I have just been diagnosed and i think everyone around me is trying to panic me a little. Ok its not everyone but i am feeling more stressed about this than anything else so far in this preg - and i have lost 7 babies since TTC, so in comparative terms this is really not that bad eh?
I feel alot better reading this thread..........i am 34 weeks and so far i have been refd to a diabetes mamagement consultant at Angliss hospital. She in turn has had me monitor my food intake v blood in the last week and ripped me a new one when my lvls were too high (6.4 on average overnight and mid 7's to 8's after a meal) I have an "emergency" appt with an endo in mulgrave this friday and all i want to know is how this affects bub and will she be ok. its unfair that after all dh and i have been thru - numerous blood tests - an amnio - numerous ultrasounds that this diabetes could cause such upset
its frustrating i am miserable and constantly hungry - mine seems to be all about how much i eat as a pose to what i eat.
I am deathly scared that after i have her - c section 30th june- they will take her away and keep her in the nursery and i wont get to have her with me......
SueW - I also found the diabetes educators to be the scariest, most panicked people I have come across in this pregnancy. Rest assured that your levels are definitely NOT outrageous, they are at the very low end of what is considered to be GD. However as my doctor said they have to draw the line somewhere and it looks like you are just over it, same as I am. Different doctors and midwives will also have different ideas on how 'worried' you need to be.
If you are following the diet and your levels are still 'high' then you may be put on insulin. Believe me this is not a bad thing! With levels like yours you would still be on a very low dose, but you'd be able to eat a little more normally. I started insulin within about 3 weeks of monitoring my bsl's - I just couldnt stay below those magic numbesr without starving myself. My stress levels reduced immediatley on starting insulin, which also reduced my BSL.
As far as bubs is concerned, there is varying thought abouts the impact. Generally the main concern seems to be that the increased glucose in your blood will cross through the placenta allowing bubs to put on too much fat and you will struggle to deliver an oversized baby. Many GD mums are encouraged to have the baby induced early to avoid this, but it often turns out that baby is actually far smaller than predicted. Another idea is that babe will grow large, but have under developed lungs. This is what the diabetes educator told me but when I queried it wiht the obstetrician he said that the problems with the lungs are actually related to being induced, not the GD.
This is basically a fairly new area of medicine, one which is getting alot of funding at the moment. Some people call it a condition looking for a disease. While I dont dismiss it completely, I do think we need to be sensible when dealing with it.
I am being induced today (at 39weeks4days) and I expect that after bubs is born, they will do some pin***** tests to see if he/she has low blood sugar. There is a slight chance that bubs will have to stay in the neonatal ward for a day or so but that is only a very slight chance. The odds are that bubs will be fine and I'll be able to keep him/her with me.
I hope my ramblings havent confused you anymore Sue! I am sure you'll be fine. Just listen to the advice you are given, but dont take on the stress and panic. All the best
sorry to hear about your diagnosis, but as blondedoctor said, the diabetes educators seems to be major panic merchants!
If you're at the Angliss, you must be in the same area as me - feel free to contact me on thelovelycatherine @ gmail . com (without the spaces) if you need some help/reassurance.
As I understand it, the further through your pregnancy, the harder it can be to maintain your blood sugar levels anyway, and that's certainly what I've found. I'm on insulin, and as BD said, it's not a bad thing at all.
I found (and still find) it really difficult to work out what I could and couldn't eat - here's some things that I've learnt that may help:
*Eating at regular times is important - the days when I've had 4-6 hours between eating, my BSLs go nuts
*I've found porridge to be the best breakfast for me - traditional rolled oats, definitely not the stuff that's been ground up fine and has all sorts of added sugars. I have a bit of brown sugar and milk on top. Otherwise whole grain toast with vegemite or peanut butter has been good too :-)
*the major key I've found for main meals is to have LOTS of green veges - salad, broccoli, whatever. Keep your potatoes/pasta/rice/bread to an absolute minimum (and god I love my carbs, so this is a struggle for me!) - focus mainly on leafy greens and protein.
Other than that, my understanding is much as what BD said - if your BSLs are high, then the extra glucose goes to bubs, meaning that he/she can get a bit chubby. Since you're now 'under management', it's unlikely that he/she will get stupidly big. My obst initially talked about inducing me at 38 weeks, but he's calmed down a lot now and is (so far) happy to let me go until bubs is ready.
I'm 36 weeks now, and this week I start bi-weekly fetal monitoring so they can get a better idea of how bubs is coping with the GD. Like you, I'm concerned that my baby will be taken off me...but, whatever is in his best interests... If I can keep on top of my BSLs as much as possible, then there is a much better chance that he won't have low blood sugar when he's born - they will still monitor him closely for the first 24 hours though to make sure. Once your GD is being managed, the risks to your baby are so much lower than if it went undiagnosed.
I freaked out when I first heard about it, but people here have been so supportive, and as you move on you will start to take it in your stride too. Do feel free to get in touch if you want a chat!
thanks cate for your comforting and reassuring words- its so easy to feel so isolated when something like this pops up especailly when you seem have no control as i do . I will certainly sing out if i get a touch of the gitters again.
I just popped back in to lurk. I had GD last PG and ended up on insulin (only 18 units a day by the end though, so not too high). Someone asked earlier about diagnosis at home by monitoring. I spewed after 1 1/2 hours doing the GTT, so they didn't get a final result but thought I MIGHT have it (plus my dad has Type II), so I monitored at home and had three over 9's quite quickly so was diagnosed that way.
Re what to eat, there's a good guide here - the Healthy Eating for Gestational Diabetes Fact Sheet (PDF) which is linked about half way down the page: Gestational diabetes... Diabetes Australia - NSW
Re the stress, yes it's horrible to start with! I was really upset by it, found it hard to find the time to organise my food while working and commuting. Next time I'd definitely finish work a bit earlier to help spend the time organising food and attending all those bl**dy appointments!!
Re insulin & induction - different hospitals & obs have different rules, but many will talk about induction & regular monitoring towards the end. I was induced at 39 and bub born at 39+1. My obs said he would have wanted to induce me earlier if my insulin was higher. It's definitely worth asking if there's any policy/rules that they might want to follow. Also, again, many hosps will want to put bubs in special care nursery... I was variously told that bub would be in for 24 - 72 hours mandatory. In the end he was in for 24 hours as an "admitted" patient (if going private, your private care needs to cover this) but he roomed in with me mostly so that was fine. He actually had to go back in for light treatment for jaundice for 60 hours which was probably worse. But because I was so psyched up for his first admission, I was much more mentally prepared which helped.
BSL levels - like others have said, different states/hospitals/endo's/drs all go by different numbers which does my head in! In the end when I was researching whether to accept the induction or not, they basically said that yes, GD bubs can be bigger (mine was only 7lb 7oz so no issue there) but can also be bigger size than their organs are developed for - so can sometimes be more prone to have problems with breathing. The other unknown can be placenta function - so I don't want to give you the heebies, but I think it's worth knowing. My endo basically said that more babies that go "over" term in GD mums with insulin can have health probs, hence why they're more likely to not let you go over. Apparently in the past there used to be more problems (including deaths) with GD bubs but now there aren't as many problems cos they manage it better. So it's not to scare you too much, but basically in doing the diet and insulin needed, you're looking after yourself and bub. Plus as we know, the levels are a bit arbitrary and there is a 10% (at least!) error rate on the machines.... my endo said we look at the general trend of your BSLs when we put you on insulin. Apparently to make the machines more accurate, they'd cost $10,000 each lol. So while sometimes it's like ppl are trying to scare you, at the end of the day if you and bubs are healthy, that's the main thing. And even when the monitoring is a pain, at least you know they're taking good care of you.
Re weight - I didn't put on any more weight from 28 weeks, so only put on 5.5kg total (but was a bit overweight start with). I was lighter once I'd given birth than at the start of my PG (yay lol).
Oh and finally, the one thing I wish I'd known before having my DS. Apparently breastfeeding is really good for your glucose metabolism & insulin resistance (as well as your weight any way). So if you want extra motivation for BF'ing, there's some! No-one ever told me that before, and I was a bit amazed when I looked into it.
And the best bit... in the end, you'll have a beautiful bub, and touch wood the GD will have gone away (seems to have for most folks in this thread)... and the 2-3 months of GD that most people have will be nothing but a bad dream. And those ppl who tell you it's nothing and why are you stressed...well no, it is something and it IS stressful but you'll get there and it does get easier. GL to you all
Just thought I'd pop in and let you know that I had a BOY!! James Hagen was born on Thursday 4th June at 9.32am by C-section. It was a bit of the drama, two days trying to induce with me literally strapped to the bed with fetal monitors, drips and a catheter, then an emergency C which was partly due to the fear of a giant babe. In the end he was 8 pounds 9 ounces - NOT the giant they predicted. He's beautiful!!
My BSL's were monitored for a few days after birth and they were great, so now no more diabetes for me!!! The hospitals policy was to keeep all babes of GD mums in the special care nursery for 24hrs of monitoring after birth so they did that, but James was fine - Phew!!! We are both home now and beignning the journey of breastfeeding, sleep regimes and all things parenting!! Exciting times. Anyhoo, hope you are all doing well, keeping your BSL's managed and are looking forward to a healthy happy child at the end of all this. Hugs to everyone!
SueW, if you are having bubs at the Angliss, they will tell you that s/he will be taken to special care for 12 hours for blood sugar monitoring. I had my baby there by c/s 9 weeks ago and this is what I was told. In the end, just before they took me down for the c/s they said that special care was full and that bub would be staying with me but the nurses there would check his BSL's every 2 hours. His first 2 levels were fine and then they got a bit low (2.4 was the lowest - they like them to be 2.5 and above) and he had a little bit of formula as we just couldn't get enough colostrum from me (took ages for my milk to eventually come in).
Anyway, even though they say baby must go to special care (their policy etc), obviously it isn't super important as the test is easily done on the ward. I would be discussing this with your care provider before hand to make sure you know what the plan is. I was told different things by different people with regards to GD babies and it's so frustrating.
I am off to have my follow up GTT tomorrow. Have done some testing occassionally the last few weeks and levels have been great so I hope all goes well tomorrow.
just diagnosed gest diabetes
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