Gestational Diabetes - Large abdominal circumference

[PamRavenscroft]

Hi, I'm 31 weeks and was diagnosed with gestational diabetes a few weeks ago. I'm trying to control with diet & exercise but my fasting levels are often very slightly over (5.1, 5.2, 5.3). My hospital has a very low cut off point of 5.0 for fasting. I was prescribed metformin but asked to wait till the results of my growth scan, which I had today, before I started taking it. All baby's measurements were nice & normal except the abdominal circumference which was on the 95th percentile. I am trying to work out the significance of this - obviously it means the sugar is going to the baby, but other than its tummy it isn't 'big'. I hate taking medication when pregnant but am I being an idiot for not? As my levels are so borderline I have been reluctant to start on meds but after today's scan I just don't know what to think. Any advice, previous experience etc. would be hugely appreciated! I lurk on the Jan 2014 thread but haven't posted yet - I'm hoping Tarka will see this!!

Hi peanut and curly - welcome to this not so awesome club, looks like we're all around the same stage & expecting christmas babies! My feet have gone down now - I switched to flip flops today & that has made a big difference (phew, not enjoying the cankle look!)

hello I am 29 weeks and have been on insulin since 16 weeks. I have had the occasional treat over the last few weeks and have just adjusted my insulin accordingly. My bloods have been reasonably good except on the couple of occasions I have taken ill and then they have been odd for a few days.

My hospital have said that I will be induced at 38 weeks but they are not for giving me a section at all. Now getting fortnightly growth scans and weekly appointments.

So looking forward to being able to eat what I want without having to do maths before hand!

Can I ask you ladies a question please re glucose? I had a +++ reading from my urine at 16+6 and got told off for not drinking enough and having had a bowl of coco pops for breakfast then doing sample an hour later. Would the coco pops (and 2 biscuits - which I would have confessed to but forgot about) have resulted in a reading like that?

I really want a home birth so GD would be a disaster for me, I havent really been having much more sugar than normal, a little bit but not going crazy. I've stopped the coco pops and having more protein for breakfast instead.

Next appt on the 4th december, hoping for a low reading!

Hi romily, welcome and I think we are all awaiting birth just for the chocolate and of course our nubs

Hartisaspade to be honest the result will not make a difference even if you change what your eating now. you will have to do a fasting blood test which will be on an empty stomach, then drink a glucose drink then you will be tested 2 hours later it will show how your body is using the sugar fingers crossed it is all ok for you, gd is a pain in the arse.
greentshirt hope you don't have it and get the home birth, iv no experience with testing positive for glucose in urine mine was found due to high BMI.

Meant to say babies not nubs?? How did auto correct change to that???

greenshirt very likely that the glucose in urine was due to coco pops and biscuits. Very possible that neither you or heartis actually have gd as urine test very inaccurate. Also all womb have some glucose intolerance in pregnancy, it's only if you become particularly intolerant that it's technically gd.
Try to eat reasonably normally in the run up to the gtt. No need to cut out sugar completely until you know for sure.

Nice to see there is a gang of Christmas/new year babies here! I'm 32 weeks with my 2nd GD pregnancy. Was diagnosed at 14 weeks this time and used insulin since 16weeks. I doubt they will give me a date until 36 weeks for induction (baby growing normally but currently breech), but it should be about the 30th dec too!

I'm packing a tin of quality street in my labour bag to work through on the postnatal ward!

Right I have here a massive family size bar of imaginary galaxy chocolate. Who wants some ??

Xxx

Thanks Tarka, I will push back if they try to push me down a route im not happy with in that case pending what the next urine sample looks like!

greenshirt they shouldn't be putting any pressure on your home birth until you have failed a gtt. Even then, if you are borderline and can control your blood sugars easily with diet you might find they are ok with it. There are lots of innocuous reasons for glucose in urine so they should not be making a diagnosis based on it - just refer you for more testing.

Hi everyone & welcome! Good luck to those of you waiting for the results of your GTT. If you do turn out to have GD, just remember it isn't your fault & it isn't because you have been eating sweet treats - it's just that our bodies can't process the sugar as well when we're preggo. Blaming yourself will just make you stressed, which will only raise your glucose levels even more! Despite it being a total pain in the arse this whole experience has made me give my 'ok' diet a massive overhaul & I am now super healthy food wise which can only be a good thing. Hooray for Christmas babies too!

Thanks Tarka, very helpful! They said they would only refer me for the test if I had another result where there was glucose in my urine. Will lay off for a couple of days before next appt and make sure it's first morning wee!

Tarka that'd be the same date as me....exciting

I was told i wouldnt get induction date until 36 week appt but consultant decided to book me in early.... quite happy that i know now though
Yes good luck for gtt ladies & i agree dont stress or blame yourself as its down to our bodies & hormones.

greentshirt i was told that too as i had glucose in my urine at 28w midwife appointment (ate loads n drank milkshake eased my heartburn before doing urine sample) but coz i have a high bmi i was getting a growth scan the following week. Urine tested fine so was told i wouldn't b sent for gtt.

However growth scan flagged up big baby 90th centile for everything and i was sent for gtt, which i only just failed by 0.6 (fasting result-after glucose result was well witin normal)

Am i the only one growing a sumo baby?

Tarka im packing similar- as soon as he is out and hopefully bf'ing i wanna b nuzzling a decent choc bar :)

Pam ive got your swollen ankles now, thanks for sharing them :(
Does stress really affect your blood results? Ive had mostly just under 7 today, then it dropped to 4.3 at bedtime After a square of dark chocolateas yumm as it is i cant figure out what ive eaten to keep it so high today
Has been a hard shift at work (on sleepover part now)

Hi to all, hope you are preparing for chilled out weekends

Curly your results don't sound too high anything between 4 and 7 is fine after food and 3.5 to 5 for fasting.
Yes stress effects your results so does different temperatures and being ill. I don't know about anything else tho
Also had 3 pieces of bourneville chocolate last night as bloods went low, it was sooo yummy!! Not that I'm rubbing it in or owt

Mmmmm bourneville.... I haven't given in & had any chocolate yet - I don't know if I would be able to stop! Did have yummy (& a bit naughty) pizza for dinner - felt it was deserved after a mammoth day of housework in 30 degree heat (that's me sweating).

curlylass your bloods sound really low. I have to aim for under 8 post-meal. I think it's different in different places though by the sounds of it.

I have found the changes in diet really challenging especially since my levels have been reasonable, except for two periods of illness. I have a ridiculously sweet tooth and our diet has always been carb heavy. Pizza is the one food that sends my levels sky rocketing far more than anything sweet so it is a no for the next few months.

My team did say I could have treats occasionally as long as I had a correction dose of insulin but it is not a habit I want to get into. Tightening up more than ever now I am 29 weeks.

Hi. Can I please ask when your GD was diagnosed? DC1 was 10lb but GTT negative at 28weeks. I frequently had + glucose in my urine & measured way over the top line in fundal measurements but had no scans other than 20 week scan. DC2 was 7.5lb born at 37 weeks. Again, GTT negative & no growth scans despite measuring way over the line on fundal.

Due to various culmulative difficulties with both DCs they are keeping a much closer eye on this, my third pregancy. I am 33 weeks and on the growth scan earlier in the week, the abdominal circumference was on the 98th percentile. Other measurements were ok. I had a GTT at 26 weeks which was negative. At the consultant appt this week, they found glucose in my urine. I had only had a bowl of porridge in the morning and a hot chocolate about 2 hours before doing the sample. (Normally I do it first thing after a nights fasting). When I asked for another GTT test, bearing in mind both results they said policy was that they would only do one if 2 urines with glucose found. So I'm going to see my own midwife on Tuesday to test a sample.

Anyway, after my long essay, I guess I'm just looking for reassurance. Has anyone been diagnosed this late?

imnotalone last pregnancy i had a negative gtt at 16 weeks and a positive one at 28 weeks. This time round they wouldn't let me have the full gtt at 14weeks because my fasting level was too high and I now have borderline glucose intolerance when not pregnant so they were worried about me having the drink.

It is totally possible that the sugar in your urine is from what you had eaten and a fmu sample would be fine. Most people develop gd between 24-28 weeks so it is possible that you could now have gd even though your test at 26 weeks was negative (do you know the exact results?). But it's equally likely that you just grow big babies and the sugary wee is a coincidence.

Ps porridge would send my blood sugars sky high as would the hot choc so I expect your body was just offloading some of the sugar.

Thank you. That is reassuring. No they didn't give me the exact results just that it was negative. It was just the urine coupled with the large abdominal circumference that has concerned me.

Do you think its best to go with a first morning sample or eat as normal for my midwife appt?

Oh I am so frustrated! Been eating carefully this weekend as my sugars had started to climb again and they are worse than ever now!!!

Currently 29 weeks and they keep on getting worse. Already on quite a lot of insulin and metformin and I will be meeting with my care team on Monday to probably have them increased again. I had so been hoping I could tweak my diet and get things down but it is just not happening.

What sort of things are you eating romily? My results started creeping up at 30 weeks and diabetes nurse said it's because of some kind of hormone surge seems to of calmed down for me now, it's frustrating when you try your best and results are still over.
How does everyone cope when there out? I went out today and ended up out longer than I thought, needed to eat but didn't have any insulin so I was careful in what I chose but my results were still over, does everyone take insulin out and where would you inject it? I thought maybe toilets but it's a bit unhygenic?