Gestational diabetes support thread

[NoRoomForALittleOne]

I thought I'd start a support thread for those of us being tested, just diagnosed or being treated for GDM.

So collapse on a sofa, grab a low carb snack and come and chat about blood tests, finger pricks, diet changes, medication and birth plans...

Can I ask how long between your scans LIG when the baby had gained 800g? Because I had two growth scans 2 weeks apart and baby had only put on an estimated 100g (or 4oz) but I was wondering if that is normal. I'm due to see consultant next Tuesday so will also be asking her, I'm also due another growth scan on huge same day. If it helps at all the head circumference as an estimate growth of 1mm and the femur lenght showed no estimate growth. Was just wondering how that compard with other gd growth scans and I'm slightly wondering if there is any valid reason why the midwife and consultant are expressing concerns about bump measurements?

Iliveonabuildsite - it was 3 weeks and 4 days between scans and he did go up the weight and length percentiles slightly.

Oh dear, I was hoping you were going to say something like 6-8 weeks! Oh well I'll just have to wait and see how I get on next Tuesday then. Thank you for the info though.

Mine went up 300g in 2 weeks at my last growth scan...

Hi

I've got gestational diabetes. Checking sugars 4x day.
My sugars first thing in morning always slightly high (5.8 when recommended less than 5.5). I generally eat dinner about 9pm and check sugars at about 7:30am. Typical dinner is salmon, veg and 2 new potatoes.
My blood sugars during the rest of the (Post breakfast/lunch/dinner) are usualky less than 7.
I was wondering

1. am I likely to need meds for my morning sugar levels?
2. any tips for reducing my morning sugars?
3. what are other peoples readings who are on or not on medications?

Thanks for your help. Trying really hard with the diet, which I'm not finding that bad really, but just disappointed with my fasting sugars. Thanks

Just popping back on the thread as it dropped off my list. I still have a few weeks till my GTT.

Hello limpets. Welcome. My morning sugars tend to be quite low - around 4 but the diabetes clinic said they don't need to be this low and having all borderline numbers would be fine so maybe 5.8 won be a prproblem but have you tried having dinner slightly earlier and doing something active afterwards? I know I would find that really hard though. I am knackered by dinner time. Hope someone else comes along with better advice soon.

lig I think gd can cause restricted growth if the placenta stops letting enough blood through but I am sure they can't diagnose anything bad from a small bump. At most they would refer you for a scan which you have already had and know is fine. Know they don't bother bump measuring in France as they think its hokum.

limpetsmum what are your readings like after dinner? If they are high it may be that it is hanging over into your fasting reading. Another possibility is that they are getting too low and your body is releasing more sugar into your blood sugar to compensate. (There is a technical term for it but cannot remember what it is.) I often snack in the night and was measuring my fasting reading before the snack but found that often if I snack and go back to bed my morning reading is really low.

I found an article from a study in Canada about normal sugar levels and this said 6.1 ± 0.7 mmol/L 1 hour after meals in non-GD pregnant women. guidelines.diabetes.ca/browse/Chapter36. However, for non-pregnant women 5s after meals is quite normal.

Morning sugars - I get low readings if I have a cooked breakfast of bacon, sausage, beans, tomato and mushrooms. Not sure it is healthy in terms of sat fat but tastes good and usually gives me a reading in the low 5s. I usually have low GI toast with something like cheese or peanut butter and then an apple.

iliveonabuildsite it does sound that your baby weight gain is low and I think mine was a little bit higher than average. Did they check the placenta flow etc.

lurker good to know. I did ask about the placenta when I had my last growth scan as I was panicking after suddenly getting much lower readings and reading about the placenta breakdown. Luckily it all seems to be working fine and that and the impressive growth between scans seems to all indicate that he is growing well so a bit silly that they are worrying now about a tape measurement that is known to be very inaccurate.

I was also told that I was better of keeping my readings to the 5s by eating well rather than eating cake and ice cream to see how much I could eat and keep it in target . Luckily now I have another cold and so my readings have gone back up again

Thanks for replies.
I eat dinner at about 8:45pm. Don't snack afterwards. No way of eating earlier really. Am I cheating by doing exercise before I check my fasting sugar?
Post breakfast/lunch/dinner sugars always below 7. Usually between 5.5-6.5 (recommended less than 7.5).
The one day I had some chocolate pudding and icecream for pudding at dinner my fasting sugar was 4.1.
I don't know if I'm eating too little carbs as have cut them down significantly...?

Very quickly, it's hard to alter fasting sugars but some women do well to eat earlier in the evening. This didn't work for me. I was put straight on insulin in a similar situation, Limpets, but treatment varies by hospital.

As for GDM causing small babies - it can happen because the placenta can degrade and blood flow can be affected. Normally it's big babies though. And there is so much natural variation anyway that they need to consider that too. The growth scan includes a Doppler to check blood flow etc.

limpets Tbh I am guessing but it might be worth trying a few more carbs at dinner on lig's suggestion that they could be dropping too low at night and your body is compensating. 2 new potatoes is really barely anything (you must be starving?!) and it sounds like you have some headroom in your post dinner readings. This would fit with your lower fasting reading after a pudding. It's only a suggestion though.

limpetsmum can you try and test before and after your exercise to see how that affects your fasting levels. I was quite surprised to get lower levels after a snack in the night but it was obvious I was waking because my levels were too low so my body was possibly compensating. I often also find my levels get higher if I don't snack between meals but not sure if that is because I am eating too little or whether it is the stress that is causing my levels to rise and I just don't snack because I am too busy/stressed.

surprisingly not hungry at all and often I find that I don't feel like having my snacks but just eating as been advised to have a snack mid morning and mid afternoon.
I might give it a try having some more carbs tonight and see if that helps my sugar levels.
I went to the gym on monday and did about 30 minutes exercise on cross trainer /bike and 'burnt 300 calories' - so a decent work out (for me anyway). It didn't help reduce my morning sugar the following day. Although over the weekend when I walked more as I have quite a sedentary job during the week my blood sugars were lower during the day post meals.

Did anyone lose weight during pregnancy following a diabetes diet - I feel like I may be despite growing bump but not been on scales. Is this normal or a bad thing?

I feel like I might be losing weight from my legs and arms but I have only been on this diet three weeks so is too soon to say. I think it is ok as long as you are getting enough to eat? Dramatic weight loss probably not healthy though. Would be interested in others' views.

That said I have basically had double meals today. Was out at morning snack time and only sugar free option was a quiche but I had lunch too. Then I was at dd's friend's house whose parents are very hospitable but don't speak very good english and it was too hard to explain without causing offence so I ate sa bit of chicken, rice and even a baklava (oops) but meant to be eating with dh tonight...

I lost last time. This time I am maintaining as I didn't put on any weight since booking in...

I've lost fat from my thighs/bum and didn't have much to lose. I'm Eating quite large amounts though so I don't understand. I'm normally an 8-10 when not pregnant but at the moment hips/thighs are defo an 8, it's just the bump that is huge.

I am maintaining my weight so have only gained 1kg since about 27 weeks due to the gd diet and illness. I find I am less hungry eating more protein and good carbs. This time all the weight is in the bump whereas with dd it was all over. I was a little worried this time but the growth scans show the baby is still growing quicker than my weight gain. Think I have gained very little weight outside of the bump and some bits like my arms are very slim but some of that could be lack of muscle from lighter weights etc.

Lurker - yum yum baklava.

Hello all. Sorry to have been out of touch. I have not caught up on thread but thought I would update. Induction did not work for ages and when it finally did, dd went into distress. I had an emergency c section as a result.

Dd is fine. Her bloods after delivery were all within range and there was no need for any milk top ups. During induction and delivery my sugar levels also remained stable so I suspect that helped to ensure sure she was stable at birth. Note to those being induced - think about food, especially snacks and breakfSt as my hospital didn't have any diabetic meals and I had to wing it a lot. In the end dh brought my granola to help keep breakfast sugars down (I didn't spike but post breakfast readings were generally the highest as they had only toast with jam or cereal basically). And snacks I had to watch as they provided mostly biscuits. So Dh brought in cheese and nuts and apples. I would have liked my favourite marks and spencer yoghurt too but he didn't have time to shop for me .

Hope you are all doing ok and have similarly good experiences in terms of diabetes management during birth and labour!

Congratulations working!! Enjoy snuggling your lovely dd. x

well done working and congratulations! i am planning on only eating my own food in case they do decide to monitor my blood sugar. not sure I want to risk a high reading from eating their hi gi hi carb rubbish. still hoping I can get out before 24 hours and they haven't said no but it will depend on when it is.

They definitely do monitor so plan to continue to eat as carefully as usual. They didn't rush me simply because my blood sugars were ok. They might have taken a different approach if I had been spikingb.

Working - I'm still in antenatal, 4th night now as pessary and 3 sets of gels don't seem to be opening my cervix. Am frustrated and miserable, and have asked that if final set don't work tonight I have a section tmw or sat. Can't go through another week of this (repeating the induction procedure) which is only offered alternative.
Have had whole cooler bag full of good snacks which agree have been invaluable plus DH goes via M&S en route for my yog (!) so feel like your spiritual breakfast sister!
Baby seems fine at the mo. Which is most important thing..but I am getting mega fed up!
How long were you being induced for? So pleased it went well in the end xx

Ps have been self monitoring usual 4x daily and have had no spikes so far. They barely seem to mention GD and agree they're in no hurry as a result