Concerns About Gestational Diabetes

Updated on June 03, 2009
S.A. asks from Chicago, IL
5 answers

Hi Moms,

My OB strongly suspects I have gestational diabetes. I had an ultrasound to check for growth yesterday, and the baby is quite large for its' gestational age-90th percentile. I also failed the 1 hour glucose screening. I have to go Saturday for the 3 hour glucose tolerance test, but the doctor is sure I have it. He is very concerned about the baby's size, and wants to see me back in one week for another ultrasound and non stress test. I am trying not to worry, but wonder why I would need another ultrasound so soon. I plan on following the very strict diet I'm sure I will be put on, and doing better about excersising daily, and am wondering if that will slow the baby's growth down. I don't want a giant baby, and I don't want a c-section if I can avoid it. This is my 3rd pregnancy, and did not have GD with the other two. Have any of you experienced this and still managed to have a normal size baby and vaginal delivery?

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M.R.

answers from Chicago on

I failed the 1-hour and the 3-hour...twice! Imagine that torture.

Remember that it could just be your hormones messing with the release/delivery of insulin and there might not be anything you can do about it. I know that when I failed my first 3-hour I immediately went on a diabetic-style diet. 4-6 weeks later (can't remember exactly when) I retook the 3-hour and got the exact same numbers. On the bright side, I delivered vaginally at 37w1d and my son was 7 pounds.

Don't worry about the ultrasound - if you are having issues with GD your doctor could be concerned about the size of the baby and may want to keep an eye on things. Unrelated, I had a cerclage at 13 weeks and had to go to the doctor every week and get an ulstrasound, and it was no big deal (my kid is now 2+ and fine).

A change in diet is always helpful; diabetic diets are actually very healthy for most people. Exercise will also help your body better manage labor and delivery. At the same time do not beat yourself up if the GD does progress, the baby does get bigger, and for the HEALTH and SAFETY of you and your baby you have to have a c-section - you probably won't know until you get very close to the due date as to whether this will be a possibility. Besides, no one gets a prize for 'doing it better' and delivering a certain way!

Try to stay calm and positive and don't blame yourself. It is highly likely that it is just the 'pregnancy' that brought this on, nothing that you did or didn't do. Good luck!

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R.L.

answers from Chicago on

I had a c-section with the one pregnancy where I didn't have gestational diabetes. I also had GD with two pregnancies, and delivered fairly big babies vaginally, both over eight pounds. Watch your diet, you should be fine!

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J.P.

answers from Chicago on

I was diagnosed with GD as well. I had to test four times a day and be on a strict diet, but after going through all of these instructions with the diabetes dr, he said that I shouldn't worry if the numbers didn't match what they had in the past. He said I could eat exactly the same things but because it was hormone related, my levels might be high or low, depending on the hormones at that time. So the entire thing made NO sense to me.
They also told me, at my last u/s, that my baby was 9 lbs already and they were thinking of inducing. Luckily, he arrived on his own early, so they never got the chance, but he was under 7 lbs at birth. So take it easy, eat well and exercise, but don't stress about it. They were wrong about the weight for most moms I talked to!!

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J.V.

answers from Chicago on

There are some that don't believe there is such a thing as gestational diabetes --hard-core researchers, in fact. Some tease that it's a diagnosis looking for a disease. Also, so what if your baby is in the 90th percentile? The way those charts work, they ensure there is a 90th percentile! So what if you are one of the lucky ones to have a big baby. Back when my father was born, big babies were a sign of health (he was close to 11lbs). So don't worry about it. I failed the tests, worried myself sick, then dug through medical papers and found lots of information that led me to refuse to ever take those silly sugar tests again! It isn't natural or normal to digest that much sugar in such a sort time! I even fainted after the 3-hour test. BTW, the 1 hour glucose screen has a 50% false positive rate --the tests suck!

Furthermore, women use to have 10-11 lb babies all the time without needing c-sections, but this was back before the surgeons took over and decided to make everything based on convenience. You can easily have a vaginal delivery with a large baby, it all depends on the caregiver and what they think is 'normal.'

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M.H.

answers from Chicago on

I had GD with my first preganancy. I suspect that they are Coverering all the bases Hence the extra US. I had to see a Nutrionist and take my blood sugar 4 times a day (yeah that sucked). My little one was 8 lbs 12 oz & 21 1/4 long. He was my first and I did have a C-sect. But I am also 5-1, and he was 1/3 of me and I did not dialiate enough.

I know people who have delivered 12 lbs babies normally. So I would not worry. Since you had 2 normal deliveries, it should be fine. Your body already knows how to deliver since you have done this before.

Eat helthy and excersize (walk) a lot. Try not to stress. I had to control my carbs.

I know people who had big babies and were not diabetic. Somet times it is in Genes. Good luck

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