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.

Yep rumtum, they are lovely and well meaning. Still hard though.
Am experimenting with making my own subway style brekkie as I've found that a Subway egg and cheese on wheat works well for me in terms of readings, so if I can make my own that will be better.

Im 30 weeks and had my first Lucozade test yesterday (drink 275ml then have bloods done one hour later) and the hops rang today say my sugar level was measuring 8.3 so I have to in for the proper 2 hour GTT test on Friday.

Kicking myself as I've totally been giving in to eating loads of sugary snacks all pregnancy even joking that I've prob given myself GD. Now I feel like a fool....

Oh we'll nothing I can do now except cut back on sugar until Friday and hope that makes a difference.... Is that likely or am I just kidding myself?!

Hi starfish. Good luck for your GTT tomorrow and do take a good book to read as it's such a long time to be sitting in one place! Tiny, how have your readings been?

I had my hospital appointment yesterday and was eventually seen at 5pm despite having been given a 3.30pm appointment time! Poor dd was so very bored but did very well waiting. I was worried that they would try and convince me out of my planned homebirth but they seem to be quite sanguine about it, and have asked me to come back in 2 weeks after home-testing 4x daily. I will also have additional growth scans at 32 and 36 weeks, always nice to see the baby!

I find it interesting how the protocol changes from one PCT to the next - we have just moved a mile down the road into a new area and I was surprised by how my GD would be consultant-managed - in my last area it was totally midwife- and GP-led and I wasn't offered any extra scans nor extra blood tests!

Right, off for the first finger-prick of the day!

Sorry to hijack your thread but I am in need of some advice and wonder if any of you ladies could help! I had my 20 week scan this week and baby was healthy but measuring in the 95th percentile. They told me this could be an indicator of GD but I am not booked in to have my GTT until 28 weeks. I was always going to have one anyway as I have a BMI of 31 and am ethnically prone as well as having a grandmother who had type 1.

These factors are making me sure it must be likely. But 8 weeks seems like a long time to wait and see. I am wondering if I should start changing my diet now. I do tend to eat a lot of fruit and do eat carbs (though not that excessively and only wholegrain. Also I don?t have a sweet tooth at all).

I am not sure what to do! Should I request to have the test earlier or should I start limiting my diet now and wait and see or should I just hope for the best and forget it for the next 8 weeks?

Does anyone know if exercising would help at this point?

Anyone been in a similar situation? Would love some advice. Thank you!

Had my first appointment with the specialist midwife and dietician today. Dietician wasn't particularly useful, apart from on portion control. Midwife was quite rushed. Have been mostly managing to keep things under control readings wise - where they have been over I know what it was. Also really seeing the impact of exercise, even a brisk walk after eating, or a bit of ironing.
Growth scan was ok, on the top end of normal size but nothing worrying apparently.

Great news tiny. Yes, I also found the dietary advice to be really generic and not that helpful - the best advice I received last time was actually here on mumsnet! It was to eat 5 small meals a day, to make sure that I have some protein with every serving of carbs I ate, and to try and broadly follow a low GI diet.

Today is my first day of testing and I have been deliberately eating naughty foods (white bread baguette for lunch, sugary drinks, cake as a snack) to see what effect it has on my readings (for research purposes only, honest! :)) , and it's fairly obvious what I need to do, diet-wise. I totally agree that exercise has a massively beneficial effect - I remember in my last pregnancy gorging on forbidden roast tatties and a mince pie during my Christmas dinner and then having to walk up and down the stairs waving tins of beans around in my hands in order to get my readings down to an acceptable level! It was worth it though!

Fetacat, no need to worry about 'crashing' the thread! I haven't had your experience but I would recommend speaking to your midwife and/or your GP about your concerns. They will be able to advise you on your next steps, I'm sure they would be happy to schedule you an earlier GTT if you exhibit a number of risk factors. Perhaps just up your exercise routine in any case - even just walking a bit more helps, and doing 10 minutes of exercise (vigorous housework included) targeted for half an hour after each big meal worked really well for me last time. It'll also help you to have greater stamina for childbirth and whilst caring for a newborn. Good luck!

Hello,

I haven't read all the posts before this but had a skim through and am hoping this is the right place to get some support. I am 31 weeks today with our first baby and although she has been fine in there, the pregnancy has been fraught with issues from day 1, the latest being the diagnosis of GD. I am currently monitoring my blood sugar for the first week with an assessment next week at hospital. I have been very careful with food since the first indication I might have it. I also have 4 x 10 minute walks in my commute every day and I do a good exercise DVD 2 - 3 times per week. Anyway, as I continue to monitor my levels every day, it is becoming apparent that I can't keep the sugar level below the level they have indicated it should be - particularly in the after-meal test. It's making me feel really out of control especially as I am trying so hard with the food. Anyone had this? What came of it? I'm scared about short and long term impact on the baby. We've had to go through a lot to get to this point so although I'm ordinarily a pragmatic and reasoned person, I'm finding this pretty difficult to deal with. Any helpful advice would be much appreciated.

Hi mary about 10% of women with gd (me included) aren't able to diet control. It doesnt mean you weren't dieting well enough. They'll probably put you on metformin tablets at first and hopefully that should help your readings come down.

Hello
I'm hoping someone can advise. I am 33 weeks pregnant and have just been diagnosed with 'mild' GD, following a GTT, although all my urine tests have been coming back clear. I've also got polyhydramnios according to the scan, and a very large baby, although my bump is 'on target', even quite compact, which I don't understand.

My problem is managing the GD as I have (1) hyperemesis, which is certainly better controlled now (through medication) but means I have an extremely limited range of foods I can tolerate without triggering vomiting and ending up in hospital on a drip with heart issues due to the dehydration. I was advised to 'live on lucozade'... Obviously with GD I've now been advised no fizzy sweet drinks. I also have severe SPD to the point I am in a wheelchair, and although I go to my physio appointments and do pilates, I can't walk more than a couple of steps (on crutches), so I guess managing through exercise is out.

I'm not too worried about the baby's size in itself as I am booked a c-sec anyway due to a number of other complications with this and previous pregnancy, but obviously I want to keep my sugar levels down, but how?

I am usually (when not pregnant) extremely healthy (good vegetarian diet), and do lots of exercise, and am pretty slim. I am even skinnier at the moment due to 5 months + of vomiting, dehydrations and starvation. I'm getting pretty miserable with this pregnancy and just don't know what to do next.

If anyone else has had a similar jumble of pregnancy complications, or has some suggestions, I'd be glad to hear them. Thanks x

Oh you poor thing, i really sympathise. what a shit bunch of pregnancy complications!

Have you seen a dietician yet? They should be able to help you with what foods you can eat. What can you tolerate without being sick?
Sadly having a large baby isn't the only possible consequence of gd so you do need to keep your sugars down. It might be that you'll need insulin to do this which should enable you to be a bit less strict on the diet.

Hi everyone! I have only just joined mumsnet..I am 28 weeks and have just been told I have GD so very new to it all! Was so nervous and have been given a glucose home monitoring Kit.
I did the lucozade test and after my reading was 12!!

However, have been doing the test twice a day for the past 3 days and my before readings seem to be ranging from 5.5-6.6 and after eating (1 hour) they seem to be between 5.9-8.3 All over the place!!

I have been eating a lot of green vegetables and cutting out wholegrain bread....I have also tried to eat 5 times a day which can be quite difficult fitting it all in!!

Do you think they might leave me to control it by diet and exercise or give me tablets? Any advice? I do find that when I exercise in between meals just for about 15 min, it does reduce the readings a lot which is a good thing so hoping I will just have to continue this way...

Just quite nervous really, waiting for a scan so they can check baby is growing ok...first baby for me so very worried! As the anomaly scan I had showed she was a week or so ahead and was quite big...

Hi Zahrah In my last pregnancy I was diagnosed with GD at 28 wks too. Because my bloods were ok and v. similar to yours they let me control it on diet alone. Exercise does reduce the readings and lower carb diets are the way to go. It depends on your growth scan really. Good luck

Hi Madsabox!

Ahh thanks...yea I mean I understand a certain times it will spike higher because of something I have eaten..but gosh...I have never eaten so many green vegetables in my life....getting a bit sick of it already!! lol

Yea my scan isn't for another 4 weeks so will just have to continue and make sure my readings aren't too over the limit. Before eating it can be 6.something but always under 6.8 and after it is usually less...but yea you are right, whenever I do 15min exercise after it does help A lot! lol

Thanks for posting :) Any GD recipes?!
x

I wasn't able to control mine with dietand I'm an organic-eating, Paleo-worshopping, skinny health nutso I was put on insulin injections at week 30. Paleo recipes are usually pretty good, as they are moderate carb. I would just be careful with any recipes that contain dates, oranges etc.

Marking my place until later on - i have just had 'the call' from the hospital confirming my GD. I am 27+1.

Still in a bit of but was half expecting it as DS1 was a 10lber. I have also had continuing thrush for the last couple of months (all urine tests came back clear).

Anyway - will read this thread later for diet ideas and chat to you all. I am seeing the MW at the hospital on Wednesday.

I thought it was about time I posted my birth story :) DS2 is twelve days old and doing great. Most importantly, he suffered no hypoglycemia after birth, and my blood sugars were really well controlled during labour.

I was induced at 39+5, after a failed sweep at 39+1. Midwife broke my waters at 10am, we walked the corridors, I bounced on the ball, but nada, not even a slight cramp. So at 4pm we talked options, and by 4.30pm I was on the drip. At first the contractions were akin to mild period pains, so midwife raised the dose one time, and they quickly progressed to my second experience with back labour. To handle the contractions, I found standing up and holding onto the pole part of the drip oddly comforting. My husband (the swine) took a photo, and I look like an appallingly bad pole dancer :D

Labour was only 4.5 hours start to finish, culminating in a nice, easy delivery of one petite 6 pound 7 ounce boy.

Being induced wasn't so terrible, and I hope at least one other person can take heart in this story, and know that, even though GD can be a depressing, soul-destroying experience, the outcome can be positive for all concerned (even in my case, having to take insulin for poorly controlled fasting sugars).

Can I join please? 36 weeks on thursday and found out I had GD last week. It's a sharp learning curve but I think I'm getting the idea though. One question I have is, does anyone else turn 'stabby" if their sugar levels are high? I was stupid earlier and ate some chocolate and they're right up now. I'm seriously considering murdering dp and I know I'm being irrational and overreacting but I just can't help it!!

Hi!!

Glad to know everything went well stopgap! I am 30 weeks now, have a scan at 32 weeks....they said at my 20 week scan that it looks like I will be having a big baby but that was before I knew about GD and so since about 22 weeks I have been cutting right down on sugar, even cutting it out a lot of the time and at 27 weeks I was diagnosed and have kept it REALLY under control so I am hoping it has stopped the fast growth and she will be growing as normal, does that sound possible?! I am just really worried that even though I am keeping sugars down as am on Metformin twice a day and exercising that she still might grow to be like 10lbs!! lol

Hi SaggyOldCloth!! I find that instead of chocolate I am great with sugar free jelly pots, they are a life saver for me and dont get me as cranky !! Haha not sure if my husband agrees lol but I find it better than chocolate, maybe try that?
I also find having a high protein snack, like a mini pepperami just before bed keeps my sugars low at night and when I wake up which is great!

Thanks for the advice. I like the idea of a pepperami at bedtime! Thatll keep dp on his own side of the bed!

Did everyone have GD symptoms before being diagnosed? I had my 20 week scan at 18.5 weeks and they said my baby is reading a week and a half ahead of his age so would test me for GD at 24 weeks - but I'm a little impatient to know now!

I don't think I am particularly thirsty (although I always drink a lot of water) nor am I peeing a lot but I do (always have had) a very sweet tooth. I am also 39 but no history of diabetes in the family. My reading at my first appointment was 5.8 which I think suggests a risk. Does anyone know if there is any way I can find out now without having to wait 4 weeks?

I did the Lucozade challenge at 29 weeks and passed. However due to having a BMI of 30 at booking, I was also asked to do the GTT which I ended up doing at 30 weeks due to confusion over whether I actually needed it.

I failed the GTT, my fasting glucose was 5.5, my one hour result was 11, and my two hour result was 7.1.

I then tried one week of diet control but my fasting glucose was always just over target, and my after breakfast readings were often over as well (never over 8 though).

I was then put on metformin 500mg 2 x daily, and after 2 weeks they wanted to increase my dose to 3 x because I had 2 readings over target during the two weeks.

I didn't increase the dose as I felt these readings were flukes and I have stayed under target since then with the 2x daily dose so I am happy with that.

I have been told I will be induced at 38 weeks but I do have concerns about induction which are making me feel that I want a C section instead.

Basically everything I have read has said that induction leads to a greater incidence of intervention and EMCS. My previous birth was traumatic - I avoided an EMCS by a whisker and the babies heart beat was dropping and at one point they couldn't detect it. Due to another health condition my babies are unable to have the head clip monitoring thing and we would be relying on the belly strap thing.

I had terrible anxiety with my first after the birth, and couldn't leave them with anyone (even DH) in case something happened and various other stuff which a therapist diagnosed as PTSD. This all put me off going for number 2 for over 5 years.

Eventually I worked through it and decided I could manage another birth if it was a home birth or at least on the MLBU with plenty of relaxation, no epidural etc. but I am now considered high risk and have to give birth on the delivery unit.

I am concerned that the induction will feel out of control and plunge me back into the dark place I experienced with the anxiety etc.

Sorry for the mammoth essay but I guess I would like any input about the experience of induction versus ELCS with GD or what labour is like with GD.

Last baby was 8lb 2oz, but this one will be larger and has been measuring on the 90th centile so far.

I'm not afraid of the pain of labour, it's the lack of control and lack of the best type of monitoring and the threat of the debilitating anxiety coming back. I know that ELCS isn't the ideal solution but more and more I feel it is the only one I can get my head around.

I am 36 weeks tomorrow and will see the Obstetric consultant on Monday to discuss a birth plan.

Any advice gratefully received :)

Hey guys, don't know if this has been previously written? I have gd and am 33 weeks nearly. I have had type 2 in the past but lost a significant amount of Wight and was we eventually taken off medication. My levels are high, usually ranging between 8 and 20. My medication has been doubled this week now on 4x500mg metformin a day. My levels aren't really changing. I have been told at my next appointment in 2 weeks that I will probably go on insulin as well as tablets. My question is, if anyone has been on insulin, how has it affected them? Any side affects? Any feedback would be brilliant. Thanks people

I am new to GD. Have been self monitoring for just a day. Here's what I don't understand: is the point of self monitoring to find out which foods affect sugar rises in the blood, or is the point of it to find out what my average blood sugar level is? I've read here about people eating sugary things and then exercising to get their readings down but does this mean that the excess sugar then doesn't pass on to the baby? Sorry I'm confused about it, this is all new to me. Only a day and already I'm wondering what on earth we can have for dinner lol

weebigmamma

A normal pregnant woman without GD has sugars about 20% lower than an average nonpregnant nondiabetic woman. This explains why the targets we have to meet are often stricter than for type 2 diabetes patients.

In some women, being pregnant increases insulin resistance too much, meaning you have excess sugars in your blood. This crosses to the baby, and is the equivalent of overfeeding the baby.

The aim of self monitoring is to try to keep yourself within the tight targets so that the medics know that as far as possible the baby is not receiving too much sugar and getting too big, or producing too insulin itself to deal with the excess sugars both of which can lead to problems during and after birth.

The point of self monitoring is also for the diabetic team to see how much if any medication you need.

You should be aiming for 15g low GI carbs (plus protein and fat) at breakfast, 30g at lunch and 50g at dinner. About 15g for snacks, best if tempered with protein/fat.

If you measure one hour after eating, and have controlled your blood sugar not to spike above your limit (7.8 usually or mine was 7 due to BMI of 30) then no, the thinking is that the sugar won't be excessive that passes to your baby.