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Being diagnosed with GD

Hi everyone :) I'm Jenny and was recommended to post here for help with this one by Kirsty from HOF 2013 (not too sure what you're username is on here?).

I had my GTT yesterday because of PCOS (no family history, and I had healthy bmi, so I was lucky I knew I had PCOS before so got tested). Anyways, I had a call earlier this afternoon to say I've got gestational diabetes (reading was 9. something, 9.7 rings a bell but don't hold me to that) and to go in on Monday afternoon to discuss it with them. In the meantime, as really I don't have the best idea on it as I only ever looked up the symptoms (which did make me suspect I might have it before I got tested), I was hoping you lot may help. I've just been told to cut out sugar over the weekend til I see them - so there goes the easter eggs :(

I was just wondering how it effected/effects you (day to day, and also in general pregnancy and birth) and what I should expect from now onwards?

Any advice is appreciated!

Replies

  • hi Jbee and welcome !

    i have gestational diabetes however currently mine is diet controlled, until your appt on monday i guess you wont know if thats an option for you yet?

    i eat all wholemeal or granary, wraps and bread, pasta etc. never white.

    i try to avoid potatoes. its carbs i find harmful as much as the sugar.

    i believe the rule of thumb is look at the packet and if it contains more than 5grams of sugar per 100grams dont eat it.

    how far gone are you ?

  • Fingers are tightly crossed for just diet controlled as I hate injections - the blood tests were awful yesterday!

    I'll keep an eye on the food I'm eating this weekend, as I cant say I've ever looked into that before so wouldn't know what food really has sugar in (apart from the obvious).

    I was 28 weeks yesterday, due May 15th :) I see you're really close in dates to me :)

  • yeh i am, you may find (although not set in stone) with GD they may choose to deliver you at 38 weeks, depending on how it goes. i know thats not normal practise for all UK hospitals but it definatley is for alot, including mine,

    where abouts do you live?

    they may ask you to monitor your blood suagrs with a home testing machine, so you may still need to *** your finger 3 x a day, im afraid

    Also make sure anything you drink is diet or zero, or no added sugar.

  • That will be one plus if we do get to have him a little earlier than planned as I'd always hoped he'd be early (both me and H came before our due dates) but we'll see. He feels like a big baby already and to me bump has felt a bit bigger than those similar for a while (haven't been measured yet), which was one thing amongst others that did make me think it might be possible I had it.

    I'm Suffolk, so using Ipswich hospital.

    The lady on the phone did say about that, but I was hoping that wouldn't be a long term thing.

    This is going to be hard - sugary things are what I've craved since the beginning and even yesterday during my fasting I was desperate for a sugary drink instead of water (I get through so much juice) over any sort of food. Our squash is no added sugar though so I guess that's going to be alright and I don't drink much fizzy drinks or add sugar to my tea. I better cut out the hot chocolates though :/

  • Juice is one of the biggest no nos im afriad, which i found hard as thats been my craving!

    chocolate is also good to cut out, but more so biscuits and cakes etc.

    you may start having growth scans as i believe this is how they determine whether to bring you in early.

    the bigger the baby gets the more the danger and therefore to eliminate that they bring you in .

  • Hi JBee - I live in Suffolk and delivered at Ipswich Hospital. I also had GD, they do deliver early if you have GD and they will book your induction date at your appointment closest to 38 weeks.

    Like Monnie said, any drink that is diet/no added sugar/zero. You can have. As for chocolate thats a no go. And you can't have normal diabetics chocolate either as it has sorbital (sp) in it which you can't have during pregnancy. Carbs have starch in which the body converts to sugars. So as Monnie said, it's best to go for a small amount of "healthy" carbs like brown bread, brown pasta but bulk up on protein, nuts, eggs, meat, ect.

    Exercising after a meal helps LOADS!! Going for a walk is easiest to do. Once you've got the hang of the diet, it is pretty easy to manage.

    Oh and yes, you will have to *** your finger 3 times a day. 1 hour after each meal. Although it really isn't that bad, and I have a *thing* about needles ect.

  • Hey JBee...glad you joined.

    Monnie, I recommened JBee join here as you're so helpful and lovely and you proved me right :)

  • i love how its starring out P r i c k

  • awww thanks Gavi

  • That's good to know about diabetic chocolate as that's what H's dad usually has as he has diabetes, so I better stay away from that too then. This is such a shame with easter coming up!

    Are the 50/50 breads OK to eat as that what I've been having over the last few weeks for lunch or are they just as bad as white bread? I really am going to have to completely re evaluate my diet. I think I've eaten so much bad stuff lately without realising, as I've been having so much normal pasta and rice for main meals. Poor baby :(

    We have a dog so will make sure we walk him after dinner each evening and atleast its coming up to spring now so it should be much nicer in the evenings to do so. He was castrated last Friday and not healing brilliantly so he's still on bed rest so hasn't been out apart from the garden this week, but I've been so busy doing the nursery and had a day trip to the beach on Tuesday so at least I have been burning energy this week, obviously didn't help in the test, but that might have helped with the chocolate intake.

    I'm guessing I'll be under consultant care at Ipswich, Pocahontas, so no chance of midwife care now? Or does that depend on how these last weeks go?

  • Yes it does mean you will be consultant lead. There is a lovely consultant called Mrs. Johal (sp) who is one of the diabetic consultance. I don't know if it's just my part of suffolk, but I still saw my midwife all throughout. I think even if everything is ok with baby they still induce early at Ipswich. My Lg was 7lbs 11. The other thing with GD is that what is really bad for one persond blood sugar, might not be for another. It's all a bit of clever trial and error.

  • Hi, i had borderline GD which i controlled via diet. It's hard to start off with, but you soon get into a habit of knowing what foods you need to avoid. I had sweet cravings and was eating a a stupid amount of cake, so it wasn't easy to start with. I found snacks the hardest thing, as I'd usually reach for a biscuit or some chocolate, but i got into the habit of snacking on nuts and seeds. Plain popcorn is good too. They actually refused to induce me as the scans were fine and my levels controlled and I ended up going 1wk late. My hope of a water birth was shattered though as they insisted on continuous monitoring. Hopefully you'll feel more informed after your meeting. The main advantage i found was how easily i lost the baby weight due to the changes in my diet. I'd have been huge if I'd kept scoffing those cakes! X

  • I had GD last time although was only diagnosed at 32 weeks. I've got a massive sweet tooth too!

    Fruit can send some people's levels sky high but not me luckily. I eat all brown pasta and rice anyway. You're aiming for a low GI diet. So add baked beans to anything and it lowers overall GI. I ate lots of cheese, fish, veg.

    I tried to restrict my diet fizzy as I do t think it's great for you but it was a treat!

    My baby scanned huge but in my area they induce at term. He was massive but as my G
  • Controlled they don't think the GD was to blame.

    I stayed in a bit longer than most so they could monitor his blood sugar for at least 24 hours.

    They encourage you to start hand expressing before delivering so you can feed quickly once baby arrives.

    Good luck!
  • I'm struggling with snacks today as like you said, I'd be reaching for a biscuit or even one the chocolate feast ice creams I know I have the freezer! I guess that is a benefit to having a good diet in that it will help with the baby weigh!

    I hope I find something sweet that isn't going to be bad for me :)

  • Do you like ryvita?

    Walkers sun bites are low in sugar

    Granary bread, and have beans on toast.

    Have an omelette

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