GD, not gaining weight, increasing carbs, insulin... someone help me understand this!

[Indadhanu]

I had a follow up appointment with my dietician on Tuesday.

BSLs look great (daily average of around 4.8mmol/L), and apparently my meal plans looks ok, like a fairly generous GD meal plan (I haven't changed much as my usual diet wasn't causing issues, except I did end up cutting breads/rolls/wraps and rice and sugary treats like my glass of milo or ice cream I usually indulged in every few days, as these all tend to send my BSL soaring and my BSLs had been creeping up over a few days as well).
But when she looked at my weight gain she said I need to increase my carbs and bring all the breads and rice products back in and add in two pieces of fruit a day plus loads more protein because my levels are on the normal range but I'm hungry all.the.time (and cranky, and exhausted) since cutting those carbs and now I'm not gaining weight either :-/ I hadn't gained weight in two weeks and it's been 2.5 weeks now, I'm 30 weeks today, and my weight is still the same as, I'm 65kg and I've gained 8kg this pregnancy (started at a BMI of 23). So now my diet plan has me eating more food and MORE carbs than I was before I was diagnosed with GD, and I think this is going to mean that keeping my BSLs under control will be difficult.

I was also told that if the GD was going to get a lot worse, we'd know in the next 4 weeks as this is when the hormone peaks or insulin resistance peaks and I'd end up with high BSLs to foods that didn't used to push my results up. Then I got a stern talking to that this was supposed to be a time significant weight gain for the baby, which I knew, and that I should be gaining at least 300-500g per week based on my pre-pregnancy weight to a target weight of around 70-72kg at 40 weeks, which I also knew, and that I'll risk having a 'small' baby if I don't gain the weight because I don't have the fat stores to compensate for no weight gain (now we've gone from big baby threats from the Obs to small baby warnings from the dietician ). Yeah, trust me lady, I'm NOT trying to lose weight, if I could be eating all the hot chips in the world I would right now and there'd be no issue with my weight gain (but I'd have major BSL issues lol). I would love to argue the 'don't have the fat stores' comment, as my bum and thighs certainly DO have adequate fat stores that I could lose IMO but I know I'm meant to have a certain amount of fat stores to sustain breastfeeding as well etc etc etc.

I've been confused about the theory though... I think I get it now...

If my body is insulin resistant, then my pancreas is usually making enough insulin but my body can't/isn't using the insulin to absorb all of the glucose that is in my blood, and the glucose accumulates in the blood instead of being used for energy. Right?
And the biggest issue with raised blood sugar levels is that because even though my body is making enough insulin, the insulin doesn't cross the placenta so the baby gets raised blood glucose level and this puts pressure on it's body to make excess insulin and also to use the excess glucose, which gets stored as fat?
So right now, it seems like I've found the amount of carbs-glucose my body is able to absorb effectively. But the amount I am absorbing is not enough to sustain me and the baby at this stage of the pregnancy.
So I need to eat more carbs to have more glucose to have more energy to sustain the growth and weight gain the baby and I need to go through.
But if I eat any more carbs, the glucose is just going to accumulate in my blood (as I have seen with high readings when I eat more carbs) because my body can't/won't use the insulin my pancreas is making?
So, eating more carbs will make more glucuse, but it'll just put more pressure on the baby to make more insulin to cope with the massive glucose load in the blood.
If my own body isn't coping with the energy levels needed to grow a healthy baby, and isn't producing enough insulin to convert the glucose to energy, I'm going to end up needing insulin to be able to use the glucose?

That is how I am understanding it. Is it right? I think I'm finally getting my head around it. Obviously if I need insulin injections, then I need them.

It's confusing though. In the diabetes education class the educator said the excess glucose would be stored in our body and the babies body as fat, and she made out like people with gestational diabetes eat too much and can afford to just cut down on carbs - because the less carbs we eat then the less fat we'll store, and this will make us and our babies healthier as it would slow/stop weight gain and even cause us to lose weight as we'll be forcing our body to use our fat stores for energy. And also that we needed to cut as much as we needed to cut to avoid insulin until we couldnt possibley avoid it anymore because too much insulin in the body was bad, it would cause the baby to grow too big, and could lead to more insulin resistance and an increased risk of Type II diabetes later on...?
Making sure that we were eating ENOUGH carbs and GAINING enough weight wasn't even covered.
That's why I had cut the carbs and sugars that make my BSLs go up. I thought I was doing the right thing. I knew my weight gain was fine for a 'normal' pregnancy, but going on what the educator said I was just trying to control is by diet and exercise and avoid the insulin as much as possible. This is the impression I had been getting from friends who had been diagnosed with GD as well. Keep cutting and controling the BSLs with diet. I thought even though my weight was fine for 'normal' pregnancy, maybe it was different for people with GD?

I haven't added them back in because I didn't really understand, but I think I understand now. I'm warying of adding them back in and have to deal with high levels, but holy crap I am hungry and physically I feel totally drained. At this stage my fasting and breakfast levels are fine, usually always under 4.5mmol/L fasting and 5.0mmol/L after breakfast, although I am always hungry an hour after breakfast, and I don't know how my BSLs will change adding in more food and carbs.

What are the implications of taking insulin though? And can anyone explain why the educator told us that needing insulin would cause the baby to grow too big? Since it doesn't cross the placenta...? I thought the issue was with the baby having/making too much insulin? Can the insulin cause issues even though it can't cross the placenta? Even the hospital Ob said at my last appointment that most issues (with baby and with birth) arise if you can't control it by diet and you end up needing insulin.

So confusing. I have an Ob appointment on Thursday, and another follow up with the dietician in about 10 days, but I keep hearing so many different things I don't know what to believe!!