i will be seeing my psychologist regularly. unfortunately, i am starting to feel the start of depression creeping up on me. so i figured that, by being pro-active, maybe i will be able to prevent full on depression after baby is born.

let us please keep in touch, i will make note of your delivery date. mine is on 20th Jan. like you, i am very excited for baby to come. everything is ready for his arrival. i have bought a baby hammock called Nature's Nest. have you heard of it? supposed to settle them a lot faster than traditional beds. this is their website www.amby.co.uk.