Gestational Diabetes General Chatter #5

[Becci]

Niamh - I was asked to take my levels on day four. If the levels were ok (same sort of limits as GD) then to just make my 6 week check where dr will give me GTT form to do (but I think I'm having mine between 6 and 8 weeks). If the levels were high then I had to make an app with dr asap.
Luckily mine were ok. I have my 6 week check monday week.

[Niamh75]

Thanks girls think ill make an appointment with GP and see what he says never had any symptoms with my last pregnancy so was a bit worried

Tennykins she was 8lbs 8 it all went well in the end they induced me at 39 weeks and panicked a bit over her head being high so got me ready for a c section and broke my waters and had me ready to go for sction in case the cord came down it didnt so I was able to have her my self no problems even after a spinal and epidural labour was 3 hours took me 20 minutes to push her out i was very happy with that, think I was lucky she was my 4th and not first with those worries though LOL

How is your little man doing

[Jewel]

That's great to hear, Niamh!!!
My DS was about that size. He was 8lb 9oz.

I'm glad everything turned out great for you.
xx

My little man is going really well, thanks. Feeding, sleeping, etc really good. I feel very lucky.

[belfie]

Hey ladies,

Very interesting to hear about your baby sizes! Petals & Becci, thanks for the info re induction and what you went through. I thought what you said re the impact of insulin on the placenta was really interesting - I hadn't heard that before. The more I look into it, the more the link between induction/GD etc seems to be making sense - and everyone is saying basically the same things - that they don't want big babies if possible due to shoulder distocia risk, plus stillbirth risk does increase after 40 weeks in GD patients, plus impact of insulin etc. I was chatting to a friend who is an obs (interstate) tonight, and she was saying all the same things as my obs, so that was good.

So I figure i'm gonna do everything I can do bring on labour. Once we agree on an induction date, I'll spend the half week before that doing everything I can and just see how we go (I've got some acupuncture booked in this week). I also saw my endo who said don't do your insulin on the day of induction and no need to test BSL's at all after birth (which surprised me). Then just do GTT about 6 weeks after as per usual, which will be organised through obs. And he hopes never to see me again - such a mutual feeling, hehe! He also seemed surprised that i haven't been having any fetal monitoring at the hosp. Did anyone else have that? I figure it means that the obs thinks bubby is doing just fine.

I'm also a teensy bit nervous because my levels have been REALLY good, and I know I've been slacking off a bit with my eating. Had DH's b'day so had chocolate cake (for supper) and bits of choc here & there... where my levels were averaging 6 - 7, I'm now averaging 5's. And now I find I can easily manage two pieces of seedy bread for lunch, and potato in reasonable amounts as well. Is this a bad thing? Does it mean the placenta isn't working as well? Or would that cause a much bigger change in levels if it wasn't working well? Or could the BSL's just be better cos I'm not working now and am probably more relaxed?

katones - congrats on the great levels!

Niamh - congrats on your gorgeous girl, she's beautiful! Good luck with feeling ok, and I think definitely worth following up with your doc if you're unsure. Great to hear the birth went well too

Tenny - hope that gorgeous boy is still going really well - really great to hear.

Myson - all the best with keeping the GD away. I haven't anything extra to add, I think the other ladies have already given you great advice.

KGB - hope all is going well for you.

Cheers,
Belfie

[Becci]

Belfie - great to see your levels are 'leveling' themselves out. I wouldn't stress about it, to me it menas that you have things under control. I would assume that if there was a problem with the placenta yourt levels would be higher?
Re: testing bsls post birth. I was told so many different things from many people in the same hospital. It was rather confusing. So I decided to follow what the dr there told me to do. That was no bsls until day 4, if ok, wait to 6 week check. Others wanted me to keep testing for 4 days post birth. Others not at all until 6 weeks. But I was curious to see what they were so took my levels on day 4. I have also taken them a couple of times since, after certain bad foods just for interests sake.
Wow! Just looked at your ticker, if your going to be induced it would be in about a weeks time. How exciting!

[1MOREPLZ]

well..... my levels are now doing what they want AGAIN.... not badly though...so we shall see what DRs have to say on Thursday...

[angelraelz]

hiya ladies

well i was meant to go for my GD but my little isaac was sick and wouldn't let mommy go. So we decided to do it another day. All going well we will do it tomorrow.

i have had 2 sick children but they are doing better now. I can't believe i am 16 weeks already but i look like i am close to 20 weeks

Congrats on all the new mommy's who had their babies.

Angel

[1MOREPLZ]

this GD is really getting me down... i burst into tears when my OB asked me how i was going etc... am VERY moody and my moods change like i am snapping my fingers...

[belfie]

aaww Katones sending you big hugs, I totally know how you feel!!! I get the mopies late at night about it. But it won't be long till you see your gorgeous bubba, and the GD will all be like a bad dream! I reckon around 34 weeks is the pits for moodiness - my whole buddy group seemed to be bawling about something or other!

angelraelz - good luck with the GTT and your poor sick kiddies!

Becci - I reckon I'll get curious and double check my levels too. Will be interesting to see what they tell me at the hosp.

Saw my obs this morning, he's not worried at all about my BSL's improving. And we've set an induction date! Mon 22nd of Sep for gel, then the Tues for drip if nothing happens on the gel. OMG OMG OMG! I'm so excited/freaked/excited. That's less than 2 weeks away that i'll meet my bubba boy!!! I'm going to do my acupuncture and induction massage the end of the week before (yup... um that'd be next week!!!). I'm happy cos it'll be 38+5 so we're getting nearly an extra week which is good too.

to everyone I've missed!
Belfie

[1MOREPLZ]

belfie... your induction date is my birthday lovely people are born on this day :P

i find out on thursday my date for my caesar so am over the moon about that, i also get to see bub again (having a sizing U/S done) and i get to see the diabetes endocrinologist as well (all three things in one day )

[kgb]

Hi girls

Katone and Balfie we are not far from each other I am booked for my op on 23 October for my ceaser, I am glad that I do not have wait around to week 40 to have a baby. Next month we will be meeting our babies, how exciting.


I had a party Sat night and decided to experiment. I had one slice of pizza and two peaces of KFC with lots of green salad. My BSL was only 4.8! I couldn?t believe it. Two hours later I had strawberries dipped in cream, (this was my desert) everyone else sat around eating my b?day cake, cheesecake, pav and other sweets.

My morning readings over the weekend were over 5 but lunch and dinner was acceptable. Do I need to call my Dr as my morning readings ranged between 5.1 and 5.4?

I can?t stand my mood swings either, I am so sick of being nasty to my husband and daughter, anything can set me off.


KGB

[Leigh26]

Hi Girls,

I am new to this thread. I am 30 weeks pregnant with my 2nd child and the hospital have just phoned me to say that I have GD. I have a 2hr appointment next Tuesday with the diabetes specialist who'll teach me how to control it etc but until then I am pretty much left in the dark about what I am supposed to do. What foods should/shouldn't I be eating etc. Do you girls find it hard to control?

Thanks

[kgb]

Hi Leigh

I have been managing my GD with food once I got the information it was a lot easier. Firstly cut out all sugar. At each meal only have two serves of carbs (which means 2 slices of bread or 1 cup or rice or one cup of pasta make sure there is no white stuff).

Ensure you have vegies at each meal and always add protein like a peace of cheese, chicken, meat, beans.

Space your meals out to every two hours, so when you wake up have breakfast, then two hours later a peice of fruit or a cup of skinny milk, then two to three hours later lunch, then another snack between lunch and dinner, then dinner than another cup of milk before bed. I also add nuts with my snack or cheese if I am really hungry.

I found this structure to work for me and is a really healthy way to finish off the pregnancy.

KGB

[Jewel]

Hi, Leigh.
Sorry to hear about your GD.
I had mine diet controlled all the way through. I was lucky. Your diabetes educator should explain everything with you and give you loads of information that will help.
We're all here to support and answer any questions you have as best we can.
We are/were all in the same boat and it's hard work. Good luck with your appointment next week.
I hope your pg has been great so far too.

Belfie - YAY! on getting your induction date. That's greatttttttttt. So exciting. I hope the acupuncture and stuff help move things along. I've got everything crossed for you. Whoohoooooooo!

Kgb - Great reading for over the weekend. 4.8 is awesome! Good job. I'd say maybe wait a few more days and see if they're still over 5's in the morning and they weren't just one a few bad days.. you know what I mean. It's up to you.

Katones - Bet you can't wait to get your c-section date. That's exciting too and knowing around about when your baby will be in your arms instead of waiting and wondering. I hated the waiting part. Lol. I hope your mood swings are alright. I had the worst mood swings ever, and I felt bad for my DP but I seriously couldn't help but be mean to him. Oops, but it was the pg.

have a great day!
xoxo

[Leigh26]

Hi kgb and Tennykins,

Thanks so much for the info you have provided me.

kgb - Thanks for advising me on what/what not to eat, I'll be sticking to that until I go and get all the info from the diabetes specialist next week.

I have to have a caesar with this baby anyway and I am currently booked in at 39 weeks. Due to my GD, will I be booked in to have it earlier? Also does everyone with GD get to go for sizing scans?

Thanks again.

[Petals]

hi all

Belfie - good luch with the induction - hope it all goes well for you. I didn't have to test much in the hospital, only if I wanted to know. I only did a couple of tests for the whole time I was there and they were fine. This may have been due to my Ob not being around and his relief and the midwives not being aware of it....

Leigh - good luck with the appointment, hopefully you will be fine to control it with just your diet. Sizing scans are dependent on your Ob and can be way off. Although seeing bub's again is fun, and a good cheer up around week 34 when I needed it!

KGB - glad your experiment worked - pizza would have shot me sky high!!

Angel - fingers crossed for your test results.

Not much news with me - Thomas has been a model baby today (except for one spew on me)!!

[1MOREPLZ]

Hi kgb and Tennykins,

Thanks so much for the info you have provided me.

kgb - Thanks for advising me on what/what not to eat, I'll be sticking to that until I go and get all the info from the diabetes specialist next week.

I have to have a caesar with this baby anyway and I am currently booked in at 39 weeks. Due to my GD, will I be booked in to have it earlier? Also does everyone with GD get to go for sizing scans?
Thanks again.

Not sure about everyone.. but all of my GF's that have had GD have had sizing scans.. my first is tomorrow, then fortnightly til bub is born.

[belfie]

I've had lengthy discussions with my obs re sizing scans. I don't really believe in them, as i've heard they can be very inaccurate. My obs said there's a 20% error rate, so no point doing it. My DH was still saying... but if it says it's closer to 5lb versus 8lb for eg, isn't that still useful? On Tues when this question was asked, obs' response was "what would it change? What would you do differently? Would you still try for a vag birth or go straight to a c-section. To which I said well I still want to go for a vag birth first up... so for me, it doesn't really change anything.

I also found this info on the net

?the Australasian Society for Ultrasound in Medicine in their policy, ?Statement On Normal Ultrasonic Fetal Measurements,? states the following: ?No formula for estimating fetal weight has achieved an accuracy which enables us to recommend its use.?

which I was happy with (guess it confirmed my point of view lol). So saying, I woulda been quite happy to see my bubba again!

Leigh26 - re the c-section, I don't know if you'll have to go earlier, but I know that many hospitals have a policy of inducing insulin-dependant mums at 38 weeks. So might depend if you need insulin maybe? So saying, I'm on insulin and i'm being induced at 38+5, so it still depends on who you're seeing. Also re diet, have a look at the Diabetes Australia website as there's some good guidelines on there too.

katones - yay for your birthday, I reckon that's good luck for me then! You can send me lucky birthday vibes

Just had my final session with my doula tonight, she's awesome and I'm feeling like I'm giving myself every possible benefit I can. My BSL's have been a bit crazy. Had a 4.6 yesterday after lunch... I NEVER get 4's... but then all 7's today. Dunno what's going on really - but I'd been a bit slacker because my levels had been really steady on 5's. So reckon it's telling me off lol. I'm suddenly totally hooked on custard and had been getting away with it for snacks, or on my porridge...mmm yum. So exciting to think there's only 12 days of BSL's left for me!

Hi to everyone I missed