Gestational Diabetes General Chatter #4

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Hi all - I'm back and it was a Boy!

Firstly thank - you to everyone who was thinking of us over the past week.

Thomas Robert was born on the 2/7/08 at 9.55pm after an induction, 3.41 kilos and all was well with him. We came home on Monday, he has had a little jaundice which we are feeding out of him and so far he has been pretty quite.

Will post more later - got to go feed!

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Thanks Girls!

No we did not want to know before hand, and it was DH who was the first to look. The induction was at the end of the 37th week (due to my use of insulin) and it went well, if any of you want details for your own planning let me know - but it was a normal birth (well, kind of, with gels, ARM and Sync to make it happen) and NO C SECTION or EPI!!:D (the two things I was worried about).

Things are going well and I will not mention what I have treated myself too over the past week or so.

I hope all of your BSL's are going well and I look forward to hearing good news from you all over the next few weeks.

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Petals - CONGRATULATIONS on the birth of your little man. You must be some proud and relieved at the same time. Post a pic when you can!! Glad to hear everything went well and as you'd hoped. Can't ask for more than that.. Enjoy the treats, and enjoy one for us!!!!

As for me I saw my endo last week, he was happy with my levels, all 4 and 5's so all good and happy for me to just call in 4 weeks with updated levels. If all stays as it is then no need to see him again.

I can't say that my appointment helped to relieve any of my concerns regarding the GD going away after baby and in fact I think it made it worse. I cannot help but worry that I'm going to be stuck with this after the baby is born which worries me beyond!!!! When I asked him some questions about the fact my levels have been good he really didn't help me to feel at ease at all. I didn't want him to lie to me but at least a "majority of GD sufferers it disappears after birth" would have been nice to hear instead of "it should do"...

I'd love to put a list together of the stuff i want to eat when baby appears but it concerns me that by stuffing my face with the food I've missed, it might mean the GD won't go away. The thought of doing that 2hr GTT again is frightening the "you know what" out of me and the crap part is that is appears there is nothing I can do to help my chances. I know 2 ppl (a few of my friends' mum's) and they said it went straight away but still the thought is troubling me and mentioning the fear to my hubby or other family members really hasn't gotten any reassuring results.

Sorry about the long rant but needed to get that off my chest in one way or another.

SnowChickie - I think we are all worried about it staying aorund. I'm not going to go too made with the food until i have my 6-8 week GTT. But I will have a few things that I'm restricting now.
I have been talking to heaps of women lately that have had GD and not one of them had it 'hang around'. That's including one of the RN's that I used to work with. Her kids are in their 20's now and there is no sign of Diabetes at all with her. So that has certainly mad eme feel better.

Snowchickie, I was on 120+ units of insulin by the end of my pregnancy and the GD went away. You should be able to tell quite quickly after the birth because they will get you to check your BSL's a few times after the birth. Mine were a bit slow to come down, I got around 10 after a meal and my fasting was high but by the second day it was all good. The GD lady in the bed next to me had perfect readings straight away. Try not to worry about it too much, it is unlikely that it will stick around.

Under 4 is considered a hypo. It can happen to anyone but it is more likely when you are on insulin. I fell asleep once and missed morning tea and when I woke I was sweaty and it was the biggest effort to get to the kitchen for food. My reading was 2.2. It happened a few times, if I did more exercise or missed a snack (walking around Ikea always gave me a hypo lol)

Snowchickie, I was on 120+ units of insulin by the end of my pregnancy and the GD went away. You should be able to tell quite quickly after the birth because they will get you to check your BSL's a few times after the birth. Mine were a bit slow to come down, I got around 10 after a meal and my fasting was high but by the second day it was all good. The GD lady in the bed next to me had perfect readings straight away. Try not to worry about it too much, it is unlikely that it will stick around.

Under 4 is considered a hypo. It can happen to anyone but it is more likely when you are on insulin. I fell asleep once and missed morning tea and when I woke I was sweaty and it was the biggest effort to get to the kitchen for food. My reading was 2.2. It happened a few times, if I did more exercise or missed a snack (walking around Ikea always gave me a hypo lol)

Well I'm off for another u/s on thursday as my dr (a different one as my reg GP is on hols) thinks I'm too big for my dates, and thinks I have lots of fluid.
I'm measuring 40cm at 35 weeks, but hello I am 5'2" and 102kgs! You're measuring fat too bud! No one I know thinks I'm too big. Infact it's only been this last month that you can actually tell I'm pg!
Oh well, another excuse to see bubs before he's born. DBF will be able to be there, so we'll get some great pics this time. Plus we'll get him to double check on the sex just to be sure.
My bsls have been fine as long as I'm eating right. If I'm naughty then they go up of course. Drs happy with those though.
My bp has been a fraction high too. Oh that reminds me I was meant to go get them checked today, oops. My bottom number is borderline, so I need to keep an eye on them.
Off the FMC on friday and hopefully I'll get my induction date then.

Yay! you get to see your bubba again. Whoohoo.
I've been told I'm not very big this time, but I think/feel I'm huge.
I had 4u/s all together this pg, compared to DS where I only had 2. I didn't mind I got to see the baby again and make sure things were growing perfect. The size wasn't that much bigger then my DS.

So the doctor measures your tummy?
I've never had that done.

Good luck with your BP. I hope it doesn't rise anymore, and settles down. Maybe it was a bit higher cause you were seeing a diff doctor and nervous/worried?
I know mine goes higher when I worry. Lol.

I'm so sick of bsls and that jazz.
I am so tempted to ask for an induction or something. I dunno.

Drs have been measuring my fundal height since I was about 20 weeks.
But my reg Dr says that it can depend on how tight they hold the tape measure, how the baby's positioned and how much weight you carry. So I think that this new dr (he's new to the clinic too) is just being cautious.
Another reason he might think that my belly is big is because I don't have a very long torso, and still have to fit a baby in there, so I might look big to him.

I have lost weight with this pg (about 7 kgs) and I am still wearing pants that I was wearing pre pg so I can't be that big!

Oh well, like I said we get to see bubs again. DBF is getting so impatient, he just wants the baby now! So I don't know if having the u/s will placate him or make him want me to give birth even more! lol

I have no idea on the bp. I was waiting for an hour to see him so I wasn't rushing around before hand. Maybe I was a little worried although I didn't feel like it. I'll go to the drs surgery tomorrow and get them to check it. Mind you he only wants me to report the readings to the Dr on friday if they are high. Not do anything special. Like I said I think he's just being cautious.

If you feel like having an induction then ask. I had one with ds and I was straight into 2 minute contractions, so I guess it seems like a much harder? labor.

I would really like to go natural with this one, just so I can experience a 'normal' labor but I don't see myself going before 38 weeks when they want to induce me.

I'm over the bsl thing too. Most of the time I don't even take them in hte day time. I always make sure I take my fasting and my night time one before I have my insulin. Otherwise I take it if I feel like it. Naughty I know, but I'm so over it.

Pizzas looking good atm!

Way to go with the 7kg weight loss and fitting into your pre-pg clothes.
I think that's awesome.
I wish I could fit into my clothes like that. Although I did lose weight at the start, I started putting it on in the end. I've only gained about 7kg altogether, so I'm proud of myself.

I hope you go naturally yourself before they induce you. Fingers crossed for you!!

Good that the doctor is being cautious. It's better then not being.
My BP has gone down a bit, which is so unexpected. Maybe tomorrows appt will tell a different story. lol.

BSLs have been alright lately.
My body confuses me lately. lol.
I've been naughty lately too. I feel bad about it too but I can't seem to stop it? It's not like I'm having lots of bad things, but things I wasn't having before.

Hi Girls
Well I've been offline for a while getting my head around all this GD stuff. I've now been taking my BSLs for a couple of weeks and they've been pretty good. 4's and 5's with a couple of slightly higher readings...I find that stress really effects my levels. I had a heated argument with a phone company and then took my levels - they were 9! And I'd had the same for breakfast as every other morning 9 (porridge) which normally gives me a reading of about 5! That was a shock, so since then I've really been prioritising r&r.

Thankfully haven't had to change my diet too much. No more decadent sweet treats but have managed to replace with healthy alternatives like bran muffins etc. I find that rice is the worst thing for me. Even basmati. I can only have a little bit, otherwise my levels are a little over. I also find that my morning levels often only come down a very small amount overnight and a couple of times they've been above 5.5.

Can anyone give me a rough guide to how many times they will allow your levels to go over before you need to go on insulin? Also have you noticed your BSLs going up the further into your pregnancy you get?

...Big congratulations Petals on the safe arrival of your son...And a natural birth. Fantastic!

...Snowchickie - even though I don't know much about this whole thing yet it does seem like your chances of having diabetes after the baby is born are slim and don't stress! It really is bad for mind, body and soul!!

I have my first post GD diagnosis check-up today so wish me luck! :-)

Hi Pachamamma.
Sorry to hear about your GD. I'm glad your levels have been going well.
Great to hear you didn't have to change your diet much. I struggled alot with that in the start. I was right into sweet things and OJ. It was hard work. Lol.

Rice goes ok with me. I still have it even though it probably shouldn't. Pasta and me don't mix, not even the wholemeal pasta.
My overnight levels go alright. Sometimes I get a 5, but it depends what I had for dinner and all that. I mostly get 4's for the overnight reading, so I've been lucky with that cause you can't really control what your body does while you sleep.
Fingers crossed for you.

Sorry, I can't help with the insulin info. I found out early and have been controlling it with diet since 10wks. They thought I may need insulin at the start, but I didn't and haven't. Becci might be able to help you out with the insulin stuffs.

Thankfully my levels haven't really gone up in the last part of my pg. Sometimes they do and you can't control it. I thought mine were going to go haywire, and I had like 2 tough weeks, with me stressin' out that my levels would rise and everything would go wrong but in the end it hasn't.

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR APPOINTMENT!!

(sorry I ramble alot. Btw, nice to meet you.)

hiya

tennykins - when you say you got GD at 10 weeks what were your readings? I had GD on high insulin with my son Isaac. He was induced at 36 weeks and i was on around 20 before breakfast, lunch and dinner of novorapid and 82 units of proptane at night.

Isaac is now nearly a year old and i am about 8 weeks pregnant. I am testing my blood to keep tabs on it but i have found my fasting is around 6 - 7 and i can't get it down. During the day its fine. But fasting is a thorn in my side.

I'm not sure if any of you remember be i use to post in here :)

angel

Angelraelz - welcome back!

Pachamama - things seem to be going well with you. Not sure about how many times before insulin but would imagine if it was regularly a couple of times a week then they might look at it. They are quite strict with it.
I thought I would have to have more insulin as I have gone along, but 6 units is doing me just fine.
The only time my levels are up is if I am naughty, and as long as I don't do that too often to drs ok.

My levels haven't really gone up during my pg. Infact I think they have stabilized lately. I was expecting them to go up but they haven't.

My current problem is my BP. Went and had it checked today and my Diasolic (the bottom one) was 100! So had my wee checked (all ok - no protein) and rested for 15 minutes and then rechecked. It was 93. Then dr did three consecutive checks after another half and hour and they were all between 90 and 95.
So I have to go back on thursday before my u/s and have them checked again.
I have no idea as to why they have gone up all of a sudden, other then it's school holidays and the kids are driving me mad! lol (just kidding on this).

I go to FMC on friday so I', half expecting to be put on bed rest and maybe they'll induce me earlier than they were going to originally.

Will have to wait and see.

Angel - At first they tol dme it wasn't GD, but I'm not sure. They found my high sugar levels in the BT they do at the start of the pg. I did find out not many GPs actually test sugar levels that early, so I was lucky to get mine done. I think I had a random reading of 18 or something, so I had to do the fasting BT and it came back at 10, or 9.
So that's how it all started with me.

Congrats on your pg! Good luck with BSL readings.
xx

Becci - Wow. 100 on the bottom. Mine has been around the 70-80's on the bottom.
Good there was no protein in your pee. I hope everything goes well on friday.

Thanks Tenny. Mine have been about 80 until about a week ago too. Not sure what's made it go up. Just one of those pg things I think.

I've been really surprised by mine. It was fine again today.
No sugar in my urine either. Or protein.

Do you guys get sugar traces?
It's due to the diabetes I was told, but I got it a couple times in the middle but not anymore.

I'm not even sure if I'll be induced or not. I don't know if my OB cares if I go over. I just have to wait till atleast next week at my 40+1 appointment. (if I hold on that long)

I have only had my urine tested once (the other day) by my GP. They tested it at FMC though. I did have sugar in there both times though.

Wow! Tenny, it can be any time now. How are you feeling? I've been feeling very uncomfortable these past few days. Have you engaged yet? I haven't and I don't think I will, which is apparently common for second time bubs.

Just in case you happen to go into labor tonight, I do wish you all the best with everything. It's been great having you to talk to about all this GD stuff.

I'm sure we'll hear from you once your home (well I hope so anyway).

Sleep tight.

I've been feeling really uncomfy lately, and have had some cramping and back aches, but they never go anywhere.

I actually found out today the baby is like 3/5 engaged, so only just.
I don't even know if my DS was engaged before labour last time, so it's all new to me. lol. Yeah, I read that in second pgs they don't engage till the end.

Trust me to get a head cold right now. It's kinda a bad one too. It's kinda funny though, since I've been feeling a bit off with the cold I haven't really had any cramps or even BH, so maybe my body is tryna fight that off first. I'm not sure.

Thanks for the wishes Becci.
It's been great having this section to talk about GD and stuff. I don't know what I would have done without it.

xx

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SnowChickie - I think we are all worried about it staying aorund. I'm not going to go too made with the food until i have my 6-8 week GTT. But I will have a few things that I'm restricting now.
I have been talking to heaps of women lately that have had GD and not one of them had it 'hang around'. That's including one of the RN's that I used to work with. Her kids are in their 20's now and there is no sign of Diabetes at all with her. So that has certainly mad eme feel better.

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Becci - That does make me feel better and please excuse the irrational rants from my last post. Sometimes my anxiety can get the better of me and just getting it out helps..

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Snowchickie, I was on 120+ units of insulin by the end of my pregnancy and the GD went away. You should be able to tell quite quickly after the birth because they will get you to check your BSL's a few times after the birth. Mine were a bit slow to come down, I got around 10 after a meal and my fasting was high but by the second day it was all good. The GD lady in the bed next to me had perfect readings straight away. Try not to worry about it too much, it is unlikely that it will stick around.

Under 4 is considered a hypo. It can happen to anyone but it is more likely when you are on insulin. I fell asleep once and missed morning tea and when I woke I was sweaty and it was the biggest effort to get to the kitchen for food. My reading was 2.2. It happened a few times, if I did more exercise or missed a snack (walking around Ikea always gave me a hypo lol)

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Artechim WoW that is good to hear and so glad it went away for you.. I asked my endo about my fasting levels and because my GTT fasting was only 4.2 he didn't require me to test that. I told him the two fasting test results i had done and he was fine with that.

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I have lost weight with this pg (about 7 kgs) and I am still wearing pants that I was wearing pre pg so I can't be that big!

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Becci Congratus on the pre-preg clothes, I'm the same. i'm still wearing my same jeans just with a belly belt but same fit in the butt and legs which my mum can't believe for some reason. Plan to walk out of the hospital in them and maybe even done up without belly belt. :)

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I've been naughty lately too. I feel bad about it too but I can't seem to stop it? It's not like I'm having lots of bad things, but things I wasn't having before.

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Tennykins - I know the feeling about being bad by eating things you haven't been before. I'm exactly the same right now. Having a sml glass of diet coke every other day, having those yummy Snack Right biscuits which feel naughty to eat, have Le Rice snacks which again feel like I"m eating something naughty. Even just having a hot choc (the Choc O Lait one which is made with hot water only) makes me feel like i'm eaten something I shouldn't. Thing is they are not affecting my levels..

Question??My endo said I have to have the GTT 3 months after birth, yet Becci you mentioned 6-8 weeks you would have yours.. What is the correct length to wait?? If it's 3 months then that means I have to be "sensible" for 3 months!!!!

As for trace sugars, I don't know what my GTT urine test came up with and I haven't had any other urine tests since. I see my OB tomorrow so maybe he will check it or maybe not. See what happens..

As for me I finished work today so I'm officially on maternity leave!!!
WOO HOO
:dance::dance::dance::clap::clap::clap:

I am feeling more and more uncomfortable.. I feel huge now so not sure if baby has had a growth spurt or if I'm bloated or what.. I feel like bub is sitting really high so guess see what OB says tomorrow. Also still waiting to hear my OB's thoughts about induction or if he'll let me go natural and even if he plans to send me for a sizing u/s. Last Apt he said he was happy with my size and baby size but with my incling that bub has grown maybe that will change after tomorrow. My fear is that my little indulgences which although haven't affected my levels have made bub bigger..

Does anyone have any suggestions for snacks after dinner??? Normally i'm having a glass of warm milk, sometimes i add a teaspoon of milo and sometimes if I'm a little hungry also I might have a couple of Snack Right biscuits or even a couple of Rich Tea biscuits. Any other suggestions??