Gestational diabetes ... fucking sick of it and is it even dangerous??

[immstat]

I am so fucking sick of this. The GD process / journey is making me absolutely hate being pregnant.

I have had it with my 2 pregnancies. I am only 18 weeks and already been injecting insulin for fasting for around 2 weeks (I have a phobia of needles so this is a rigmarole every night). Sometimes my bloods are good sometimes not. Makes no difference what I eat or if I exercise. I can eat exactly the same thing on different days and have wildly different readings during the day or my fasting bloods. I can't make head nor tail of it. I am constantly confused.

1st pregnancy they told me my baby was going to be massive. He came out 7lb. From what I've read online, on forums etc, this happens ALL THE TIME. Women being told their baby is going to be huge but actually they aren't? Wtf is that all about?

I don't understand the risks to baby. I'm becoming more and more convinced that high blood sugar isn't actually that bad and the midwives are shitting us up for no real reason. Which doesn't make sense but neither do my readings 🤷‍♀️

I just feel like giving up. I just feel so trapped and down about it. I feel like not eating so I don't have to go through the process. Or just eating what the hell i want because really...what's the worst that can happen?? I think I am trying to convince myself it's not dangerous because I can't seem to get it right.

I can't do this for another 5 months 😢

Can someone please give me a gentle shake, or a hand hold, or something. My husband is great, supportive, trying to help with my diet and moods...but he can't fully understand how I feel. Does anyone relate??

Congratulations - as your baby was a normal size, you GD was well managed and you did not have one of the common outcomes (large but otherwise healthy baby)

You also avoided pre-eclampsia, birth complications (often arising from polyhydramnios, premature delivery, complications with blood sugar levels and jaundice in the baby (and worst case and mercifully rare, stillbirth)

I hope that wasn't too blunt. I said it because I think you have lost sight of why this is being asked of you - its to maximise the chances of having a normal healthy baby arriving at the right time. You do this so you can have another normal 7lber. What you are reading are the success stories, be heartened that there are so many of them

I had it, picked up late. DC was over 9lbs and not very well at birth, forceps delivery.
I wish mine had been controlled as well as yours.

Thank you both

Elephant...I need to hear stuff like this. I feel I am slipping into a depression about it and trying to convince myself GD is all bollocks because its so hard for me to get right. First pregnancy was 10 years ago so my body was more able for it and it was diet controlled. This time around I am 40 years old and heavier. Metformin made me so sick I had to come off it and it depresses me having to inject every night, doses slowly going up and up, and still getting odd bad readings in the morning.

Sundance...thank you for sharing and giving my head a wobble. I'm so sorry you had a tough birth.

I am so sick of being sick and it feels like such a long road ahead I can't stop crying.

Not an expert but I would imagine doing the best you can is good enough? If you don't understand what you've been asked to do, contact the service for someone who can answer your questions. If you're concerned by readings not being within the range they're supposed to be, keep noting them down and contact the service to have things reviewed.

If you can take it one day at a time, do the steps they want you to do one day at a time.. does that make it a bit easier? You could even cross the days off 1 by 1 to give you a sense of progress. You can do this.

High blood sugar which is not brought down is always dangerous because of the damage it can do to living tissue. It can cause blindness due to damage to the optic and retinal nerves, it can cause kidney damage and damage to the peripheral nerves ie toes and fingers. Damage to the tissue can lead to the need for amputation of the limbs. It causes wounds to heal very slowly if at all. It can cause thrush. And that is in your body. If a fetus is exposed to persistent high sugar it an have a massive drop in blood glucose at delivery because it's constant supply of sugar is dramatically stopped leading to hyloglycaemia and all its complications. Babies of the gd mothers do tend to be bigger than average which in itself may cause issues at delivery such as shoulder dystocia! So No your midwife is not shitting you!!! It might be a pia to inject the insulin but at least it's a treatment that is available and will protect you and your baby from irreversible damage.

Please talk to your midwife about how you're feeling emotionally too - you've a long way to go yet and it's important they know how you are feeling and give you the right support throughout.

I had Gd and was induced at 37 weeks due to a large baby. I was insulin controlled and kept my sugars in line with that but she was 8lb 11oz at 37 weeks. If I'd gone to 40 or 42 weeks, with a normal growth of about half a pound a week she'd have topped 10lb.

I had this and was diagnosed at 12 weeks and it felt like a very long road with insulin and metrormin very early on.

My baby was born and he was 6lbs so quite small compared to the generic "huge" babies you hear about but that is quite a myth.

If you join the Gestational Diabetes Facebook Group it is amazing for support and advice and explains really well the reasons why everything needs to be so well controlled. There are some great recipes too that will really help keep the sugar cravings under control if that is something that bothers you.

Like some of the others have said there are so many reasons but still birth, diabetes for you and the baby later in life and other serious complications too. It's overwhelming definitely but you can do this!

Thank you everyone for the replies, support and much needed reality check.

The thought that I'm harming my baby when I'm trying so hard to keep my bloods under control is just too much and I think that's where i wanted to deny it is dangerous. I knew coming on here would help me with this and it is helping so thank you.

I do think I need extra support though and I will ask my midwife and check out the fb page.

The constipation I have today is horrendous. Feels like I'm giving birth to a brick 😭 I'm drinking so much water and trying to eat the right food, lots of veg etc...but its like my body is going "well fuck you anyway"

Well done. All the faffing around during last pregnancy paid off.

Babies might be fine if you ignore GD. On the other hand, they might drop their blood sugar post delivery, have a stroke, and end up blind. It's rare, especially with monitoring of blood sugar post birth, but it happens.

Another vote for the GDUK Facebook group. They are brilliant. Yes it is frustrating- they have loads of lovely low carb recipes and ideas which helped. The risks from GD are mostly when it is not managed, so don't give up. It isn't worth losing your baby over a few weeks of restricted diet. The women on that group understand and can share your journey. Good luck.

As others have said - important for you and for baby.
Additionally, I cannot begin to imagine how bloody hard it is to eat right and inject yourself every day when you're in a fog of hormones. You are doing amazing and it is completely understandable to have a bit of a wobble! All the best for the future, it will be so so worth it. X

I just had 2 slices of seeded batch bread and 2 eggs...I've had them for breakfast a few times before and been fine...today my blood is sky high. I can't get a handle on whats going on, its really quite scary and frustrating.

I actually joined that fb page a while ago. It hasn't been that helpful for me, maybe I am just not getting things in my head properly. I feel like such a failure.

My sister in law had GD that wasn't picked up. Both her and her son nearly died and they're both now diabetic.

On the other hand, my friend had GD in both pregnancies - managed it as best she could, all of them were well throughout the pregnancies and her babies were both reasonable weights (7lb ish).

2 years ago I was on the keto diet and found it really helpful, I lost the weight I needed to lose and felt so fit and healthy. I stopped doing keto during lockdown and put on 3 stone. When I got diagnosed with GD I thought, great I will go back to low carbs...but that didn't work. I was advised to eat breads and rice and potatoes in small amounts, and that really blew my mind but I started to incorporate it into my diet. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't and I can't get my head around it.

I am exhausted and I am feeling quite unwell. That feeling you get when your bloods are high is absolutely horrible :(

blueugg - so sorry to read about your sister in law. thank god they survived. I am petrified of getting diabetes after pregnancy and I don't even want to imagine my child getting it too

Op, you are not a failure. It's fucking hard and fucking scary, excuse my language. But GD deserves it.

I've had two back to back GD pregnancies, my youngest is a year. First one was likely GD too, undx, so I had polyhydramnios and was enormous.

Middle pregnancy I was diagnosed at the standard test, and managed to stay diet controlled. Felt like I could do anything, lost weight, all great.

A year later, I had symptoms from conception. Started diet at 5 weeks, on metformin by 7. Insulin a few weeks later and by the end I was injecting 4 x a day plus metformin and 4-6 finger pricks, and I was STILL chasing the stupid fasting levels every morning. My boy was 7lb 3 and fine in the end. The thing is though, he might not have been. GD IS dangerous and I promise you the midwives are not shitting you. My diabetic midwife was amazing, all through lockdown, but she told me that they did lose babies through GD complications when it was left untreated and she was so passionate about it, I know she wasn't making it up.

I could never have managed 2 slices, even with eggs, especially in the morning. One slice, with butter, ham and eggs, yes. Eat the carbs, yes, but half the amounts. By the end I could have 2 small new potatoes, or half a slice of heavily seeded toast, but only with plenty of fat and protein. You do need some carbs for the baby, and you may need to up your fats to tolerate them, and your insulin, but you CAN do it. Think of sugar as a poisonous substance to the little one, take a breath, and for gods sakes don't stop eating, that makes it worse. Little and often to keep stable. You CAN. If I did, you'll be ok. 💐

Limplettuce thank you, your post has me in tears (not hard atm)

Work is so busy and stressful on top of it all, and right now all I want to do is sleep (for 5 months)

I know its a case of learning what I can and can't tolerate - trial and error. Its just so hard when one day you can tolerate something and the next you can't. Its such a mind fuck.

Like right now I can feel my b lood sugar is too high and I am picturing the little baby being harmed in there and I can't do anything to stop it. I have takent he dog for a walk and drank loads of water but still - I woke with high bloods and I still have high bloods and all that time is harmful to the baby. I feel so defeated. All I think about is food, all I talk abotu to dh is food, we go shopping and spend ages cruising the aisles looking for suitable foods and I am so tired of it all I want to do is cry

Oh love it's so tough isn't it. I was diagnosed late at 32 weeks and 7 weeks of it was enough so I can't imagine how you must be feeling. The GDUK Facebook group is amazing but defintely speak to your midwife about how you're feeling, it's so tough but keep going, you're trying to do the very best for your baby. What helped me was keeping a food diary and noting my sugars, then repeating meals that didn't spike, I ended up eating mostly the same thing most days but luckily it paid off and my baby was born 7lb 14oz, no interventions at birth and his blood sugars were stable. Keep going you can do this

@immstat the groups will help you to figure out a diet plan from foods you like.

For me I found once I had a list of workable foods and rules it was easier to manage.

The best rules for me were to:

• always pair a carb with a protein
• go for dark/seeded versions of breads/crackers
• just stay far away from potatoes, rice or pasta. I couldn't tolerate them, even in tiny quantities
• avoid low fat stuff as it tended towards having lots of sugar
• stick to an earring window that ended by 7pm, I needed a big break from food overnight or I woke up with really high sugars. If I was very hungry in the evening I'd have something high protein like cheese or nuts

My main foods were:

• egg - boiled in the fridge for snacking
• nuts
• low carb veg like green beans, asparagus, broccoli, baby corn
• meat/fish/tofu
• cheese
• full fat Greek yoghurt

When chocolate was a NEED rather than a want I would have Nutella which has a lower GI or dark chocolate

thank you

did you use an app to note your meals and sugars? if not how did you do it?

this is something I need to begin doing

HalfShrunkMoreToGo - thank you, this is a really helpful breakdown