Gestational Diabetes

[Mummaof2]

I had my 28 week glucose test on Sunday and had a call from the hospital today to say that I need to have further tests done to confirm if i do/do not have gestational diabetes. :( (what more can i have during this pregnancy)

I was just wondering if any other mums/mums to be have been diagnosed with GD or had it in previous pregnancies and what the outcome was.

[JanetF]

You might find these useful. I hope have the best possible outcome! PM me if you want more info.

Gestational Diabetes.
http://parenting.ivillage.com/pregnancy/pcomplications/0,,9cgc,00.html

http://gentlebirth.org/Midwife/gestdiab.html

http://gentlebirth.org/Midwife/gdhgoer.html

[Miss Tazar]

Hi Mum_2B
I am 35 weeks preg and I have gestational diabetes. It can be a little overwhleming at first, but please talk to your medical team as mine have been great in helping me figure out what to do.

If you are diagnosed with GD the possible treatments could be:
* diet changes, some diabetes conditions respond well to modifying your diet. I was referred to a dietician who worked out meal plans etc with me - she was great
* blood sugar testing, I test my blood sugars 6 times a day, before a meal and 2 hours after every meal BUT, not everyone has to test that much. My GD has been unstable and did not respond to diet - so I have to keep a close eye on my BGL. My OB lent me a testing machine so I only had to buy the strips and lances (needle tips). If you need to buy supplies check with your chemist, OB, dietician as one of them will have a form for the National Diabetes Services Scheme - get your Dr to sign this form and then you can get the testing supplies at a subsidised price
* medication. This is rare (so I am told) and can be either tablets or injections. In my case my GD did not respond to the diet changes so I have been on insulin injections for the past 5 weeks (4 times a day). It sounds worse than it is - the needles are small, the devices to deliver the insulin are like pens and are easy to use. The injections do not hurt.
* possible earlier delivery. My OB isn't keen to deliver early but IDM's (infants of diabetic mothers) tend to be larger as they can consume the extra glucose in our bloodstreams and put on fat. I have ultrasounds every 2 weeks to map her growth and I see my OB every week. From now until delivery it is a weekly assessment.
* baby issues. Like I said above while bub is in-vitro she/he is fine as their pancreas can produce enough extra insulin to cope, they gain more weight from this though. When they are born there can be complications, but, my OB assured me that because they are aware of the condition that the Pedeatrician (?) will be at the delivery and will check her ASAP after delivery, they will test her blood glucose level and then feed her within 1-2 hours and test her BGL again - and everything should be fine. She will just need that extra monitoring at first.

I recommend following up on all your tests etc... as once my GD was under control I began to feel much better. Prior to that I was thirsty, lethargic, tired and generally miserable. Now I have more energy and people are telling me I have my pregnancy glow back.

Please feel free to PM me if you would like more info from someone who is going through the process of coping with GD.

The fantastic news is that my beautiful little girl is great - and I only have 5 more weeks to go before I can have some chocolate (but - not too much because I heard a rumour that you can't eat chocolate when breastfeeding - oh well, maybe in a year or so I can have that choccy binge!)

[pregasaurus]

My Glucose Challenge (the first one) came back at 9.1, which indicates diabetes, however my Tolerence (the second one) came back at 7.1. The cut off is 7.8, so technically I don't have diabetes, even though my sugar generally sits around the 7.8-8.2 mark.
Try not to stress too much until the second one comes back, which I know is hard, but at least it's not a life sentence! :o

[Sarie]

Try not to be too concerned until you hear for sure. I had a high readings with my first pregnancy and it didn't develop. But I did get GD for my second pregnancy.
I managed to keep it under control with diet and exercise. I had a doctor tell me that I wouldn't get through the pregnancy without going on insulin and I managed to prove him wrong. I worked hard and managed to get my readings back to normal and stoped testing altogether with 3 weeks to go.
Even though I was very strict my son was still born with low glucose levels and had to spend 24hrs in the special care ward. The nurses were great and we could be there as often as we wished.
If you have any questions and you want to ask someone who has been there, feel free to pm me.

[babytoo]

Hi there
I am currently pregnant with my 2nd (20weeks) and will probably get it again as I had it with my first. When they first told me I had it, I burst out crying and thought the worst....I knew nothing about it and never thought it would happen to me. There is no rhyme or reason as to who or why you get it but it really is nothing to worry about. As long as you keep it under control and are under good care. I had to change my diet, mostly low GI - no sugar, chocolate (which nearly killed me) low carbs - this was a great benefit as I probably would have stacked on heaps more weight if I wasnt watching my diet! I had to test my sugars 6 times a day, weekly appointments with my ob and weekly heart monitoring of baby for 1/2 an hour. I think it was about 38 1/2 weeks they induced me - they like to do it early just in case the baby gets too big. I ended up with an emergency caesar but that really didnt have anything to do with the diabetes. I know its scary at first but really controllable and you know that you just have to watch your diet so closely and its easy to do when you know that it is all for your baby growing in your tummy! Good luck and let us know how you go

[Mummaof2]

Thnak you for your replies as you have all helped put my mind at ease.

After I had the phone call from the hospital my mind went into overdrive and the only information i could find on the net was telling me the problems that can occurr if you have GD which didnt help me at all but after reading your replies I am feeling alot more positive about it all.

Once again thank you. :)

[TwoBlue]

I am currently pregnant with my 2nd (20weeks) and will probably get it again as I had it with my first.

Hey Babytoo !! Dont be so sure of this ! i had GD with my first pregnancy and i am now 32 weeks pregnant with my second, i have had two GTT tests and have had confirmed that i do not have GD this time, so there is hope for you :)

Mum_2b - as i said i had GD with my first pregnancy and it was well diet controlled, My DS did have some problems after he was born though, the best advise i can give you is
1 - dont panic till you know for sure (after your GTT results come in)
2 - stick to a really strict diet (your docs will advise you but PM me if you want some GREAT tips !
3 - be prepared for your bubs to spend time in special care after birth (sounds scary but please dont be... i just wish i had been more prepared to not have bubs with me from the onset IYKWIM)
4 - know that its all ok in the end :D

Please do feel free to PM if you have any questions and i REALLY hope your GTT comes back clear :)

[Sarie]

I understand about being more prepared for bubs to be in special care. Because I had controled my GD so well and managed to stop testing I hadn't even given it a thought. I was so distressed not having him with me, I think I spent most of the night in tears.
But I was also silly, I wanted to go and see him, but I couldn't walk too far on my own. But I didn't want to put out any of the nurses by asking them to take me down to him.
I was so shocked with a lot of women that were in my diabetes clinic, a lot of them didn't mind not eating well and didn't exercise, their readings were so high and most of them were on insulin.
It's is so easy to watch what you eat and exercise (though admitedly I think it's a disease that effects everyone differently everyones bodies react to hormones differently) and some of them just didn't seem interested. Sure I was tired and sick, head aches all the time, but once I got going I felt fantastic.

[Sharlee]

Hi
I had GD with my 2nd pregnancy and was able to control it with diet - a very strict diet given to me by a dietician, mainly consisting of food low in fat and sugar and also in GI's. I finger pricked 4 times a day. The good part was that I lost a lot of fat and felt the healthiest I had for a long time. It's not all bad, you can still have treats.

[Mummaof2]

I had my 75g Glucose test on friday and the test came back all clear. The midwife actually said that my readings were better then perfect. So now i can relax and wait for the next 9 weeks to pass and hopefully thay go quickly.

Thank you all for your support :)

[Sarie]

Congrats! That's great news!!
Best of luck and enjoy the rest of your pregnancy!