Positive GTT

[Sheep90]

Hi everyone

Just wondering about the experiences of those who developed GD during their pregnancy. I had my GTT today and felt really washed out after having the drink... Not sure whether it's a bad sign!

For those of you who had a positive GTT result, what happened next? Did you stay under midwife care? What sort of adjustments did you make?

Thanks!

For me, once tested positive, I was consultant-led. I had to attend a diabetes clinic fortnightly for monitoring and had additional growth scans. I also had to test my blood on waking and after every meal. I had an appointment with a nutritionist initially who put me onto a great app which gave me carb indicators for lots of meals to help me manage intake.

In my first pregnancy, I managed the diabetes with diet. Baby came two days early.

In my second, I couldn't control my sugars and eat enough! So I ended up taking Metformin which was absolutely fine. Due to being higher risk, I was scheduled for an induction on my due date. It didn't happen that way as they were too busy so eventually sent me home that afternoon, but my waters went that evening and baby delivered the following morning.

I was kept in overnight on both occasions as they liked to test baby's sugars for a while after they'd fed for a certain period (I forget how long). I had a follow up blood sugar test at my GP's a few weeks' later to confirm the GD had gone.

Mine came back negative so cant comment on what happens when comes back positive other than you will probally stay under your midwife still but have to see someone else who deals with Diabetes in pregnancy but i just wanted to say i felt awfull after i had the drink and alot of people do so i wouldn't really count that as a sign of it being positive xx

Last pregnancy I had a positive GTT at 28 weeks. I managed to stay diet controlled and didn’t have any high blood sugar results, all monitoring of the baby was within normal limits. I didn’t need to attend frequent clinics or anything. I was thereafter consultant-led but because my results remained normal I was able to ask permission from the head midwife for midwife-led delivery provided results continued to be normal I went into labour naturally before 41 weeks. I knew that the transfer to consultant-led ward was 40% anyway so there was no guarantee of any kind of birth regardless of GDM. I delivered in the birthing pool at 40+3 and my son was just below 50th percentile and he had normal blood sugars. Much of this was down to luck (I was strict with my diet but did not find it too hard to keep blood sugars normal), especially the fact that there was no adverse effects on the baby. I found the NHS diet advice rather unhelpful - carb levels advised were too high IMO. It’s hard to say how things will play out for you if your GTT is positive, but it doesn’t necessarily follow that you will have a high-risk, high-intervention birth (depending on what your birth choices are). Certainly I was more fortunate In my straightforward delivery than many of my friends who were nominally low risk, so it is very unpredictable how things will play out.

I am pregnant again and had a 16wk GTT which was negative, but I have to have another at 28wks so not in the clear yet! I am already eating the GDM diet in anticipation and as PP says there’s no guarantee I’ll be able to stay diet controlled again.

Hopefully your GTT will turn out to be normal, but if it isn’t then hopefully there will be plenty of support from your HCPs and clear, evidence-based discussion of the risks so that you can feel in control of your care.

Never had it, but for my last GTT I ended up feeling really dizzy while waiting for second blood draw and also vomited after 1 hour of drinking the juice. My results came back normal.

I was already under consultant led care but this was a sure thing once diagnosed with GD. Please do not worry though it can easily be kept under control. My sugars were kept 90% in line. The most annoying thing is they kept saying GD can lead to a big baby, well mine was 6.1lbs and tiny.

Once you give birth then they keep an eye on the sugars and baby may need formula top ups. This isn't a bad thing but it does impact how you breast feed if that's what you intend to do.

“Once you give birth then they keep an eye on the sugars and baby may need formula top ups. This isn't a bad thing but it does impact how you breast feed if that's what you intend to do.”

I wasn’t told anything like this might be required. I did colostrum harvesting though just in case he struggled to feed and his blood sugars weren’t stable.

The colostrum harvesting is very good and if you have would be used in place of formula top ups. However not everyone can do this. I couldn't so baby was given formula top ups. My colostrum didn't come in until day 2.

Even if using g colostrum babys sugars would be monitored for 24 hours to make sure they are stable. At least that's what happens where I live. The weaning off formula is not difficult if it needs to be used. Just feed it to baby in a cup not with a teat. Then it wont interfere with the breastfeeding reflexes. My baby is now 4 days old and overnight has been constantly looking for boob.

If you are diagnosed with GD there is a recipe book with ideas for food on Amazon and plenty of websites with relevant info. Just avoid too much sugar and avoid white carbohydrates