Gestational Diabetes - help!!

[macieg123]

Just looking for some advice/experience.

I got a call on Friday to say I have GD. They didn’t tell me my levels or anything so I’m not sure how bad it is (I was actually stuffing my face with a chicken burger and chips at the time 😩).

I don’t have my appointment with the diabetes midwife until the end of next week so I’m unable to test my levels etc until I get my test kit then.

The main thing I’m worried about is.. what if I’ve actually had this for ages and didn’t know?! From the start or even normal diabetes, undetected before pregnancy?! My diet in the first few months has been HORRENDOUS!! Way worse than it was with my first born. Every time I told the midwife I couldn’t stop eating rubbish she would say things like have what you want, your body knows what it needs etc… so I lived on takeaways, so many carbs and fizzy sweets were my biggest craving!!

I am so, so scared that I’ve caused some permanent, irreversible damage to my baby 😢 my urine has always been fine but I’ve still had a positive GTT so I can’t rely on the fact that my urine has been an accurate reflection of any issues!

Sorry for the long ramble - please help!! 😖😭

Hi @macieg123 don't panic! How many weeks are you? The important thing is they've found it now and you can make changes to your diet. I've just been diagnosed too a few weeks ago at 37 weeks but they did another test which checked my levels over the last 3 months and were able to tell I hadn't had it long, so they may be able to tell you this too?

You won't have done any harm to baby I'm sure, I think the main thing it causes is a big baby, you might just have a little chunk 😊

Just concentrate now on lower carbs, high fat and high protein, you can have lots of cheese! I've substituted white bread for seeded bread and pasta for wholemeal pasta etc and have less of it. Try to pair carby things with fat/protein as it slows down the body's response to glucose - ie cheese on toast, or an apple with peanut butter. Also as many green veggies with dinner as you can eat, I find this lowers my blood sugar reading! Sugar free jelly is a good one for a pud, I have it with double cream so it feels like a real dessert haha!

Good luck, remember it's not forever and baby will be just fine x

Drinking a pint of water with/just before a meal as well as doing a 20minute walk or even 20 mins housework immediately after eating also helps control blood sugars.
Just focus on the things that are in your control now and make some healthy choices for you and your baby going forward.
One silver lining of GD for me was the growth scan meant I got another chance to see my baby.
Best of luck with the rest of your pregnancy

Please keep calm. I did have awful diabetes and prob type 2 before my daughter was born. Was eating like crap constantly. I got hospitalised at 25 weeks and her stomach had gone from the 25th percentile at 20 weeks to the 97th at 25 weeks.

I got things under control fast. I followed the gd uk website and Facebook group and in had I thjnk 2 non fasting highs the rest of my entire pregnancy. She is a beautiful, bright, healthy 1 year old now.

Also if your levels were so bad they would not be waiting ten days for an appt for you. TRUST Me on that as it did happen to me. Even in the middle of covid they dealt with it immediately.
Hope that helps

Join the UK GD facebook group. Pair everything. I dd into have an appt after diagnosis to tell me what to eat (was given the testing kit before the GTT just in case) but figured it out from the fb group. Good luck!

Should have said *didn’t have

Stop panicking - they will refer you to a nutritionalist specialising in diabetes and gestational as well.

What to do now - cut the sugar and fizzy drinks down - drink diet or go for water low sugar squash. Sugar - just the excessive stuff sweeties sugar in tea and coffee etc

A good diet is a healthy food diet so if you can switch to wholewheat items, stick to savoury meals based on what is seen as healthy - salads and grilled meat or fish, veg and the same. Keep to white meats and fish and non processed meat, red is ok sometimes just smaller portions. I would wean yourself off takeaways as far as possible, maybe look at some of the fakeaway type recipes

ITs quite tricky with gestational but you can do it. I was amazed to find out your body needs up to 4x as much insulin when pg so its testing your body to the max.

It often goes away one you are no longer pregnant but does me you are predisposed to diabetes 2 in later life as there is insulin resistance present

I had glucose in my urine repeatedly while I was pregnant but passed 2 GTTs. I was finally diagnosed at 37 weeks, but I think I had it for most of my pregnancy. DD was induced at 39+3 and absolutely perfect and only 6lb 10.

Try and limit your carbs, I found I couldnt eat bread without sending my blood sugar up. My diet had been awful before I was diagnosed, I had really bad morning sickness so I ate whatever I wanted.

my big blood sugar kicker was Cornflakes my best meal curry with either small naan or basmati rice (sm potion tho)