do you have to have the GD check?

[sunshine_sieben]

Risk factors for GD:
- have a family history of gestational diabetes (ie mother, grandmother or sister had it)
- you have previously given birth to a large baby (weighing over 4.5kg/9lb 14)
- you have previously had a stillbirth
- are overweight or obese
- have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

Symptoms of GD:
- increased thirst
- needing to urinate frequently
- tiredness
but these are all common in pregnancy anyway.

GD isn't an immediate threat to your or your baby but if not managed it incresaes the risk of things like:
- Pre-eclampsia
- Premature Delivery
- Having too much amniotic fluid
- a big baby
- c/s delivery
- low blood sugar in the baby after birth
- jaundice in the newborn
- congenital problems of the baby like heart defect
- slightly increased risk of stillbirth or neonatal death

My friend had a 9lb baby girl. when she later talked to an OB (not the one she saw for her birth) and he found out she didn't have the GD test and gave birth to a 9lber, he said: "Such a huge baby, I'm sure you actually had GD, you should have had the test,..."
WTH??? 9lb isn't that huuuge? She's tall, so is her husband. What a strange thing to say.

Saša

[LaDeeDa]

my DF was 12lbs...... no GD there.....

OMG 12lbs - can I book in for the stork now?????

[sunshine_sieben]

12 lb????? That's amazing!

[LaDeeDa]

MIL is 6'1, FI; 6ft and DF is nearly 6'5'

poor little dee = 5'3 ...

[sunshine_sieben]

I think you should consider renaming peanut and calling him/her coconut...

My SIL is TINY. She's Phillipino. My brother is 1.95m (sorry, not up with feet and inches). My mum is 1.72m, Dad is 1.83m, but SIL is 1.50m. Even with high heels she barely reaches his shoulder. Her son was 3.2kg, so quite big for her size. Unfortunately I can't report about a trouble free natural birth here, he ended up pushing onto her kidneys and they were impaired. The noticed at 38 weeks. She had a healthy baby boy a couple of day later, born through the sunroof (they were worried she wasn't strong enough for an induced labour, due to the impaired kidney function).
But, her mother had 4 children, all over 3kg, all born naturally, no drugs or intervention. Her father was just as tiny as the rest of them, so it seems that big babies run in her family and are not necessarily caused by my family's size.
Nt sure why I'm telling, you... just found it interesting.

Good luck with your birth DD!

Saša

[snowchickie79]

Just wanted to say that although the risk factors outline who may be more prone to GD, these are not always the case. I fit absolutely none of the risk factors and I got GD. I've always been active and a healthy eater, and within my recommended BMI, if not on the low side and I still got GD. Alot of it has to do with how your body and placenta deals with the extra work load from baby.

I considered not having the GD test as I was sick of tests (and had been through CVS) and because I didn't fit any of the risk factors, but as it goes I had GD so I was glad it was picked up..

It's an easy test and takes an hour to do so I would say best to rule it out...

[Schmickers]

Independent research has never managed to prove that screening for all women for GD is helpful. An Australian collaboration of researchers have recently produced this guideline for the GD test:

http://www.3centres.com.au/guideline..._screening.pdf

The first signs of GD are apparent in urine, anyway, so routine urine screening will pick up women at risk of GD anyway.

And no, I don't think a 9lb baby is a definitive sign of GD... LOL

[Antheia]

My friend had a 9lb baby girl. when she later talked to an OB (not the one she saw for her birth) and he found out she didn't have the GD test and gave birth to a 9lber, he said: "Such a huge baby, I'm sure you actually had GD, you should have had the test,..."
WTH??? 9lb isn't that huuuge? She's tall, so is her husband. What a strange thing to say.

Sa?a

That really gets under my nose. I have never had GD and have birthed a 9.5lb and a 9lb baby. Yet doctors still ask me if i am sure i didn't have GD. Grr! I was born 9lb myself and back then they thought something was really wrong with me. Repeat sugar tests every few hours and my mum never got to see me until i was 2 days old! Oh but they never took it into account that i was 3 weeks late.

[Michelle71]

I *passed* the GD test (GTT - the long one) and yet I still have GD. My fasting sugars are still high and my levels through the day can be up depending on what I eat. My endocrinologist said she wouldn't have tested me (and saved me two lots of 3 hour torture sessions!!) as I fit many of the risk factors and instead would have had me monitor my BSL's as the pregnancy progressed. She believes that the stress test aspect of the GTT does not identify all women with GD and regular monitoring would provide a better level of evaluation for those with the risk factors. She doesn't care what your body can do when loaded and stressed with a slog of sugar, she wants to know what you are doing on a day to day basis which is what the baby is getting.

[sunshine_sieben]

Michelle, it makes a lot of sense what your endocrinologist says about being concerned what the body does in a normal situation rather than in an extreme one.

And about the weight issue: I have mentioned this a few times in various threads on BB: My nan gave birth to 6 babies. All over 5kg (over 11lb). All were born at home with only a midwife present. They were all healthy and 5 of them still are (now in their 50s and 70s). Her first born unfortunately died when he was around 12 months of pneumonia.
Did she have GD? Who knows, they didn't check for these things. I doubt it as she had easy pregnancies and births. Some babies are just big.

Thanks for the link Michael.

Saša

[Mad Scientist]

You don't have to. When I was pg with DD they weren't going to send me for one but I said may as well. The test isn't THAT bad. I ended up being diagnosed with GD, even though I have no strong risk factors AT ALL and didn't have any symptoms either. After I had Amy (3.5 weeks early weighing 7pound4), I was diagnosed with Impaired Glucose Tolerance. I have GD with this pregnancy too. The reason for the test is to check that your baby isn't being exposed to higher than normal sugar levels throughout your pregnancy. Even though it's not a really serious problem it can be in some instances. GD isn't that bad if you can control with diet (in my case) and in my opinion, it doesn't hurt to get yourself checked out. Everyone's got their own opinion but in the end it's definitely your decision. Go with your gut feeling.
Michael - I have never had sugar detected an ANY of my urine samples so that's not a fail safe unfortunately.