Just diagnosed - gestational diabetes
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Just diagnosed - gestational diabetes
| Tue, 09-28-2004 - 4:37pm |
This is my first time posting to this message board. I am 29 weeks and just diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I did the 3 hr test yesterday --- got an 85 at fasting, then spiked to 210 (dr wanted 165) and down to 173 for second test (should have been 145) --they did not do the 3rd since I had failed the first two.
This kind of hit me out of left field. Yes, I have a family history on my dad's side. However, as a result, I have made a point of being careful. I watch my weight and what I eat. I exercise. All of my visits thus far have been great. Anyway -- this was the last thing I expected.
I go for diabetes education next Monday, but I fear I am going to go crazy before then! I have talked to my dr., but they seem more interested in consoling me and assuring me that they are going to be watching my baby carefully rather than answering my questions in a straight forward manner. I know this will require some lifestyle changes, but what? Will this last after pregnancy? Will the baby be diabetic?
Anyone out there who has experienced this and has some answers -- I would be forever grateful!
Signed- Frustrated and upset!
This kind of hit me out of left field. Yes, I have a family history on my dad's side. However, as a result, I have made a point of being careful. I watch my weight and what I eat. I exercise. All of my visits thus far have been great. Anyway -- this was the last thing I expected.
I go for diabetes education next Monday, but I fear I am going to go crazy before then! I have talked to my dr., but they seem more interested in consoling me and assuring me that they are going to be watching my baby carefully rather than answering my questions in a straight forward manner. I know this will require some lifestyle changes, but what? Will this last after pregnancy? Will the baby be diabetic?
Anyone out there who has experienced this and has some answers -- I would be forever grateful!
Signed- Frustrated and upset!

Hi and welcome -
My best friend was gestational for both of her boys (I'm a 1), and I am happy to say that she's fine, she's not a diabetic, and both of her boys are fine (Age 2 and a newborn, born 8/25).
Blueliner4
(aka The Pixie Princess)
I am trying really hard to keep it all in perspective, but it can be hard. On the one hand I have the dr. office who does not seem overly concerned (which I guess is good) but who is awfully busy trying to comfort and reassure me. Then I find myself doing hours of searches on the Net, which yields some good info, some true, some false and some flat out scary!
Anyway - thanks for the welcome. I look forward to hearing from everyone.
PS -- it is funny that you referred to the baby as "peanut" - we don't know if we are having a boy or a girl so that has been the baby's nickname!
I had GD. For me, no matter what I ate or how much I exercised I still had to be on insulin shots. BUT - for most woman, you can control the GD with food and exercise.
What they'll go over with you is what to eat, how much and when. Generally they say to eat 5x a day. 3 meals and 2 snacks. I added a bedtime snack if my sugars were okay since I was STARVING lol. For the meals and snacks they'll go over with you how many carbs you should have at each, how much protein and what else you can have. They'll give you some menu ideas and educate you on how to read labels. It's really painless.
The one shocker for me was that you have to eat a very balanced menu. Carbs are important because they stabalize your sugars. The best snack for me was 1 apple, 2 cheese sticks and a handful of almonds. Kept my sugars in check for 2 hours at a time.
You asked about risks to the baby I think. The main thing is that the baby will get rather large if your sugars are high a lot. So, they'll induce you at 38 weeks to avoid a C Section. When you deliver they'll check the babies bsl and keep close watch on that. Since his/her sugars will likely be high (if yours have a habit of being high) then he will produce too much insuline and his/her sugars could go way too low. They give them a glucose bottle and all is well. Just be prepared for an entire team of people to swarm the delivery room in preperation for his/her birth to make sure he/she is doing okay sugar wise. It freaked me out a little to have 5 extra medical people there all at once even though I was told the Nicu team would be coming. Ultimately my son was fine in every way, but they do this for every GD baby. (At least at my hospital)
For you, you'll be in a elevated risk category for Type 2. Right now (15 months post delivery) I'm "prediabetic". Meaning my sugars are high, but not high enough to be diabetic. I've adjusted my diet back to what it was while pregnant and am taking some natural herbs and am all better now.
Let me know what else I can tell you.
It's really not that bad, just time consuming.
-Heather
Jan
i love webmd, it's loaded w/info.
http://my.webmd.com/hw/being_pregnant/hw197469.asp
Good Luck!
Hi, welcome to the board. I am sorry though that you even have to be posting to this board though. I can help you out with the questions you have though
Hi there,
I too had GD. With my first pregnancy I only failed the last of the four blood tests in the 3-hr gtt and my doc just said cut out all sugar. With my second I failed all but the fasting (wish they had been nice enough not to take the last one like they did with you...). I was able to control mine through diet and exercise alone. And my son was born with a normal bs and didn't need any intervention at all - not even a glucose bottle. And he only weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces, born naturally (though induced) on his due date. The class I took explained all about carbs and the diet I needed to follow. I was to eat 3 meals and 3 snacks a day. I was limited to 30g of carbs for each snack and breakfast, and 45-60g of carbs for lunch and dinner. Until you go on Monday, this might give you a little info to get started. You can start reading labels a little. Bread, for instance, has 10-18g of carbs per slice (depending on the brand). So a sandwich for lunch with meat and/or cheese, some veggies (very little carbs in most veggies) and a small piece of fruit and 8 ounces of milk would work. One key is to eat protein along with your carbs (something I didn't really realize until after the birth) so that your body uses them more effectively.
At the class you will probably be given a meter to check your blood (if you don't have it already) and they will give you guidelines that you need to meet. For me it was under 95 fasting and under 140 1hour after eating (note these are different guidelines than a general, non-gestational, diabetic will get). While I was pregnant I participated in the gestational diabetes message board over at parentsplace (part of ivillage) and found that these guidelines were similar for most women (some had to be under 120 1 hour after, some 120 2 hours after). Different carbs affect different women differently. This is unfortunate but true. So this means that you will have to keep a log of your food and experiment a little. For me, I could tolerate proper amounts of pasta, and potatoes, but not rice or bread (I had to eat these in much smaller portions).
Ok, so much about eating... The other key is exercising. For me that was the big thing! I walked after each meal (BLD) and after my evening snack. The breakfast walk was about 15 minutes, the lunch and dinner walks were about 30 minutes each and the evening walk was just around the block. I did the BLD walks within the hour before I had to check my sugar and they worked pretty well. I found that if I didn't do the evening walk, my fasting might not be where it belonged, but if I did the evening walk, I was fine.
Wow - lots of information here. Maybe too much. I hope I didn't overload you. But if you have more questions - please do not hesitate to ask. I'll try to help as much as I can along with the rest of the women here on the board. I've got lots more that I could say.
One more thought - if you have to go on insulin, please do not see it as failure on your part (I know a lot of women are tempted to). This all has to do with the message that your placenta is sending to your pancreas. You have done nothing wrong!
Good luck and congratulations on your pregnancy!
Ann
Hi! Congratulations on your pregnancy! I hope your doctor has reassured you that you did nothing to cause the
I was GD with my first & was not diabetic right after. My type 2 diabetes was diagnosed about a year later when we had a pregnancy that we lost. I was considered a type 2 when I got pregnant with my second. If you continue eating right and exercising you will most likely NOT be diabetic for a long time. Statistically, yes, you do have a higher chance of developing type 2 later in life more so than a mom who didn't have GD. Had I actually eaten well, lost 50 lbs & exercised more, I could have held off being diabetic a bit longer.
my sister had GD with her first, went on to have 3 more kids w/o GD and does NOT have diabetes.
After the baby is born, they do check their sugars. They just want to make sure the baby doesn't have low blood sugar. Will they be diabetic? probably not, but since you already have it in your family & have GD, they have a higher risk of having it when they are adults. Just like yourself, if they eat well & exercise they may never get it.
Both of my boys were born at 36 weeks because I was losing fluid. I have no idea, and never found anything that said it was because of the diabetes. It could have been because I have high blood pressure, it could be because the kids just wanted to be born!! Babies born to diabetics can be big,if the mom is not well controlled, but they can also be small. my 1st was 5lb 6 oz & my 2nd was 4 lb 15 oz.
good luck on your pregnancy. Its not easy having GD or being diabetic & pregnant. Feel free to email me any time. I pop into the board from time to time, but always check email.
Here's a fairly current picture of my two kids.
Debi