Gestational Diabetes Chatter #7

[teepee2]

Congratulations Jenna!! And welcome little Elise. So glad to hear she didnt have to spend any time in SCN. I hope she's settling in well xx

Kim I never have sweet craving (never really had a sweet tooth anyway). I know what you mean about the GD doing your head in, im the same Hope the panic attacks settle down, must be horrible for you Was your appt last wednesday or is to tomorrow? Hope you get some of the answers you're after. Once your mind is at ease hopefully the panic attacks will stop xx

Thanks for the info Belfie. I'll have a look when I get a chance. After seeing my Endo I was pretty startled when he said that my chance of getting type 2 later in life was 100% - so anything I can do to delay it would be great!

Well AFM..... I cant believe that in 7 days I'll be holding my new little baby! Im excited but scared at the same time LOL. Dont know how i'll go handling 3 kids but I'll just have to give it my best shot hey LOL. Im scheduled for 7.30am next Tuesday (12th) and have to go into hospital tomorrow for a CTG and then my last OB appt. Sugar levels are still on the rise so the sooner I get this baby out the better. Cant wait to stop these injections!!

7 more sleeps..... Eeeeeeekkkkkk!!!!!!

[belfie]

After seeing my Endo I was pretty startled when he said that my chance of getting type 2 later in life was 100% - so anything I can do to delay it would be great!

What the!?!?! What is he basing that on?? I've always heard that lifetime Type 2 risk is 50%... unless you've got other risk factors too? So yes, our risk is higher than that of a normal population, but it's a risk, not an actual certified you WILL get type 2 diagnosis. I reckon you can NEVER say 100% unless you already had it! *stomps around indignantly*
Plus I've known plenty of women who had it in PG and didn't get it in later life!

(and woo hoo for 7 days - sorry was too busy being indignant lol)

[teepee2]

I initially had the same reaction Belfie. I dont know how he came to that conclusion. There is a history of type 2 in my mothers family but neither of my parents have it so he said family history doesnt really count unless its one of your parents. I dont know... maybe he was trying to scare me into taking better care of myself once the baby is born? I dont really know much about it so had no idea whether it was an accurate assumption or not. He was quite direct and adamant that I would get it... he said its not a matter of 'if' but 'when'

I think id better look into it a bit more. Nothing wrong with being healthy but id rather not have it hanging over my head just waiting for it to happen! Thanks for the push in the right direction!! xx

[KimB]

Well ladies saw the endo again today and have now been put on insulin for lunch as well. So 4 units for lunch and 4 units for dinner and 34 units of long lasting for before bed. They are talking of inducing me between 38 and 39 weeks and will check me next week to see how my cervix is doing. I also attended the breastfeeding for diabetic mums clinic this morning and have to start trying to express from now. How am I going to do all the things they want me to do I don't know but will attempt to try

teepee - I would be getting a 2nd opinion as well

[teepee2]

Kim I'll definitely be getting a 2nd opinion, though I think i'll stick to the diet for a while - hopefully it'll help me shift the extra baby weight and maybe, fingers crossed, even more

How was the breastfeeding clinic? I didnt know they had them. Where did you attend yours? If you dont mind me asking, what did they suggest? I had supply issues with both my previous pregnancies and wasnt able to breastfeed for long. I have since been told that having PCOS would have contributed to that but im thinking the the GD wont help either Ive tried google but cant find any clinics/talks in my area - not that ive got much time to attend one - have to be at the hospital at 6am next Tuesday!!!

I know its very daunting but you'll get through it all. Heck you're already a mum of 5 - you can do anything!!!! LOL

[KimB]

lol thanks teepee. I went to a clinic run by my hospital. Phone yours up and ask if they have them. It was only an hour long but they were talking about having some expressed jic bubs needs extra if they have to go into scn. One thing they did tell us was that because of the GD it could take longer for our milk to come in. Also that by breastfeeding as much as possible it reduces the risk of bubs getting diabetes when they are older. They think there is some link to GD babies having formula in scn to getting the diabetes themselves so they recommend b/f'ing.

They gave us some little cups (like the ones you get in chinese food for the sauce lol) to use to collect the colostrum (need to sterilise them first in Miltons ) and some sticky labels to put on them and also some syringes in case we couldn't get much in the cups. The only problem I can see is that I'm not a cow and pulling on the old boobies is hurting lol. They did suggest trying for only 5 mins at a time, twice a day and see what we get. I'll have to get a move on too as I only have a couple of weeks to go.

Wow to only having 5 days to go. Will be waiting for your BA

Tried to hand express tonight and got .6 of 1ml. Oh well I'm sure it will improve the more I do it. Was doing it while watching Biggest Loser make overs lol

[Sarah22511]

I'm 34 weeks and had a ultrasound today just to check on my baby's size and its 3 kg. big surprise for me because i feel quite "small" but it does look very cramped in there.
I have an appointment with the obstetrician thursday so will probably have to go on insulin

anyone here had a big baby due to gestational diabetes? i'm wondering if i'll have to have a cesarean?

[teepee2]

Hope everyone is doing well. I havent posted a BA yet but our little boy Liam James was born at 38+1 weeks on Tuesday 12th April @ 8.05am via c/sect. He's such a good little baby and is doing really well. He ended up in SCN for 24hrs but his BSL's have been great so he was discharged this morning and is now allowed to stay in the room with me. They were talking about giving him a formula comp feeds if his sugar levels dropped but thankfully that didnt happen. Milk hasnt come in yet but im hoping that when it does it will be enough for him. My PCOS may affect supply and they're looking into meds to help boost it - apparently that may be my only chance because of my hormone levels. At this stage i'll do anything to make BF'ding work!!

Here is a link to my FB album. Not sure if it'll work, if not feel free to add me as a friend if you like. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...9&id=719276520

Kim how are you going with expressing. Hope you've managed to stock up

Hi Sarah. My OB thought that Liam would definitely be a big baby. My scan at 35 weeks showed that he was 2.5kgs which is right on 50% but the OB said he thought he would be much bigger seeing as i ended up on 80 odd units of insulin a day. Well im happy to say the he is actually the smallest of all 3 of my children and was born at 3.280kg so not small but not big by any means. Your little one is a little bit above average but doesnt mean you'll end up with a huge baby. I dont see why you'd have to have a c/sect unless there are other complications. My c/section had nothing to do with my GD and was based on my previous deliveries. If you do end up on insulin they may induce you early to avoid bub getting too big. Good luck with your appointment tomorrow, hopefully you can avoid insulin altogether!

[KimB]

OMG teepee Liam is gorgeous. Well done chook on birthing your boy (doesn't matter how he came out). I was told that having the GD means that your milk supply can come in later than usual so don't be upset about that. When you get home try the lactation cookies (recipe in the appropriate section lol) as a friend of mine made them and she got heaps. Also she just liked the cookies

Sarah - my 3rd baby was 9lb 12oz (4.4kg) and that was without GD so don't get stressed about the size. I birthed him naturally and with no tears. You will do just fine.

I had another appointment yesterday and I am now on novorapid for breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as long lasting before bed. Still not alot but enough that they are going to really be monitoring me during labour. I got a really good midwife yesterday and asked her about the continuous monitoring and said how I wanted to negotiate for 20 mins monitoring and 20 mins off. So all up in the hour they can monitor me for 40 mins but then I could move around for 20 of it. She didn't seem to think it would be a problem so yay. She actually thought my birth plan was quite reasonable. I did have problems yesterday though as I was supposed to see an obs but they didn't book me in so now I have to wait until next week and then they will do a VE and book either an induction date or c/s date. I also don't know what date they are going to go by. My edd from LMP is 6 May but from the 12 week scan date it is 2 May. I know only 4 days but it can make a difference when they do the induction. According to me I'm 37 weeks tomorrow but the scan date would put me at 37 + 4 so at my next appointment I'm either going to be 37 + 5 or 38 + 2. Oh well will see next week (if I make it ) The midwife actually apologised for the bad care I have received so far and she took the time to actually talk to me about some of my concerns so I was very impressed with her and I hope she is on when I go into labour

Enjoy your time with your new little man teepee. Give him big cuddles from me and I can't wait until I can post on here about my little girl.

Take care all

[Sarah22511]

Teepee Liam is so cute! Congratulations

Thanks for your advice and information and Thanks to you too Kim its good to hear. other peoples experiences

I think i immediately thought oh no! because the ultrasound technician was preganant and she gave me a pittying look and said goodluck haha

the obstetrician said yesterday booked me in for another ultrasound in 2 weeks to see how much bigger my little one is and at this stage they might induce me at 39 or 40 weeks because he was explaining how the shoulders may get stuck if baby is too big. So thats good news wont really be early at all and they didnt even mention insulin

[JennaJayen]

Sarah - Elise was estimated at being 7pound 9 at 37weeks (they are supposed to start putting on an ounce a day around then), and she was born at 40+2 weighing only 8pound, and I was on 16 units of insulin a day at that point.
With my DS I didn't have GD and he was born at 41+5 weighing only 8pound 3, though he was estimated at being almost 3kg at 33weeks.

The ultrasound weights are only estimates, and are made up in part by combining the measurements of the baby's body - including the legs - and if the sonographer is out in his/her measurements by only 1-3mm on all measurements it can put things out by quite a bit.

Hi everyone else, Elise is going well and has slept through for 7 nights out of the past 17 already, just trying to deal with her colic and DS has come down with the cold that hubby and I have had for the past 2 weeks, and Elise is showing some symptoms of it too, so have been rather busy being sick and dealing with sick family lol She also put on 140g in a week when she got weighed on wednesday, so was 50g above her birthweight so happy about that! Can't wait for her to get weighed again this wednesday to see if the EBM and occasional bottle of formula is still doing it's job.

Hope you're all well!

[Minque]

Hi!

I have no idea about what blood levels are normal and too high when it comes to GD. So I was hoping some lovely people here know about glucose levels in the blood

I failed my first GCT test with a level of 9.7 and the Pathology lady said the upper level they liked was 7.
I took the GTT 2 hour test yesterday and after 9 attempts and collapsed veins in both my arms they completed the 3 blood tests. The lady only told me the level of my first blood test and that was 5.6 after fasting overnight - before I drank the lovely sugar drink! She never told me the other levels because I think they were too busy trying to get veins up in my arm. I'm now awaiting the results to see if I passed that one or not.

Just a question - Does 5.6 sound like a normal level after fasting overnight?

[JennaJayen]

Minque - 5.6 is a little bit higher than they like - the diabete's educaters prefer for it to be somewhere between 3.5 and 5.5
I used to get some readings of 5.6-5.8 first thing in the morning even after having my 8 units of novorapid insulin before dinner and 2 units of protaphane insulin last thing before bed, it can vary depending on what you have eaten the night before, what the temperature & humidity is like (high temps and high humidity can make your levels go up), and your stress levels (stress can also make the levels go up).
Hope that helped a bit

Teepee - I forgot to say congrats in my last post as well, Liam is gorgeous!

afm - not much happening here, 3 weeks to go now until my GTT test to see if the GD went away. I'm pretty sure it did though lol, I haven't felt this healthy (apart from having been sick with a cold for most of th last 3 weeks lol) since I got pregnant. The only time I get the feeling like I have low sugar is after 10pm at night where I start to feel like I'm going to pass out, but that could also partly be due to tirednes lol I still grab a snack before going to bed though and it always maes me feel better lol

Hope you're all doing well!

[Minque]

Thanks so much Jenna
I have been extremely stressed lately so hopefully that has skewed the results. Hoping to find out tomorrow if i have GD and the plan of action after that!

[Minque]

I'm in the clear for GD by the looks of things!
I got my results back for my GTT and my results after 1 hour this time were 7.9 and then 5.2 after 2 hours. I think my 9.6 was skewed because I also had breakfast before the GCT. Thanks for your help!

[Sarah22511]

Sarah - Elise was estimated at being 7pound 9 at 37weeks (they are supposed to start putting on an ounce a day around then), and she was born at 40+2 weighing only 8pound, and I was on 16 units of insulin a day at that point.
With my DS I didn't have GD and he was born at 41+5 weighing only 8pound 3, though he was estimated at being almost 3kg at 33weeks.

The ultrasound weights are only estimates, and are made up in part by combining the measurements of the baby's body - including the legs - and if the sonographer is out in his/her measurements by only 1-3mm on all measurements it can put things out by quite a bit.


Hi everyone else, Elise is going well and has slept through for 7 nights out of the past 17 already, just trying to deal with her colic and DS has come down with the cold that hubby and I have had for the past 2 weeks, and Elise is showing some symptoms of it too, so have been rather busy being sick and dealing with sick family lol She also put on 140g in a week when she got weighed on wednesday, so was 50g above her birthweight so happy about that! Can't wait for her to get weighed again this wednesday to see if the EBM and occasional bottle of formula is still doing it's job.

Hope you're all well!

Hi Jenna ,
interesting! Thanks for that
after my ultrasound on Wed, the sonographer decided that yes my baby is big but due to me being 6'1 ( my boyfriend is 6ft) that the baby is destined to be a bit bigger then average

so no inducing at 39 weeks but will be induced at 40 weeks if need be.

Glad to hear your daughter is going well yay for the weight gain!goodluck with the colic and the rest of u n your fam with all the sicknesses!

[Sarah22511]

great to hear minque

[KimB]

Hi all, just popping in to let you know that our precious bundle arrived on 29/4 and she is doing well. Phoebe Eleena was 3.705kg so 8lb 1 and 52cm long. She never had to spend any time in nicu as her sugar levels were fine. She is b/f'ing like a trooper and likes to sleep most of the time I'm so not used to that lol. She only lost 100grams from her birth weight so was very pleased with that. We have another home visit next Tuesday from the MCN and they will weigh her again and I'm also going to get them to check out her tummy. I think she might have a small hernia above her belly button. I have been well and no sign of the diabetes since the birth. I do have a very sore lower back still but will get that checked out soon.

Sorry no persies but Phoebe is crying and needs attention - again. Not that I'm really complaining lol. Take care all