Gestational Diabetes

[TheMulledBloodsOnMe]

My consultant is sending me for a test for this as my last baby was very big (9lbs 11.5ozs) and this next one looks set to be a big one too.

What I'd like to know is what are the symptoms of this, apart from a large baby, as I havn't had any sugar in my urine and if I do have it then what do I do about it?

As far as I'm aware, there aren't really any symptoms. Some things put you in a high risk category e.g. having had a large baby previously; being overweight; having a family history of diabetes. So, sometimes they will send those people for a test. The other thing they can use to pick up on it (if you aren't high risk for any reason) is sugar in your urine (what I had).

But, lots of people have the test and pass it (I did in my first pregnancy, I failed it this time! My friend who had a very big baby first time round passed the test in her second pregnancy, although her baby was smaller that time), so don't worry too much about it until you know the results.

In terms of what you have to do, it depends on how severe a case it is. Lots of people are able to manage it using diet and exercise (basically a low-GI diet, with the exact foods you can eat depending a lot on the individual!). But in some cases, diet alone doesn't keep the levels of blood sugar under control and in these cases they will sometimes give Insulin, and sometimes another drug (the name of which escapes me). Either way, you would have to monitor your blood sugars 3-4 times a day (with a little device they give you) so you can check you are keeping things under control. But if you do have it, they will have a whole team of people you will see reasonably regularly (once a week or once every two weeks) who will keep an eye on you and your baby.

Hope test results come back with no GD.

Thankyou allyfe that is very useful information. If I did have it and managed to keep my sugars low, woud that mean that I would have a 'normal' sized baby?

I found the GD quite scary to begin with TheMulledBloodsOnMe but although I do need to be more organised with food, it isn't so bad. And as long as I don't eat too many sweet things after I give birth to make up for my deprivation now, I will have put on less weight during pregnancy and should get back to my pre-pregnancy weight much quicker. So if you do have it, it's not so bad. And if you don't, do have a cake for me anyway :o

But to answer your actual question, I think that the chances are the baby is much more likely to be a more 'normal' size if you are keeping your blood sugars low if you have GD. He/she could still be really long, and therefore bigger than average, but I think he/she would be much less likely to be overweight (the problem with GD).

Also - just to say you would get monitor your bloods whether the GD is controlled by diet or drugs, but it is really not painful at all (sometimes it hurts a little more than others) and very simple to do.

You sound like you have it all under control allyfe. I will get a cake that is diabetes friendly (if there is such a thing) and we can share it, ok? Take care and thanks