Gestational Diabetes General Chatter #5

[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!

[Jewel]

Gotta love the baby smell. It's so good. Lol.

With my testing times and all that jazz... when I first started my Diabetes Educator marked out the times she wanted me to test so they could get an idea or my levels throughout the days, so after a few weeks of going by the times she set, and things were going great, I could choose times I wanted to test myself.
I always tested in the morning, then either 1 or 2 times during the day.
I guess I just wanted to see what my fasting levels were all the time, even though I couldn't change them. Lol.

I always tested about 2hrs after I finished, since I eat slow too. Worked out ok for me.
Best to check though, if you're worried.
I haven't seen my DE since like Feb, so I must have been doing it fine.

I hope you feel better with your cold. They're so awful in pg.

If you're worried about the high level you got, then call her, but if you're generally going ok with your levels and they're not high, I'd wait until your appt on friday.

Don't work too hard and look after yourself!!
xx

[Becci]

Belfie - I was told to test my fasting as this was the main level that I was having trouble with. So if yours was ok they're probably not worried about it.
I also test 2 hours from when I finish my meal. Like you said if your out for dinner and having multiple courses it would be too hard otherwise.

As for me......
Had drs app this morning and I'm 1cm dilated. Drs still keen for me to go in tomorrow night as he's not sure if the hospital drs will still want gels or not. At least if I go in at night all my options are open. I agreed, plus it's easier for us to get there for 6.30 pm rather than what time early on thursday morning.
So tomorrow will be spent finalising my bag and giving some house keys to my friend to she can feed our animals while we are in hospital.

Not sure if I'll get on tomorrow, so I guess the next time I chat I will be a mumma (again!). Will post an announcement asap.

Take Care

[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!

[snowchickie79]

Hi Everyone,
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.

livgoesagain - Welcome to the thread. Great to hear you have a great DE.. My endo is quite good and has been very relaxed with me about which early on eased my nerves. I am an avid "hot milk before bed" as I find that I have a little hunger before bed and it stops me waking in the morning ready to consume all the water that I can get from the tap. Sometimes I just have a glass of hot milk whilst other times I might throw in a couple of "Rich Tea" biscuits or a couple of Snack Right biscuits (both low gi and taste fabulous).. I've also been having the occasional Le Rice (again low gi) which really hits the sweet tooth whilst still keeping levels all ok. Tonight as long as my after dinner level is fine I'm going to splurge on an ice cream which I haven't tried yet.
If you want to test out stuff, I suggest doing it during your snack time but also if you are really curious have the food at snack time then test 2 hours later before your next main meal just to see how your level with that food goes. That is what I've done and even managed a donut which I got a 4.3 with.

hey liv,
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?

Belfie

Belfie - Answers to questions:
1) I've managed to keep my GD under control with diet alone. In fact I'm getting away with some foods i didn't think I could. It only seems that spaghetti and bread (have found a bread that I can eat without a problem now) where my issues. All else seems to be fine with me thus far.
2) Have not had to address the issue of insulin so couldn't tell you this one..
3) Yep try deserts, as I mentioned about Le Rice is great and I've even had Lamingtons which I made for my baby shower and didn't have an effect on me. Other deserts I've had are iced donut which again was fine so I say give it a go and if you can time desert so that you can test 2 hours after, before going to bed then you'll know if it was ok or not.
4) I finished work 2 weeks ago due to other reasons. I was scheduled to finish this past Friday but have been glad I finished early.

ME - Not much to report on my side. A friend who was 4-5 weeks ahead of me had her baby this past week.. A little girl and she is such a cutie.. 9lb 7oz and apparently her OB has told her next PG she'll have to go for 2hr GTT as it could have been late onset GD.. Either way she has a healthy little girl who is as cute as a button.
Levels have been fine although today I was naughty and skipped my morning snack. Really does make a difference and it didn't help that we had nothing in the house. I went shopping this afternoon and stocked up including lollies for the labour room.

Anyway I better be off. Chat soon.

[Petals]

Hi all

Just checking in to see if Becci has any news for us - chances are she is miles too busy at the moment, or still in hospital at the moment!!

Belfie - I was induced at 37+5. I had said I would work until week 36 long before I got GD and was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I ended up doing my last stint at work on the Thursday before the Tues I was induced.
If you end up on inulin - then DO take time off before week 38 if you want it! I would have loved more time!! They do not induce early if you are not on insulin.

The insulin injections are not too bad, no worse then the finger***** tests. I used to have yogurt at supper (after evening BSL test). The forme (green tub) had the lowest sugar that I could find at the supermarket. I also found a low carb, very low sugar dark chocolate (called "well naturally") that I could get away with occassionally.

Hi livgoesagain! welcome!

[Jewel]

I hope everything is going great with Becci.
Can't wait to hear the news.