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.

Giraffe I struggle with carbs so limit them as much as I can. On Monday however I had a 6" subway full of chicken and salad, diet coke and a cookie. Then an hour later had a mcflurry, by teatime my sugar level was low for a teatime. Maybe the fat in the icecream slowed everything down.

Have had a cold now for 3 days and my sugar is getting higher and higher. Hope I feel better soon the kids are off after tomorrow.

Wow Giraffe sounds like you're doing really well - have forgotten how far gone you are and wonder if it may get more difficult as your plancenta gets bigger/hormones higher levels - I'm 32/40 in the morning and having had a good week last wk have been struggling a bit this week with breakfasts that were working last wk sending me over 8 a couple of times this wk

Am wondering if anyone else has been told much about watching for ketones in their urine?? At last appt was warned that I should reintroduce some carbs at breakfast as I had +++ ketones in my urine sample tested that morning, but this has lead to me going high again . Not been able to find clear guidance/advice on whether/why I should worry about this - any advice ladies?

giraffe I would love to have low readings like that!

If I have pasta, even with a shot of insulin I can still record figures of 6.9 or over 7.

If you can keep your figures nice and low like that you should be fine.

loftyjen no one has mentioned anything about ketones to me. My morning fasting test has never been below 4 though so I think I'm nowhere near hypo level. Hopefully someone else will come along with more advice.

Debs what was your reading after all those delicious things? I would love to eat a cookie. Or maybe I wouldn't as it would remind me of what I'm missing! I do seem to find that if I "risk" anything out of the ordinary my sugars shoot up again.

Ah well, not too long to go now.

lofyjen I had ketones in my urine last pregnancy constantly, but nobody seemed to worry. This time I've just had them again and they sent of my urine sample for more analysis, that was a week and a half ago though and I haven't heard anything since, so I'm guessing it's ok.

With me it doesn't seem to be related to what I had for breakfast (I have exactly the same every day and it's not particularly low carb), but if anything more to do with dinner the previous evening. I'd had meatballs with sauce and salad the night before last time, so fairly low carb. My fasting reading the next day was 4.5 though.

The little bit of research I have done tells me you get ketones if you are breaking down fat for energy (no surprise as I still haven't put on any weight with this pregnancy), nobody seems to know if its a problem or not, so they think its best avoided. I can't say I particularly worry about it, but that may be because I have had so much else going on in this pregnancy, that I just don't get worked up any more!

I'm not sure if I'm jealous of Debs' cookie or not. I do miss the sweet stuff, but I don't think I could just have it once. I'm an all or nothing kind of girl. 7 months now without refined sugar...

I had a random 3.4 after dinner the other night (had a carby snack and an hour later had come up to 5.5) - it all seems very hit and miss.

Does anyone have advice/knowledge about ketones in urine - am typically having ++ ketones in my urine samples in the morning and at my last appt they said to make sure I had some carbs at breakfast to help clear these (I had been doing carb free breakfast).

But this week even limited carbs at breakfast seem to be sending me high (even if they had been working last week). There seems to be so little info regarding the effect of ketones except a couple of things I've googled saying that they can affect babies brain development - even at my last appt it seemed to be unclear... has anyone else been told/know more??

sorry for rpt msg - when I looked on here earlier my msg seemed to have vanished!!

Thanks Debs for the reply you've reassured me hugely as guess your eldest is getting on grandly - understand the ketones being a by-product of energy production (have lost nearly 2kg in the 3 wks since diagnosis - but did have plenty spare!!)but have seen that they can cross the placenta and (as I've written above) ?have affect.

sorry - mean chocolatecalculator!!

(long day at work yesterday and baby brain is really hitting me hard today!!)

loftyjen I agree there doesn't seem to be a lot out there, which is why I can't get up the enthusiasm to get worried about it!

My eldest is 18 months and developing fine (although is being very slow to get his teeth, but I don't think the two can possibly be connected!).

I'm only going to get worried if my midwife or the consultant I'm seeing about the growth issues starts seeming bothered.

Do the rest of you worry that this diagnosis will mean a CSection? x

I think there's been a lot of worry further up the thread about induction more than c-sections, but the ladies who have already given birth have all had positive, albeit different experiences.

I had a natural birth first time round, but may well end up being induced this time, although not for diabetes issues. I think the main thing I learnt first time round is that when it comes to giving birth it almost certainkly won't be the way you expect. Some people will need interventions, others won't and it's really best just to go with the flow and not worry too much. Easy to say when you've already done it once though!

For me an induction is more scary then a C-section. If I have a C-S I can get sterilised at the same time.
However I haven't been warned of any C-S plans just inducing here.

Am waiting to hear if I need to go insulin. The nurse thinks my morning readings are ok and dinnertimes are fine but evening and bedtimes are too high. She thinks I am already on full dose of metformin so is asking a Dr to look over my notes to decide what to do now.

Hi ladies,

I had my test this morning and the results have come back 10.1 so I have to go to see the doctor on Friday. I am really feeling a bit wobbly at the moment and keep bursting in to tears. I just feel so guilty!! i have loads of questions but can't formulate my thoughts at teh moment so I am just marking my spot so I can come back later.

Mamjo, Sorry you're feeling shakey at the moment. Make sure you come back with all your questions, hopefully we can help you to change your percewptions a little bit.

Can I say again there is nothing to feel guilty about, it is nothing you have done. There are so many misconceptions out there about diabetes being caused by eating too much sugar and it really isn't the case. I have it this pregnancy despite cutting out ALL refined sugar from the minute I found out I was pregnant at 5 weeks. The important thing now is managing this going forward and if you do that well, then that is the most important thing.

Just to echo ChocCalculator, I know I was similar when I got diagnosed, and even now am prone to tears when I have the occasional high result!

Although this thread does roll on and on, it's well worth the read.

Had my diabetic clinic appt this wk and all is going well - my glucated Hb was 4.4 (nearly a mmol lower than it was at diagnosis - think I've been under snacking so have hopefully worked out what I can snack on and when to fit them in (tricky when doing 12hrs A&E nursing!).

loftyjen, glad to hear things are going better for you. Having just read your post I am full of admiration for you managing to find the energy to do 12 hour nursing shifts. I can't even make it up the stairs without stopping for a rest these days!

Been thinking quite a bit about how I feel about my GD in the last couple of hours since reading mamjo's post (DH is out so have time to ponder!) and I really do think it has had far more positive impacts on my life than negative ones. I also don't see the negative things as being negative for anyone but me, so definitely don't feel any guilt. I am certain that GD has had no impact on either DS or this baby.

I see the positives as being:

• Despite having a healthy diet before pregnancy, having to watch what I eat for so long has really helped me get even more balance. My taste for sweet things has really fallen away and more importantly I think I have learnt alot about portion sizes and balancing a meal. Our portion sizes, especially of rice, pasta etc had really crept up, whereas these days it rare for veg to fill less than half my plate. I intend to go on weighing my carb portions to stop them creeping up again.
• I have learnt more about how my body works. I accept that I am more likely to develop type 2 diabetes in the future (as the GD diagnosis has pointed to the fact that I have in all likelihood inherited some dodgy genes). Before this I think I wouldn't have really thought it was likely as I am slim and fit. I can now do something about making sure I hold it off as long as possible. I have done quite a lot of reading around diabetes as a result.
• It's nice knowing I won't have any baby weight to lose

The negatives for me aren't really there any more. I don't really miss the sweet stuff at all any more and starchy carbs are starting to lose their appeal. I am most looking forward to being able to eat fruit freely again. Eating away from home is a bit of a pain, especially if it's at a friends, so I can't just order something that works for me. Client lunches at work are a serious pain, but other than that I'm really struggling to find negatives.

Anyway, sorry for the long, self-indulgent post.

Another thing to make you feel better is some recent research indicating that it's partly the dad's fault - as the placenta is half of his genes too.

Thanks ladies, I have done a lot of reading and am a bit scared about all the what ifs so have decided not to read anything else (except this) till after I have seen the doctor. It's lovely to know that I have this thread to run too when I am ready to get advice and support on the practicalities. 1st problem is I am scared to eat anything outside normal meals and I'm hungry, sure I haven't had my calories today! I know that this isn't good either but aaarrrggghhhh!!

Mamjo- step away from google!! What you will be reading and will be scaring you is stuff about uncontrolled/undiagnosed diabetes- you don't have that!

You wil probably start to feel better about food when you have your testing kit as then you will be able to see for yourself what effect different foods are having on you. The odd high blood sugar reading is inevitable as you learn how to manage your diet for everyone. It also won't do the baby any harm at all, what isn't good for the baby is prolonged exposure to high blood sugars and high blood sugars during labour, but again that doesn't apply to you at the moment.

You will find you can eat low carbohydrate food with abandon, so cheese, cold meats, olives and nuts are all great snacks and will not have any impact on your blood sugars. You will also need to eat carbs as part of your regular meals (they are not the enemy, but do need to be more carefully managed). Other low carb snacks include 90% dark chocolate, berries (I eat the most shocking quantities of raspberries and strawberries at the moment) and greek yoghurt. So if you're hungry, eat, there is plenty of stuff you can eat.

When do you see the doctor?

Mamjo - poor you being told this but not really having anything extra explained or given the monitoring

A few days before starting monitoring really won't cause any more harm - if you are really worried portion wise the advice I was given about pasta/rice was to stick to 50g (dry) in meals and if a jacket spud then 200g cooked... obv could be different for you, but might help ease your nerves in coming days.

Write down all your worries so that come friday you can get answers (I'm really bad for this as I go blank regularly - sure baby brain has worsened this!).

ChocolateCalculator - have never done anything other than nursing so kinda use to the shifts still got 11 days annual leave after tomorrow and then only 7 shifts to do, roll on 22nd Aug!

Went back to clinic today as have been panicking over my ever increasing sugar levels. Only to be told that as long as the majority stay under 7 then I am fine on the metformin so no need for insulin. Yay.
Dr said as long as baby stays at the 50% mark and doesn't rise above or drop below he is happy...
Have to go back every week now and after next growth scan in 2 weeks he wants to discuss methods of labour. He's not bothered about when as he has decided I will go in at 38 weeks regardless...No I won't.

I'm due the 6th Sept so am willing to go in the week before if I have to, and I mean have to, not to sit around for 3 days like I did with dc3 as there was no room in delivery.

I need some encouraging words of wisdom so I don't cave in and go in early. I tend to listen too much and just go with the flow and this time I want to stand up for myself a bit.

Thanks for the food advice ladies, will pop out to the supermarket today and get some of those snacks in.
Can't believe that I woke up this morning, turned on the telly, and there was a man telling me that I am risking still birth Caused by GD or preeclampsia because I got pregnant while being overweight. That has done a lot for my guilt. Am in tears again already and I've only been awake 20 minutes!!!

Mamjo It was a man, he probably knows nothing.
I have had 2 babies whilst overweight and they are fine. With the last one I lost quite a lot of weight so with this GD diet I am hoping I am losing again. If not then I am really good at hoarding calories.

I think it has been said on here that stillbirth and diabetes are more linked with women who had diabetes before getting pregnant not those who develop GD. Plus there are quite a few gd sufferers in here who were lovely size 10-12's before pregnancy but still developed gd. The man was just being 'worse case scenario' and frightening people.

Mamjo, sorry you were upset, pregnancy can make you feel so much more sensitive and when you're already feeling vunerable tha's shocking timing.

In hours of research I have never been able to find anything about controlled GD posing any additional risks of anything other than a dip in blood sugar after birth for the baby. Uncontrolled is where the risk is, and something tells me you will be doing everything in your power to make sure you don't fall into that camp.

The problem is that nobody really knows what causes GD (or type 2 diabetes either), it's certainly not a direct link with weight. I've done a lot of reading about what they know about the causes of type 2 diabetes and they think there are probably upwards of 40 different genes which may be involved. There is also a school of thought which suggests that type 2 diabetes may predipose you to weight gain rather than the other way round... anyway given nobody knows why any of us have this, then it's probably not worth worrying about. Having said that the guilty feelings are just preparing you for motherhood... I'm afraid this is just the beginning of questioning everything you do!

Thanks ChocolateCalculator you have been really supportive and somehow say just the right thing.

You are right I will be doing everything in my power to get this thing under control, and maybe you are right maybe this is the kick I needed to sort out the shadier elements of my diet.

Sat here now with multi grain crisp breads, cream cheese, pastrami and tomatoes. Hopefully thats on the right track? I cant wait for Friday now so that I can get some real info and start making informed choices.

Hello All. Still keep an eye on this thread to see how everyone is doing. Special hello to Chocolate and any of the other "original" posters that are still around/lurking

All is good with us. George is now 9 weeks oold and growing fast. I had my follow up GTT and to my surprise and delight all was normal, I am now offially Not Diabetic Anymore. As I am still on steroids which mess up your blood sugars this was a majorly good result for me.

I also managed much better with the fasting than I did when I was pregnant, despite breastfeeding through the night before and that morning. Results (I know how we all love our numbers!) fasting - 4.1, 1 hour post - 8.7, 2 hour post - 4.2. Interestingly my own measurements from my handheld (I cheated and did my own too) were all slightly higher than the lab ranges - as we all suspected those monitors aren't 100% accurate!

Big hugs to those of you who are just struggling with your diagnosis. I was just as much of a mess at the time (as you will see above) but I can honestly say that despite all the hassle and emotional upheavel, I do think that there have been some positives with regards to retraining my eating habits/taste buds. I don't think I was particularly unhealthy before but I do eat fewer carbs (especially bread) and I don't miss them at all. I've also got far less of a sweet tooth after so many months of avoiding chocolate/biscuits etc. It's definitely nice not to have to stress about having the odd sandwich etc but I'm certainly seeing the advantages of eating this way - I'm not back in my pre-baby jeans, I have to get smaller ones

Take care all.