Support and help with Gestational Diabetes?

[Crapweasel]

Failed the "Lucozade test" last week, I've now been told that my GTT has also come back high and have therefore been diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes.

Having failed the Lucozade test but passed GTT during my last pregancy I was really hoping to dodge that particular bullet again. Oh well....

Did some searching in the archives and found this fab old thread with lots of support and tips on diet etc. Any current sufferers (or experienced old timers) fancy joining a similar thread for 2010?

I have a diabetic clinic appt on Tues (where I understand I'll get a finger prick testing kit and see a dietician) so I'll report back then.

I'm 29 weeks by the way.

Hey Ruby, congrats hunny. Enjoy having your little fella about. Thank you so much for the positive story - gives me hope for next time x

Congratulations Ruby

I've been stalking keeping an eye on this thread for your update. Massive congratulations on the birth of baby Luke and so glad that your induction experience was so positive too.

Ruby You have given me hope that I can go full term this time.
I have an appt next week and I thought that would be a good time to bring up birth options, will be 32 weeks. They were so panicky last time about her being induced early but in the end I was in there for ages waiting around and she was a whole 4 days early and at a normal (50%) size.

I am getting really bored of this 'diet'. I feel like a naughty kid evry time I sit down to eat and I have to think if I am eating good or bad food. I know it is for our own good but it is just such a pain. Sometimes I have something which is low GI and a small portion but I still find my sugar is really high. I also have days where no matter what I eat it is high or rarely very low.

Moan over now I am just tired, hot, huge and hungry.

Baby girl born by elective cs 30th June 1:12 p.m. 7lbs 11oz. No name yet - starting to think she never will. 'Baby sister' seems to be fine for now!!

All the panic over a large baby was for nothing - she seems tiny compared to her big brother.

Congratulations negrilbaby

Perfect weight too. My DS was nearly 2lb lighter than his sister. I reckon he's nearly caught her up at 6 weeks though.

Enjoy your first few days with "baby sister"

Congratulations negrilbaby! Great weight too. I'm with you on the baby size - Luke was not the monster baby that was predicted either! Enjoy her!

Glad to have helped Debs! I really hope it all goes well. Just keep thinking positively or do what I did and lock yourself in the loo - my thought was that they couldn't induce me if I wasn't there! I was a muppet.

I was fatigued with the diet too but bought a dress today and I am back to a size 12 (despite the gigantic norks and deflated belly!) so there are some pros to the regime!

Still having trouble with feeding here He is good with the cup but I'm worried he'll get too attached to it. He did manage to feed for 10 minutes earlier today and it wasn't too sore. Off to the breastfeeding clinic tomorrow so that we can get this hiccup sorted STAT!

Congratulations negrilbaby! it's all going on here!

Ruby, try not to worry too much about the cup, I'm sure he won't get too attached as it's not as easy as a bottle, and you can always try the cold milk trick, it worked well for us. Sounds like a good idea to go to the breastfeeding clinic though.

I have another scan on Monday and am seeing the doctor on Tuesday. Just taking things one day at a time at the moment, hoping the doctor will say I can make it to 34 weeks as then I won't need steroids, I'll be 32+2 when I see the doctor, so I am fairly confident about being able to hang on. I washed my small baby clothes over the weekend and have started expressing colostrum just in case though!

Congratulations Ruby and Negrilbaby. Who is next?

Debs75 yeah, me too. At least with dieting to lose weight you can have a day off and just start the next with a clean slate. Meal planning is a pain and it all seems to take extra effort when, with the toddler, heat and the pregnancy (and the lack of carbs/sugar), I have no energy. I'm losing about a kg every 10 days - I'm now down to a net gain this pregnancy of 0.5kg, bet it goes negative by next week. I've also found that the same meal with the same starting blood sugar on a different but not that much later day (i.e. placenta hasn't grown much) gives wildly different results. Also a friend said to try a different finger when I was shocked at one result - the other finger gave a reading 1.2 below the first. I'm not sure I trust these readings any more.

Crapweasal, ages ago on this thread, said 'Someone in the MN pregnancy book describes "failing a test 4 times a day"'. And yes, I have a whole lot of feeling a failure even though I'm currently managing to keep my blood sugars below the required levels nearly all the time.

On a positive note, 32 week growth scan went well, baby in middle of centiles. :-)

hi all must be the mum with the longest left to go. Not due till nxt feb but oh well will keep the thread going.
I was diagnosed with gd at 28wks after a negative result at 20wks. Had quite a negative experience with pregnancy and birth. 3 failed inductions and an emergency c-section.
After being on insulin from 30wks they still could not control my blood sugars. Would have at least one hyper every 2 days.
Now i'm pregnant again i'm still very nervous but i'm trying to eat a very controlled diet. Very hard with morning sickness. Would like to know if anyone has had a vbac with gd

Congratulations negrilbaby, wonderful news, and a lovely perfect weight as well.

Debs I really sympathise - I find the meal planning so dull and feel in a total rut of making things for dinner. For lunch and breakfast I just have exactly the same thing every day. I'm just thinking of it as fuel only at this stage.

I also agree re weird readings. Saturday I had a cheese sandwich on wholegrain bread (2 slices) with an apple. That's it. And my reading was the highest I have ever had at 8.6. I couldn't believe that was right so tested again and it came down to 7.7. But still, madness for such a boring lunch.

Then on saturday night we had a work function and I had 3 pieces of crumbed calamari, salmon with veg, a sauce, potatoes, plus crackers and cheese and my reading was only 6.0.

I have an appointment with my Obstetrician tomorrow, first since I was diagnosed so hopefully she will go through birth options and also let me know if the diet is working and the baby is still on the right track, size wise. I feel huge, but I am 33 weeks so I suppose that's normal.

aendr my endocrinologist said that although it was ok for my weight to stabilise, I really shouldn't be losing any - are you sure you're eating enough? I have to eat 6 times a day to get enough calories in as my meals are all quite small, and basically I have put on about 2lb in the last 4 weeks, whereas before I was putting on 1lb per week.

Ozzie: whereas mine just said to eat fewer carbs, which is nigh on impossible to do so healthily. I don't feel very confident in her, to be honest.
I'm not getting hungry till nearly the next meal time, and I'm getting plenty of veg and protein with a little carbs and fat and enough dairy for those minerals so I think I'm doing okay. Maybe I've just got enough to lose. I was pretty overweight to begin with (was aiming to lose at least 10 more kg but got pregnant so that was put on hold).

Try having cinnamon with your apple, apparently there is some evidence to suggest that it stimulates the insulin receptors, increase the ability to absorb and use glucose.

Thanks for the support. I hate dieting on a weight loss basis and always factor in a treat or two during the week. Knowing that this diet could stop me developing diabetes in the future and safeguard my baby should spur me on. I did however have a naughty day today as it was sis's birthday and we had cake for tea.

Ruby my friend cup fed for a few days and then baby decided to only nipple feed on one side for almost 3 weeks. She persevered with the cup when it was too painful and fed her on the easier side.
She is now 18 weeks old and has put on over double her birthweight and is feeding like a pro. Keep trying abd see a bf counsellor for some help. It will be worth it.

Congrats negrilbaby

See this is the problem aendr - there doesn't seem to be standard advice (maybe this is the point? who knows?). Mine has said to cut down on carbs, but still I am supposed to have 3 serves of carb with each meal, and 1 serve per snack. Mind you, a "serve" is pretty small.

I think if you're not hungry it's probably fine though - when I started doing it I was starving all the time, and got told off for that and told to increase how often I eat and portion sizes.

The sad thing about GD is that sometimes nothing is more satisfying than a bowl of pasta with a few slices of garlic bread. However nice my healthy chicken stir fry is, it just doesn't hit the spot in the same way....

Mind you, I feel a bit pissed off today. Last night I thought I would risk a small jacket potato with an omelette and salad. I know JPs are not great, but I thought as long as it wasn't massive and was part of a meal maybe it would be ok.

When I tested 2 hours later my first reading was 10.1. Shit. Tested again = 7.7. Tested again = 8.0. So in the space of maybe a minute and a half, 3 quite far apart readings.

This irritates me.

There's supposed to be standard advice - the NICE Guidelines, for example, say to test 1 hour after meals and not to use HbA1C as a long term test for women in 2nd or 3rd trimesters. But I think the docs only follow the guidelines they feel like; you're on 2 hours after and my docs insist on the HbA1C test. (Though I'm not averse to referring to the guidelines at them and asking them to justify deviation should they try to insist on something I strongly disagree with.)

And the way the readings fluctuate is just nuts, especially given there's only a limited range of ideal values (3 to 7.8) and you've quoted variation which is 20% of that.
I weighed myself this morning (33 weeks today) and had only lost 0.25 kg, so maybe I'm stabilising now. My watch is on a tighter hole and my wedding ring is feeling looser.

I agree about the satisfying. GD food just doesn't do it, and really doesn't work for celebrations. There are some things I'm really looking forward to after birth, now.

Well I'm actually in Australia so they probably have their own guidelines over here. I have been told today that I am going on insulin tomorrow and also that I will now be induced at 39 weeks. So my nice natural birth goes out of the window!

I've been able to nearly keep my sugars under control with diet, but I'm having readings over 7 (which is what they class as high here, not 7.7) probably every 2-3 days, and the endocrinologist isn't happy with this, so the decision is taken. The knock on effect is that once you're on insulin, you get induced at 39 weeks.

As for weight, the baby is still measuring correct for dates, but I haven't put on any weight in a month, so I assume it's all going on the baby.

I'll actually be rather pleased for this to all be over and to just have got through the birth and have my baby here, safe and sound.

Congrats Negril!

Congrats Ruby!!! Well done you! I also had a chuckle at the menu on offer while waiting for induction, they had veggie options, halal options and kosher options, but all involved bread, pasta and mashed potatoes in abundance and cake and custard seems to be the thing to offer ladies on the labour ward!

Thanks for the winding tip Debs, will try that today and see if it helps.

I'm feeling very down at the moment as have been in dispute over mat leave with the other directors of the company I run. They asked me 11 days after birth when I was coming back to work full time having let go of the person covering my mat leave without consulting me. Connie is so much more important than the business I have spent three years building, I have decided to walk away, I don't want this precious time with her spoilt by battling things out.

Are any of you based in NW London, it would be lovely to meet up for a cuppa?

I have a question if anyone knows this?

So, I will now be induced, and will be on insulin. My Obs has said that when the baby is born it will be tested straight away for blood sugars and if they are low, then it will be given formula, but this shouldn't affect my ability to breastfeed.

So, does anyone know firstly if it will be possible for me to express some milk in advance, given that it will be 39 weeks, or has anyone had any sucess at encouraging the baby to breastfeed straight away? Or should I just resign myself to the formula being administered for the baby's health and then get back to breastfeeding as soon as the baby's sugars stabilise?

ozzie there is no reason to give your baby formula straight away. I bf'd DC3 straight after birth as normal as the dozy mw didn't think she should be sugar tested. when she was 8 hours later she was pretty low and the nice new mw told me to feed her every chance I got. I fed her every 30 mins. She didn't have much as it was just mainly colostrum but I could squeeze a bit out and would wet her lips if she was too sleepy to suck. At the next check her sugar level had risen.
As bf is tailored to your baby I would think it would be better at stabilizing her blood sugar than formula is.
I was told if she dipped anymore then she would probably end up in special care where they would formula feed her for at least 24 hours. Mw also said a drop of colostrum was much better for her in the long run.

Ozziegirly - When I had my DS (2 yrs ago) they tested hid bloods straightaway and were cup feeding him formulae in the theatre.
I gave birth to DD in the same hospital but now they won't test until at least 3 hours after birth (hospital policy).
I really struggled to get breastfeeding started with DS and I'm sure it was because the formulae was given so quickly.
With DD she had her first latch while I was being stiched up and had her first proper feed while I was in recovery and hasn't looked back. I was at 39 weeks and really worried that with an elective cs (i.e. not going into labour) my milk wouldn't be ready - that wasn't the case. A mid-wife met me in the labour ward prior to the op and offered to help me express some colostrom - because I had told her about my worries about the baby being given formula. I didn't go for it because I felt I'd be able to refuse formula this time round.
She also told me that any measure above 2.5 is fine for a baby.
Hope this helps.

Many thanks for all the congrats.

Formula - not formulae (maths teacher coming through!!)

Hey Ozzie,
Connie was tested two hours after birth, she had also latched on while I was being stitched, the MW had said beforehand if she wouldn't latch on to express a little colustrum onto a clean finger and pop it in her mouth a few times as newborns can only take a tiny amount of food, I think she said 15ml is the max capacity of their stomach, so not sure it's worth trying to express for such a teeny, tiny feed. Connie was tested again six hours later and they didn't bother with the third test which should have been 12 hours later I think - according to the NICE guidelines, I think your team are being a little extreme suggesting formula before a test and before the opportunity to BF, thy said to me formula would only be suggested if the test later two hours was worrying.

I was advised to ensure my blood sugars were under control before and during labour to prevent her suffering from low blood sugar at birth, then the only food on offer was high carb and they broke my waters to induce and I went into full blown labour so quickly, just 45 mins later, I didn't even think about snacks and food until it was offered (funnily enough tea with sugar and toast with jam) after Connie was born.

One thing to look out for is hydration - they worry about GD labouring mothers hydration and will put you on a fluid drip if they think you are dehydrated during labour, but it's very hard to labour on a full bladder, so best to take a tiny sip between contractions and hopefully avoid the drip so you can stay more mobile.

Good luck with everything!

Wow its busy on here today. Ozziegirl my experience with DS was that the hospital didn't insist on giving formula until his blood sugars went too low (around 2.0)I think. That was about 15 hours after he was born and in that time I hadn't really managed to feed him as he was just too small to suck. I had managed to syringe about 5mls of expressed colostrum into him during that time.

I was determined to breastfeed and found having to give formula very upsetting. Fortunately I knew to insist that he had a cup not a bottle. I carried on expressing colostrum and giving that first and as soon as my milk showed some signes of turning I ditched the syringe and expressed straight into the cup. On day 3 I insisted on getting an electric pump, against the advice of the midwife and managed to start expressing enough to replace the formula. I am quite proud that DS never had any formula after day 4 and I fed him until he was a year old. He was about 8 days old when I managed to wean him off the cup. I think my problems were caused more by his size than the GD though. I would say even if you do have to give formula, don't despair, it doesn't mean you won't end up breastfeeding, as long as it is manged properly. I still hated giving it though, and only came to terms with it when I started thinking of it as medicine rather than milk.

This time round and there are posters all over the diabetic antenatal clinic encouraging diabetic pregnant women to express colostrum while still pregnant to reduce the likelihood of needing formula. I started this week, although they said they normally start at 36 weeks, as anything expressed and frozen won't keep more than 4 weeks. I am managing 1ml a day (which is one syringe). If you want to find out more its known as 'colostrum harvesting', you will need to have the sterile syringes to express into though, so would probably need the support of your hospital.

Sorry lots of people are having a hard time with diet, sometimes it is very frustrating. Have had issues with my blood sugar today. Was 7.8 after my normal lunchtime ham sandwich (on soya and linseed bread) would normally be in the 4's. Just hoping its a blip, I've got enough on my plate without losing control of my sugars too. My next scan has been moved forward to Friday and is now with the consultant rather than the sonographer. He also wants to do a blood test, so hoping I will be able to find out more about where its likely to go from here and maybe what might be done about trying to find out why my babies don't grow properly.

Thank you so much for that info. At my next ante natal appointment I'll ask about the baby being put to the breast straight away, and also whether I should be doing some expressing to get things started at around 36 weeks.

It was kind of presented to me as a fait accompli (sp?) yesterday as "we will test the baby and if its sugars are low he will be put on formula and a drip if necessary". I honestly don't mind if there is a problem, but my sugars aren't that out of control at this stage anyway. I would just like to be prepared to at least try to feed straight away as I really don't want his first taste to be formula, unless it's really medically necessary.

They make such a fuss about breastfeeding here, hopefully they will do what they can to encourage this to develop.

Thanks again, it's really great to get all this input from you all.

Had a horriffc day with my sugars today. I ate a small cereal for breakfast, salmon salad for dinner and salad for tea and they were all above 6, one was over 9.

Don't know what to do if this carries on. Am already on 1g metformin twice a day and have 8+ weeks to go.

They will probably be a bit sniffy at the clinic on Tuesday.

Oh debs sorry to hear that. It does sound like your body is ramping it up a gear, it sounds like your life would probably be a whole lot easier if you went on insulin.

Fortunately my sugars have calmed down again, realised last night when I went to make my packed lunch that I had accidentally bought honey roast ham and hadn't noticed, which accounted for yesterday's crazy reading. People think diabetes is all about no sweets and cakes, nobody imagines you even have to be vigilant over ham!