The All New And Shiny Gestational Diabetes Support Thread

[midori1999]

The old thread seems to have died a death, so thought of start a new one for anyone who wants some support or just to chat about GD.

I'm 9 weeks pregnant now, had GD in my last (5th) pregnancy and had my GTT today, expecting to be diagnosed tomorrow as my levels are already silly.

Congratulations!!! And really interesting to read your experience! Can think of nothing worse than having to eat a meal during labour!!!
Enjoy your new son!!

That's fantastic, CTG! Congratulations! So pleased for you. Enjoy that chocolate too.

Just bumping this up for Jo to find.

I've been keeping an eye on my fasting bloods as they were always the problem ones and they are shooting between the 4s and 6.1 this morning. I am ignoring them, as they are not getting higher, but there is no rhyme or reason to them at all.

Thanks for bumping this for me!

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum. Had a GTT test and didn't think for one minute I would fail it. Midwife phoned a few hours after the test to say that I had been referred to the diabetic clinic.

Fasting bloods were 5.6 cut off 5.1
2 hour test bloods were 8.0 cut off 7.8

I started straight onto a low GI diet (my dad is an insulin dependant type 2 so have a good idea about what I can and can't eat). I'm at the diabetic clinic on Wednesday, now sure what to expect?

I have a phobia of blood tests but not needles - I'm fine with injections! - so not sure how I am going to react to the blood monitoring :-(

I am now 29 +4 weeks, I had a growth scan at 28 +3 for other medical reasons and I've already had a letter through for a growth scan at 31 +1.

Was totally overwhelmed by the diagnosis but getting my head around it and can't wait for clinic to find out exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. Any hints/tips would be greatly appreciated. Also are there any questions that I need to remember to ask the hospital?

Sorry for long post!

Welcome!! I was also gutted when I found out. I'm not in UK so my experience will be quite different, so can't add too much there.

Start trying that diabetic diet now, then you've had a few days to practice before clinic.

My dietitian said to me with adult onset diabetics it can take months to get it right with diet, yet with GD we have sometimes 4-8 weeks to manage it, so the pressure can feel huge. This has made me feel better when I've tried something different and had a disappointing read.

Plus side...no weight gain in 5 weeks. Which I am loving! (33 weeks now)

Hi Jo

Questions I would ask at the hospital. What are their protocols for medication, ie what triggers metformin/insulin? Will you see a dietician? What are their protocols for delivery? Remember that you are the ultimate decision maker so can question things and not necessarily accept them without discussion.

As soon as you get a blood sugar monitor (and the needle is invisible and virtually painless so hopefully not as scary as you think) they'll give you a short period to see how well you are diet controlling. Your GTT levels are pretty low on the high side so they shouldn't want to put you straight on to meds. If you're low-GI, you should find your levels are within their desired ranges at the moment. If you are still working out what sends them high, they should understand that and accept the odd high reading at this stage. If they don't, I personally would fight back on any medication at the outset if you think you can adjust what you eat to control levels, but I am an old hippy!

Just wondering what levels people are allowed...

Mine is 5.6 and below fasting...either before breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Two hours after meals, has to be below 7.

Also, when you test post meals, when do you consider two hours? From the start or the end of the meal? And how punctual are you?

Sometimes I forget then realise half an hour later that I should have tested...is everyone accurate on testing time?

Thanks!!

Mine is 5.5 or below fasting, and below 7 one hour after meals. I've got into quite a good habit of time checking but do occasionally forget or find it impossible to check right on the hour. Most of the readings are when they should be though. To be honest, my post-meal readings became so predictable that I got a bit slapdash as I went along. Unless I'd eaten something new or likely to raise my readings, I didn't see much variation in them so stressed less about making sure I could test after an hour. (Am jealous of two hour testers as I could have got away with so much more!)

My fastings did go over sometimes but as they were not very much over, I didn't tell the clinic. Now they are down in the 4s. In fact, all my levels have fallen and my body is now tolerating most food far better. The Internet reckons this is fairly normal-that insulin demand peaks at 36 weeks and then often starts decreasing. Others mention dire things about placental failure but the consensus seems to be there's nothing to worry about, and I certainly wasn't told to watch out for it. I assume I was discharged from the clinic at 36 weeks because they didn't think it would get worse from then! Am keeping up the diet, with a few more carbs than before, and testing a few times a week rather than every day.

One hour after eating....ouch that's tough!!!

Interesting to hear about the 36 week change...I'll be interested to see if I follow the same pattern!!

Thanks everyone. I've read through all the post now, hope everyone is doing ok!

Stiffy thanks for that I will write the questions down. I'm hoping that as my numbers are not really high that ill be able to control it through diet and light exercise. I won't be happy if they try and put me straight on medication, I'm bad enough taking paracetamol!

I'm trying to be brave about the blood monitoring thanks for the reassurance. I just keep thinking to myself well no one likes it so I'm just the same as everyone else!

I have my first appointment with the diabetes nurse today, followed by a 1.5 hour group session (oh the joys!). Luckily I phoned up the clinic yesterday and asked if the small blood test they mention on the letter is just a finger test or a blood test as I have a phobia of blood tests!! It's a proper blood test for the Hb1ac so I'm going armed with my anesthetic cream!

In a weird way I'm kind of looking forward to going today so I can make sure what I am eating is right etc I've been sticking to low GI keeping an eye on carb intake - I've been having about 150g per day. Not sure if this is enough? And I've had the odd treat. I've been recording everything in my fitness pal so I can show the nurse today.

Have a good day everyone x

How did it go at the clinic Jojo?

Oh dear where do I start?!

It was a 2 hour talk on nutrition - like how many portions of fruit and vegetables are you supposed to eat in a day? We went through all the nutritional guidelines, which obviously are important but it felt very patronising!! It didn't seem geared towards gestional diabetes at all, more just a general presentation.

She told us to reduce our carb intake - I asked her how many carbs we should be eating in a day and she replied just a normal amount (?!) I pressed her for more of a guide but she said there are no guidelines just to have a portion of carbs with every meal.

She said we should follow a low GI diet - which I mainly do anyway for the carbs that I eat. She didn't really elaborate on it though and by this time I was a bit fed up! I said to her chocolate is low GI does that mean we can eat it? (ha ha ha cheeky I know) and she said yes you can eat chocolate just not a family size bar (cheeky cow!). I asked if we have to cut out refined sugar and she said no, it is not a restrictive diet - to which I replied well of course it is, that's the whole point isn't it??

My Dad is an insulin dependent diabetic so I was bought up eating complex carbs, I know about cutting out refined sugar etc I phoned my Dad on the way home from the hospital and he was astounded at what we had been told!

We had to exercises like - how could you change this breakfast to something healthier? Honey shreddies, full fat milk, cup of tea with two sugars. Erm!! Felt like a bit of an idiot to be honest.

She told us the treatment is:
Diet
Exercise
Metformin
Insulin

I asked her what the clinical criteria is for the hospital putting us onto Metformin/Insulin and she couldn't answer me. She then talked of the risk of having a CS and I asked her at what point the hospital makes the decision on whether to deliver the baby by CS and again she couldn't answer.

She couldn't seem to answer any questions of importance and it just seemed like a total waste of time.

She put up a slide with the words low fat, low sugar, diet etc on and said these are the words that you need to look for on food packets. To which I said but that is not always the case is it? She said what do you mean? To which I replied well if it is low fat for example then they may have replaced the fat content with sugar, so you would be better having a smaller portion of the food with the original fat content. She said well yes, that is why you have to check the food labels! Just really felt like she was making out that all our diets were appalling and that's why we have GD!!! Luckily the other 3 women all thought it was a complete waste of time too!!

She did give us a blood monitor though and although I was so scared on day 1 of doing my bloods, to the extent my DH and my colleague in work had to prick my finger! I am now absolutely fine doing the test and it really doesn't hurt. We have to monitor our bloods 4 times a day - pre breakfast, pre lunch, pre dinner and before bed. I questioned her quite a bit on this as I thought we would taste in the morning then after meals but she seemed to think I was talking nonsense! I asked her how we would know what foods spiked our bloods if we didn't test after eating. She couldn't give me a straight reply. She just said well you will know if your bloods are ok before the next meal - I tried to explain that wasn't the point! She said to adjust the carb content of the meal depending on the BG reading that you have before eating. We have to stay under 5.9

This is what I have had so far (4 days)
Pre Breakfast between 5.0-5.8 (I got a 5.0 reading today and I had muesli right before bed to see if it would bring the reading down, all other days have been 5.8)
Pre Lunch 4.7-5.2
Pre Dinner 4.1-5.2
Before Bed 4.8-5.8

I know I am under 5.9 but the 5.8 is very close! Any tips on bringing it down a bit? I am still eating quite a lot of carbs so I could cut back if needed?

I also had a blood test for Hb1ac and I go to the diabetic clinic every week. I assume I will get the results when I go back on Thursday.

Oh and I am struggling to eat a good amount of calories a day, my bump is definitely getting bigger and he is growing nicely but I have only put on 7lb and I am now 31 weeks. I haven't put any weight on in April.

Any tips would be much appreciated! Sorry for the essay!! Hope you are all getting on ok.

Sorry to hear your appointment didn't go well jojo, these group things seem rather patronising. I'm lucky that the two clinics I've been in don't do the group sessions and both the dieticians I have seen have been non patronising and sensible.

Oddly enough, I only have to test pre meals too. I asked why and the reasoning was that they don't feel it matters too much if your blood glucose spikes after eating (and it will do) as long as it has come down enough by your next meal. They said when they used post meal testing a lot of women were panicking, trying to correct with insulin and ending up with hypos. That certainly wasn't my own experience in my last pregnancy when I was on insulin and post meal testing, but apparently my clinic are known for being good in this area and have good outcomes, so I'm just going with it. They did say they might ask me to test post meals at some point, but that's not the norm for them.

Wow - so interesting the different approaches, and the idea of not testing post meal.

Jojo...at least you're well informed having a diabetic in the family.

Well I'm sat in the diabetic clinic listening (yes, I'm nosey! And bored....) to two ladies having a conversation about having pancakes with maple syrup every day, because you just need sugar in the morning apparently, and regular portions of cheesecake.... I'm not suprised I never get moaned at if my readings go high.... Not suprised they get frustrated....

Oh I would have hated to have had to sat through that class. I have been told that I should got to a vaginal birth after c section class to help me make my decision re childbirth but I really just can't face it - I know the risks with both already.
At 28 week scan baby was measuring large for dates, but consultant was not too worried as my sugars are fine and I don't have excess fluid.
I will be delivered between 38-39 weeks and the person I saw last week said I could choose a C section and if I did plump for induction, I wouldn''t get the drip anyway and I would have a narrow window to deliver the baby. So think I am heading for another section.
I am so hungry though and finding it hard to reduce carbs.

Midori, that is a good explanation for the pre-meal readings and makes a lot of sense. After all, spikes will hopefully be brief. But at the same time those scary spike numbers might be useful in helping people moderate diet I suppose. My consultant told me she gets very frustrated by patients' inability to 'get' the diet, which is one reason why she came on so heavy with me in my first appointment. Her example was someone she'd seen just before me with whom she'd been discussing the week before the possibility of eating the occasional cake. She'd just found out that they had interpreted that as a cake a day.

JoJo, these classes sound a total pain. I've been part of a research study for women with a BMI over 30 and they have been unbelievably patronising. Hours of sitting with a health trainer (fatter than me, ironically) and being asked how many teaspoons of sugar I think are in a bar of Dairy Milk and a banana respectively for example.

I have fallen off the wagon a bit recently but realise I am now in a frame of mind where I think of a minor incident as a big issue. For example, I went up to 7.8 the other day after giving in to a slice of cake, and then remembered that before I was diagnosed I was eating an ostensibly healthy fruit and cereal breakfast that took me way over 10 every morning!

Laughing at the cake a day and pancakes with maple syrup for breakfast...honestly if we could do that GD would be a breeze!!!!

Stiffy, I do agree about numbers spiking helping people control what they eat, certainly for me having regularly got numbers over 10 last time, seeing a 7.5 or something doesn't panic me, although I pretty much always do stick to the diet. I think maybe though for those that have never tested post meals, going over is probably still as scary as they've no comparison, of that makes sense?

I feel like crap today. It's the anniversary of my twin girls' birth/day one of the died and they would be 3 today if they'd lived. I've spent most of the day crying and have hardly eaten and now am craving a bit, fat pizza. I can't help but feel eating a whole (or any!) pizza is stupid though. Has anyone had a slice or two? I'm wondering if all the fat will help keep my reading down and thought if I had it them walked the dogs after it might be ok? I'm kidding myself, arent I?!

So sorry for you loss midori

I have had pizza express and bulked it up with a salad with grated cheese and my sugars were about 7.4 afterwards.

Thankyou.

I've ordered a pizza with extra cheese, which will hopefully help and two portions of salad to fill me up so I don't eat too much pizza. It's a one off, so I'm sure it'll be OK if I don't eat too much.

I agree. Hoping for brighter days for you x

So sorry, Midori. I think just sod it and eat the pizza. One high reading won't matter.

Wishing more to empathise than

Thankyou. I managed 3 small slices before it made me feel sick. Took my blood sugars after about an hour, even though I'm not meant to and it was 7.6, which is FAR less than I expected and would have been within my one hour target from my previous clinic, so I'll just take it again before bed and record it then. Still feeling sick now, so not entirely sure I fancied it as much as I thought I did....

I've booked a private scan for tomorrow as my DH won't be here for my anomaly scan in a couple of weeks, so I'm hoping to feel reassured there's a heartbeat there and as I will be 16+2 they will hopefully be able to tell us the gender. (I don't mind, just hate waiting!) So hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

Hi Midori, so so sorry about your loss. Cannot imagine it, or don't dare to. I really think one day won't do any harm...and I bet most medical professionals, if they were aware of the reasons why you're feeling that way, would agree. It's clear the rest of the time (ie 99%!!!!!) you're very educated and disciplined about the eating regime.

Hope scan goes well!