Large baby and symptoms of very late gestational diabetes...wanted to share experience to help others

[Tyniclogs]

I wanted to share my experience on this subject in order to help anyone experiencing the same symptoms I had/have. I've just found out the answers to my questions at 36 weeks pregnant with my second and last child so it may help someone else in future.

My first pregnancy went well up until the final trimester when I started to feel 'ill' couldn't put my finger on what it was but had urine infections and a general feeling of things not being right. I was constantly exhausted and found it really difficult to move in the final weeks. My midwife and Consultant were not concerned and as my GTT tests had both come back ok and my last scan was fine there was nothing more said. I did however always have consistantly high sugar levels in my urine.

I ended up being induced at 42 weeks and delivered an 11lb 10oz (5.5kg) baby) unfortunately it wasn't straight forward ending in an emergency C-section. As I had a urine infection at the time of the birth I passed the infection to my baby and we both ended up in hospital for 7 days after the birth.

After the event I was given no answers as to why the baby had been so big and was left quite frustrated.

When I got pregnant again in October last year although I was classed as 'high risk' because of my last babies size I wasn't booked in to see a consultant until 34 weeks. As I was concerned about the birth and carrying another big baby I pushed for an earlier appointment. I've had both GTT tests and again they have come back ok...on the high side but under the guidelines. I have still had high levels of sugar in my urine. The pregnancy has followed the same pattern except this time I have been scanned later. The Consultant hasn't really been much help other than ordering extra scans.

Basically what has happened is that I have developed Gestational Diabetes after the last GTT test at 28 weeks and this time I have had indicators such as a furry tongue (white fur and a little sore), I've also had the same urine feelings (not exactly infections but uncomfortable) all caused by excess sugar. I have been feeling rubbish and experiencing lower groin pains, especially when trying to poo The extra scans have shown the baby is on the same path as the last (98th percentile) but as I am having an elective C section at 38 weeks I hope he will be smaller.

I am lucky that my midwife ordered an extra GTT test the other week which showed up the Diabetes and I am now under the Diabetic team and am having to test and follow a strict diet for the next 12 days. I just wanted to let people know that I have been feeling so much better for the past few days since following a strict no sugar diet, I have some energy and don't feel 'ill' anymore. I wish I had been a little more forceful in trying to find out the reasons for my discomfort but was told at my last Consultant meeting that my symptoms were just those of being pregnant. Having spoken to the Diabetic team everything now seems extremely clear that I have suffered from some form of sugar overload and whilst not diagnosed as Diabetic earlier I would have been helped by following a stricter diet from the start.

As a result of the Diabetes the baby will need extra mionitoring after the birth and I will need to have another GTT test at 6 weeks post birth to check my blood sugar has returned to normal. I'm just glad to have finally found some answers.

Sorry if this is long but I just wanted to make others aware if they are experiencing anything similar.

Thanks everyone for updating and all your good wishes. It's really wierd to know I'm having a baby tomorrow and am starting to feel really nervous. I've had a rubbish day foodwise after saying I was going to try to be really good, it's just been really busy and I wasn't at home at lunchtime. I've been shopping all day and bought silly girly things like makeup (as I realise I shan't be shopping again in hurry with a toddler and new born!) I went in all the shops you can't get a double buggy into! I'm hoping having waddled up the high street I'll sleep well tonight.

Sorry to hear your news forevermore hopefully you will have a different experience this time as you know what to expect and can be a little more prepared for it. It's good to know there are others who are going through it and that we can support each other.

No-one should feel at all guilty about having GD as I was told it's just the way my body handles pregancy, it's got nothing to do with what you've eaten or how you've exercised. I consider myself a fit, healthy person (ok, so I eat sweets and chocolate and don't exactly 'work out' at all!) but having an 11lb 10oz baby was never something anyone could have predicted for me based on my weight or diet.

I have all the baby clothes ready, size 3-6 months! I'm preparing some witty responses for all the rude comments which will no doubt be made about his size and I am hoping the baby is on the big side or I'm going to look a complete fool for making such a fuss! I shall report back in a few days everyone and I shall let you know how the GD is handled in the hospital. See you all on the other side

Best of luck Tyniclogs - not long till you get to hold your lovely babe in your arms. xxx

Ooooh i wonder how tyni got on yesterday, i do hope she is ok and recovering well with her new bundle.

How is everyone?

hello heeby. I'm having a crappy time wtih this restricted diet! I'm permanently starving and keep getting light headed, and i cannot ge the hang of getting blood from my fingers to do the testing!
but other than that , all is ok.

how are you?

Oh no olivo it sounds like a nightmare, i'm glad i'm not in your shoes. Have you spoken to the clinic again for advice? Can you eat bread or pasta ? or is that carbs? i'm not sure what to suggest, can you have diabetic stuff like a sweet treat? what can you have?

In this heat i'm sure veggi soup would be the last thing you need!

If it helps i am getting light headed a lot too, if i go more than about 2 hours at the most without food i break out into a sweat and feel like i'm gonna pass out, i then have to stuff down lots of food quickly (bread or cereal bars seem to hit the spot!) it's awful! MY DH tells me i'm always eating, but then i say 'hey i have to!'

I am huge today, not just bump but all over, feet, hands, arms, legs ... everything, really uncomfortable and hating it now, please come early baby!!

xx

Just wanted to post the briefest update as I'm just home from hospital last night, on painkillers and milk is coming in so could ramble rubbish for hours! I had the elective at 2pm on Thursday which took 29 minutes and my 'little' boy was born weighing a tiny 9lb 6oz, he's so small compared to his brother but looks exactly as he did! Everything has been straightforward but have had some feeding issues and ended up giving a couple of cups of formula aswell as breast as he was so hungrey. I've stopped now I'm home and my milk has started coming. His blood sugar was on the low side at birth so they gave him formula. I think by insisting on the breast first and using a cup for formula hopefully it helps to establish feeding.

I shall post later and add more, hope all is well for everyone.

Congrats Tyniclogs!

I just came across this thread and read it as I had GD.

Olivo, the diet does take a bit of getting used to. I had to test my blood seven times a day and do ketone readings in the morning. The testing got easier after a week or two. Perhaps try a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack and mix protein and carbs together to slow down sugar uptake into the blood. Take advantage of the fact it's summertime and bulk out on salads - light, filling and if you're good about what goes into them, they do not contribute to the carbohydrate counts (I used to measure my food carefully; the one thing that I gave up on was potato as caused the most dreadful spikes, no matter how little I ate).

Good luck to you all!

Hey tyni lots of congratulations to you honey! What wonderful news!! Well done. Wow 9lb 6 is a great size and i bet you're glad you didn't go to term to deliver! you are good at making big babies huh.

Have a lovely few days and it will be lovely to hear all about the birth and your recovery when you get chance.

Congratulations again xx

Congratulations Tyniclogs and welcome to your baby boy .

I had some cake today, i just couldn't not

Just wanted to update, feeling much better today after the turmoil of hormones yesterday, wow they really floor you! Feeding is going much better and I've been milking lots to get the milk in. Feeling ok about having given formula even though I was dead against it as I can't see what else I could have done.

The best thing is being able to eat again without thinking so there is light at the end if the GD tunnel. I feel glad that I stuck to the diet as baby is looking really well and doesn't have all the rolls of fat my last one did. I'm also feeling better and am not craving sugar so even though I can have it I haven't actually tucked in too much.

Best of luck to everyone I hope you all have an easy time of it and hopefully we'll all be GD clear after the six weeks check up.

Great to hear you are recovering well tyni and that your boy is healthy and well. How was this C-section compared to your previous one?

Hmmm, good question Heebychick. The last one was an emergency but dare I say it...more enjoyable than the elective?! Basically my local hospital suffers greatly from staff who are overworked and lack the basics in communication. The whole experience was incredibley medical and my one request of having the screen down during the birth was met with a complete lack of understanding that I wanted to feel a part of what was happening. I was basically told I wouldn't want to see what was happening and they put the sheet higher so I they may as well have put a sheet over my head . The baby was born but taken to be dressed and checked and I didn't get to see him until recovery, my husband went to be with him which I'm glad about but I was left staring at the wall feeling completely detached from the whole event. The reason the emergecy one had been better was purely the staff attitude which reassured and included me in the whole event, I had skin to skin almost immediately and had seen the baby being born.

I not going to dwell on it all and the drugs completely wiped me out anyway which didn't help. I am telling myself it was 29 minutes of my life and the result obviously cancels out the procedure. I feel a little sad that I'll never know what it feels like to give birth normally, but like your wedding day it's just one day and it's the rest of life that matters.

I had an utterly rubbish midwife who walked off at one point instead of holding me upright on the edge of the table when I'd had the spinal She was shouted at by the surgical team...hehee. She then got up my nose by taking the baby behind the curtain in the recovery room and then wanted to know why I asked my husband to pull it back...so I could see my new born baby! She was giving him formula but had I not pulled it back she wasn't going to have told me.

Anyway. I am lucky enough to be a member of my local Maternity Liason Committee and meet with all the senior members of the service several times a year. I have a meeting coming up in a few weeks and will be able to report back in a full and frank manner on how I think they're doing!

sorry you didnt get the experience you hoped for tyni, but as you say, try and see it as one day only, the rest and a good outcome are so much more important. it's great that you will get to comment as part of your committee.
i will bear in mind your experience when i speak to the consultant about delivery.

i am sooo desperate for some biscuits

tyni that is a shame that it wasn't quite the relaxed and involved experience you had wanted. But i totally agree that it really doesn't matter as long as your little boy is here, safe and sound and your family is together. I remember feeling a failure when i had the emergency cs last time, i had tried for so long to get it right but in the end she came out safely and i have forgotten how it all happened in a way.

Good luck with the committee and yes raise your points, do your hospital offer the birth afterthoughts service? ours do here and it is an opportunity to talk in depth about your birth experience, i found it was helpful after DD and may well do it again after this one if i feel i need to, it doesn't matter how long after the birth you do it either which is great!

How do you feel now you can eat normally again? i really hope you manage to BF for as long as you want to and that the formula doesn't start to take over until you want it to.

olivo can you buy/make some 'good' ones or do they not exist? i bought some diabetic choc as i thought at least that was half way!

Congrats Tyni and sorry the birth wasn't handled as well as it should have been . I'm glad your little boy is here safe and sound.

I had gtt last week which came back as the high end of normal so re-test in 2 weeks time. Since then I have cut out my much loved orange squash and sugar in my tea. No chocolate or sweeties have passed my lips. But when I went to ante-natal yesterday I had Glucose +2 and Ketones +1 in my urine. Also the baby is creeping up on the centiles on the growth scan and is looking big for dates. I think it's a dead cert that the Gestational Diabetes will catch up with me by the next GTT. The one thing I am finding it impossible to cut out is my fruit. I love this time of year as all of the best fruit is in season, yesterday I got a craving for peaches and ate 4 in a row . How are you all handling the lack of fruit ? have you been told you can eat any at all? I just ate a whole papaya and now feel really bad. I do eat veg but fruit is really my thing and through the long months of morning sickness (only stopped being sick every day at 26 weeks) fruit was often the only thing I could keep down so I guess I've got into the habit.

Congrats Tyniclogs!

Just a quick one from me, but some things I've done diet-wise lately which are helping keep my levels down which may or may not be some help!

Breakfast is now an omelette with quorn and soya beans (!!!) and a slice of toast - my levels have stayed low - although I'm also taking two metformin with the food.

Olivo Biscuits - I found some Nairns ginger biscuits in Holland and Barrett - Sainsburys do them too, and they're a lifesaver. They're definitely Low GI, so allowed - and so far I've had no high readings. Nairns also do some crisp-type snacks, made from oats, cheese flavour, chili flavour and one other I can't remember - a bit pricey in Holland and Barrett, but again, a lifesaver! Nairns also seem to be the only company who mark their food 'Low GI' - worth checking what they have though. (here's a link to everything they do, and their GI/GL level - www.nairns-oatcakes.com/content/default.asp?page=s10_3)

Hanhingbellyofbabylon Fruit-wise, all these should be fine fresh, as they're low GI - Apples, blackberries, cherries, grapefruit, grapes, lemons, limes, oranges, nectarines, peaches, pears, plums, raspberries, strawberries, rhubarb. Avoid melons though - very high in sugar! I guess a lot is playing by ear, though, as cereals are low-GI, but don't work for me, and leave me with a high reading.

Heebychick Diabetic chocolate is no good - it's got a lot of fat in it, and we were advised against it by our dietician. I've got some dark chocolate covered ginger bits in my drawer at work, and I have a couple of those when I fancy it - one or two pieces a day isn't going to hurt if you eat sensibly!

does anyone know whay when i had DD1 i had to keep sugar below 7 after two afters and no in 2009 is below 7.8 in 1 hour (which is much harder i might add). DD1 was born without low BS so it obviously worked. right now struggling to keep below 7.8 after 1 hour but easily under 7 after 2 hours.

also how detrimental is the odd high reading?

forever, i have to be below 7 after 2 hours, wasnt aware it had changed. i wouldnt imagine the odd high reading is too much of a problem, my nurse told me to expect the odd 'way out' one. i have one tonight - i naively had 2 non alcoholic beers at the pub after work, and then did my before dinner testing and then had a bigger than normal dinner out. i wont make that mistake again!!

can i ask does anyone know about alcohol and gest diabetes? i really fancy a glass of wine, have had only the one since i've been pg. will it mess up my blood sugars? it'll be just a little dry white!

what i can say is i was told that alcohol will spike then drop you blood sugar levels. i also remember that my blood sugars drops if i had wine when pregnant with DD1 and on insulin. i would give it a go and test within an hour and see what has happened. it may be personal to you. i have a glupsip of wine a couple of times a week but only a out of DH glass. that seems to keep me going.

I was also going to ask about nuts. since i have had GD this is the only snack that fills me up and doesn't affect BS (i am talking a v.small handful) should i avoid do you think?

forevermore - according to my GI book, nuts like Pistachios, cashews, hazelnuts, macademia are all low-GI, so should keep your blood sugars down, whereas all others aren't a lot of good, unfortunately. Peanuts, pecans, walnuts are all 'amber' foods - so aren't completely bad, but of course there's that old chestnut (ha, no pun intended there) about peanuts being bad for you if you have allergies. (no good for me, with my asthma and hayfever and occasional eczema!)

I have to test my sugar levels an hour after eating and the clinic would like them below 7.5. Mid-week levels are always fairly low, 6.8 being the highest and then as the weekend nears or if I've got a hospital appointment the levels go all over the place.

However, I had a fetal growth scan at 34+6 and it came back within average range for dates. EFW = 1922 g (4lbs). GD is being controlled through diet at moment. The Diabetic Nurse wanted me to go onto insulin due to some of the high readings, but I really don't want and cannot see why if he is growing within range.

I was diagnosed with GD at week 28, wasn't put onto controlled diet until week 31 so it's been 6 weeks since first finding out and cutting out most sugars. Is insulin really that necessary, I'm more scared of having hypos if I take it when my levels are low.

redboxer, i found your post interesting, as my EFW at 30+3 was 4lb 2 and they said that was ok - i am not very big!!!

thanks for info about alcohol, forever. i had a small glass with my dinner but forgot to test - really enjoyed it though Should keep me satisfied for a few more weeks!

Hi all,

Really good to hear more stories and i agree re large babies, my DD was 9lb 12.5oz and i didn't have GD and her blood sugar was fne at birth.

I have been up and down as i was borderline a few weeks ago (random blood sugar was 6.6) so have tried to be careful but today ahad my 39 weeks check and had +4 glucose in wee and baby is very large for dates.

I had to have another blood test and i should know today, they wanted to rush them through for me. If it comes back as >7 i shall be asking for a growth scan as was told a while ago that if i am borderline GD then it might be why baby is big. My 32 week scan showed EFW was 5lbs and head and abdo circum was >97th centile.

Wine (esp white) has lots of sugar in it, red is better as when it is made it ferments after it has been pressed whereas white grapes ferment (with natural sugars etc) before being pressed. Shame tho as lovely to have!