Having a wobble over GD

[Lavender14]

*trigger warning mention of difficult birth experience

I just got a diagnosis of gestational diabetes at 27 weeks and I'm having such a wobble. I've been feeling pretty good through this pregnancy having previously been quite nervous at the idea of labour etc and found hypnobirthing etc really made a big difference for me so far. However this news has thrown me for a loop because it feels like my body suddenly isn't doing what it should or has let baby down in some way as ridiculous as I know that sounds logically.

I was a super sized baby and my mum had severe ptsd after my birth as it was very traumatic for her and the midwife told me it's likely she also had undiagnosed GD. I was already worried about having a large baby as that experience really shaped her ability to parent and bond with me and now im even more concerned. I really want a natural water birth but suddenly I'm faced with with induction and cesarean and just struggling to work out what the best plan would be.

Does anyone have any good experiences of managing GD, having average sized babies, being induced early and such like to help bring me back down to ground? Just my main reference point isn't a good one so trying to put it back in context and some positive experiences i think would really help! Thank you in advance.

I was diagnosed with GD at 29 weeks in my first oregnancy, along with having high blood pressure. As a result (more of the high blood pressure) I was induced at 37+2 and had a very positive birth; it was very fast once in active laboir with pethidine / gas & air as pain relief. She was 6lb 6oz so a normal size for the time.

My GD was managed by medication, I didn't have to inject with insulin. I just adjusted my diet slightly as well, trying to reduce the carbs in my normal meals, so when we had fajitas I wouldn't have wraps, just the meat with some salad, then a Thai curry, only a very small amount of rice. Where you are testing your blood aftfr each meal, you soon find out what triggers a high reading, then I just tried to cut that out as much as possible.

Hope that helps, let me know if you have any other questions.

I'm pregnant again and so far no GD but will have to test again at 28 weeks xx

My sil had GD and was repeatedly told her baby was gigantic. She booked in for an elective (she'd wanted that from the off) at 39 weeks. He was 8lb3- not remotely chunky, just long.

I've never had GD myself but I've been the victim of ridiculous scan predictions and them being utterly wrong (tiny baby predicted at 6lb at 40 weeks and requiring immediate induction🙄 ended up being 8lb15.5 born at home at 41+6). I would say that scans are not the most accurate way to decide whether or not baby is big. Sara Wickham has a lot of excellent advice and research available on her website.

I have T2 diabetes so a little bit different to GD but my dd was 7lb8oz, I was induced at 39 weeks. The induction worked much quicker than they expected so I could not have the pain relief I wanted but it was otherwise straightforward.

Thanks so much both of you, that's actually really reassuring. We'll monitor the baby's growth as we go but really nice to know that it's still maybe a possibility to have the experience we'd originally hoped for. I know nothing is for certain when it comes to labour and delivery, I just want to give myself the best start into parenthood that I can.

I had GD,

I was induced at 38 weeks, from start to finish labour was very quick only 4 hours and baby was a dinky 6lb12.5oz.

I was diagnosed with GD at 8 weeks pregnant after my booking in app so had it the whole pregnancy, started off diet controlled then needed metformin as my pregnancy progressed.

Firstly, you don't need to be induced if that's not what you'd like. Just because it's policy doesn't mean it needs to be done! The NHS recommendations even state that if the GD is well controlled induction isn't necessary, it's just policy for them to offer induction from 38 weeks onwards with GD. Similarly, you can absolutely have a water birth with GD, there's no law that states as soon as you have GD you can't have a water birth. Of course you might have to fight a bit harder for it because again hospital policy is usually to have a more medicalised birth with GD. There's lots of support groups on social media and plenty of doula/midwife accounts on insta that post plenty of info about this sort of thing!

That being said if you feel induction is best for you or even an elective you absolutely can choose this too! Again There's lots of positive induction stories out there and plenty of online resources on how to make your induction a positive experience!

Good luck op

If your GD is well managed there's no reason baby will be big, they'll likely monitor babies size via scans etc and then make a plan closer to the time for you.
I'm pregnant with baby number 3, 1 and 2 were average and this ones measuring huge despite not having GD, consultant isn't worried 🤷‍♀️