Apparently I have GD, I'm freaking out! help!

[Freya]

So for the first time ever I failed the GTT and now the birth centre has dropped me and I'm well aware of most hospitals stance on GD and how they manage it. So I'm freaking out big time.

My midwife is making an appt with the diabetes nurse, I know I will have to do sugar monitoring. I will have a OB specialist appt sometime in the next 5 weeks and I want to be prepared for that because I know I'm going to get angry and upset if they start bossing me around. I've had 3 fantastic deliveries (two inductions for medical reasons that were not GD and one natural waterbirth) and I do not want to have my final one turn into a nightmare. We have struggled to long to get to this point, I want no regrets.

Baby is not measuring big, if anything he actually measures behind! I lost 7kgs in the first 25wks because of HG and have only put back on 2kg at this point in time so I am well below starting weight. I've been watching what I eat because of the HG so I'm not eating anywhere near as much sugar etc that I did with the other three kids.

My biggest concern is what happens after birth, I am not interested in having bub be separated from me to go for monitoring in SCN. I am not interested in formula feeding. I don't even want to stay in hospital postpartum but I will compromise on 24hrs post birth.

How many people have avoided induction, after birth monitoring and formula top ups?

[jellybean88]

That sucks I hope the ob will be understanding in your concerns and try to work with you , ds was given formula top ups for his blood sugars last time so this time to prevent that I will be expressing and freezing colostrum for the hospital stay 2 weeks before baby is due

[AndiE]

So for the first time ever I failed the GTT and now the birth centre has dropped me and I'm well aware of most hospitals stance on GD and how they manage it. So I'm freaking out big time.

That totally sucks. Although you have GD, you don't birth any differently. OK, it may (but unlikely) require some additional care post-birth for bub but it does not, one iota affect the way you birth. So don't let them pull that one on you. I had diet-controlled GD with DS1.

Baby is not measuring big, if anything he actually measures behind! I lost 7kgs in the first 25wks because of HG and have only put back on 2kg at this point in time so I am well below starting weight. I've been watching what I eat because of the HG so I'm not eating anywhere near as much sugar etc that I did with the other three kids.

DS1 didn't measure big either. When I was first diagnosed with GD, my Ob made noises about induction at around 38-39 weeks as GD babies can be bigger. However by the middle of my third trimester it was obvious DS1 wasn't big ... then she made noises about my placenta possibly not functioning as well as it should ... and possible induction. Sigh. And don't think it's what you're eating - you didn't cause your GD. It's purely the make-up of the placenta. I didn't get GD with my younger two boys and I did/ate/weighed pretty much exactly the same.

My biggest concern is what happens after birth, I am not interested in having bub be separated from me to go for monitoring in SCN. I am not interested in formula feeding. I don't even want to stay in hospital postpartum but I will compromise on 24hrs post birth.

Didn't happen with me. DS1 weighed 2.9kg at birth (born spontaneously 39w3d) - the paed didn't even check out his blood sugar levels afterwards. Ha, DS3 was born at 42w at 4.5kg and the intern (not a paed) insisted on checking his sugar level when I was 5 mins from discharge (4.5kg is borderline for when they automatically check blood sugars). The fact he was 2 weeks overdue didn't appear to sink in. Of course his blood sugar level was fine.

How many people have avoided induction, after birth monitoring and formula top ups?

With my GD bub, no induction, no after birth monitoring and no formula top up. As he was smallish he tired easily so BFing wasn't a piece of cake initially so he had EBM top-ups and was happily BFing exclusively within 10 weeks or so.

I guess GD can affect people differently. I had to do the blood (finger poke test) four times a day, and my levels were a bit over the shop at times, but generally within acceptable levels. I had to watch my diet, but really it wasn't that hard. Obs and the medical profession - to me - overuse GD as a way of controlling your birth. So my advice would be to stand firm. For instance, my waters broke spontaneously with DS1, so I went to hospital for monitoring. All was good, I was 1cm dilated, so I said "I'm going home to establish labour". The midwife was happy with that, till she spoke to the Ob (not ours, but her partner who was on duty that night - private hosp). The Ob wanted me to stay and be monitored because (1) my waters had broken, (2) I was having mild contractions and (3) I had GB. My response. Yep, I've got very, very mild contractions, I'll be back in the morning if nothing much happens and how the heck does GB affect my labour??? See ya. And I went home, only to return less than 3 hours later at 7cm dilated and got a natural VB birth. Bub was born about two hours after I went back to hospital.

[Mum2SweetCs]

Hi freya big hugs
Gotta be quick but will expand later. I had gd for dd2 but was induced due to multiple reasons. She did go to scn but i was adamant that she not be fed formula so they just called me up everytime she needed a feed. The nurses there were lovely and one was even a lactation consultation so we usually chit chatted about the importance of bm.

Hope that gives you some hope oxox

[RhiChiChi]

I had GD with DD1. Mine was controlled via diet and exercise. OBS did not discuss at anytime induction due to my GD. I was induced (consented) at nine days past EDD. I was monitored as well as DD after the birth but there was no issue. I was also encouraged to BF. DD was topped up with formula but had nothing to do with the GD.

Can you have an appt with the OBS and midwives to discuss exactly what their protocols are? I guess whist you can refuse their requests at least you will know what you are up against (if anything) and have a plan of attack.

Best of luck

[RhiChiChi]

Double post

[natblack]

Mine was diet controlled and was fine. They check bubs blood sugar after birth, if low they want to boost it, so have some colostrum ready to go. The only reason you would need to stay is if bubs blood sugar goes wacky.

[Freya]

I will be booked in to see the diabetes nurse and specialist OB in the next few weeks.

Bub is definitely not measuring big and I don't expect he will. My biggest bub at 40wks was 7lb2oz, the other two were 6lb8oz at 37 and 38 weeks gestation.

I've just decided that I will consent to induction no earlier than 38wks if I'm favourable but they'll get a fight on everything else.

I don't even know where to start for diet. I won't eat sugary foods/drinks but we already eat pretty ok meals wise so I'm frustrated trying to think of how I fix that even more. I didn't eat anything past 10pm last night and didn't have the test til 10:30am and my levels were fine fasting but after the glucose drink went up to 8.2 then 8.5 which to me doesn't seem overly huge but obviously the hospital considers that really bad. I think my midwife said the cutoff was 7.8 or thereabouts.

[little_O]

Don't stress Yourself yet

I'll be back later to write a proper post. What was your sugar reading though?


xxx

[Freya]

In the one hour test it was 8.2 and in the two hour it was 8.2 at one hour and 8.5 at two hours. It was well within normal levels (under 5 or something) at first fasting bloods pre-drink.

[Jewel]

I was able to control mine with diet. My OB never mentioned induction, ever. Not once was it even mentioned. They checked my boys BSLs a couple times after birth but wasn't taken from me. ( I live in a smallish country town so maybe if I were in a bigger hospital things might have been different, also if I needed insulin it might have been diff too.) I had times where I had to test my BSLs before and after every meal, other times not as much. I guess it all depends on your carers and how your levels are.

Hopefully once you're armed with more information from your OB and diabetes nurse etc you'll feel better about it all. Big hugs.
xo

[leesha]

Take a deep breath!! It's going to be ok!
I had GD with my third pregnancy (first and second were fine) I ate well and was physically healthy. It is something that is just out if your control.
However I was adamant I would just be diet controlled and no induction what so ever for me after two spontaneous drug free and fast vaginal deliveries!
And that's exactly what I got! Diet controlled and yes it is a pain in the ass glucose testing before and after meals and watching what you eat but it also was a healthy learning curve for me. I didn't realise that carbohydrates turn into sugar so you must watch the portions you have when you eat rice and pasta, cereals, bananas just to name a few. Watermelon I love love love but it is very high in sugar so I had to limit that!
Anyhoo I refused induction and hospital policy was if you weren't insulin dependant then you can go to 41 weeks. I went that far didn't I.. I was booked in for an induction on the Friday morning after I had consented and realised the health of my baby was more important than my issues with induction. Bubs must of known and at midnight the night before induction my waters broke and 3 hours before my admission time my third bubs was born!!!
So check your hospital policy on GD mothers gestation periods and really educate yourself on what you can eat! Smaller meals but more often was the key for me!!! Good luck with the journey!

[Mak]

I had GD for DD2, I managed to control it with exercise and diet. Seemed to be certain combos of things that set me off, particularly processed/prepared food which I guess is no surprise! So use the first few days to watch how your BSL's respond to different foods. Some tips I found were that cinnamon helps to even your BSLs so I added it to my porridge every breaky and yoghurt for my snack. I also found that my BSL's settled better if I had some leafy greens/vege at each meal - but watch out for the high GI things like corn/potato etc. I also found lots of fruit gave my higher readings but strawberries had little impact.
I also found that by having a snack at 10pm my fasting levels were lower - so I would have yoghurt/cheese for supper.
I was at a public hospital which has a policy of induction from 37 weeks. I managed to negotiate with the midwives and obs there to have some extra monitoring (CTG/ultrasound) and watchfully wait until 41 weeks. They agreed as I had such great BSL's and stable weight etc. I went into labour spontaneously and the only extra for DD2 was a BSL after birth and as that was fine no further action.
I hope you can get some good info re diet and exercise - I walked for at least 20mins twice a day and really feel this helped also.