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Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Original poster

diabetes in pregnancy

188 replies

happymumtobe · 21/11/2008 16:41

hello just wanted to know if there are any mums on here that is also a diabetic? i am in my 6th wk of pregnancy and i am also a diabetic would be intrested to meet and chat to other mums that are diabetic and pregnant or have been pregnant with diabetes.....thanx

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AllyAlly · 03/01/2009 21:16

Sorry, forgot to mention that only sustained highs (& I am talking days here) will harm the baby.
Toodle

SweetBROODY · 04/01/2009 22:46

Ally that was so good- thank you so much!

I havent had that many highs so hopefully baby is ok.

My ratio is 1 unit Novarapid for 5grams carbs? I am type 2 normally but asked to take novrapid - being veg most of my intake is carbs and this does make it easier for me!

Thank you for all your insight.. its so good to hear a good story - a lot of people have a lot of bad things to say about the diabetes and pregnancy!

Tee2072 · 05/01/2009 11:55

Hi Ally

Thanks for that!

I do need to point out that some Type IIs, like myself, are not given a ratio, but a number of carbs to eat and units of insulin to take. I asked my Endo about ratio and he feels that since I will probably be off the insulin in a few months, i.e. after delivery, that it is just as easy to control my diabetes that way. I still pretty much eat what I want!

SweetBROODY · 05/01/2009 11:59

I think thats the main thing - as long as you dont need to restrict your diet to much its fine!

Tee2072 · 05/01/2009 12:06

Exactly sweetbroody. I have a friend who had GD and she was telling me that she was always hungry. To which I replied, then you did it wrong!

MKG · 05/01/2009 12:48

Hi, can I join your group? I was just diagnosed with GD on Friday, and am still trying to get my head around things.

Tee2072 · 05/01/2009 12:56

Hi MKG and welcome! Feel free to ask any questions!

MKG · 05/01/2009 13:45

I guess my biggest question is that if this was such a big deal than why do I have to wait until the end of the month to meet a nutritionist and learn to check my blood and everything.

I've been given this diagnosis and now I have to wait three weeks. People keep telling me that if my glucose tests were very high they would have gotten me in faster, or put me right on insulin.

I'm very confused.

I mean I'm 31 weeks, so by the time I learn how to do everything, I'll pretty much be done being pregnant.

SweetBROODY · 05/01/2009 14:17

Hi MKG welcome...

SweetBROODY · 05/01/2009 14:23

How high was your sugar?

MKG · 05/01/2009 14:35

Well, I'm in the US so I don't if it's a different system or not, and we also do two tests a 1 hour for everyone and a 3 hour for those with high sugar in the first one.

During my 1 hour after drinking 50 grams of glucose my reading was 175 mg/dl and the cut off was 140.

during the three hour after 100 grams of glucose I'm assuming my fasting reading was low.

My first hour blood draw was 202mg/dl and 180 is the cut off.

My second was was 170 mg/dl and 155 is the cut off.

My three hour draw was 120 mg/dl and 140 is the cut off.

I'm very confused.

forevermore · 05/01/2009 15:24

hi can i join in even though not officially pregnant? i had GD with dd1 now 3.5. I was on insulin injections from week 25 i think and gave birth at 35.5. dd was fine but a poor feeder for month (do you think this was related BTW?). she is now a sugarholic like me.

I now think I am pregnant but tests have malfunctioned so not entirely sure. If/when I am pregnant should i ask to see an endo straight away and go on insulin for entire 9 months or just wait and see. I have a family history of Type II and was/am pre-diabetic and there was talk of metformin, then i lost 3 stone in weight and levels went to normal.

I have since put on a stone but still 2 stone lighter than i was with first pregnancy and regularly workout. any advice on what i should do once/if i am pregnant much appreicated.

also is there a chance now i am 'lighter' and more active i won't develop GD or is this inevitable as I am still officially overweight.

thanks

Tee2072 · 05/01/2009 15:51

MKG US does measure differently. UK uses mmol/dl, as opposed to mg/dl in the US. I used to have a website for converting, but it seems to be down!

However, those numbers do seem a bit worrisome to me. If it was me I think I'd be on the phone to my OB asking the exact questions you just asked here.

forevermore welcome! Hard to know if you'll still be GD with this baby, but certainly something to discuss with OB if you are. I think it is better to get it sorted early!

AllyAlly · 09/01/2009 21:03

Hi everyone
You divide US readings by 18 to get the equivalent UK reading i.e 180 md/gl = 10 mmol/L
MKG it appears that your blood sugar results were not terribly out of range, which could be why they are not rushing to get you seen. But I would chase them in any case to ensure there hasn't been a mix up. Let us know how you get on.

SweetBROODY · 20/01/2009 15:56

My biggest problem at the moment is that my appetite has come back with a vengence but- my insulin requirements have more then doubled for my normal intake of food.. not sure what to do really.. its quite frustrating!

Tee2072 · 21/01/2009 12:39

sweetbroody eat things don't have carbs! Protein and such!

SweetBROODY · 21/01/2009 12:58

Its really hard - especially becuase I'm vegetarian most of my diet is carbs...

How are you holding up sweetheart...?

And I cant shift the heart burn so not really eating much.. I was taken ill last week with High KEtones.. apparently this is because I'm not eating enough.. This is just so hard - I know its worth it but.. so hard!

MKG · 21/01/2009 13:10

HI all, I just wrote a long post and then my 3 yo erased it!!

I met with a nutritionist last week and was put on 3 meals and 3 snacks a day. My main issue is that I need to eat 60 grams of carbs at dinner, which is very difficult. It is just too much food for me. Especially since this pregnancy has left me with an appetite, but just not a big one.

My problem is that my numbers after dinner and lunch are always way too low, even though I'm doing what I'm supposed to. Like Last night my post dinner reading was 69 mg/dl which is 3.83 mmol/L. So it's just way too low. So far my highest dinner reading has been 105 gm/dl which is about 5.83 mmol/l. I'm starting to wonder if the test was right.

SweetBROODY · 21/01/2009 13:26

MKG It is very easy not to eat enough.. I find it hard to eat to much in one sitting.. so end up grazing a little after dinner...

MKG · 21/01/2009 13:32

I know, but they told me not to graze. So I've just started eating what I wanted when I want to and I'm trying to see what will set my numbers off.

Tee2072 · 21/01/2009 13:47

Sometimes that's what you need to do MKG. Go with your instinct!

Are you on insulin or just eating to plan? I have found it much easier to control my numbers with the addition of insulin.

MKG · 21/01/2009 13:53

I'm just on an eating plan. I think they would only put me on insulin if my numbers were too high.

SweetBROODY · 21/01/2009 14:14

Its prob worth mentioning to your Diabetic Nurse as well - that your sugars are dropping so much?

MKG · 21/01/2009 14:34

I called her, we'll see how long it takes to get a call back.

MKG · 21/01/2009 17:21

OK, so she called back and said that I shouldn't worry about anything that's low (unless it's a very scary low, but anything 70 or above is fine). She said, obviously my body is making enough insulin to handle what I'm eating, and that I can allow myself more freedom with what I pick. She told me not to worry about the numbers as long as they don't go too high.