Anyone else got gestational diabetes? Top tips welcome!

[Angelico]

Hello all

Currently 35+2, got diagnosed with GD a couple of weeks ago after repeat GTT ('passed' the one at 25 weeks for raised BMI, seems to have come on around the 30 week mark). Got finger pricker etc last week so 6 days in to blood testing and aiming to control with diet only as due for CS at 38+4.

Have't seen dietician yet and struggling to find conclusive info online. Certain foods (pure orange juice, sweet stuff - even a couple of bites! - mashed potato) seem to send blood sugar high (highest reading ever today 9.3 after mash and literally 2 bites of DH's banoffee! ). I was wondering what other people have found useful foodwise? Any good suggestions for meals?

A typical 'good day' for me (ie super low blood sugars)...

Breakfast:
Slice of brown toast with either cheese and beans or scrambled egg. No orange juice.

Snack (11am or 4pm depending on what I'm doing):
2-3 oatcakes with cheese / hummus

Lunch:
Bowl of leftover dinner from night before (see below) or homemade lentil and tomato soup with cheese and ryebread.

Dinner:
Steak stir fry with noodles, spag bol with wholewheat spaghetti, stuffed chicken with roasties and veg, oven cod in batter with oven chips and plenty of veg.

I would love to hear some other good suggestions for meals or any warnings about particular foods. Or if you just want somewhere to vent feel free to jump on board :)

Have just eaten two Matchmakers... . Feel like a failure!! Angelico palpitations sounds stressful, hope you had a good night's sleep. MrsV am impressed with your organisation. Although my bags are packed I've still got to make up the crib, sort out sheets and blankets and unpack the carseat (we were moving house, but now its had to be put on hold for a few weeks, so I'm unpacking all the baby stuff). What time are you booked for on Friday MrsV so I can think of you?

Going in for 9.30 on Friday but I expect the whole induction plan may take a few days! As long as I have my baby by Monday.....,,it can't go on longer than that surely. I just want it all over now...., and to be home and back to normal coping with the stress of my parents being here for the duration...and maybe even being able to sleep on my tummy which will be pure heaven, unless my boobs get too big and sore.....lol

Happy I wouldn't be too hard on yourself, it really is unnatural to go so long without ANYTHING sweet at all. Friend came round for lunch today and brought beautiful buns and ^I might have half a one after dinner>. Pain about delayed house move but it will be worth it in the end.

MrsV what happens with the whole induction thing? Do they keep you in once it starts or do a 'sweep' type thing and let you go home? Very best of luck with it all, can't wait to hear about the arrival of your bean :)

Just back from last consultant appt pre-bean. She only seems to have put on 1lb in last 2 weeks thank God so controlling bloods is working - she put on 1lb a week for a few weeks when blood was high. Her estimated birth weight is 9.5-10lbs so big but not HUGE!!! Didn't fancy lifting a 15lber with a section scar He seems quite happy with everything, said bloods are excellent and don't need to see him again until 25th - the big day :o

Okay I had the half a bun thing after dinner - and got a 9.2 for my trouble! :( Feel really tired and thirsty now, which seems to be my 'high blood sugar warning system'. Still, 2 high readings in 17 days = not bad. Hopefully the shock will keep me on the straight and narrow for the next 12 days.

MrsV good luck :)

Best of luck mrsv, look forward to hearing about how everything has gone and about your lovely baby.

I've been away this week but glad to hear everyone's doing well. I ate NO French bread or croissants or anything white bread based all week! Had one square of dark nutty choc which seemed to have no adverse effect. Couple of 7+ scores but nothing too bad considering I was away from home & had less control over what went into meals etc.

Scan tomorrow!

Hope it goes nice and smoothly tomorrow mrs v can't wait to hear about it all, am just over a week behind you looking forward to joining you on the other side . Best of luck!

MrsV is being induced!!!

Had the pessary inserted..... Now a long wait to see if anything happens. As usual the diabetic food wasn't suitable, mash, ice cream, oj, Dh has eateny lunch :-(

Great about pessary MrsV but that really is shit about the food. Seriously, it's a fucking hospital, they should be looking after you not trying to send your bloods mental Hope you got something else to eat! Do you have to stay in now?

Blonder you did really well when you were on holiday. Hope scan goes well! :)

Hi, I had GD with dc3 now have diabetes 8 years later. It did go though as soon as dc born.
Not too much detail here but remember dietician telling me not to eat anything out of a packet, jar or tin. Definitely nothing pre packed or ready made meals as content of salt too high.
If possible cook everything from fresh ingredients and certainly avoid the fish in batter/breadcrumbs and frozen oven chips. A good alternative is wedges but made yourself not packet.
Hope this helps a bit
Good luck.

Morethan sorry to hear you got diabetes afterwards :( Are you able to control it with diet? How strict do you have to be? Must be a complete pain!

Angelico.
I'm sorry, didn't want to worry you or anybody else. My dd is 8 now and I was diagnosed with diabetes last year. I would like to tell you all that it can come back in later years and do watch what you eat. Don't do what I did and think oh great its gone now, carry on as normal. I am not really ill and control it with diet but other probs can arise from it like high blood pressure and high cholestoral. I implore you all to be careful, not worry unneccessarily but don't be "yes its gone now, where are the sweets, choc, cakes etc". They told me that with gd you stand a higher chance of developing type 2 in later life. Not sure if they are still saying this.

They do say that Morethan and thanks for being so honest :) I was quite shocked when I heard the stats - they said something like 50% of women get diabetes within 10-11 years of having GD so I would like to keep my diet fairly similar to now but just be able to enjoy a treat without guilt :) Glad yours is under control with diet!

Sorry to hear that morethan, but it's good to know what our chances are. I am worried I will get type 2 as I didn't fall into the high BMI or family history groups, so I am concerned that I may therefore be more likely to get it. I have seen no evidence to tell me that, but that's my gut feeling that there must be something additionally wrong with me.

MrsV should be well on the way now (I hope!). Can't wait to hear her news! I have a friend who was induced and even as a non-GD person she said the hospital food was not what she wanted and advised that as we are able to plan for the IOL then take a cool bag with some nice food in - I'm thinking my trusty wholewheat wraps and possibly a brown rice salad! - as this will at least give energy through the first 24 hours.

I had community midwife appointment this morning and baby is 2/5 engaged so he's getting himself into position! I talk to him every night and will him to come naturally!! I had ketones in urine again though, which annoyed me as I've tried so hard to eat carbs with every meal since last time. I called the diabetes midwife and she said that although it wasn't ideal she wasn't too worried and I should continue to eat and snack on carbs often and we'd reassess the situation when I see her on Tuesday with the potential of increased insulin for the last week so I can eat more in the run up to IOL.

Have a great weekend everyone! This is potentially the last weekend for DH and I on our own so we're planning a lovely meal and some quality time together

Can't wait to hear from mrsv either!

That is really interesting morethan about the return of the diabetes. I know I will need to lose weight after the pregnancy. A couple of years ago I was very slim but while ttc I put on a load of weight which was really stupid of me - it was a stressful time (and funnily enough I only started ovulating when I did so). But definitely a healthier lifestyle going forward. Did they say salt was bad too? I have quite low BP so tend to include a bit of salt in my diet just for this purpose.

My scan was... weird, the sonographer didn't seem to know what the drs wanted him to look for, then said he assumed it was a growth scan. He said the baby's head measured 2 weeks ahead but the tummy nearly 3. He was very grave about it all but then suddenly perked up and said it was very common, nothing to worry about and actually still in the normal range, just at the higher end. He also said everything else was completely normal, fluid levels fine and baby head down. So I didn't know whether to be worried or not - it was an odd one. I'm hoping that during the weeks my GD was undiagnosed, the baby may have grown more but now my BS is under control it should grow more normally. I'll have another scan at 36 weeks. Consultants next Thurs.

Wonders how MrsV is getting on :)

Smicha did you definitely drink enough before you got the ketones? Because I got some a couple of nights ago but I knew I hadn't drunk enough. I have started making a big pint glass of sugar free squash twice a day and just sipping at it as well as drinks with meals. If I don't my bedtime pee is the colour of Irn Bru! Also you might be in a better position if you don't have a family history of it - might just be a blip :) Enjoy your weekend with DH!

Blonder I will be in the same boat as you - need to lose weight post-pregnancy. I'm not huge but I've been carrying the same 3 stone for years and really need to shift at least half of it to be healthy. As for your scan our bean is the same - big head but really big tummy. Saw consultant yesterday and he said he isn't worried about her at all even if she's in top 10% weight wise - he said he worries a lot more about babies in bottom 10% because he wonders why they aren't gaining weight. In the 3- 4 weeks pre-diagnosis our baby put on 1lb a week, she was having a bit of a party in there!!! Now she is putting on the normal 0.5lb a week. It's just a side-effect of the GD. By the sounds of things sonographer hadn't bothered reading your notes about GD, thought "Hmmm, big baby, wonder why?" then probably read and realised, "Oh, that's why!" :)

Had our Friday night Chinese tonight - got my usual chicken satay skewers but this week instead of having any fried rice just made egg noodles for myself at home. They were lovely and kept bloods down to 6.2 so that seems to be the way to have my cake Chinese and eat it :o Also tried a different breakfast this morning - Burgen toast with peanut butter and a bowl of raspberries, blueberries and Onken cherry yoghurt (full fat). Bloods stayed low and made a change from all the savoury stuff :)

Blonderthanred.

The salt or sodium is bad because salt turning to sugar. I used to have very low blood pressure until the diabetes came back. Now I have to have tablets for that and high cholestoral. I am no spring chicken but went through the change shortly after dd. I was all finished by 40. This was when the weight went on, only a bit at a time then wo, was 2 stone over weight. There is no family history of diabetes, high blood pressure or cholesterol in my family. Although the early change apparentely is all females in my family, lol. Please all of you be careful, don't end up like me. I'm not a greedy person and was very fit prior to this. I'm not saying don't have a treat but know it may come back if you don't look after yourself.

That's worth bearing in mind morethan.

Angel the sonographer did also say the same thing about being more worried if babies were small, once he was in his jollier phase. Also lots of people say that the scans aren't quite the exact science he made them out to be. He said the baby is currently 5lbs4.

I agree about the water for ketones, Smicha, I've also been advised to have carbs with every meal and also to drink more, 3-4 litres a day so I've been trying to work towards that.

Originally I stumbled on this by accident and so glad I did now. Good luck to you all. I have been where you are now and it is such a relief to be able to say no more flamin thumb pricks. You also get toast for supper with your tea in the hospital. There were many jelous mums, lol.

George Henry was born at 00.31 weighing 7lb 3oz, all wonderful will update more later

Congratulations! Wonderful news! Very happy to hear it.

Congratulations mrsv!! That's lovely news and great that he came so quickly after IOL! Have a lovely day with your little boy

Congratulations mrsv2!! so glad to hear it's been a positive experience. Can't wait to hear more when you can drag yourself away from your little boy. Enjoy!

Brilliant news MrsV - millions of congratulations!!! :o Can't wait to hear the details!!!

Brilliant news MrsV - how exciting!!! Many congratulations on the birth of your little boy, enjoy every precious moment (but fill us all in when you can!!!)