Diagnosed with gestational diabetes but no appointment until next Friday…

[Spareincoming]

And I’m panicking and catastrophising already!
Desperately trying to keep my anxiety at bay!!

I’m 25 weeks pregnant and was diagnosed on Tuesday. No symptoms- the only thing that sent me for testing is one of my parents has developed type 2 diabetes in the last year.

What do I need to know? Im
googling but reading the worst outcomes…

The midwife who rang to tell me my result was quite abrupt and didn’t tell me much at all. Just my next appointment is next Friday!

I’m already booked in for a c-section at 39 weeks; would this be brought forward?

What are big food no-no’s?
That’s got me panicking as I’m gluten intolerant and know I drink too much fizzy pop but can’t have sugar free as the sweeteners affect my ADHD!

My previous pregnancies have been smooth sailing in comparison to this!

I’m terrified I’ve done damage to my baby.

You absolutely have not damaged baby! I would have a look at the Diabetes UK page on gestational diabetes but wouldn't make too many dietary changes until your appointment. Most hospitals now will have a diabetes team including a dietician, diabetes nurse and midwife, consultant obstetrician and cons endocrinologist. They will go through testing your blood sugars and diet, scans etc. They won't bring your elcs forward unless there are concerns for baby

I panicked when I first got my diagnosis too, it’s a really scary thing. Luckily I had a lot of support at my hospital via specialist diabetes midwives, dieticians and the obstetric team. The gestational diabetes website is an excellent source of information and recipes. As a rule of thumb I used to eat a lot of eggs and low carb bread (it’s called Live Life and was a life saver), proteins like chicken, fish, with loads of veg and a small amount of brown carbs like pasta and potatoes, walks after my meals, plenty of water, avoided cakes/sweets/chocolate/fizzy drinks/juice/anything with added sugar basically. They’ll give you a blood glucose monitor and you’ll most likely have to check your blood sugars about 4x a day. I managed without having to go on insulin, it’s hard work but as long as you’re determined and willing to prep food it’s doable!

Ok, put down the Google!

You have done nothing wrong, your placenta is making your pancreas go wonky which is affecting how well your body handles sugar. You have not caused this and there is no blame to be assigned.

What to expect at appt

• You should be given a prescription for a blood glucose monitor and a schedule for when and how to test and what results you are looking for.
• You should be advised to keep a food diary so you can see how what you eat correlates with your sugar readings
• you should be given some dietary guidance

Dietary guidance

• carbs are not the enemy but do need to be limited and you should try to stick to complex carbs like rye bread, ryvita, multi seed bread, sweet potato, green veg (stuff grown above ground is lower carb)
• pair carbs with fats/proteins - apple slices with peanut butter, ryvita with cottage cheese, toast with scrambled egg
• fat and protein are your friends - egg, full fat Greek yoghurt, sandwich meats, full fat cottage cheese (longley farms brand you won't be disappointed). They will fill you up and will not raise your blood sugar.
• give your body a good solid period of time where it's not having to process any sugar by not snacking in the evening if you can help it, if you need a snack make it something with zero carbs.
• a short walk after a meal does wonders for reducing your sugar levels
• worst case scenario you need metformin or insulin, I ended up on both, it was fine, didn't hurt and very simple to do.
• I was actually 1 and a half stone lighter at the end of my pregnancy than I was at the start because I was eating better, so that was nice.

Baby

• you will likely have more scans (yay!!) to check growth
• you're already booked for a CS so that's sorted, they may suggest moving it forward depending on size, I was induced at 37 w 5 days.
• they like to take 3 sugar readings over a 12 Hr period from baby before releasing you, but again your having a CS so would be in for that long at least anyway.

My DD is 9 yo now, no health problems, other than being really tall with gigantic feet she's a perfectly average, happy, bright, funny, wonderful human being. Pretty sure the tall with big feet thing is unrelated to the GD though given I'm 5ft 8, her dad is 6ft and I have size 9 feet. She was doomed from the start 😂

Take a look at Gestational Diabetes UK website.
If you are on fb, then they have a group too.
Best website for information and support. Change your diet now - this site has loads of recipes too.

www.gestationaldiabetes.co.uk/

Thank you everyone! I have stepped away from the internet since posting this and it’s probably helped as much as all your comments!
@FatAgainItsLettuceTime Thank you for this, so helpful to see that breakdown!