Gestational Diabetes General Chatter #5

[Petals]

Good Luck Becci - hope it all goes smoothly for you and we hear your baby news soon.

Belfie - everyones DE / Endo /OB does things differently and they will add to the stress by confilcting each other!! I didn't need to do fasting levels at the start, but did need to do them while on insulin. My DE didn't even return calls unless I left a message that there were a lot of high levels and she thought more insulin was the answer. Yet I had to see the endo every 2-3 weeks.

There were a few times I had to pull the car over to test and once I had to do it at the hairdressers, although you will soon get into the habit of planning 2 hours ahead - gets you in the habit for when you have to think where you will be for when bub's needs the next feed!

For the first couple of weeks I wrote down what I ate - when the DE saw how few carbs I was eating to get OK levels, (and what happened when I went near bread and cereal) I ended up on insulin.

Tenny - hope all is still going well for you and bub's!

[belfie]

Petals, thank you so much
What you said

everyones DE / Endo /OB does things differently and they will add to the stress by confilcting each other!!

just made me feel heaps better! Now I know if I'm confused, it's their fault ... so to speak.

I'm looking pretty definite now, have had 3 levels over 7.5 since Friday - so I'm guessing they'll remove my "query" GD status ha! I'll go back on Fri and see what they have to say. One of my sus levels was after brekkie, even though I've been having the same thing every morning and it was fine every other time... guess it's just one of those random fluctuations. And I'll just keep doing the 2 hr BSL's until they tell me otherwise I guess. And I've jotted down what I've been eating, cos I was interested to see. I think I've been doing pretty ok.

Had a day off today and am feeling considerably more sane about everything. Have pretty much decided to move my work finish to 34.5 weeks instead of 36 weeks. First priority is bubba & me being healthy!

Becci - so exciting, can't wait to see your announcement. Hope all goes well for you

Tennykins - thanks for the hugs, the cold is just "hanging". Not too bad, but I wouldn't mind it going! Hope all is going well in baby-land

Cheers,
Belfie

[livgoesagain]

Hi Everyone,

I'm a newbie now to this thread. Diagnosed with GD (second time round damn it) about 2 weeks ago.

Belfie, I had GD with my DS and I really felt it. I felt off before third trimester and only started to feel better (but oh so hungry) after I went on the diet. I ended up on insulin at 32 weeks because I had readings between 6.1 - 8.1. I can't really remember much about it all except for the devastating hunger.

This time round, no symptoms prior and I'm also have a much easier time managing my blood sugars. I've been referred to this DE who is absolutely fantastic - I have to ring her once a week to go through my readings. She is really concerned with me getting enough food unlike last time. She even got me to ring before I went in to see my ob so that we could make any alterations if necessary before he put me on insulin. Maybe see if your doctor can put you on to someone else if you don't feel like the DE is very helpful? Both that I've seen have been adamant about diet, what was low GI etc.

She's set my levels as below 5.0 fasting and between 3.0 and 6.7 post meals. And I actually rang her back the day after she gave me the testing kit to ask whether i was supposed to count from when I started eating or when I finished (DS was born 4 years ago and it had completely escaped me). She was really nice and told me to enjoy my food slowly, test out some desserts and then start counting.

She also mentioned that what you have before you go to bed at night can really effect your fasting levels so I've been trying out hot milk, then hot milk with a piece of toast, etc etc. I'm now getting the hang of what seems to be okay and what pushes me over.

Good-luck to all. Sounds like at least everyone is being taken care of which is great to hear.

[belfie]

hey liv,

Welcome to the thread and thanks for your info too! Everyone has been so helpful in here since i've arrived (all of a week or so ago!). Sounds like you know what you're doing since you've had it before, but bummer about getting it again.

I saw my endo & DE again yesterday. They've confirmed the GD is now a definite (given my lovely untestability) and put me on notice... if I get one more BSL over 8, the endo wants me on insulin. I haven't got another appt yet, but they've said call us if you get any high levels. Then she said the endo brings some people in every week. So I'm really not sure if that means they think I don't need it, or they don't want to see me . Either way, while i'm still working f/t it's easier not to juggle appts all the time! I think the DE is also still just freaked by my diet, she just says, oh well you know more about what you can eat than I do... but she's given me details of a dietician to talk to on Weds, so hopefully that'll be useful. And I'm going to look at the Diabetes Aus info again to make sure i'd doing ok. I still don't have to do fasting levels, just 2 hours post meals.

DH and I have decided i'll move my finish date at work from 36 weeks to 34.5 weeks... even though I don't know yet if I'll be on insulin/get induced etc... 36 weeks just feels too late. So it feels good to have decided, and I'll tell work on Monday. I know some people say to me "oh I knew someone with GD, and it was no drama", so I think they'd think that's no reason to finish earlier - but I know combined with my pre-existing dietary restrictions it just is an extra straw on the camel's back... plus if I do end up being induced 38 weeks, I want more time to get organised! I have no nursery set-up at all yet! So I'm just trying to remind myself that it doesn't matter how easy others find it (or not), it's about what I'm able to cope with.

So here's my Q's for today!

• Did many of you end up being induced at 38 weeks? And if yes, were you all on insulin? If not on insulin, was the reason for being induced based on baby-size estimations?
• How did you find it injecting the insulin? The DE said it doesn't hurt...but TBH I didn't quite believe her!
• Liv mentioned trying desserts. I haven't been having sweets much at all - did many of you find you could still get away with some sugary stuff? (I'm guessing that's just trial & error... but I'm a bit scared to trial I guess!)
• When did you finish work if you were working f/t?

Happy weekend to all.
Belfie

[Jewel]

Hi livgoesagain. Welcome to the GD section.
Sorry to hear you've got GD with your pg.
Good luck with it all. Sounds like you've got a fantastic DE.
I had a really great DE too. It helps loads when they're so supportive, I think.

Belfie - I can only answer one of your questions, sorry.
The first one. I wasn't on insulin, nor was I induced. My DS#2 was born at 39wk+2days. He was 8lb 9oz so not overly big.
I was already a stay at home mum, so I didn't finish work. :P

Hope you're having a great weekend.
Good luck with testing.
xx

[Artechim]

Belfie:

Did many of you end up being induced at 38 weeks? And if yes, were you all on insulin? If not on insulin, was the reason for being induced based on baby-size estimations?

It was my hospitals policy to induce at 38 weeks if on insulin, but I managed to bargain with them and had a CTG every second day and ended up being induced at 39+3 days - for no reason other than the hospital wanted to, my BSL's were under control (can you see the chip on my shoulder lol).

How did you find it injecting the insulin? The DE said it doesn't hurt...but TBH I didn't quite believe her!

Honestly, I was fed that line about it not hurting too! What a load, of course sticking a needle in your body is going to hurt lol. It isn't that bad though, it takes a bit of courage the first few times, then it becomes easy. It really only hurts if you hit the wrong spot but you quickly learn where it is best to inject. Lucky for me I have enough extra padding on my thighs that it wasn't too much of an issue lol

Liv mentioned trying desserts. I haven't been having sweets much at all - did many of you find you could still get away with some sugary stuff? (I'm guessing that's just trial & error... but I'm a bit scared to trial I guess!)

Definitely trial and error, never the same for two people. I needed a heap of insulin to have toast in the morning, but could have a muffin at lunch on a fraction of the insulin. I could also have ice-cream at night, dairy was not a problem for me (you can buy low-gi ice-creams - I think it is Bulla brand)

When did you finish work if you were working f/t?

I finished at 34 weeks. I was planning to stop at 36 weeks but the insulin/eating/testin schedule was a PITA, induction was getting threatened and it was all so stressful (and I didn't like my job much lol)

[livgoesagain]

Thanks for the welcome.

Belfie, in answer to your questions.

1. I ended up developing PE so DS was delivered via CS at 36.5 weeks. He was 3050g. However the plan was to induce at 38 weeks as my fundus was starting to size a little bigger at 34 weeks.
2. I was on the Protaphane I think it was called and it had a little fine needle with a dial thingy on it. I didn't find it too painful, I think I was more just scared.
3. Try Cadbury low fat ice-cream - tastes phenomenal and hasn't been causing me too many problems. I think most things are okay if they're not too fatty or sugary.
4. I was supposed to still go into work the day I was feeling unwell and ended up going to the ob then hospital instead. DS was born a week later. The advantages/disadvantages of working for family.

It seems like a bummer going on the insulin but at least you'll be able to eat more without blowing your levels. This time round, diet alone seems to be enough (fingers crossed it stays that way). But my DE was just a little concerned about weight loss - she would prefer I go on the insulin and get enough calories. No one had ever put it to me that way before which really did make sense. To her hunger is a big no no at this stage of pregnancy. What a lady I say!