Gestational diabetes

[Bubbles021]

Hi everyone,
I'm 33 weeks pregnant and have just been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Yesterday I was given the equipment to monitor my blood sugar levels, so I'm still getting to grips on everything. It was a lot of information to take in at the appointment, but the nurse said it can take some experimenting to know what raises and lowers my levels.
I have just done my first reading of the day and it is 6.1 before breakfast. I know it should be less than 5.3, but I'm confused as to what it means. Is there something you should do when blood sugar is high? Or is it a case of considering what I could have done differently yesterday? Sorry if this is a stupid question, I'm really new to this and it's all very confusing!

I was diagnosed last week. Would highly recommend joining the gestational diabetes UK Facebook group, I have learnt loads on there x

@Purplerain1144 thank you, I will do! I am just so confused by it all, no one actually explained what to do if it's high or low so it's guess work but I'm worried I'm making it worse!
Last night an hour after my evening it was too low, so I had a slice of toast and a rich tea which brought it up. I guess it's just playing around with what works but it's really confusing me xx

I never managed to control mine unfortunately and I was on insulin and metformin. It’s difficult! If your sugars are high then try and avoid carbs and eat some high fat foods and do some exercise, that will bring them down. I know exercise is difficult heavily pregnant but I found running the hoover around and scrubbing something clean often was just enough to lower them a bit. You have my sympathies though it’s miserable!

When you say it was too low, what was it? You would only really worry if you are on insulin if it's too low x

@Purplerain1144 it was 3.4, but I did go for a walk after eating too and realise now I probably didn't include enough carbs in my evening meal for the walk

@Labdo thank you, it I'm sorry you found it hard too!

I don’t think there should ever be cause to try and get the number up higher unless you are on insulin. It’s all about keeping the number down. So no need for toast and biscuits!

I managed to keep control of my gestational diabetes by diet only. I avoided bread, pasta and rice and that on its own pretty much controlled it. I found I could tolerate ice cream without causing a spike, I believe the fat content of the ice cream helps to moderate the sugar.

To confirm, if the readings are too high there’s nothing you can immediately do other than make a note of it and let your diabetes nurse/doctor know. If it’s consistently high I would imagine they may want to put you on medication.

I found it confusing and scary at first (took me a couple of days to stop crying every time I tried and failed to do a finger prick!) but you do soon get used to it and you will also soon get a feeling for what foods work for you.

I was diet controlled the first time but on metformin the second time around. Add plenty of protein to your meals- eggs, chicken, fish, etc. you'll never want to eat these ever again but they keep your blood sugar levels stable. Plenty of nuts, etc. I hated GD- I love food but mealtimes began to make me anxious. As mentioned above- join the Fb group above. Anything those ladies don't know isn't worth knowing. I used to share info with my hospital team and they used to sometimes look at me blankly because they hadn't come across something the FB had been discussing. Good luck.

Also drink lots of water before meals and try to fit in gentle exercise/walks before/after meals.

Exercise brings down sugars usually (although strenuous exercise sometimes raises them - unlikely at 33 weeks pregnant) so a brisk walk will do wonders, or a dance round the room to music.

Thank you all! It's really useful to know! I feel so hopeless with it at the moment. Hopefully after a few more readings I will start to figure out what works for me xx

The fasting levels can be affected by what and when you last ate but they can also be hormonal and require medication to control.

www.gestationaldiabetes.co.uk/high-fasting-levels/

If you get a high fasting level exercise won't help as your body is already dumping glucose. Best just to eat a high protein/natural fat breakfast at that point like eggs and bacon, omelette, avocado, cheese etc.

It's definately daunting at first but once you work out what you can tolerate it gets much better. Being on metformin helped me a lot too as I couldn't eat much without and it's important to be able to eat some carbs as your baby needs them.

I had GD with my last pregnancy so was tested early this time at 17 weeks. Got the call today to say i have GD again and i am also expecting twins. Any mums on here in same scenario??

Hi - I was diagnosed at a 32 week scan. If I can give you one bit of advice, don’t exclude carbs from your diet. I thought my GD was well diet and exercise controlled, until I ended up in hospital this weekend with a high level of ketos in my urine / blood. It took a lot of them to get it down and they’ve said I have to incorporate more carbs to avoid this happening again.

Definately don't drop carbs altogether, just stick to the low GI ones and try to space them out (a moderate portion with each meal or as a post-meal snack when you do have a low-carb meal). I have also been told to eat more carbs due to having ketones even though I do eat them with most meals. If you can't eat carbs without getting high blood sugar it's best to accept the medication which will be offered.