Anyone want to join in a support thread for those with gestational diabetes?

[CantSleepWontSleep]

Since it seems to be reasonably common, I thought maybe we could have an ongoing thread where we could discuss issues relating to it, and maybe share ideas of meals that work for us to keep blood sugars down.

I was just over the threshold on my GTT nearly 3 weeks ago, and have been monitoring my bloods 4 times a day since last Thursday. Had my first visit to joint diabetic/obstetric clinic this morning, which I found thoroughly impersonal and demoralising, so am feeling a bit low about it at the moment.

I am nearly 20 weeks, so still have a long way to go. Am hoping to control it just through diet, but consultant gave me a prescription for insulin 'just in case I need it'!

Am having the most problem with my after breakfast reading. Have been told to keep it below 7 one hour after eating, but even with the cereals they have recommended, I am getting around 8-9. Dietician has recommended trying baked beans on toast for breakfast instead. Is anyone else struggling with this one, as they said it is a common one to find raised due to steroids produced by the body in the mornings?

Thanks dizzydixies and CSWS Managed a bit of sleep last night and was a lot calmer today. Baby looked huge to me, head was like a football but she didn't seem too worried, going back next week for sizing scan so will find out what they think then. I would rather not be induced as was with 1st and struggled. I think i will try and hold out as long as I can, I need the time to sort things out, trying to do packing and important stuff before Tuesday just in case. Think I'm more peeved that I have to change the hospital and this one is a bit cattle market like, still it is in centre of town so easier for visitors.

Debs75 - sizing scans are notorious for being inaccurate re weight of a baby

please remember not to be bullied into anything you don't want to do - there is NOTHING that needs to be decided instantly - take your time to fully understand everything before agreeing to anything

glad you're feeling calmer today

Thanks to you all for making me feel a little easier.

When you do your blood pricks before meals do you ever get a low reading? They have said mine should be between 4 and 6 and not above 7. Mine are more like between 6 and 8 and i've noticed that just before lunch I get real tired feel like I have a cold and start sweating, when I check my blood they have been 4.1 to 4.5. If this is what they want it to be then why do I feel so rubbish. is my body craving sugar at that time, I find after something to eat and a rest I feel kind of normal, well as normal as you can feel when 37 weeks pg.

Hi Debs. I only test after meals (have to be below 7 one hour after) and first thing in the morning, so never get readings as low as that.
Are you eating anything between breakfast and lunch? The key to stabilising blood sugars is to eat little and often, so if you're not then I'd try introducing a small snack (piece of fruit, oatcake and cheese or similar) mid-morning.
Otherwise I wonder if your breakfast is too sugary, causing you to produce extra insulin which is then causing a crash. Not sure if that could be scientifically correct, but sounds like it could. What are you eating for breakfast?

We have cereal either bran flakes, muesli or porridge and I put some strawberries or dried apricots on it.
I think maybe I am panicking about stuff and rushing around in the morning when ds has gone to school. Will try having some fruit or oatcakes with me at all times. Need to do my big shop at weekend as well so we don't have much healthy left, got to resist the urge to sneak choc biscuits out of the cupboard.
Hope this settles down after birth I won't make a very good diabetic.

Ah, that is a very high sugar breakfast imo (although I appreciate that porridge is normally one of the dietician's first recommendations). I can't do anything with milk in the mornings, as it alone is packed with sugar, without allowing for all the sugar in the cereal, or the fruit.
Have you tried taking your blood sugar an hour after that out of curiousity?

My standard breakfast is one slice of wholemeal toast (but I have to be very careful to pick a low carb low sugar one) with an egg, and that just gets me within acceptable levels.

How very interesting about your breakfasts. I had hospital appt today and my readings are high after Weetabix 8.4 - 8.9 but if I have toast and marmite they are around 6.2. There was me thinking Weetabix was a good low sugar healthy option when a slice of toast is better. I'm so reassured by your experiences too.

Scan showed the baby is growing slightly faster than they'd like so will check again in 3 wks (wanted to do 2 wks but that falls on DD first day back at pre-school and Mum's are staying) if baby is still growing too rapidly they may talk about inducing me.

I don't know much about being induced other than I've heard it makes labour more painful. Do any of you ladies have any experience/opinions on whether it is safe/ok option to be induced?

I'm going to try taking bloods after meals, I think they have me taking it before so they can get an idea of what my blood sugar is like before i eat so they can see if it is just too high which it is really, mostly 7's and today before breakfast nearly a 9. Have tried cutting portion sizes down as well, I have too really bump is right up to where my bra sits and when I eat there is just no room, it took me about 30 mins to eat a small jacket potato today as I had to keep leaning back every couple of mouthfuls and I looked like i had eaten a horse i was so big.

sorry to crash but I met my friend today and she has been told she is at risk of this. I wanted to make her something nice to eat to cheer her up - any suggestions?

Debs - jacket potatoes are also really high GI I'm afraid, so you might want to cut back on them. They send my bloods sky high. Boiled new potatoes are good instead . (Sorry - I seem to be the bearer of bad news for you all the time!)

BBBee - is it a full meal that you're after, or a treat? I have a recipe for low GI chocolate brownies that are quite nice, but it's a pdf, so I'd need your email address to send it to.

Whinge warning....
I am sooo frustrated with my clinic! I get referred to the diabetic clinic as high glucose ++ in sample, even tho GTTs have all been fine. Then I get there and they say, well, your readings are fine, you're not diabetic, off you go.
So I point out that my readings are fine if I don't even look at toast, white rice, potato etc let alone anything sweet. I'm worried that if I follow the diet I'll control it without them realising then there's the extra risks of large baby/ overdue/ and them not doing the tests on the baby's sugar levels.
So after much "discussion" they agreed I should randomly test and follow the diet if I wanted to ?? but if I needed any help I only had to ask.
So now I'm confused. Do I eat "normally", and get really high scores to frighten them, or follow the diet and keep a low profile???
I don't care about the label "diabetic" I just want the baby to be OK. Why don't they seem to understand this.
Rant over.
Hello newbies (waves!) - just to confuse you toast is my worst thing! dull cereal works well...

I think that in your situation I would eat 'normally' for 3 days, let your blood sugars rise if that's what they do, record exactly what you've eaten and the results, and then switch to eating low GI, carry on recording results, and phone them a day or two into this regime to tell them the results.

Yes, that's kind of what I'd decided - though less clear in my head IYSWIM. 3 days can't do any harm and if I'm careful after that all should be well. They were very nice - they just didn't tell me anything definite which was what frustrated me so much. 35 weeks today, so whatever happens it's not long to go. I don't have another appt for 2 weeks as they "discharged" me from the GD clinic and I'd lost my slot at the other clinic .
I shall phone them next week.
Thanks for that, it just helps to have a more objective viewpoint. DH is convinced I should just stick to the diet as he feels that's safest, but I feel the undiagnosed risks are higher.

HI - Just wondering when you all had your diagnosis? I had a scan last week which showed excess amniotic fluid, and the GTT test on Friday - at 38 weeks. Waiting for results but think that its the most likely explanantion. However, I'm wondering if this should have been picked up earlier in urine tests? I had been planning a HB, have pool etc already so this has been quite a shock, as scan was just to check presentation. In fact scan only happened cos I really pushed for it and arranged it myself - - - wondering what would have happened to Bub and me had I just gone into labour in the last few days with no problems detected?? Baby is ok size wise at the moment, awaiting confirmation of GD before I look into the possibility of still having baby at home, but if any of you know anything about that I'd be grateful for your views. Thanks!!

Never had glucose show in my urine Nelly, so I'd prob never have been picked up if I'd waited for that. I was diagnosed unusually early at 17 weeks, through a routine GTT given because of my family history combined with being overweight.

I'm not aware of any risks to you if you push to have the baby at home (but you most likely will have to stand up to some opposition if you do get a diagnosis), but there are possible risks to the baby if his blood sugars are not stabilised soon after the birth, and you won't be able to get these checked with a homebirth (should be done no less than 3 hours after birth and again 3 hours after that, as a minimum). Shoulder dystocia is also cited as a risk, but if the baby is ok size wise then I'd tend to discount this one, as I think it's only because babies born to mothers with GD tend to be bigger.

You may also be pushed towards induction, anytime between 38 and 40 weeks, depending on how risky your hospital view the pregnancy, and this obviously couldn't be done at home. You should give some thought to how you feel about this, and discuss risks with your consultant.

You may be able to take your birth pool into the hospital with you, if that would be an acceptable compromise to everyone. You are extremely unlikely to be given insulin at such a late point, so you shouldn't need continuous monitoring during labour.

Did my blood 2 hours after breakfast of no added muesli and it was over 10, nearly fainted with shock. Talked to a friend whos mum is diabetic and she swears by shredded wheat so am buying some tomorrow. Have been trying real hard today not to have any carbs or anything which might send the levels up but still feel like a fish out of water. Levels have been lower but still not as low as they want, think I will get my hand slapped Tues.

Hello all

thought i would join you as i had a GTT this morning and they called me back this afternoon to tell me it was impaired ( fasting of 8 and after glucose drink 14 ) Dont think that is too bad but i had GD in my three previous pregnancies (my last pregnancy was 11 years ago though so i cant remember lots about it just the blood testing and insulin a bit further on) I didnt really have anyone to talk to about it either and my last baby was in intensive care after the birth for a week so im keen to not get a repeat performance for that.

It looks like you all have some good tips for keeping your sugars down and im hoping that the clinic give me a diet to follow as as far as i can remember it was no sugar and complex carbs. Maybe slimming world might be worth following for a healthy low sugar diet?

Good luck tomorrow Debs. It is all a bit trial and error at the beginning. If your shredded wheat still sends you too high then give it a go with light soya milk (not the sweetened kind). It's not as nice, but is only slightly higher than water in carbs and sugars!

Welcome rosie . Your results sound very high to me I'm afraid! Your fasting is higher than I'm allowed at any point in time, but we'll soon help you to get them down!
I've been a slimming world veteran myself in the past, and I think you probably wouldn't go far wrong following the red/original days, but green days would be the absolute enemy of a diabetic diet, and they were the ones that I always enjoyed!
You are quite right that it is as little sugar as humanly possible, and only complex carbs in small portions, with plenty of protein and veg to lower the overall GI and keep you full.
A long age gap you've chosen this time!

Just to give another option for breakfast, I usually have a small portion of Greek yoghurt with some banana - I know you'd expect this to put my blood sky high but it works for me. Occasionally I have porridge which is also fine as long as it's just a small portion.

I think I'm quite unusual in that I had less trouble with my morning bloods than most people although I have been on 6 units of insulin at night for quite a few weeks now so I'm sure that helps.

Have been a bit poorly this weekend ds was sick and i've had the runs, as a result my bloods have reached 14. I have tried all the suggestions and tried to be sensible in what I eat but it doesn't seem to be working. Well will just have to see what they say tomorrow, they mentioned a sizing scan and internal before they decide if they want to induce.

Thanks for the advice cantsleepwontsleep - have to be honest and say that the fasting one surprised me because i avoided anything sweet all weekend knowing i had that test on Monday morning - shows how little i know about all this i never did red days as im not that keen on lots of meat I dont think that results were ever as high as this time nor so early so im not sure what they will do ( i have to go to hospital tomorrow to discuss it all ) so will see what they say - i dont know if i will be on insulin straight away or if they will try and sort it out through diet?

I wasnt going to have any more children as my girls ages range from between 16 to 11 but i have been with DP for nearly two years and he has no children so it seemed like a great idea Cant wait now to meet my lo - having a gender scan tomorrow with babybond and am soooo excited ... dont mind the sex but will be shocked if its a boy after all these girls!

Am going to slowly trawl through this thread too to generally pick up some tips - worried about starting insulin though as i remember it made me feel shaky and rubbish if i didnt eat on time so im really going to have to get on the ball with my meals.

rosie - good luck tomorrow.
CSWS - have followed your advice and actaully have some quite low scores on a "normal-ish" diet. So prob borderline and they won't commit to anything when I go to the clinic next week.
Maltesers didn't do me any favours though!

went to clinic today, had the sizing scan but she is fully engaged so she coulkdn't get a good measurement, her legs are long tho.
Went to the mw bit and had protein and sugar and something else in water so had to do another sample to check for infection. They checked my blood sugar diary and decided that it wasn't even remotely controlled by diet and it is too late to try drugs so i am back tomorro for inducing. (HELP)

Now it is coming tomorrow i am abit anxious, 2 weeks felt like loads of time, to sleep mostly, now i have less then 24 hours before they start.

On the plus side tho i will be able to sit down without feeling baby is coming up my throat, heartburn should subside and i will have a little baby to coo over. Have sitters sorted and everything i need so here i go.

Will let you know how things turn out when i can.

Oh blimey Debs - all a bit quick! Best of luck with the induction. Do come back and let us know how it goes.

Rosie - I forgot to ask how many weeks you are/when you are due? Is it still quite early if you don't know the sex yet?
Got bored trawling through our inane chat on the thread yet ?

debs75 just saw your post, good luck tomorrow