Gestational diabetes - Advice & Reassurance Pls

[AR23]

Hi,

I am 29 weeks today and a few days ago at my 28 week midwife appointment I found out I have gestational diabetes (my sugar levels were 8.4 and the midwife said the cut off level is 7.8).

So firstly I'm really upset and sad, it came as a bit of a shock as I've just turned 31, I'm slim, exercise regularly and eat quite healthily.

I'm still waiting on receiving my letter for the next steps, which I think are attending a gestational diabetes clinic where I'll be given more information etc.

I'm just looking for advice and some reassurance until then I guess. Called the midwife and she wasn't able to help much as she wasn't a specialist on the area. But from what I know so far, I should avoid white bread, pasta, white rice....desserts, biscuits ad sugary things, and fruits that are quite citric.

Are bananas ok? And porridge?

I had the glucose test done at week 27, got the results at week 28, and today I'm week 29....so it's already been 2 weeks I've had it without me knowing, in which time, I've had the occasional chocolates, cakes etc, so I'm a bit worried. The midwife said it can lead to large babies being born....and effectively high sugar level is like poison.....so I'm really scared now.

Can I ask when you are testing yo ur post-meal levels? Is it one hour from the time that you started or one hour from the time that you finished? Timing seems to be crucial...

@nopun I do it from about the middle point as I'm not sure either. I did ask the diabetic nurse about this and she said it's only about 10mins difference so said it didn't really matter, I did think I take longer than 10 mins to eat!

Also, as I'm still sick I'm snacking in between and really having 5/6 smaller meals a day but not testing each time I eat, just my 3 'main' meal meals.

Readings today were
Fasting 4.1
Breakfast 5.1 (porridge with sweetener)
Lunch 5.2 (Heinz low sugar soup and two brown bread rolls and cheese)
In between I've had an apple with walnuts and a babybel.
So nothing particularly nutritious, but I kept it all down.

Reading people's posts it must be hard when you start going over as there's not really a lot/anything you can do about it, so It's helpful to see people talking about it. I've tried explaining to family that it'll probably get worse throughout pregnancy but I think gd is just misunderstood. I'm also only just beginning to get my head round it all.

@nopun- it's an hour after your last bite. However, you can also test up to two hours after eating but the blood sugar target then changes to 6.4 instead of 7.8.

If you’re not able to check until two hours – rather than one hour – after a meal, you should aim for below 6.4mmol/l.

Should've added- that's from:

www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/managing-your-diabetes/testing%3famp

Thank you @titnomatani & @mintbear!

Hi op just wanted to add I’ve been diagnosed at 28 weeks too, with a reading of 8.4, first of all I was quite gutted but I’ve actually found the diet changes not too hard, having soup at work, snacking on nuts and cheese and trying to avoid too many carbs and thankfully with diet changes on their own the levels have come down.
Also I hate to admit it but I am less tired and don’t have heartburn now I have cut down on carbs and sugar
Only downside is that baby is due after Christmas but I’m intending to include Christmas cake and chocolate in my hospital bag to have once the cord is cut
Hope it goes well for you

@AR23
Yeah, sometimes a drastic change in diet is really not required. Plus when you start checking your sugar levels, you'll soon understand the foods that are making the readings higher for you.

Also only check them during the recomended times for accurate results. :-)

@nopun yes timing is crucial as my midwife says even a couple of mins can make a big difference. she told me to test 1 hr after taking the first bite. But it seems advice differs depending where you are? That's just very confusing cos surely there'd be a big difference in readings depending on exactly when you test! Best check with your midwife re. timing and target levels. I was told aim for under 7.8 for 1 hr after first bite.

Thanks everyone. Oh i never thought about timing it from after first bite or after last bite, I just assumed it was 1 hour after the last bite because when I went for the initial glucose test, the test was done 2 hours AFTER finishing the drink. I'll give the midwife a ring and double check.

@mintbear ahhh your readings have been soo good! Well done. I've been scared to try porridge, but I'm getting sick of toast every day for breakfast so I will get some porridge when I go shopping this week. 3/5 of my pre-breakfast ones have been high. Today I'm going to try having a snack before before as someone previously mentioned that's supposed to help.

@AR23 that's interesting! As when I did the test i was told to get bloods taken 1 hour and 2 hrs after first sip! I was only over the 1 hr target reading by 0.1 point but was told that's it, GD it is

Your session will be really helpful.

My takeaways from it were:

Avoid breakfast cereals
Looks at labels and aim for:

Sugar - max 5g per 100g
Fat - max 3g per 100g

Go for a walk after you've eaten too.

I had diabetic jam with my toast in the mornings.
Porridge wasn't great as it's a carb - carbs get turned into glycogen and then glucose so limit your carbs.

Don't eliminate anything necessarily. They said to us that of course we can have a treat every now and then. I had fish and chips one night and it sent my blood sugar sky high. But I could explain that to them and they were fine.

I spent the rest of pregnancy managing on one tablet of Metformin and diet. DS was fine. Didn't affect him at all.

Just be sensible. Consume lots of nice veg and good protein. Have a treat every now and then.

Good luck!
I'm hoping I don't have the same with no.2 (currently growing away as we speak) but I'm not worried if I do. I know what to do this time 😊

Oh and bananas are one of the highest in natural sugars. One banana is two portions of fruit btw.

You'd be better sticking with berries.

Also, avoid yoghurts unless it's natural greek yoghurt. I didnt realise how bad yoghurts were until I looked at their labels. Basically pots of sugar 🙄

Little sweet treats - m&s sugar free drops (hard boiled sweets) I've got a pack of butterscotch and a strawberry and cream one which are just nice to have in the handbag.

I'll have to keep an eye on the porridge but so far I can get away with it.

I've also bought some 'diabetic' jam, it's a brand called stute, I've not tried it yet so I'll have to see how I get on with it.

I'm defo going to ask them again when I should be testing but it does sound like we all have received different advice.

@PlinkPlink thanks for the tips. I'm vegetarian so the sources of protein that I thought would be good for me (different types of beans, lentils, pulses etc) although high in protein, are still high in carbs :( So I wouldn't be able to pair with brown rice or quinoa .... Other sources of protein for me a tofu and quorn, but there's only so many times I can add it/pair it with lol. Fats i've not struggled with at all, so far been pairing my carbs/fruit with things like greek yoghurt, peanut butter, cheese, nuts, seeds. Fruit wise I've ditched bananas, but I really used to like them as my snack pre GD because it'd keep me full for quite a while. Now I'm having berries, kiwis and granny smith apples (paired with peanut butter or greek yoghurt etc)

I have my first growth scan soon....wish me luck!

Oh my... that makes things much harder. Gosh.

Do you include eggs in your vegetarian diet? Those could be good 😊

Oh yes, I remember that. I got a good few more opportunities to see baby before he arrived which was lovely. It's kind of like a bonus to balance the having to prock yourself 4 times a day

@PlinkPlink I don't have eggs either :/ but I've been thinking about starting them. The consultant I saw yesterday was lovely and didn't slag of a vegetarian diet (i often get that a lot). She was supportive and told me to eat plenty of green vegetables (which I do anyway) but just go easy on the carbs and pair with fat/protein.

@mintbear - I've left a voicemail with my midwife asking about timing of testing, but in the meantime I FB messaged Gestational Diabetes UK and got this reply: Different advice is given from one hospital to another. I always tested one hour after eating, but others test one hour from first bite. Some hospitals will say it doesn't matter as long as it's consistent, so always best to ask your team xx

I had GD in my previous pregnancy and was diagnosed at 13 weeks in this week. My risk factors are entirely genetic but I wasn't that surprised as there is diabetes on both sides of my family which is why I was tested in the first place. I had a normal delivery with my first baby and they were 50th-centile. I only had continuous monitoring as my waters had gone more than 24 hrs prior to active labour beginning.

I was diet controlled in my first pregnancy but I've been put on metformin this time round as my fasting levels wouldn't go down. This is regardless of snacks before bedtime etc. I initially thought that I just had to eat more protein/fat before bed following the advice on various websites, but whatever combination I tried it actually made my fasting levels much worse. I got quite worked up about it as I really didn't want to be medicated and everything I read online kept telling me that if I just found the right combination of fats/protein/carbs before bed then my levels would come down, but it just wasn't happening. My consultant talked me down and told me that this just happens, it's really common that GD is worse in subsequent pregnancies and that medication is probably the best option in my case. It's the only time I've felt like something was my fault but I've come to terms with it now (and stopped obsessively reading websites for ever weirder ideas).

So my advice would be to remember that GD is quite personal and different people react differently - you just have to try things out. For instance, I have always tolerated bananas really well and other fruits very poorly but most people find the opposite. I lived off banana and yoghurt for breakfast in my previous pregnancy but many people would really struggle. Any form of cereal sent my blood glucose sky high and bread of all types is the one thing I'm already tolerating poorly in this pregnancy no matter what I have with it. Interestingly my father has Type-I and I tolerate and fail to tolerate pretty much exactly the same things that he does, genes are fascinating things!

I'm only 21 weeks at the minute so I'm now waiting to see what happens to my post-meal readings, which have been pretty much fine so far. It's very tedious, particularly over Christmas, and I'm already sick of the waiting room at the ante-natal clinic but at least it's only temporary. Keep on plugging on!

Thanks to everyone for sharing and for @AR23 for setting up the group - I'm finding it really helpful to read all the comments.

@Bromeliad thanks for your details reply. Yes my morning readings have been high, yesterday I tried having a bedtime snack but it was still high this morning. They've put me on metformin but it's only been 2 days so far, so hoping that helps to control the morning readings. The post meals one have been okay. If you don't mind me asking, how much did your first baby weigh? And did they have to induce you?

@mintbear you're welcome. I heard back from the maternity team from my hospital, and they said it was 1 hour AFTER finishing food. But seems like different hospitals/consultants give different advice, so probably best you check with your team too :)

@AR23 my first was 6lb 13oz. I was due for induction on my due date as that was policy where I had her but my waters went a few days earlier and I had a very straightforward delivery in the end.

Just to make you aware that it took a couple of weeks for the metformin to really kick in for me (I think that's quite typical).

So, despite the experience of GD last time, doing as much as I could to control my sugars this time around, I've been put on metformin today based on a few high readings this past week. 34+2 weeks here and consultant said he'd rather err on the side of caution than risk anything else. Having a scan next Tuesday to check baby, etc. Feeling disheartened :(

@titnomatani awww don't be disheartened! Nothing wrong with taking metformin :) I was put it on much earlier than you, I'm 30 + 3 and was put on it at 30 weeks exactly. How have your earlier growth scans been?

hi @AR23 may I ask what the hospital advised for target reading 1 hr after eating? Mine said below 7.8 for 1 hr after taking first bite