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...

I'm here still, lost the thread for a while...
I'm now 36 weeks, not long left and truly sick of the finger stabbing and lack of nice things. Hoping that baby doesn't take too long after the 37 week mark.
I have my clinic appointment next week, which will be my last chance to try to convince the obstetrician that I ought to be able to use the MLU - something that is really important to me after a traumatic time with DD.
Hope everyone is coping well.

Scared I haven't tried bran flakes or checked the nutritional info, but I find all bean is fine and if you have lots of milk instead of a splash, the protein and fat in the milk will help you have a slower blood sugar rise.

Also, I have whole instead of skimmed, you may as well have water instead of skimmed milk! :P

I'm 36 weeks now so 10 weeks since I was diagnosed and still diet controlled. Scarednoob I find any 'normal' breakfast sends my sugars soaring. I've been having cheese and meat with a couple of wholegrain crackers which was suggested by the nurse. It feels really odd to eat it first thing in the morning as I used to have bran flakes or porridge, but it's edible and it's not for long. The nurse said it's common for mornings to be difficult because the body over compensates after fasting over night.

Also, don't make your milk skimmed. Fat is brilliant for us as it slows down the absorption of the carbs. Obviously not that good for long term diabetics, but for those of us who only need to be careful for a few months, we should have fat with everything.

Try not to be too upset about it, so far my baby and bump are measuring spot on for gestation and the placenta looked healthy on the last scan. TBH, I quite like having all the extra checks as I'm a worrier anyway and suspect I'd be worrying more if I was considered low risk but not getting the CTG's and scans to put my mind at rest.

Hi ladies have not read the whole thread but I had GD with my first pregnancy and now have type 2. I have great control of it but I stick to a paleo diet. However at the min I have terrible sickness. All I can eat is rich tea biscuits, bread and peanut butter! My sugars have been surprisingly ok. I found the first time round I just couldn't control my sugars. Even though I stuck to the dieticians advice. This time as soon as I can eat normal again I will be going back to paleo diet. I'm determined to keep my sugars under control as I don't want to end up on insulin again. Just got to get through this sickness first!

thanks ladies. breakfast is hard! it's ok at the weekends when I can have things like omelettes with spinach and cheese, but I just don't have time (well ok, am too disorganised) in the morning when I have to leave for work at 7am. and I am a fussy sod who doesn't like meat, so things like chicken and steak are out. noted on the milk, I will switch to whole and see if that helps.

basically, a plate of pasta is my idea of heaven, so this is torturing me. but it's a no-brainer when it's the baby's health at stake.

god, I never thought I'd get sick of cheese and nuts, but I'm nearly there... however, one thing I have found that is great is the "whole earth" peanut butter, as it has no added sugar and is really tasty.

I've been eating the Whole Earth peanut butter too. One of the breakfasts that doesn't send me high is greek yogurt with chopped raw apple and a good dollop of the Whole Earth peanut butter.

Has anyone else essentially been left to it themselves to decide when to take metformin? I have my prescription for twice a day, but it's completely up to me to decide whether I need it once or twice a day.

I'm starting it today and my sugars are usually highest in the morning, so I'm planning on taking one dose (500mg) with a substantial snack at bedtime. Does this sound right?

I am 36 weeks as well and diet stopped working a long time ago for me :( I have went from 1 metformin a day to 4 metformin a day, started insulin last week at 2 units after each meal and am now at 4 units after each meal and they sugars are still to high :( I am getting sick of it now lol. I have a scan on Friday to see how big baby is as he's measuring big, if his tummy is big they will section me next Wednesday, so the end is in sight :) only good thing is I weigh the same now as when I fell pregnant so have lost weight because of the change in diet x

Hi guys, so lovely to see a few people on this thread now, it had gone quiet for a bit :)

I am hoping that when I start the new diet (seeing all the medical people on friday, tomorrow) I wont feel as tired all the time, now I have been told I have GD I can see just how tired I have been getting this last few weeks. I have a 4 yo DD and a 2 yo DD so I always just thought it was those two who have been making me knackered, but maybe GD is the real culprit.

I need to get DH to understand the new diet, he sometimes cooks dinner for us so I will need him to understand what I can have, or maybe I will cook my own food, a sort of separate meal to what they will all be eating.

I have totally stopped all Coke and chocolate - they had become my emotional crutch if I am honest! Whenever I was feeling overwhelmed and stressed I'd pop over to the shop for a cold Coke. I am sure it will do me good to knock that addiction on its head!!

I am 27 weeks now, and I am wishing this last trimester away, I hadn't anticipated how hard I would find it looking after the dd's and being pregnant. But I will resist feeling sorry for myself, and kick myself in the bum, I think the end is in sight.

I have been trying to eat more fish, and came up with something nice last night that might cheer people up if they like it - fillet of salmon, top with mushrooms or tomatoes, top with spinach, couple of dabs of Philadelphia to make it stick together, top with grated cheese, wrap in foil and bake until cheese melts - if you like the cheese brown and chewy, leave the very top of the parcel open.

I had this last night with a mound of veggies and last night's reading was good whilst this morning's fasting was a low 4 - that'll be on the menu again!

Hi everyone. Great to find this!

I gave up on normal breakfasts a while back, and these days it's 2 sausages & mushrooms from the work canteen; breakfast cereal is one of the things I REALLY miss.

35+3 today and measuring good / normal on bloods and size; by. Starting to worry about hospital expectations in terms of early induction, monitoring etc. I'm in Ireland - does anyone have any experience of negotiating for extra days before induction / getting to use birthing pools etc?

Also - trying to start some hand expressing: owch!! And so far ineffective Any tips very welcome....?!?

Down I found that the diet was great for energy levels, felt much healthier than before pregnancy until last week when every movement started feeling like a big effort. The first couple of weeks I really struggled with the lack of sugar though, was getting very emotional.
Also, like Mummy I have lost weight, a few pounds under my booking in weight now, so at least that will be one less thing to stress about once DS is born.

that salmon and cheese recipe sounds really good, I will keep that in mind!! yummo.

Also sausages for breakfast really made me smile, it sounds so much more indulgent than weetbix!

I have fingers crossed for a general better and more healthy diet and possibly more energy.

Hand expressing is really hard, no advice I'm afraid. I have managed it in the past when i had milk and was breastfeeding, but only after i'd been at it for months on end, so my boobs were much more squishy than they are now.

Hi everyone. Glad this thread has resurfaced as have just been diagnosed with GD at 20 wks. Feeling a bit lost/gutted (first baby, IVF) and worried about how to keep levels down as I have a really good diet already so very little left to cut out!
For those of you on medication/insulin, wondering what triggered you being started on this. I've only just started testing but had one high reading already (fasting level before breakfast) and have been told I have to ring in if I have two high levels within one week. Will this trigger me being put in meds straight away?

Starfish - honestly don't know how your Drs will decide about meds. But my advice is to NOT worry about it if you do need them.
This is NOT our 'fault' / something we did wrong. Some people can do diet only; others will need some meds support. Appreciate I didn't have any nausea reaction to meds so am potential lucky. But also - if they suggest meds it's to help. I decided to focus on keeping my bloods as under control as possible, using meds if necessary, and that helped me 'deal' with being out on metformin and then a dose increase!
Good luck!

I'm on meds ( 4 metformin a day) as my post breakfast readings and some lunch ones have been high. We were going for walks post every meal to bring sugars down but it's just not sustainable. I've been informed I won't be able to use the pool as it makes monitoring v difficult and it's likely I'll be induced around 39 weeks. Initially found the news all a bit gutting but time has helped me get my head around it all. My diet is excellent so I know this is just genetics at work...

Starfish the first few days of monitoring is likely to be up and down as you discover what you can and can't tolerate well... try having five small meals rather than three set meals and getting out for a bit of a walk if you can

Thanks for all of the advice. I guess I'm just wishing this wasn't happening at all... And gutted about birth options potentially being taken away from me. I'm taking part in a research trial starting next week where I'll be monitored really closely, so hopefully will get things in check. Will definitely try and get some walks in as well.

Hi ladies, I hope you don't mind me jumping on with a quick question... I had my gtt results back today and although I have been cleared of diabetes, the 2 hour bloods seem a bit high from googling. In some areas I might even be borderline. Fasting glucose 4.6 and 2 hour bloods 7.8. Obviously very pleased not to have been diagnosed but confused by the numbers and wondered if anyone could shed light? No glucose in wee today at 28 week appt thank goodness. Thank you

This might help Cheezypeas - www.nice.org.uk/news/article/new-thresholds-for-diagnosis-of-diabetes-in-pregnancy

Your 7.8 is right on the edge. It might be worth ringing your hospital and asking for a retest in a few weeks.

Thank you.....that's really helpful! Trust me to get a result bang on the border! Will bear that in mind about retest

Argh - the walk after meal walk: I'm just not getting it in...
If my sugars are fine without it, that's okay, right? #reassurancerequired!

What do you all have as a bed time snack? I'm not having one buy waking up hungry and first thing sugars are getting higher. ..

My go to snack at any time is nuts. Sadly not the nice roasted, salted kind. But Tesco do a good mixed nuts which are ok.
Or Greek yoghurt with a little (100% fruit no added sugar) jam. Or small slice toast with jam and cheese. IE - trying to minimise carbs and / or pair them with protein to reduce GI impact overall.
What are other people having?

I am going to try a babybell for my evening/super time snack tonight. I have been told that the very first result of the day is really not controllable, because it's such a long time over night. ie its just your body doing whatever it wants and you have no control!

thewebbleyjess I don't walk after meals. My exercise is 15-20 minutes on an exercise bike in front of the TV each night after testing my evening meal bloods. Doing exercise straight after eating tends to make me feel ill. The diabetes consultant who I see told me that I'm better off doing 10 minutes of exercise every day than the 30 minutes a few times a week that I was doing before but he wasn't too concerned with when in the day I do it.
frangipani13 I don't like nuts or seeds which seem to be the best snacks so asked the dietician for ideas. Her basic rule is to look at the overall carbs, if they are under 15g then it's OK as a snack, if it's under 10g then it's a good snack, and if it has fat or fibre then it's better than it would be without.
I base what I have in the evening on my after meal sugar levels. If I'm happy with them then I'll have,
-one digestive biscuit and a small cup of milk,
-an alpen light bar,
-small portion of strawberries with cream or
-two wholegrain crackers with cream cheese.
If my sugar levels were higher then I'll have,
-sugar free jelly with cream,
-cheese string or
-baby bell.