Gestational diabetes diagnosis failed by .2!!

[Mumnavigation]

Hi there.

just had a letter through saying I have an appointment for a workshop for gestational diabetes. I had my gtt test on Wednesday but no one has actually rung me to tell me I had failed and have diabetes just this letter with an appointment. Tried ringing the number and the diabetic team aren’t answering. I phoned my midwife who looked and told me results which were 0.2 above threshold.

I’m devastated. My pregnancy is high risk anyway. I’m under pre term team who are just trying to get me to 28 weeks atm I’m currently at 26 which we never thought we’d reach and had emergency surgery at 22 weeks.
im under another consultant due to high risk for placenta problems and having a small baby previously so have appointments coming out of my ears for that and now this!!

But I also have gallstones and Ona very strict diet for that. As I was hospitalised at 17 weeks with it had severe jaundice and was facing an emergency procedure to try and unblock the stone that had got lodged.

My husbands diabetic so I understand the diet needed. But I only eat very limited foods already due to gallbladder issues and trying to prevent the same thing happening again.
I eat daily
fat free cottage cheese tomatoes and 3 whole grain rice cakes, for breakfast ,

for lunch - laughing cow lighestest on 1 slice of whole meal bread with salad.

for my dinner I have either steamed chicken breast no skin and all visible fat removed with some basmati rice or pasta and veg Or a jacket potato with tuna and salad.

I try and eat a banana mid morning and an apple in the afternoon.

I’ve already lost a stone in weight and midwife has said that’s ok but to now stop and try to eat more as on average my calorie intake a day is 1000-1200 I track on an app to try and make sure I eat enough as I was loosing weight.
I was over weight to start pregnancy so it’s not the worst thing in world but with this workshop what are they really going to be able to tell me to cut back on?!

I can’t tolerate eggs, or other meats except turkey breast. I can’t eat things like humous
im just at a complete loss now.

I feel broken and tired. And received a leaflet today telling me about induction and still birth because of gestational diabetes. And atm I’m in bed rest just to try and keep my baby in longer. Getting to 28 weeks would be a miricle!! And I just think it’s so much more stress to throw in.

I have 1 team trying to keep baby in
another saying my baby is likely to be too small and would grow better on the outside so monitoring me to see when they need to take baby out!!
man’s now another team telling me my baby is at risk of being humongous.

I desperately don’t want to go to this work shop as i can’t follow general advise I need something a little more tailored. I feel let down that no one actually told me I was diabetic just an appointment letter with all risks of gestational diabetes included.
im happy if they want more scans fine or blood tests fine but I can’t bear the thought of being told advise that I can’t follow because of my own journey and complications so far and to be scare mongered again when I’ve already thought about loosing my baby so many times during this pregnancy and still trying hard to just cling into her.

I just feel like I can’t take any more. I’ve not been able to eat today as I feel so sick from it and I’m just so so tired.

from a very fed up hormonal mum x

@Mumnavigation I'm so sorry you're going through all of these things. I had gestational diabetes and looking at your diet, what you already eat might actually be fine! Just with a few tweaks. Can you tolerate nuts, nut butters, pulses etc on your current diet?

A lot of it was about food pairings - so pair everything carby with a fat. So your snacks would be okay, just try to eat them with some nut butter, handful of nuts, or full fat Greek yoghurt. Baked potatoes were okay, if paired with beans and cheese or tuna Mayo and avocado. Your dinner of pasta or rice might be okay if it was whole grains, and made sure to have pulses, cheese etc with it and lots of veg.

You'll get to see what you can and can't eat when you get your monitor, as what everyone can tolerate varies. But your levels aren't too high at the moment so it might be you have a bit more freedom to eat more normally for a bit.

I know you already know about a diabetes diet, I guess what I'm trying to say is the GD diet was quite different to my friends diet who is diabetic. It had to get a lot stricter at between 32ish weeks onwards because that's when the hormones have the biggest effect. But I was like you, only fractionally over the test limit. And it would change week to week what I could tolerate.

I did end up on insulin for the last few weeks of my pregnancy, and I did end up with an induction. But it was okay. It's very scary to hear though, especially when they hammer home about the risks, and especially with your other health problems, you must be feeling very overwhelmed.

And I've just realised a gall diet is fat free. I'm so sorry, that's really tough!

With levels so low over, hopefully you'll be okay with what you eat for the next few weeks. Your diabetes one on one nurse will be able to advise better (you should get assigned one soonish hopefully)

Thanks for the reply , that’s the issue I’m most worried about I cannot tolerate fat at all even the good kind.

i can’t eat cheese even reduced fat cheese,
no nuts , can only have fat free natural yoghurt or cottage cheese and only a tiny amount of chickpeas etc because of my gallbladder disease. I can’t eat egg yolk only egg whites and all advise I’ve seen is that pairing carbs with fat is the best solution / method. But I can’t eat any fats due to the absolute state of my gallbladder, the surgeon has booked my op to remove 4 weeks after my due date as he says it urgently needs removing and it’s really bad in there but can’t remove while pregnant. So I had to do everything possible to avoid a stone becoming stuck again as I’m risking pancreatitis and last time it really took it out on my liver . So I just have no idea how I’m supposed to eat without loosing even more weight that midwife has told me not too.

I can’t go for a walk due to being on bed rest so using exercise to help also isn’t an option at the moment.

I already eat only whole grain I just feel like it’s a battle I can’t win. And I’ll go to this group meeting and be given general advise that I can’t actually follow due to the gallbladder issues and bed rest issues. I feel so defeated that all of the advise from each part of health issues I have always then conflicts with another. I’m just at a total loss and the diabetic midwife team don’t want to answer the phone today, even switchboard have said that’s strange and have tried them on 3 separate numbers.

I can’t bring myself to eat today due to stress and feeling like I’m going to harm my baby. I just feel absolutely awful.

That's super difficult, I'm sorry, last thing you need.

I think you need referral to a dietician. I'd strongly push for that. Alternatively it may be that you have to eat what you can and accept that you might need insulin.

I also think you need specialist advice from a dietician whose very familiar with both conditions. And they might decide metformin tablets or insulin are the best bets. Im so so sorry, this is the last thing you need. How awfully stressful xx