Gestational Diabetes

[lemontop]

Hi

Just had results of my GTT come back high and have an appointment to see two doctors next week. I think one might be a consultant and the other a dietician. Has anyone had any experience of GD in pregnancy? If so what's likely to happen at my appointment?

I'm a bit concerned that I'll be 31 weeks when I have my appointment which seems a bit late.

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Hi there - this thread is a little old. [[https://www.mumsnet.com/pregnancy/gestational-diabetes
If you want to read more about gestational diabetes, we’ve got some information here]]. MNHQ

Thanks for the welcome Laura.

I had a growth scan this morning and this is already one large baby weighing 3lb 12oz at 28+4. Thankfully everything is ok with her at the moment.

We had a busy appointment afterwards and were at the hospital over 3 hours getting sorted out.

I feel better now I feel like I have an idea of what I'm doing. I have to test 4 times a day and was pleased that both my after lunch and after tea bloods were well within limits.

I am not allowed to snack between meals which I know is my biggest weakness and I will find that hardest. I can have a yogurt or fruit straight after a meal as a desert but not as a snack midway through the afternoon/evening which I know I will find hard. I surprised myself though by feeling very satisfied after my tea and still am so have skipped the yogurt.

I will be induced around 38 weeks due to baby's size and at the moment there is no reason why I have to have a caesarean which was really worrying me but if they try to induce me and it doesn't work or she gets distressed then I would end up with one. Hopefully it will work being induced first time as it did with dd and I will be doing all the old wives tales to try and get her out without being induced if possible.

I have another scan in 4 weeks and then will have fortnightly scans to keep an eye on her. I also have to go in for her heartbeat monitoring regularly from 34 weeks and they will check my kidney function then too.

I feel happy now that I know we will be monitored closely and I have appointments practically every week to keep an eye on things.

This has given me a kick up the bum to take care of my diet and lose the weight and get myself in better shape even after our baby arrives.

Emma xx

Morning All

Hope you are well.

Homeschooler it sounds like you got a lot of good information and know exactly where you are with things so that is good.

Its funny how different areas do things differently. I'm in a very similar situation to you, although wasn't diagnosed until 31.5 weeks when baby was measuring 4.4lbs and have been controling with my diet since then.

I'm now 38 weeks 6 days and unless I get to the stage I need insulin they are just going to leave me to my own devices, with monitoring to make sure nothing has changed.

I had a scan last week and the baby was measuring 6lbs 11oz so the growth has come right back into the normal range although I got told off for not eating enough carbs!

I have an appointment today so we'll see what they say.

I'm also suprised by your consultants no snacking rule, they didn't give me any rules as such just some advice on low GI options. In fact the dietician I saw said I was better to wait and have 'pudding' a little while after a meal rather than at the same time to give me body a chance to deal with the meal first! I have a mid morning snack of an apple and a mid afternoon snack of a banana most days and my pre meal levels are usually fine. I guess we better both stick to what our consultants have told us though!!

Have a good day all

L, x.

Hi ladies

can I join? Im 15 weeks preg with DC5 and had a GTT yesterday which has come back +ve for Gestational Diabetes..Ive got toncheck my blood sugars daily, be referred to the dietician and will be now being the specialist diabetic consultant instead of my usual consultant.. am a bit gobsmacked to be diagnosed so early tbh..I have big babies anyway..DS 2 was 9lb 7 at 38 weeks so Im a bit startled at the prospect that this baby may be even bigger

Hi LauraKB,

i have thought long and hard and although i really dont want it done- i will go for my appt this friday!

will let you know how i get on.

Thank You

Hi Memorylapse

I think its probably good they diagnosed you so early cos now you have plenty of time to try and control it with you diet which may well help to keep baby's growth normal.

Like we have been saying the other good thing is they'll keep a closer eye on you too.

I was a bit gobsmacked and overwhelmed at first too. I still am a bit!!

L, x.

Hi All,

Had a meeting with the GD consultants team this morning, and i'm still here to tell the tale!

They have given me a blood glucose monitor to keep track of my blood sugars. I've to do them twice a day and ring the diabetic nurse next tuesday with them. They said they'd be happy if they were under eight, but any more then that and they would put me on Metformin.

They are going to see me in clinic fortnightly, and scan me monthly with a view to being induced at 38 weeks!

Laura..have just been reading through all the literature given to me by my MW its all quite overwhelming.
Ive got my BM machine and am picking up my sharps box and all the extra bits and bobs from the surgery tomorrow.
Ive got my appt for the diabetic clinic next weds so after looking at my BM'S they will decided if I need insulin..I hope not

Hi Ladies sorry i havent been in touch for a bit, i have managed to stabilise my blood sugars for the moment and have only went over 8 once in 4 days.

Laura I have to been told the same as you to have a meal and then a snack later, i usually have a banana mid morning and a satsuma or an apple at 3ish.

I am now concerend after reading homeschooler post as i had a scan last week at the same gestation and my baby is measuring small, will mention it to consultant next time i see him x

Morning Ladies

Looks like we are all doing not too badly with our levels which is good.

The clinic were happy with mine yesterday so have pretty much 'signed me off' and have said I won't need glucose/insulin monitoring in labour which is nice.

The consultant examined me and said things look like they are on their way so if I haven't gone myself by Tuesday they will take me in for induction.

Memory and Dee, that's good you are getting all sorted. The girls on here who had to have insulin have said it isn't as bad as you think, a bit like the finger pricking I guess.

I'm just off back to bed to see if I can doze off cos I am having an 'am I leaking water' panic. I'm going with no at the moment but got told off at the hospital for not phoning when I thought one might have happened!

Have a good day all.

L, x.

Laura hope everythings ok with your waters.

I had a midwife appointment this afternoon and my urine tested ++++ for ketones. She said I may not be eating enough and phoned my diabetic midwife and left a message for her to contact me to see what to do next.

I'm worried if I eat more though then my blood sugars will be too high aaarrrgh!!!

They've been ok but before lunch they were 4.4 which is ok so I had 3 slices granary bread dry with 2 slices bernard matthews turkey breast and fresh lettuce and tomato followed by a shape fat free strawberry yogurt which I thought would be ok but it gave me a 2 hour reading of 7.9 which is just a fraction over my limit (has to be less than 7.8)

I went and googled ++++ ketones and gestational diabetes and scared myself to death with what I found.

I tried phoning the diabetic midwife myself but she's not there so don't know what to do. Will it be ok til tomorrow do you think? I'm trying to make sure I drink plenty of water but am worried about having so much ketones.

Has anyone else had this problem? If so what did they do to sort it out?

Thanks
Emma xx

Hi Emma

I had this too (although only 2+), for exactly the same reason.

What I was told to was to eat the carbs etc in moderation and if my sugars were high as a result they would take it from there.

Basically they said eat 'normally' (still no cake or orange juice sadly!!) and if I needed insulin to control my sugars then so be it.

Sorry if this is TMI but when did you take your sample? If it was FMU then the ketones may just because you hadn't eaten through the night and would have gone away not long after breakfast.

I would be suprised if you had ketones after your big lunch but if you are really worried (and you sound like you are) I would phone the hospital delivery unit place (ours has a 24 hour advice/emergency line) and ask them.

Better to be safe and have your mind put at rest than worry.

Try to stay away from google - I can't do it either but I'm not sure its good for either of us! I looked at the same sites I guess and felt exactly the same as you.

Another good tip is keep a food diary then they can get a better idea of if you are eating enough or not.

Water situation fine BTW thanks for asking. Phoned the hospital and they said it was ok just to monitor it as they would expect it to be constant rather than a couple of gushes if it was waters. Pretty much dry all day so so far so good.

L, x.

Hi Emma I have been diagnosed now for 3 weeks and was not eating much at all to begin with. I would say it is a case of trial and error to see which foods send your sugar level up x

The ski yogurt may have been the problem cos i made this mistake it you look at the nutritional information although low fat they around 15% sugar!!! The only yogurts i can eat are some i have found in morrisons which are a diet yougurt and have no sugar at all. It is very difficult mine are fine after biggish 'proper' meals ie chicken dinner, chilli con carne, spag bol even fish and chips but go well over 7.8 on sandwichs and even 9 when i had a wholemeal pitta bread with chicken, tomatoes and cucumber!!!

Oh an d forgot to say Laura not long left for you now x Bet you are excited x

Excited and scared I think MTP!!

hey there, hey Laura good luck for your upcoming experience! sorry I didn't get back in touch on here, had a whirlwind and a really difficult time so am only just hobbling around at home and doing things like tentatively turning on the computer.

well, news this end obviously is that my baby boy Evan is here now, yippee!! and he's very well and bonny. 8lbs born, full shock of dark hair, beautiful. he seems really strong and bright and inquisitive and amazing.

We're having to seperate his arrival from the actual birth in our heads though, as it was very traumatic,and not what we wanted at all. Don't forget, he is here now and safe and happy!! but, sparing you the gory details, suffice to say induction for days on end, then full labour with contractions every 3 minutes for a day, an epidural which didn't work, then Evan wouldn't come out at the end and the crash team were rushing everywhere with shouts of "cardiac arrest" from the baby's heart monitors and then we were thrown into emergency surgery where they tried a ventouse, then forceps, with no luck, and then did an emergency c-section, discovering that he had the cord wrapped tightly around his neck twice and shoulder so there was no way he could have emerged on his own.

Of course now we feel super lucky to have him and theres nothing wrong with being an only child...!

so now we're in recovery and doing ok. our experience was quite unusual, so I really hope I haven't scared you! I just felt bad that I hadn't come on here to explain why I hadn't been back. Am going for testing in 2 weeks time for another GTT to see if I am diabetic 'in real life' so we'll see what that brings. I'm quite optimistic and enjoying my LO immensely. best wishes to everyone!

Hey BB

I was thinking about you and wondered if you had had a problem but didn't like to ask. So pleased everything has worked out in the end though, congratulations.

Everything scares me at the moment so I wouldn't worry too much!!

Glad you are all sorted though.

Like I said to MTP I am excited but scared at the same time!!

Hope you are all doing well today.

L, x.

well just updated went to the hospital today for the GTT awaitng results, now if i dont hear then its all good, if i hear wihin the week its not good news! oh well cant stop the ball rolling now its done and out of my control!

I would say it was the right thing to do M2B25. At least you will know and get the right treatment if you do have GD!

L, x.

Mummytopebs, I seem to naturally have big babies anyway so I think think this baby was always gonna be big so try not to worry too much about your babies size. If there is any problems they will keep an eye on you.

My diabetic mw phoned me back this morning about the ketones and asked me to go in for monitoring and it turns out my ++++ ketones has gone down to + so all that forcing water down my throat is helping. She thinks its starvation ketones though as I have dramatically changed my diet and cut everything out now. She said it would be ok for me to have a healthy snack if I get hungry contradicting what the dietician told me but she said as the dietician was really, really skinny she probably never eats snacks anyway Have managed to resist so far today as I worry about the effect it will have on my sugars.

It also looks like I have a UTI too so have to drink loads of water to try and flush it out. Everything was fine with baby thankfully but I have to keep a close eye on her movements and phone up if I get any reduction.

The rest of the day went downhill. My after lunch sugars came back at 8.1 after a turkey breast sandwich and a pear and my after dinner sugars were a shocking 9.3!!! Dh had made a stew with stewing steak, potatoes, veg and 1 piece of granary bread to dip in the gravy. I only had a small bowlful too!!

I've been so upset and hardly stopped crying since getting that last reading. I feel like whatever I do its a case of damned if I do and damned if I don't!! If I eat a tiny fraction over my blood sugars shoot up and if I don't I get loads of ketones in my water. I feel like I can't win and I can't do anything properly. I can't even look after her whilst she's still cooking

The mw mentioned that they can give me some Metformin to help but I'm not seeing anyone again til a week on Tuesday but they are phoning me this Tuesday to see how I am getting on. I didn't want to go down the tablet route but it doesn't look like I'll have much choice really. Not sure how Metformin will work though.

Dh keeps pointing out how well I've done so far but all I can see is the negatives. Sorry to be all gloomy. I think I'll go off to bed now to stop me wanting something to eat. I'll come back on tomorrow I think when I'm hopefully having a better day.

Emma xx

Emma try not to be too hard on yourself. Its still very early days and it will be trial and error for a while.

Possibly try bulikng up on the meat and veg part of your meals and having fewer carbs (still have some though cos that's what I got told off for!)

I've also found things like sugar free ice poles very good if you just want something after dinner for example.

Good luck, and if you're worried phone them on Monday.

L, x.

Thanks Laura. Not long left for you now. Hope everything goes well when the time comes.

Managed a better day yesterday til my before bed reading. Dh made me a lovely cooked breakfast in the morning of 2 back bacon, tomato, mushrooms (all grilled), beans and 1 toast. It was delicious and gave me a lovely reading of 6.7 2 hours later so am opting for that again this morning. Beats porridge

I have realised that whatever I am doing is a gazillion times better than I've ever done before. I've always been pretty rubbish at following a diet and usually cheat but am finding this time that I won't cheat as there is not just me to think about now.

Only problem is I seem to have developed a craving for mince pies. Never really bothered about them before but now they are like a forbidden fruit I want one all the more!!! Anyone know any brands of them I could have? I could look into making my own but am not sure I'd be very good at making the mincemeat. Am managing to ignore it so far but not sure how long I'll be able to.

How does anyone get on eating out? It's my 30th in 3 weeks and we usually go and stay at our favourite hotel for a night but am not sure whether we can do that this year as I'm not really sure what I could have off the menu.

Hope everyone's having a great weekend.

Thanks
Emma

I'm not doing so well with these blood sugars.

I'm eating what they suggested, to be honest much healthier then i have in a while, but my BS all seem to be nearing 10.

I can see them prescribing metformin, tbh...

Hi Ladies i have been having a nightmare with my sugar levels to but the other way. I have had a chest infection which apparently can effect your levels and mine have been to low like under 3 after eating!! I have been having to measure them evey 2 hours and if got low supposed to go to hospital x Have managed to stabilise them a bit from yesterday afternoon so hopefully infection is starting to clear.

Emma when we go out for a meal mine are usually ok with steak and veg and a few chips (unfortunatly not enough chips)

Hi All

Hope you're having a good day, thanks for best wishes.

Re eating out, I think the key is not to have too much and to stick to what you would normally have at home. Things like meat and veg with a few potatoes, but I guess you just need to watch sauces esp things like sweet and sour.

Its not as much fun that way but needs must I guess!!

We're supposed to be going out for lunch today so I'm just off to see if I can find a menu to work out best option!

Best wishes to all.

L, x.

Hi L,
Just thought i would update you i have gotten my results back from the GTT and all is well. so i can just relax for the next 9 weeks and not worry or stress about things i cant control
Take care and thanks for the support x