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.

Grapes are known as sugar bullets apparently! A lot of fruit is high in sugar, which is why it’s best to pair with something like full fat Greek yoghurt, or have less sugary fruit like Granny Smiths apples.

Ditching breakfast can have a big effect too.

Also, don’t forget if you’ve been rushing about in hot weather that the heat naturally raises glucose levels.

Don’t worry - live and learn and you know for next time when you’ve gotta eat on the go.

Did you still have sugar on your hands? Mine was 14 once after eating a salad and thought that cant be right so I washed my hands and tested twice more and it was within range.

but you have had a lot of carbs sugar in that meal

My reading after evening meal is back down to 5.6….. I’m blaming the grapes and the weather!

There's no way I could have eaten your Gregg's lunch when I was pregnant without my levels going through the roof. The only fruit I could eat was berries and apples. It's a learning curve!

Ooh definitely don't skip meals, that wrecked havoc with my readings even if I ate a healthy meal!

Fruit salads tend to be high in sugar, they contain grapes and melon and other high sugar things . I was explicitly told to avoid things like mango and watermelon.

I personally couldn't tolerate bread, even wholemeal bread. I tolerated German rye bread for a short amount of time but even that stopped working soon.

All my readings have been in target since…. Won’t be skipping a meal or eating grapes again o

Hello. I was diagnosed on Thursday with GD at 33 +4. I'm supposed to be changing my diet but finding it hard.

Is it mean if me to go on Metformin without really trying to change my diet first. My highest reading has been 10.1 but, I usually get 1 high a day around 8.6.
Am I doing more harm than good to the baby by starting the tablets?

Thanks ☺️

@Onethingiwantfor23 GD can cause numerous health difficulties for your baby. Changing your diet can be hard, but it’s for a very finite amount of time.

It doesn’t mean starving yourself; just eating different things. You can still eat plenty of fats and protein, so cheese is fine, meat is good, full fat yoghurts etc.

No one can make you follow the diet, but metformin won’t be the miracle cure and it still relies on you making dietary changes too. It’s a sacrifice to make for your baby, but it will reduce the risk to their health.

Thank you. I'm vegetarian and have always struggled with getting enough protein as I don't like meat substitutes.
I'll check out some GD diets and try to get some ideas.

I had undiagnosed GD in my first pregnancy, it's absolutely worth it to make the effort to control your blood sugar with diet as much as you can for the last few months. The side effects were not that noticeable for most of my pregnancy, I was a bit bigger than the other women I met and gained weight faster than I expected but nothing insane until the end and then in the last few weeks I blew up and gained about 2 stone in a matter of weeks (some of which was water retention and excess amniotic fluid) My skin was stretched out much more than I think it would otherwise have been and it took my body a long time to recover, though I was still in my 20s and not overweight before pregnancy. I was just under the threshold when they did the blood sugar test but I didn't have the knowledge to recognise that meant I was at risk so I ate everything and I wish I could have done things differently. I knew I was at risk in my second pregnancy so set out to manage my diet and keep to an exercise regime and the experience of birth and recovery was so much easier. You need to find low carb, high protein food you like and keep it in the house and find some sort of manageable exercise, whether that's pregnancy yoga, swimming or an exercise bike, whatever, just do it. I'm not athletic or particularly disciplined but I would have done anything to avoid getting that big again. Uncontrolled GD is very hard on your body at the later stages of pregnancy I promise you it's worth getting ahead of this now.

All the advice here has been spot on. Definitely find the GD UK FB page. So heIpful and supportive. It's a faff but only for a short time. Absolutely not your fault!!

I was diagnosed at 28 weeks with my second baby. Luckily stayed diet controlled. Weighed less post birth than at my booking appointment but never hungry. Baby weighed 8lb, 5oz. Baby went from about 90th percentile to 65th on my growth chart so my change in diet defo had an impact.

I’ve been diagnosed for nearly two weeks now, and I’ve really gotten used to the diet changes. Don’t get me wrong, there are times where I really would like some chocolate, but I’ve been really strict as I want to avoid medication at all costs. It’s really worth sticking to it imo.
So far, so good - it seems to be working. Only had one reading over target, but I have noticed this morning my fasting levels are a little higher.
Bad sleep, boiling hot and a little dehydrated so im hoping that’s why.

This isn't a loaded question, it is a genuine question. Could I ask why you want to avoid medication completely?
I understand wanting to avoid insulin injections, that's very scary! However Metformin is safe for use in pregnancy, in fact it enabled me to get pregnant in the first place (PCOS and insulin resistance meant I wasn't releasing eggs).

I'm not necessarily posting this to make you question your choices as it is completely fine to want to avoid meds, but they're also helpful and safe to use so for some people can make a difference, and those people who might see this in the future need to feel free of guilt about taking them.

By the way I don't mean that question horribly at all, just thinking about folks who might be reading this but not involved in the chat

@Viralsunflower is injecting insulin scary because of the injections or dies it have an adverse effect on baby/your body that you know of? I think I am sadly heading in that direction due to my fasting readings.

I'm also just intrigued not trying to be defensive/provocative by asking!

I got prescribed the insulin but didn't end up using it because my sugars randomly dropped so I chose not to use.
I was told that there was a high chance of having hypos whilst using it because of the short space of time they had to get the sugars down. The thought of hypos really scared me as if you're out in the car you can't drive after having a hypo.
The diabetes nurse showed me how to do the injecting and that part actually looked really simple and not scary at all

Crazybrowncow I'm not having insulin injections, they said I'd only need this if my fasting readings were high. I am terrified of the idea of self injection, DH would have had to do it for me. My after meal readings were generally good but I had a few borderline ones per week so they gave me the option of metformin which is a tablet you take with meals. I asked for this as I was having no flexibility within my diet at all, the dietician talked about how to have treats like biscuits and half a bar of chocolate and this would have been impossible for me with keeping my readings where they needed to be. So after already having a very stressful pregnancy, I opted for the medication so I could enjoy the last few months with slightly less stress and feel a bit more normal. It's my birthday this week and I'd like a slice of cake!

So far I've found taking the metformin very helpful, my sugar levels are now pretty much always good even if I have a bit of a treat, I can tolerate more foods, and I haven't had any readings over 7 for 2 weeks.

I didn’t think anyone wanted to take medication? 🤣
Obviously, if I need it then I’ll take it. But I want to avoid it if I can control it through diet alone. I thought this was the aim.

I know sometimes life isn’t as simple as this, so I am prepared to take it if things start to raise.

Hope I didn’t come across as being against medication completely. What will be will be.

I had it 2nd pregnancy the gestational diabetes UK website really helped and I paid membership for the additional recipes.

DS2 was 7lb and passed all his sugars so not a big baby by any means. I remained diet controlled it is a lot to get your head around and a lot of trial and error with what makes your sugars go up (all fruit and Greek yogurt was a big no no for me for instance) but you can do it and I enjoyed a lot of the recipes.

I expressed colostrum pre birth which was a helpful back up but was still able to have a water birth.

I had gestational diabetes 20 years ago. I am not a diabetic now. My DD is at uni pulling a first. She was 7lb 11oz at birth. She was long and strong. No complications, natural birth.

I had to really cut back on carbs to keeP my blood sugar within limits. Perhaps not a good long term diet, but okay for four months. I ate lots of nuts, avocados, chicken breasts, etc. Fruit was my treat. I walked after every meal.

I weighed less 3 weeks after the birth than I did before the pregnancy.

It was a discipline I could only muster for my baby. I never would have done it for myself!

I'm starting Metformin today, feel kind of deflated and worried about side effects. Is it awful? I am starting with one tablet after dinner, it's the slow release type. It's only my fasting readings that are high (varying up to 6). Any advice?

I'm on metformin at full dosage of 1mg twice a day and honestly, no side effects. I took it in my previous pregnancy too.

@hdbs17 I think you mean 1g twice a day

@Crazybrowncow the side effects are manageable by starting at 500mg then building up to 1g twice per day. Take with food and by they I mean an substantial meal not just an apple or snack. If this doesn’t keep side effects at bay ask for modified release metformin.

Thank you - I did but no edit facility on the app yet 🙄