i was just wondering if any ladies here have had GD, and can you share your experiences please?

im high risk of GD and am consultant led and regularly see the diabetes nurses/midwives. at approx 7weeks i was provided my own monitor and test 3 x  day

at my appt yesterday they were concerned some of my readings are starting to show a bit higher. so next wednesday im seeing the diabetes consultant to be started on novorapid which i believe is fast acting insulin.

any stories/ experiences of what to expect and whats to come would be appreciated

thank you

GD veteran reporting in.

I've had GD with both of my pregnancies, firstly diagnosed at about 30ishwks with C, then a bit earlier with O. With C, my readings were quite high to start, so I was diet controlled for a few days but with the constant finger pricking, but as my readings couldn't be controlled with diet, I moved to insulin pretty quickly.  Towards the end of my pregnancy with C, I was injecting novorapid x3 a day (and additionally when my readings went high after meals) and then the long lasting insulin (can't remember the name) at night. I was on a strict diet the whole time too. With O, it was pretty much the same, except I managed to get away without injecting insulin at lunchtime, randomly. Again, I was on a strict diet the whole time. I found breakfasts especially hard to manage, my readings were always highest then. The diet was hard and boring, but at the end of my pregnancies, I was the same weight as when I got pregnant, and actually had lost a dress size once I'd had the baby! Sadly I've put it all on again now

It impacted on my labours both times - I wasn't going to be allowed to go overdue, I wasn't allowed a water birth either as I was told I would need constant monitoring whilst in labour. As it happens, I laboured spontaneously both times so didn't need to be induced. I was very philosophical about it all, I'd rather have my baby here safely by whatever means necessary rather than get het up about the fact I couldn't do it in water.

I was seen by the consultant every month at least, the diabetes midwife between, and also the diabetes CNS' regularly. First time I was regularly on the phone to a dietician too, she really helped me with what would work to keep my sugars down and what wouldn't. Second time I didn't need her help as much as it all came flooding back as it hadn't been that long since I'd needed her.

HTH a bit, happy to answer any more questions. Workinghard also had GD, rusty was told she had too (although towards the end there was a query as to whether she did actually have it) so there are a few of us x

thats brilliant thank you BW, its all very scary. im so scared that ill get it wrong and mess up or something?

they scared me abit with all the complications etc, like the big babies and the higher risk of still born.

i knew this would happen i just thought it would be later. it feels like a long time until i give birth and now it feels even longer

My GD CNS' were great, and really helped. They were always available on the phone if I needed to talk something through with them. Honestly, you get used to it so quickly, though admittedly, the very first time I injected insulin, I cried my eyes out as I felt like I had failed my baby. In reality, it wasn't my fault, I only had 1 indicator for GD and that was obesity.

In a weird, and really naughty way, sometimes it's actually easier to control your diabetes when you're insulin controlling it, as you know you can bring your readings down with insulin. That made it easier for me to cope with, as I knew I could be a bit naughty one day, and inject extra insulin to bring down my sugar levels. Naughty, but made it easier to deal with.

once the babies were born did they have to go to special care or anything?

my brain is telling me that i need insulin but the baby doesnt? so can they overdose or anything or become depandant on it ?

No, neither had to go to special care, and I gave birth to both naturally. The only 'complications' as such weren't because I had GD - C was back to back so I needed an episiotomy, she wasn't especially big (7lb8 at 37+4) she was just awkward! O had meconium in his waters and so needed to be suctioned, but again that wasn't due to the GD (he was 9lb1 at 38+4 so a little bigger admittedly).

The GD is nothing to do with the babies, the issue is your body (though it's not *your* fault!). Your body can't process the excess sugar, and so there is a risk that this will then be passed to the baby meaning that their bodies have to work harder to process the excess sugar. This means they can grow bigger. You need the insulin to bring down your blood sugars so that the excess isn't passed to your baby. Insulin isn't a drug as such, not sure if it's a hormone or what but your body produces it, so you or the baby can't get 'addicted'.

The risks are when the baby is born and the cord is cut. Your baby's pancreas has been working so hard to process the higher blood sugar levels that there is a risk that the baby's blood sugars go too low and they go hypoglycaemic. Your baby's sugars will be closely monitored after birth, and they will want you to feed pretty quickly to bring their sugar levels back up quickly. C was fine, but O's levels were quite low for a while. I was BFing, but as his sugars were low for a while the Drs suggested I give him formula top ups to get his sugar levels above a level where they would be happy to discharge him. I was happy to as long as it was in a cup as I wanted to BF and didn't want nipple confusion so early on, and the Drs and midwives were really supportive of this. In fact, once I'd got him home, I just stopped the formula top ups and just made sure he fed regularly. He's fine now. As am I actually, no diabetes here!

x

Thank you BW xx

No probs, any questions, just post. I don't get on as much as I would like anymore as my 2 are just mental, but just put out a post for me if you have any questions and someone will direct me here if I don't see it.

What are your readings, out of interest? X

So far iv had one reading at 8.1 majority of them are below 6.5 with maybe 1 or 2 a week creeping above that. But on the scale I was given that was allowed, it was only over 7.7 I was to worry and that's happened once?

Presume those are post meal readings? Are you already on a low GI diet? They don't sound too bad at all. If you've had a higher reading, can you attribute it to a meal with lots of sugar or carbs in? I wouldn't worry about insulin for the moment, my nurses always tried to manage with diet as much as possible to start off with.

I had to test my sugar readings x4 a day - fasting, then an hour after each meal. Fasting needed to be under 5.4, 1hr post meal needed to be under 7.7. If it was over 8, I needed to inject extra insulin to bring the sugar level down.

i do one day before readings and the next day after readings.

this high reading was only after some weetabix :-(

i thought they were fine aswell.

my book also says

pre meals 3.5-5.9 and 1 hour post meals 3.5 - 7.7

i said to the nurses i thought i was doing a good job with my diet control as the readings were good, and im currently taking metformin which seems to be doing its job.

but they want the consultant to decide on wednesday

I was diagnosed with GD at 32 weeks with my second. I didn't have any medical control, diet seemed to control it pretty well. I maybe had 3 readings over threshold. I was diagnosed partly because of measurements at 32 scan at also as I had sugar in urine.
I basically stuck to low GI diet, I already stayed pretty active.
My baby was enormous but they don't think that was down to the diabetes as it was controlled and we're both tall.
I was induced the day after my due date. They didn't monit

Very often in labour to be honest but they monitored the baby the whole time. I had a mw with me the entire time.
We stayed in a couple of days post birth to check my baby's sugars but he was ok. They tend to get you to try and express by hand pre- labour if you can as it's really important baby gets plenty of food early on. I did give mine some formula on top as he was latched for hours and so big my colostrum alone wasn't enough.
I'm back to normal now. Had Percy pigs and lots of cake wait

Weetabix is full of carbs, need to be careful there. Try higher protein stuff, eggs, bacon, baked beans, 1 slice of whole meal toast. Porridge was ok for me but it took a great deal of trial and error to get there. Breakfast was *always* the most difficult meal for me.

i was following slimming world at that time so everything was high carb, i have cut down a fair bit on that now , and today after breakfast i was 5.8

yesterday i had tomatoe soup for lunch and it was 5.1 and after a dinner of spag bol it was 6.1

today my fasting readings have been 4.5 and 4.0

to me these seem really normal?

All sounds ok to me. Switch rice and pasta to wholemeal.
Make sure you eat plenty. Baked beans in any meal actually reduces the overall GI. Watch fruit as it can give you a spike. Sorry, it's a bit rubbish!

no its all good, i want my readings to be so low by wednesday that the consultant refuses to put me on insulin!

This has been interesting reading. I didn't have gd with p but I am a bit over weight and I've eaten so much this time for some reason I've convinced myself I'm going to have it this time! After Christmas I'll try and think more about my diet in the run up to my GTT I think! Hope the appointment goes well monnie.

thanks AR, its a minefield isnt it !