Gestational diabetes - chat.

[GreenAventurinee]

Hi, I’ve just had a phone call from a midwife to tell me that I have gestational diabetes.
Can anyone who has it / had it please tell me their experiences.
I had complications last time which meant my son had to go into scbu and I really do wanted to avoid it this time around 😔
What does this mean for me and my baby? And will she be really huge and need support after birth?

Feeling really upset and worried.

Try not to worry! I had it with my first pregnancy and to he honest it's nice having the extra check ups/scans etc. Everything was fine for me. I was induced 2 weeks early as they thought baby was big and he was 8lb 13oz but that was basically it! Didn't need anything afterwards etc. Good luck! :)

I'm worried about GD as well, I'm a while off getting the test to see but I've been told I am high risk. I know if you have it you can attempt to manage it with diet, but in the meatime can I use diet to change my chances of having it in the first place?

I had it in my last pregnancy (2nd) and now 31 weeks with my 3rd and my tests came back negative.
With my last baby, he was small rather than big. I ended up being induced at 37 weeks because he dropped off the centile he was following and came out at 5lb 15oz.
What I would say is the NHS diet advice isn't great. A lot of food they recommend isn't suitable and you can get a lot of brilliant advice and recipes for GD friendly food from Gestational Diabetes UK. They also have a Facebook page. You will find that the GD diet is very fat heavy so meat, full fat cheese and cream will be your go-tos.
Also when it comes to it, hospitals aren't very diabetes friendly either (at least my trust wasn't). They mainly offered carby food which was very bad for blood sugars so mostly ended up with water, curry sauce without rice and a small amount of fruit for breakfast.

@LavenderSweetPea altering your diet now won't do a lot, gestational diabetes is down to hormones from the placenta. My husband joked I only failed last time because I ate too many Easter eggs but it was all the fault of the placenta. That's why they say once that is out after birth the diabetes instantly disappears. If you have it, it can be so upsetting, I cried my eyes out. But none of it would be your fault, it's just the hormones.

I had it, it is a shock and its hard at first to eat the right foods but you soon get used to it.

The positive is that GD is one the only complication of pregnancy that you can control. My MW told me if you control your blood sugars you bring the risk of further complications to equal that of a pregnancy without GD. it’s only uncontrolled blood sugars that lead to complications.

I had it and managed to normalise my pregnancy through diet but it's hardcore. Normal diabetes info won't cut it. Literally everything sent my bloody sugar sky high and o lived off eggs, chicken, cheese and pepperami. DS born at 41 weeks in the MLU weighing 7lb 7oz and no aftercare needed. But Christ alive, did I enjoy that Dominos when I got home!!!

Also, another benefit was that I weighed less after I gave birth than when I fell pregnant!

So chicken and veg would be a good place to start re diet?
Thanks for your experiences. They are really helping.

I’m gutted as my diet isn’t even bad…. Just not sure what I’ve done wrong and I’m kicking myself.

It’s not your fault.

all women become insulin resistant to an extent during pregnancy it’s just some women it’s more severe so have GD.
don’t blame yourself, your worry is normal and means you will be able to ear right and take care of yourself and baby!!

*eat right

@GreenAventurinee literally you have done nothing wrong! It's all the placentas fault that it happens, but definitely plan yourself a nice treat for after birth. I packed Hotel Chocolat chocolates in my bag and had a pizza hut takeaway the night I came home. It was bliss!

Currently 33 weeks into my second GD pregnancy, I found out at 28 weeks with the first and 17 weeks this time.

Honestly, it's nothing to worry about. Ignore the NHS recommended foods - they'll have you spiking. Eat plenty of proteins and fats with small amounts of simple carbs. It's a boring diet, but you can manage the whole thing through diet.

You also get growth scans so it's nice to have the opportunity to know everything is ok and see the baby more.

With my first pregnancy it was believed that it was solely down to BMI but since then, the NHS know more and my diabetic midwives have even told me that it's all down to the placenta and how your hormones change. Your body has just temporarily forgot how the pancreas should work, and it'll come back after pregnancy.

@Gloopyhoop thanks! I'll continue trying to eat healthy, but I'm going to stop beating myself up every time I have a piece of cake if it's not likely to make much difference.

Careful with veg. Peppers and carrots made me spike terribly. If I wanted veg, I used to have to cover it in melted cheese!

i was so upset when diagnosed but managed it fine with diet. I will likely have it this pregnancy too

Breakfast
Porridge with milk fruit amd protein powder

Dinners and lunches
Stir frys with protein
Omlettes for lunch
Protein and vegetables
Big salad with nice stuff in
Soups with some crackers and protein side

I ate a lot of sweet potato and low carb pasta (edamame)

Snacks
Humous and carrot
Peanut butter and granny smoth
Protein yoghurt
Cheese string
Pepperami

For sweet treats i went for halo or oppo icecream

Secret weapon : a walk arpund the block after every meal (radically reduces spikes in blood sugar)

Im having an elective C-section. Did anyone else have a C-section. (The C-section isn’t to do with the GD, it was my choice all along).

I’ve read that some babies with GD have breathing troubles when born .

My first was induced but failed so ended up having emergency section, he was completely healthy.

I'm having elective with this one.

I can't say I've heard of breathing issues, blood sugar issues maybe but that's if your blood sugars have been uncontrolled.

Hi op, i had GD with my last baby, she's now 2. I wasnt diagnosed until 36 weeks as growth scans showed her a little larger than usual ( I had growth scans due to high bmi).
I had an elective section for other reasons and she was born weighing 8lb one, hardly the giant baby i had imagined 😂
I managed to control my blood sugars by eating well (sometimes) but they kept spiking after breakfast so i was put on metaformin once a day which helped.
Whilst all the diabetes information online can help, it can be very random what spikes your blood sugar. Plain weetabix sent me over target but a chinese takeaway didnt somehow🤔😂.
I wouldn't worry too much op, just do your best.

I was diagnosed with GD at 29 weeks and was induced at 38+2 which ended up in an EMCS. Baby was measuring 97th centile and was born 8 lbs 11 Oz. He was taken to NICU for 2 hours to help him breathe but I can't say if that was because of GD, the CS, or something else. Either way I was very glad that I'd harvested some colostrum which my partner gave to the midwives and my baby was fed that straight away.

He has since dropped from 75th to 50th to 25th and has settled on the 9th centile! He is a slim baby when not fed by my placenta. Totally healthy at 4 months old.

I was mainly diet controlled because I really wanted to avoid medication if at all possible. I did start to struggle towards the end and some things would spike me when I had tolerated them before. I made an effort to go for a walk after lunch and dinner, and eat my green veggies first because that does help with blood sugar spikes.

I went on what I called the gym bro diet. Most meals were chicken, vegetables, and a small portion of wholewheat pasta or rice. It was tedious. But it did end and I ate everything I wanted to when the baby was born :)

I found it easier to just do a blanket ban on sweet things, but I know other people have managed to have small amounts of chocolate paired with fat and been okay.

I was diagnosed with this in my pregnancy. It was no surprise to me as both my mum and sister had it - not big ladies, so clearly genetic. Baby wasn't affected at all. I controlled it with diet, no medication necessary. He came 8 days early, really quick and easy labour. A rather small 6lb 7oz!

I have a meeting set up for Tuesday where I’m sure they will tell me more? But with regards to times of eating and spaces between eating, is this important? So good to know that diet can control this

I had it and honestly it was fine (for me, understand others won't be the same).

Managed it through diet and apart from extra scans and routine appointments nothing was any different from my first pregnancy. Baby was born on due date and weighed 6lb 9oz and the diabetes went away as soon as I gave birth.

It's just about figuring out what makes your blood sugars spike and I think it's different for everyone. E.g I was fine with potatoes but pasta was a no go.

They'll likely set you up with your testing kit and show you how to use it, when to test after eating and what your levels should be between.

For example, I have to test when I wake up, then an hour after breakfast, lunch and dinner. My fasting level should be below 5.3 (which is normally is) and my after meal should be below 7.7, but it can spike occasionally but just as long as you recognise what makes you spike so you avoid eating it regularly.

I had this with ds. I was able to manage it during the day by being careful with my diet but when I was asleep my sugars rose (this just happens to some people) so I needed to go on insulin overnight. That did affect a few things, for example I'd need additional monitoring during labour and wasn't allowed a water birth. (I opted for a planned section in the end up which was still a fab experience for me). The diet takes a while to get to grips with and unfortunately there's not really a set meal plan as each person's body will tolerate sugars differently so there will be a bit of trial and error until you find what works. I ate the same thing a lot because I knew it kept me within range. The important thing is to still eat carbs, if you cut them out altogether you'll go into ketosis which is bad for baby and when you do next have them you'll have an even bigger blood sugar spike. So little and often, wholemeal, paired with protein is the way to go. I found it generally pretty manageable and the insulin injections weren't too bad (I'm petrified of needles and I managed it fine). If you want to breastfeed I would recommend looking into colostrum harvesting as baby will need bloods checked after feeds at a regular interval after birth. That can put you under a bit of extra pressure to feed but if you have some colostrum frozen then it's a wee safety net.