Gestational diabetes

[ggglimpopo]

Anyone have any experience of this?

Can it be stress related?

What are the implications?

buuuuuuuuuuuuuuump for hunker and anyone else who has personal experience of this....

I've never heard of it been stress related.

Implications for the pregnancy are having to monitor your blood sugar levels daily, changing your diet. If diet can't control your blood sugar levels then having to inject insulin.

The risk is that if blood sugars are uncontrolled then baby can grow on the big side. So regular growth scans as well. Induction often more likely if they think baby is getting big.

Have you been diagnosed.

I look and feel very healthy and eat healthily. I have been bopping around and was amazed to be told that my results were borderline (

Sometimes its one of those things that pregnant women get, it doesn't mean they're unhealthy. Have you got any family history of diabates?

At least it sounds like if you are diagnosed with it your blood sugar levels aren't going be too high so should be easily controlled. They'll get a dietician/ diabetic nurse to talk to you if you are diagnosed and they'll advice you about diet. Stuff like low GI food so brown pasta and bread and I think maybe been careful of fruit as that can have high natural sugar levels. A friend of mine is diabetic and she has to combine protein and carbs and food that you'd think would be ok she has to be careful with.

Good luck.

A blood sugar level of 30 is extremely high if you are using the UK measurement scale.

I'm diabetic and though you have to monitor your blood sugars and maybe take insulin, it doesn't necessarily mean that your baby will be any bigger. If you allow your blood sugars to constantly run at too high a level then yes, your baby does run the risk of being a bit bigger than normal - this is due to the mother's glucose crossing the umbilical cord but no insulin going from Mum to Baby so the baby then produces extra insulin itself which in turn can enhance growth and weight gain.

But don't believe the urban legends that babies born to diabetic mothers are bigger than normal - it's just as much risk to all mothers if they don't look after themselves properly.

No, Daisynova, I am in France so this is the french gtt results - I cannot find the norm but am jsut going on what the obstetrician has said this afternoon.

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hello gggp, first of all, don't panic .

how pg are you? stress certainly makes my blood sugar go a bit loopy (i have type 2 diabetes) so i wouldn't be surprised if it had an effect. but it probably wouldn't cause gd, more likely unmask it.

i've had a quick google but can't find how they measure blood glucose in france. in depth testing will tell you more. in the uk at least, gd is initially controlled by diet. you want to eat lots of long acting slow release carbs & not much sugar. lots of fruit & veg.

uncontrolled diabetes of any sort in pg can lead to bigger babies, but if you are being monitored & controlling it well this is unlikely.

hope you're ok, do ask if you have any more questions

xxx

I am 30+ weeks.

i have the blood test results and they usually come with the norms written next ot the results - and they all do, bar the glucose.

He told me to stop snacking. I pointed out I do not really have a sweet tooth and don't snack. He then told me not to start snacking!

hi, I developed type 1 diabetes during pregnancy so a bit different - but if you have a borderline result it is prob nothing too much too worry about and you will perhaps just have to make some diet adjustments and watch what you are eating.

If this doesn't work and/or it gets worse (and this can happen despite you doing everything "right") you may be advised to do insulin injections for the remainder of the pregnancy. If this happens it is nearly as bad as it sounds IME!

This is jumping the gun hugely however, with just one borderline result there may not even be a problem.

The reasons for blood sugar needing to be kept under control are varied eg -yes babies can be larger, they may be prone to have low blood sugar after birth (due to them over-producing insulin in response to high sugar pre-birth) and there is some evidence that the placenta will not perform properly for as long if high blood sugars are a long term thing.

Really don't want to worry you with all this though - the reason they screen is to make sure none of these things are a possibility.

I have also never heard of Gestational Diabetes being stress related.

Tahnk you for your posts.

I have to do pre and post fasting bloods on thursday and then another two hours after a meal.

I have a routine scan booked for two weeks time.

ooh dunno if it is stress related.

I would imagine worrying about this is probably not doing your stress levels much good either though

Phew - I was getting worried there! In the UK the measurements should be between 4 and 6 for a "normal" blood sugar so being 30 would be very very high!

Hello GGG. Will post more later, but wanted this on my threads I'm on so I don't forget. Hoxtonchick was my rock when I had GD

HI there - i developed Gestational Diabetes - no diabetes in the family , certainly its not stress related it was just one of those things but i managed to control it with diet up to about week 35 when i needed insulin once a day but it wasnt to much of a problem - ds was delivered 2 weeks early by cs at 9lb so it can affect the birth weight and also he had to have his blood sugars monitored for the first 48 hours but there were no problems HTH

Did you breastfeed cl or did they give formula (have been reading mnet horror archives!)

ui was also borderline for GD.

if after your GTT/more indepth test it says you are def borderline/have GD, then let me know. jkept mine udner control with diet, SGK found it harder at times to control hers.

oh, dd3 had formula, via tube, as i refused to let them introduce a bottle. her levels dipped a lot. she was tube fed for over 24hours, but i gave her a breastfeed before every tube feed as well. by the time i got her back on the ward, the midwife there agreed with me that she was getting more milk from me than the tube, so we removed the tube.

BF is so marge here in france - it would be a real battle to stop them giving formula 'inthe best interests of the child'.

Ho hum.

sorry - crappy franglais slang there - marge should read as marginal or lentilly weavery....

you have to perfect the hard stare.

it was a battle to get them to agree to a tube, as they wanted to give her a bottle. had a lovely paed who agreed to give me 12hours to sort it out, and was talking about a sugar feed or seomthing (hunker, what was it called, some sort of IV?) but at changeover new paed insisted on taking serena to SCBU late i nthe night.

I can raise a single eyebrow - very very high.

that'll do. and clasp baby to your nork whilst doing it.

that should do it.

No exp of GD but some of having a baby abroad and issue of BF. I had my first baby in Germany where (I was surprised) BF was also marginal. As I had an emergency cs, my proper milk didn't come in for 5 days and on day 3 they told me I really ought to give her a bottle. After initially refusing, I did give her a bottle as they thought she was starving hungry (she was also a relatively big baby at 9lb) but I went on to BF for 6 months with no trouble.