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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

If I have GD can I still have a normal, natural birth?

32 replies

LaTristesse · 28/02/2012 15:50

Being sent for GTT tomorrow after 2 lots of glucose in pee, recurring thrush and bump measuring 38cm (I'm 35+2). Worried that if I do have GD it'll put pay to my plans for natural no-intervention birth. What do you think?

DS was only 6.14 btw and came naturally at 38 weeks, with no GD in that pg...

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Flisspaps · 28/02/2012 15:57

You can still have a natural non-intervention birth if you want it.

Remember that any intervention that takes place can only happen with your consent.

Women with GD still have homebirths perfectly well - it's a case of finding out as much information as you can about the risks and benefits of intervention vs no intervention, arming yourself with that information and then discussing with your MW what you are and are not happy to do.

The choice of whether to have early induction, CS, or to go to however many weeks your baby wants to wait until and where you want to give birth ultimately lies with you :)

feekerry · 28/02/2012 16:28

hi, i've just been tested for GD and had along discussion with the hospital re birth options. they said i wouldn't be able to go to the MLU and i wouldn't be able to have a water birth due to the need for monitering but they would still encourage me to have a natural as possible hospital birth. i was devestated as really wanted a MLU water birth but luckily it turned out they got my results mixed up and i dont have GD. best of luck, you might pass the GTT test fine, x

Flisspaps · 28/02/2012 21:06

feekerry Just as a note, even if they recommend continuous monitoring no-one has to accept it (that's down to an individual decision made by the woman) :)

Glad they mixed up the results though, although cock-ups like that shouldn't happen!

Original poster

LaTristesse · 28/02/2012 21:10

Thanks ladies. Tbh Fee, that was my fear, along with having the baby force-fed formula. I know I can refuse any of it but they only need to mention stillbirth risk and I'd feel guilty refusing anything. I think if it does come to that I'll look into hiring an independent mw. I've spent the last few hours reading and have only found one story which didn't involve induction, continuous monitoring, EMCS, etc...
I don't cope well when control is taken from me or I 'fail' at something, and I'm already feeling under a massive negative cloud...

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Caudy · 28/02/2012 23:53

Ihad my first consultant meeting today after being diagonsed and he said if i can keep my sugars under control with just diet and baby continues to grow on the 50% line they will happily let me go to 40 weeks without induction but i wont be able to go over! I was made up with that so thats my aim! If i can!
They said i can still breast feed if i wanted.
They do monitor your sugars throughout labour and if my sugars drop they will put you on insulin drip just to get through labour so i can see why a water birth may be an issue if they are monitoring you like that!

Ozziegirly · 29/02/2012 04:35

I had GDD in my pregnancy and did feel like it hung like a cloud over the rest of the pregnancy. I wasn't able to keep my sugars under control even though I was incredibly strict with the diet (I only put on just over 1 stone through the whole pregnancy). If you do have to go onto insulin, you do get used to it, although I hated it at first.

Even though I was doing fine with the insulin and bump size I was induced on my due date - BUT i am in Australia and they are very very conservative with their treatment over here. They basically said that they pretty much have no stillbirths as they like to induce every diabetic woman on or before due date and monitor etc.

I was monitored through labour and did have insulin through my drip. DS then went into foetal distress and I had a carefully managed EMCS.

DS was then tested for low blood sugar and did have this, and continued to do so for the next few days. I was expressing and he was syringe fed formula.

Why am I telling you this you may ask? Well, because basically I had everything go "wrong" that you could ask for! Induction, distress, EMCS, formula feeding - BUT it was fine. DS thrived, was breastfed (albeit bottle fed as he wouldn't feed but I don't think that was related), the EMCS was totally fine, I bonded straight away, it was all fab and no drama at all.

So even if everything does go "wrong", it doesn't mean that you'll be a wreck afterwards.

MaMattoo · 29/02/2012 05:11

I had the same experience as ozziegirly, had gd, was on insulin/ metformin. Managed ok, induced then csection, baby fine. He was given formula on day one. Got back to bring fed BM via pump for 6 months as he did not latch on. But yup all went well from birth on...well enough for him to fall off the top end of the percentile chart for weight .
Be positive a lot of us have been through this and all went well. I shall hold your hand, I remember bursting into tears when I was told that needed insulin! Do I know what cloud negative is like.

CheeseandGherkins · 29/02/2012 06:17

Currently feeding (exclusive bf) dd3 who is 3 weeks old and I had GD. Long story but I had a stillborn daughter at 37 weeks just over a year ago and this time on insulin at 13 weeks. Diabetes became unstable so was induced at 34 weeks. Scbu for 2 weeks and been home a week. Normal birth, v quick once things got going. She was 5lb 14.

TinkerMaloo · 29/02/2012 09:33

I had GD in my last pregnancy, just over the cut off line so I had to be monitored but managed to keep my sugars well under control by being careful with my diet. Depsite this they told me that I would be induced at 40 weeks and that my baby was going to be huge. (eek) Had extra scans to monitor size and from the measurements of her abdomen they predicted a ten pounder...

Luckily for me she decided to make an appearance under her own steam at 39 weeks and she was all of a massive 7lb 5oz!

Dont let GD scare you! :)

I am going for a GTT soon to see how this pregnancy is doing and I am not going to agree to be induced at 40 weeks this time - especially if I am again just over the cut off point. The measurements of size in later pregnancy arent particularly accurate in my exp!

TinkerMaloo · 29/02/2012 09:35

oh and why on earth would they force feed formula?... i breast fed my GD baby and her sugars came up well over the course of a day ands was only in hospital one night.

one midwife did try to encourage me to give her some formula so that we could get out sooner!? but another assured me that it made more sense to make sure that the breastmilk was enough for her and to wait and see...

your colostrum is packed full of goodness :) dont worry!

Original poster

LaTristesse · 29/02/2012 10:44

Thank you Tinker, yours is by far the most encouraging story I've heard!

Does anyone know why they seem to get size wrong in so many cases? I've read loads of tales of women being told they're expecting massive babies only to have average, or even small babies?

I'm at the test now; at least the drink wasn't foul!

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TinkerMaloo · 29/02/2012 10:53

I think its just that once the baby is bigger their scan just gets less and less accurate.

to be fair to them though, my DD does have quite a long body and short legs (bless her) so her abdomen did show up as quite large, but all in all she was just an average little bundle.

and yeah lol, lots of people told me how disgusting the drink was and it wasnt bad at all :)

Good luck hun! :)

Flisspaps · 29/02/2012 11:01

LaTristesse on the big babies website it says "I heard a great analogy from an obstetrician once, that likened trying to predict the size of a baby before birth, by ultrasound, to trying to guess the weight of a man, sitting in a bath full of water, in the room next door by measuring his waist and thigh bone. When you look at it like that it really does become apparent how ludicrous these gross measures we use are!"

It makes sense to me

Original poster

LaTristesse · 29/02/2012 14:10

I guess when you put it like that...! I will apparently be going for a growth scan but no date yet - I'll definitely bear in mind their notorious inaccuracy now!

Won't get the results of the GTT until tomorrow now - another sleepless night awaits. On the upside, the drink was nice and lime-y and I've just had a massive sandwich.

Oh, and what's with the insensitive blokes some women have in tow who sit and chomp through their lunch in a waiting room full of starving pregnant women - DH would have got kicked sorely into touch if he'd done that!

OP posts:

MaMattoo · 29/02/2012 15:03

Oh yes, forgot about size. I had quite a few growth scans too and was told baby would be HUGE. Some of the mws found it funny to ask me if I was expecting twins as I was massive. They predicted DS to be well in the 9-11lb category.
Teeny weeny 7lb baby came out at the CS so I would not think much about the growth scans. They are too big for the small space and it is a lot of guesswork.
Good luck! I hated that drink... I did not throw up...but just about. Well done!

teacupcosy · 29/02/2012 15:03

of course, i had GD and was due to have a sweep at 29 weeks but dd decided to come on her own at 28 weeks, only had g&a for the whole thing so dont worry so long as you control it you wont have any problems. x

Flisspaps · 29/02/2012 15:19

teacupcosy do you mean 39 weeks and 38 weeks (or were they particularly keen to get your DD out very early)?

mangomilkshake · 29/02/2012 15:25

hello just posted another thread cos didn't wanna highjack this one, but basically just wanted to say that it appears I have GD so am also in that boat and am scared! everyone's posts have been reassuring though that its not all doom and gloom hopefully...just tend to think the worst

feekerry · 29/02/2012 15:30

just to add latristesse when i had my long discussion with the consultant re birthing options feeding came up as i'd read some bits that you would be 'forced' to formula feed. the consultant rubbished this and said there would be no reason why i couldn't breast feed straight away. so, at least on that side of things you shouls hopefully be okay. best of luck with your results tomorrow, will pop in and check to see of you've had them!!x

teacupcosy · 29/02/2012 19:55

they where going to do a sweep on me at 29 weeks but i went into spontaneous labour at 38 weeks

FlipFantasia · 29/02/2012 21:16

Just to let you know that my one of my obstetricians had a home birth with GD with her first child at the age of 43 - she's v pro natural birth and has even written a book (The Heart in the Womb)

Ozziegirly · 01/03/2012 03:40

I think where the formula issue comes in, is that when you have the baby, they will test the baby for low blood sugar - they did this about an hour or so after DS was born. If they have low sugar then you will be encouraged to breastfeed (I was encouraged to straight after the birth but DS didn't want to).

However, if, like me, you've had an EMCS and the baby wasn't really ready to come out (as I had been induced) it may be hard to breastfeed "on demand" (that is, on the hospital's demand rather than the baby's) so they may recommend giving some formula to get the blood sugars up, and while you recover.

We said this was fine, but requested that DS was fed by syringe so he didn't go off the breast, and our hospital were completely happy to do this.

I then hand expressed my colostrum and stored it and we mix fed for the first couple of days before my milk came in, and then switched to EBF after that.

Hope that helps.

Original poster

LaTristesse · 01/03/2012 13:35

Shit shit shit, just phoned for the results and they were positive - I measured 8.8 and they refer anything over 7.8, so I now have GD. Fuck, I'm gutted.

OP posts:

Flisspaps · 01/03/2012 13:38

LaT :(

Gutted on your behalf. Was wondering if you'd heard yet.

Just remember - you do not have to give up on your hopes of a natural birth, even though today it might not feel that way.

See you over on the April thread x

TinkerMaloo · 01/03/2012 13:48

dont worry hun! its not a high result, you will be able to manage it with diet, im sure of it! :)

and yeah, you can still have a natural birth. They will want to induce you at 40 weeks, but the decision about that ultimately lies with you, they cant force you!

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