Gestational Diabetes General Chatter #5

Hi Guys

Just thought I'd better pop in with a quick round up of our news.

Ethan Luke was born at 1.47am Thursday the 31st July.

He weighed 7lb 10oz! So much for that 9 pounder they were worried I'd have!!!
A very quick labor. Gels at 7.30pm, waters broke at 12.30am, first contractions within minutes and born at 1.47am! No stitches, only a slight graze and managed to avoid the epi!

I was set to go home by lunch time but Ethans temp starting going down (sign of low bsl) so we stayed overnight.

He's been slightly jaundiced but it's slowly going. Been having a little trouble with feeding, sore nipples, etc but I think it's slowly working it's self out.

As for my bsls. Didn't have to take them or any insulin for the first few days. Had to take a days worth of bsls on sunday and they were all in the 5 range. Even after quite a few carbs with dinner followed by a lovely bowl of peaches, custard and ice cream. So looks like it's left me. Will still have to have GTT at 6 weeks though.

Anyway better go and finish dinner off.

BBL.

just a quick one...
:happyforyou:

CONGRATS BECCI and Ethan Luke
:happyforyou:

Hi Becci

CONGRATS!! and welcome to Ethan.:D

Good to hear that things went well (and so quickly!!) and that you have it all under control. Hope you are enjoying life post GD!!

Congratulations Becci!
Welcome to the world, little man!

Sounds like the birth went great. YAY! for no stitches and avoiding an epi.
Whoohooo! :dance: :dance:
Wow so much for them predicting he would be really big.

Great to hear about the BSLs. Awesome news.
Hope it all keeps going well.
:hug:

xx

Congratulations Beccie on your new baby boy :dance:
what a lovely size as well ild love that weight :D

Ive been feeling like my little one has piled on the weight in the last two weeks I feel so uncomfortable and my tummy feels heavy well i had my scan today and she looks big even on the scan you could see chubby little cheeks and she has a big tummy I had scans with my biggest baby and i never noticed that and he was 10 pounds but i think they might be right with the weight estimation of 3181 kg so about 7lbs and 4 weeks to go! she has nearly doubled in size in the last 4 weeks hope she doesnt do that again im on more insulin as well increased my levels for meal times hope that works now

hey ladies,

Becci - can't wait to hear how you're doing, congrats again! And great to hear the BSL's are back to normal already too!

Niamh75 - not long to go now, good luck with the insulin and your chubby bubba. Will they be inducing you? Or are you hoping to get as far along as possible?

Petals - thanks for the response, much appreciated. I've since changed my finish day (from 36 weeks)- I now go at 34.5 weeks, so feeling a lot more comfortable with that. Told work it was for medical reasons and they've accepted it. Funnily enough, then felt fab the whole day (and thought, gosh I could have kept working for longer)... went home & felt totally nauseous all night! So THEN I thought, yup, right decision. Spoke to my obs who also said that inducement would also be dependant on HOW much insulin I was on. If it was only a little, we might be able to push it out. So saying, he's more worried about size of bub too, as DH is a LOT taller than me... so he's concerned that'll be a 2nd reason for me to have a big bubba. Reading between the lines, I think he won't want me to go past 38-39 weeks.

snowchickie79 - thank you too! That's great you haven't needed insulin. I've tried some of the low GI chocky and seem to be getting away with that. Even had a few KFC chips the other day & that worked too :dance: Your suggestion of trialling at snack time is a great one too - I've been doing that now.

livgoesagain - that's fab that you have a good DE this time. My jury is out on mine.. I don't think she's baaaad.... but don't think she's brilliant either. My weight has plateaued the last few weeks - had put on total of 6 kg (in the PG) about 3 weeks ago, and now it's gone back to 5.7kg gain only. Should I be worried if I'm losing weight? (admittedly not much, but I thought I should still be gaining weight). I thought I'll ask my obs when i see him in a week & a half. But thought you wise ladies might know?

Artechim - loved your answers too! Thanks for the honesty re the needle, it made me chuckle. Might be a stupid question, but what's a CTG? I definitely get the feeling that i can negotiate with obs, so I'm happy about that. Also really appreciated your comment on work. Think I'd been feeling like I must stick to the date originally set (plus a recent colleague worked through till 36 weeks... so worried about seeming a feeb I guess). But then realising that the GD IS a PITA (as you said), plus i have some ongoing prolapse issues, and with my other dietary prob... arrrgh. When I spoke to obs, he was quite happy to support earlier finish... his exact words were "PG is not a time to be superwoman". I guess it's all just about being a bit kind to yourself.

Tennykins - hope all is going well at your end, and thanks for your answer too - I was very interested to see when you all end up having your bubbas.

I hope you're all doing well. At our birth class last night, I did my BSL a few mins early... and got an 8.2, which they've said is my "you need insulin trigger". Then checked the clock, was a few mins early. So tried it again 10 mins later (which turns out to be zackly 2 hours after start of meal, when it's supposed to be)... and whaddya know, down to a nice safe 6.1. So I was a bit gob-smacked! I didn't think it would change that quick just cos my timing was out. Has anyone else had that happen? The other stupid thing was I had a brain fade, and ate 1 (or maybe 2??) nuts BEFORE doing the BSL. So then they were eaten 10 mins before the second BSL. Would that impact it? I wouldn't have thought that's enough time for them to have any effect. Or the other theory was maybe I'd got some salt on my finger accidentally - but again, I wouldn't have thought that would change the BSL. Very weird. I kinda wanna ask my DE, but then I don't cos she might put me on insulin anyway.

But really, if it's that sensitive, you'd end up having to be totally paranoid about the time you're testing! I ended up coming home & checking that my clock (that I timed the start of the meal) and my BSL tester time was in sync!! Cos I felt like maybe I was just cheating saying the second BSL was the right one... but now i think it was. Any thoughts? Am I just getting totally paranoid about all this!??!?!

quick update - oh well it's all a moot point now - got a few 8.2/3's on Friday (even though diet was consistent), so I start on insulin on Monday.

Sorry to hear that Belfie. :hug:
Good luck with the insulin.


xx

Sorry to hear that Belfie.
I didn't find the insulin as bad as I was expecting. I hardly felt the needles, except when I, must have hit a nerve or something, and even then it was just a sting. Hope you find the same.
Do you know what unsulin your going to be on?

Thanks Tenny & Becci. Dunno what i'll be put on. The DE rang me back after hours on Fri to say it's not urgent but we'd like to start you on insulin... can you come in Monday.

Did i mention that i"m sick of people saying oh I knew someone with GD and they managed it fine? TBH think I'm a bit freaked about the whole insulin thing and started thinking that maybe I could have been better with the diet... I thought I was doing ok... but maybe a dietician would have helped me avoid it? I was given the number of one (avail ONLY between 9-11 on Weds :cryinglaugh:) and of course i got caught up & didn't ring her in time :wall:

My other whinge is my aunt died on Weds (cancer - was quite quick)... I was mostly ok, sad for my mum. My mum is now coming over (next week) for the funeral - Dad can't come cos he just had hip surgery (yesterday). So ok, I can look after mum, and am feeling ok to support her at funeral (her sis, obviously much closer r/ship than my aunt). Then my bro (who is like seriously the worst house guest in the world!), wants to come plus my sis (who I love to bits) - um that's 3 houseguests!
Then on the way home on Friday, there's this huge crash at the intersection in front of us (we're in the right turn lane).... one car ends up skidding along the central verge towards us... hits both cars in front of us... we watched in slow motion ... it missed us by INCHES!!!!! The nice thing - in our new Forester (just got this a mth ago) so I felt very very safe. The insane thing... I was worried it would scratch my pretty new car (how stupid is that!?!?). I really would just like to have a nice peaceful uneventful week!

On the bright side, thank goodness I finish work in 2 weeks... but in the interim, I'm absolutely flat out trying to finish everything off, insanely relieved that we're ok & didn't get crashed into. As for the guests & funeral... I'll deal with that next week. Can my brain implode now????? Should I just hibernate under the doona for the weekend? Might be safer!

I just re-read diabetes chatter #4 cos it seemed like all you guys cope so well, and I feel like a big stupid mess always bawling over something (latest thing being the insulin of course)... so reading that all made it me feel a bit better - I guess it's just adjustment time. I just feel like i'm the only one at this stage of the GD stuff... and I'm sick of feeling like the weird/"special" one. If only 10-15% of GD's get put on insulin, why did it have to be me? I seem to be getting a bit of m/s back in the evenings too - so by the time I get home from work, i"m absolutely stuffed, lie on the sofa feeling ill- can barely organise myself enough to plan lunch for next day, organise clothes before I'm sleeping then trying to get myself out of the door for the next day of work... and the whole combination with my pre-existing diet just totally sux!! When I was reading the previous chatter, seriously 90% of the foods you guys try/find that works, I can't even eat!! I cannot buy ANYTHING near work for lunch at all, so I bring everything. I'm sick of thinking about food. And all the Dr's just seem to think oh well you'll manage.

So then I decided to read more about GD & try educate myself more... and they were saying that most babies with insulin-dependant mums might have to go to special care nursery for 24-48 hours... which also freaked me out.

um so sorry this is a late night self-indulgent post. I just wish I could cope with all this better :crying: but I go to work and I put on a brave face, and I say all the right things. Just wish I felt like that on the inside.

Belfie, just quickly because I can hear my DS calling mum, but he didn't have to spend 24-48 hours in special care, neither did the other baby that was in my room and both of us mums were on insulin. DS was in special care for about 1/2 hour because of his breathing but nothing to do with GD. The important thing is to BF (or FF if that is what you are planning :)) asap after the birth so if they are born with low BSL the milk will bring it up and hopefully keep them out of special care. I was on a glucose/insulin drip during labour to keep my BSL's stable (they were climbing even without food) and DS had normal sugar levels when he was out.

Sorry about your aunt.

Belfie - I would love to be there tomorrow if I could possum lol
We are all allowed to have the poor me's at some stage! Gawd you have enought to deal with atm so vent away!
So sorry to hear about your aunt. No wonder your levels have been up if you have been under that much stress too.
Try to think of the insulin as medicine for bubs. That might help to make things easier for you.
Ethan didn't have to go anywhere after he was born. His bsls were low by morning, so they gave us a bottle of formula to give him which helped. They got me to bf every 2 hours to keep his levels up and it helped, but he was having trouble latching on so wasn't getting much. But regardless of that his levels still went up.
I was apparently meant to have an insulon drip in too. It was meant to be organised on my last visit which I cancelled as my levels were fine. No one told me that they would organise my drip (which I knew nothing about) then.
Anyway they wouldn't have had time to get it in anyway. They barely got the thing in for the penicillin as it was.
They did get me to take a bsl while I was in labor (not easy to do with contractions a minute or so apart) and it was 6.3, so they were happy.

Good luck for tomorrow. You won't need it, and please don't be scared of the needles, I hardly felt them at all, and I'm a complete wus when it comes to pain and needles.

hey Becci & Artechim,

Thank you so much for your posts - they really helped :hug:
I'm feeling a heap more sane/positive/happy today (amazing what a day of resting/sleeping/taking it easy does for you). I'm really happy to hear that neither of your bubbas needed to go into a special care because of BSL's, that really set my mind at rest. And wow, Becci that's impressive taking your BSL's between contractions. (oh and yes, I'm hoping to BF too btw).

Re the insulin, well I guess sometimes the anticipation is worse than the real thing. Funny thing is I don't normally mind needles, it's just the thought of doing it to myself that gets me most of all. Dear H offered to do them for me... very sweet, but doesn't really help when I'm at work! And yes, thinking it's meds for bubba is a good thought.

Hope you both had a nice weekend and your gorgeous boys are going well. I'm cleaning up ready for my visitors and had great fun folding all my baby clothes (and hiding all the boy clothes - cos they don't know he's a boy!).

Congrats Becci! That's great news! ...Isn't it crazy that even with a scan they really have no idea what size a baby is!

I'm sizing two weeks ahead of my dates - I had a 9 pounder first time round and am having another boy so I'm a bit worried about this one being a whopper! I just had another scan and they're saying this one is 2.58kg at 33 weeks which puts me in the 90th percentile. They made a fuss out of it but that's still 1.5kg lighter than my son was at birth.

...Also great news about your bsls going back to normal...I'm so sick of being good. I'm such a sweet tooth and my sense of taste is sooo heightened during pregnancy it's positively cruel to have to deal with GD. I can't wait to tuck into something really decadent!

Belfie - I hope you're doing better now and no need to be sorry about venting. We're all here for you. Vent away, chicka. :hug: :hug: :hug:
Sorry to hear about your Aunt.

Becci - Wow. Testing between contractions. Way to go! Good thinking about insulin being meds for the bubba. That's an awesome way to think of it.

Pachamama - Whoa. You make big bubbas. I hope this time around you don't have such a big baby. Not long to go before you can have some sweets. YAY!

As for me.
I haven't really tested my BSLs that often, and I know I should just so I know where they're at.. I just couldn't be bothered? I dunno.
I did so well with my BSLs during the pregnancy, I couldn't help myself but have some of those not-so-good foods now.
I'm not sure if I still have it or not. Only time will tell, but I feel like I had the will power and strength to be so good with my BSLs for my baby, that now he's out I just couldn't be bothered to do it for myself. I know that's bad, but that's where I'm at.
Hopefully I'll get over it and start thinking better about myself. I'll get there I'm sure.

<3
xx

Just thought I'd pop in and catch up.
Things are going pretty good here. Ethan has had a little trouble with his bowels. He's going regularly enough just having trouble pushing and they are really dry. So he's on the brown sugar and water before every bottle now.

he's sleeping rally well, except for going to sleep after his lat night feed. He's really fussy then. Every other sleep he's fine with.

I have also come down with mastitis. Which apparently is quite common after GD! So I have anitbiotics to take. But it flared up again last night so I need to go back today to make sure there isn't an abcess. Oh what fun. I sure hope there isn't an abcess. Dr mentioned that I;ll have to go into hospital for a drip if I do have one. More needles like I haven't had enough! lol

I hope everyone else if keeping well.

Hi All,
just wanted to introduce my self. My name is Christina, I am a homeschooling mum to Four babies so far, Sophie 4, Faith 3, Elijah 2, And Lillianne 1, and our next baby is due in April. I have had gestational diabetes with all my pregnancies, and refused insulin one all occasions. And will do again is recommended. I have found for me the doctors have been very quick to resort to insulin instead of allowing time to try natural remedies. Anyway i look forward to talking to other ladies that are going the gestation diabetes mine field.

Christina:redface: