Gestational Diabetes General Chatter #5

[Niamh75]

Hello

Petals great to here all is going well for you how you feeling

Becci 4 of novarapid at breakfast and lunch and 8 of insulstard at night time the same as Protaphane just a diff name.

yea a bit weird all right feeling better today and keeping a very close eye on my sugars Im not back in to the hospital again for another two weeks the baby doctor actually didn't want to see me in two she said a couple of weeks then asked if i was having a scan so my scan is in two weeks so seeing her after she was very lax not to happy with that at all

[Jewel]

Thanks ladies. <3

Becci - So you're getting induced next week? YAY! Are you looking forward to it?

Snowchickie - Your levels are really goooooood. So are you having an induction or just waiting for things to go naturally?

Petals - Great to hear about Thomas! Way to go Thomas!

Belfie - I had no symptoms at all.

[snowchickie79]

Belinda and Becci, thanks so much for the tips & average day details, that really helps . I'm finding I tend to feel pretty average all morning, and I notice that your breakfasts are higher energy probably than I've been having, could that mean I should be trying to have more, or higher GI brekkie's? I guess I'll know better once I see my BSL's, and as you say, everyone is different.

Belinda - 9 days bathroom reno's does NOT sound like fun, but nice on the new bathroom!! Have fun doing your nursery. I've just emptied out my spareroom and am waiting for nursery furniture to arrive (next month), can't wait - will be heaps of fun.

Did any of you tend to experience any GD symptoms? I know they say that most women don't, and I guess I'm just getting paranoid wondering if how I'm feeling is normal 3rd tri or GD influenced..?

Thanks again,
Belfie

Belfie - Are you testing your BSL's yet? If you are what is your fasting level coming back as? If you are feeling bad in the morning you might find your levels are low. Weet bix or porridge is actually considered Low GI foods as they release the energy slowly. What are you having for breakfast now??
Yes 9 days of reno was interesting but back home now, carpet cleaner came in yesterday and cleaned all our carpets, lounge and dining chairs. Carpet is only 18 months old but wanted to make sure all dust out of it from the bathroom reno. We pickup the baby furniture tomorrow ()..
Re symptoms, the only thing I noticed was I was really thirsty in the morning for a few weeks before the GT test. I've never been a morning person so there was nothing new in me being tired in the morning and I've had insomnia so was staying up way too late to top it off. So i only really considered the thirst a symptom.

Snowchickie - Your levels are really goooooood. So are you having an induction or just waiting for things to go naturally?

tennykins Yep my levels have been good. I had homemade pizza on lavash bread last night. i put on mushrooms, capsicum, corn kernels, pineapple, asparagus, and then scrambled 2 eggs and put those on, topped with cheese and baked. Only got a 4.9 which surprised me. I have no reason for complaint with my BSL's. OB said that they will let me go naturally and even go 1 week over as long as my levels are staying ok. Has been no mention of a sizing u/s either as he is happy with my size and fundus is measuring a week behind what i am. I was really happy about that as I was worried I'd be recommended a c/section. I only have a tiny frame and OB said from the start, even before GD that a big baby would be difficult for me to deliver as my pelvis is small so GD on top didn't help my confidence.

Anyway I best be going. I have some work to get done today..
Have a lovely day everyone.

[Becci]

Wow! Lots to catch up on here.

I saw our dr on Thursday. He said there was no use giving an internal to see if I'm dialted as I could always dilate between now and next weeks induction. Which I agreed with. So I have no idea if I'm dialted or now, but now have an app on Tues morn to get it all checked out.
I've had to bump my insulin levels up a bit this week. Now taking 10 units of NovaRapid and 9 units of Protaphane. The Protaphane has been great, but I think the NovaRapid needs to go up again.

Belinda - I have missed some of my midday tests too but I'm not too worried about them. They are usually ok.
Glad your back home and getting things organised.

Belfie - I just saw the dietician at the local health service. It was a free consult too.
No symptoms here either.

Petals - Great to hear from you. Good to hear that Thomas has got it sorted out. I bet he's growing fast too.
I didn't think to ask if I could go home, but seeing as we are about an hour away from the hospital I don't think it will be a good idea lol.

Niamh - good luck with your u/s.

Tenny -
Yeah looking forward to the induction, well mainly to have our little man with us. Was hoping to go naturally this time, but at least I won't have those last two uncomfortable weeks to contend with.

[belfie]

hey ladies,

Thanks for the info ladies , and I hope you're all having a nice weekend.

Well I picked up my monitor on Fri and have started testing my BSL's. My endo confirmed that if I DON'T get high levels, we can't assume I don't have GD, just i'm eating well enough to control it. If i DO get high levels, then they'll assume I definitely do have it.
So far, I've got:
Fri: 5.2
Sat: 6.1, 9.1, 7.3
Sun: 3.9
Soooo I dunno if that 9.1 means they're gonna say yep that really does look like GD or not, or whether they'll wait to see if I get more high-ish scores. Also, I'd had a big nap (2.5 hrs during the day) then didn't have lunch till 3pm... would that have been likely to make it higher? Cos i thought I had a pretty good lunch! (chilli with mince, kidney beans, lettuce, tomato, avocado, cheese, sour cream, smll serve brown rice & some corn chips).

They also told me my BSL's should be between 3.5 and 7.5... but that at Monash Med, they say under 6.5.... What were u guys told? Then they said if I get more than 3 or so high scores in a week they'd put me on insulin. Interestingly, they didn't seem to have that much of a dietary focus which surprised me. They don't normally send to a dietician unless the person seems to need it or has other dietary probs (like me lol)... but I think they thought I had a reasonable idea of low GI foods (got them fooled ha!). They also said that testing must be exactly 2 hrs after the start of a meal... so do you find you've missed them sometimes? Or would you just do it later? (Becci, noticed you said you'd missed some, but you knew you were doing ok normally - and induction next week, wow that's getting close for you!).

Snowchickie79, I'm having either grainy rye bread, porridge or a muesli bar thingo for brekkie. Asked the endo about feeling crap in mornings, and he thought it was just PG not GD...

anyway thanks again and sorry, more questions.. sure i'll run out eventually! tehe.
Belfie

[Becci]

Belfie - Your lunch sounds lovely and nutritious but it could have been high in carbs. Dairy is carbs too so the cheese and sour cream contribute to that. Brown rice while it's great for fibre is high GI (basmati is better) and the corn chips would have contributed too. Not sure how much of those you had but it could have contributed to you high level.

I was told initially to have my fasting bsl under 5.5 and my 2 hour under 7. Now that I'm getting closer and bubs is measuring big they are more strict and I have to be under 5 for fasting and under 6 post meals.

The reason they say exactly two hours is that's when you sugars peak. So if your half hour either side of that say, your not getting an acurate reading. Sometimes I have forgotten to take my reading right on two hours so will take it asap. If it's still high then I know that that meal wasn't a good one for me. If it's really low then I know it was probably ok.

Initially I was very strict with myself taking my readings. I would even set an alarm so I didn't forget to check my bsl. Now that I have become used to it, and know that my lunch time meal is ok (I seem to get that one right) then I just make sure I take my fasting and post dinner. Plus these depend on my insulin so I need to be up with them. I should be testing more often but I don't . Naughty I know. If I have something I don't normally have at lunch then I check them, but I have a couple of typical lunches that I have and I know that I get good readings from them so don't stress about them now.

Once I was put on insulin I was warned about levels below 4 as that is considered a hypo. If you are getting levels that low regularly after a certain meal then you may be able to afford to have more carbs at that meal. Give it a go and check.

The worse thing is everyone is different. And you will be different now to in a few weeks time, as your body has more demand on the insulin.
Apparently week 35 is a shocker of a weeks normally. For me that was a really good week. Nothing went wrong.

Don't worry about asking too many q's. We all did when we were first diagnosed too. It's the only way really to get it all sorted. Give yourslef a few weeks and you'll be the one giving advice to a newly diagnosed person too!

[Jewel]

I struggled around 36weeks. It turned out fine in the end, but it did seem like a tougher week then the rest.

I had to aim for between 4 - 6 before meals and 4 - 8 after. Just the usual nothing specific.

Ask all the questions you need/want, Belfie. It's all good. I was full of questions when I first found out. This place helped alot.
We're here to support and answer anything as best we can.

I'm just hanging around here like a bad smell, so don't mind me.

[belfie]

thanks Tenny & Becci and Tenny, I'm sure you wouldn't be a bad smell! In fact, I'm sure you've got a lovely baby smell near you!!

I'm puzzled (well about lots of things really!). But in particular, I wasn't told to take any fasting BSL's, just the 2 hours after each meal. Did you all have to do fasting BSL's as well?
Mind you, I'm not sure if the DE thought I was a bit of a "pretend" (yeah, cos I'm doing this for fun! ), cos she didn't even make a follow-up appt, and then the endo got really confused that she hadn't and made me make one with her (for this Fri). She just said to call her if I got any high levels. So now I dunno if I should just wait to see her on Fri to tell her how it's going, or call her? I've only had one BSL (9.1) over 7.5 so far (and a couple over 7). And I haven't had any more under 4 either.

I also think it's weird that the DE didn't seem to care about monitoring what I ate! Isn't that the whole point? To me it seems really odd that they might put me on insulin & not be checking what I'm doing? I could be thick as two short planks for all they (or you ) know! They seemed to have a "don't get too stressed" about your food focus, which I guess is a good thing, cos you want to still eat enough. Plus i have only put on 6kg with this PG so far, which is probably a bit less than I expected (so saying, I was a smidge overweight when I got PG).

I was also wondering about the "time 2 hours from START of eating". I'm a really slow eater. So how does that work? wouldn't it impact? Also, what if you're out for dinner and you have an entree (not that I can usually fit that much in)... I've assumed I count the 2 hours from the start of my main meal. So does that mean you wouldn't be able to have any dessert for 2 hours? (assuming your levels are good enuff to have dessert!! )

Becci, I always forget that dairy is carbs too - so that's a good reminder. I stuffed up this morning & realised my 2 hour test meant I'd be doing it on the train... which I really didn't want to do! Have to avoid that in future! Spent the weekend being a bit up & down (hmm PG crying - it's the best!) but i'm sure that's just due to the adjustment to everything, plus i have a headcold

Talking to my Dad last night (he's interstate) and he's convinced what they've told me is all wrong, cos it's not like what he does for TII diabetes, but I said I'm sure it's different with GD and so he eventually settled down. I think he just worries - it's what Dad's do.

Anyway, hope you're all having a great week! I have the day off tomorrow - thank goodness I can't wait. Trying to work f/t, getting tired, changing diet, fitting in extra appts & having headcold is a bit more than I really want right now!