Gestational Diabetes

R., check out Webmd on that site you can type in your disease and it will give you all the info you could possibly need. Its very thourough. I myself have never had gestional diabetes but I pre-disposed to getting Type 2 diabetes in the next few years. I hope all goes well I do know that the cure is delivering the baby.
W. H

1 mom found this helpful

I recommend lots of walking.... basic exercise. I had it with my youngest... and no matter what I did, they still had to put me on Insulin injections daily. It was really not that hard to watch the diet after you get into the swing of it! There were a few times that I would try something new... and it would mke it skyrocket! You just learn to never eat those things again. Rice is a nono... Beans (like in burritos) are a nono, and pineapple, HUGE nono! LOL I found that one out the hard way! My pregnancy this time around was actually so much easier since I exercised more and ate MUCH better with the GD.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi,
I had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant with my daughter. I kept a journal of what I ate and blood sugar testing results. I tested four times a day. Within a week I had a pretty good idea of what I could eat without impacting my levels. It was really just a matter of eating healthy. I also participated in the Sweet Success program but I found it to be a tremendous waste of time. But my numbers were well under control so maybe it's a better program for people who are having trouble.
I found that getting into a routine of eating the same things everday for breakfast and lunch helped me out a lot. It did get boring after awhile but it's not for forever and the goal was to keep my numbers steady.
Oh, The only food that I remember that caused my numbers to skyrocket was rice.

1 mom found this helpful

Hello R.,

My little girl just turned one the day you posted this :) I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 6&1/2 months. At first they had my just follow a strict diet while monitoring my blood sugar 4 times a day. Right after you wake up, your fasting #. One hour after breakfast, lunch and dinner. My blood sugar was still a little bit high so they put me on a pill that is pretty new with GD. I took 2.5 MG tablets of glyburide. This is a pill that has been found to be safe for pregnant mommies and their little bundles and it also keeps you from having to poke yourself with a large needle 4 times a day :) With keeping on my; 3 small meals a day with 3 snacks in between them; diet and taking my medicine I only gained 20 pounds and had a healthy 7 pound baby.

Good luck to you and if you have questions do not hesitate to email me :)
Sandy: ____@____.com

1 mom found this helpful

Hi R.,

I too had gestational diabetes. (I gave birth to a healthy son in November 2006). I was induced and he was delivered a month early as besides the gestational diabetes, I also had preclampsia.

Being pregnant with gestational diabetes was not that bad. I did end up having my favorite foods which I knew were within the correct carb range (e.g. egg with spinach and slice of toast or oatmeal with raspberries for breakfast). I found I didn't mind the blood sugar monitoring and would manage my diet based on my readings. For example, after my dinner meal, if my numbers were good, I would decide when I could splurge on a treat (Slow-Churned ice cream for example).

The hardest part for me was finding healthy lunches at work. I would often have a sandwich and take the top bread off eating it open faced.

The best news of all of this is that I didn't gain much weight during my pregnancy. I only gained 20 lbs!

Hang in there!

Is this your first pregnancy?

- J.

1 mom found this helpful

I had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant with my 4th child. I was 36 at the time. I was able to control mine with my diet and never had to do the insulin. My advice is be very careful what you eat and drink. You will be surprised by the sugar content in some foods. The main things is watch the sauces especially barbecue sauce and salad dressing. Most vegetables are what they call a free food but the minute you put that ranch on it you have blown your sugar. Also one day I took one sip of a regular soda and it shot my sugars way up. Did you know that there are 12 teaspoons of sugar in one can of soda? Anyway good luck is wasn't so bad a long as I watched my diet. One more thing if you ever eat fast food they all have nutritional charts that you should look at before you order. The barbecue sauce at Arby's is really high in sugar.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi R.!

I had GD with my first baby. I was able to control mine with a strict diet, but some people have it more severely than I did and need insulin injections. My diet was pretty much all protein and veggies. What carbs I did consume were whole grain only and in very small quantities. It took some getting used to, and things like whole grain pastas were not as available back then (nor were they as tasty). It was hard limiting fruit and dairy, too. I was used to having cereal, or a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast, and fresh fruit for snacks. No more! Even a small glass of OJ or milk caused my blood sugar to shoot through the ceiling. It was very hard, and my respect for diabetic people who have to eat like this permanently is huge. You can do it, just bear in mind that it is temporary and that your baby's health depends on it. Best of luck to you in getting it under control.

Two boys- yay!! Boys are so fun!
P.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi R.,

I was also diagnosed with gestational diabetes with my now 5 week old son. I found that walking for even just 15 minutes after I ate really kept my numbers down. I was amazed by how much. Also, if you happened to be a chocoholic like I am/was and you just need a fix, Rocky Mountain Candies makes a great assortment of sugar free candies. Good Luck!

1 mom found this helpful

Hi R.,

I had a version of gestational diabetes. I have other health issues and I am prone to diabetes, so the stress of the pregnancy brought on the diabetic symptoms.

Many times it can be controlled by diet. I didn't have the kind that could be controlled by diet so I had to go on insulin. They tried two types of insulin on me. (fast acting, humolog and long acting, I think it was called NPH) Turns out I was best controlled with couting carbs and taking my humolog immediately before meals. I am extremely thin with little to no body fat on my belly so i prefered to use the "humolog pen" with 1/2 inch 31gauge needles. The higher the guage, the thinner the needle. 31g 1/2" was the smallest on the market 3 years ago when I was diabetic.

I also checked my blood sugars 4 times a day. This is pretty standard. I kept a detailed log of how much insulin I took (it's measured in "units" I if memory serves me, one unit is 1/10 of a mL of meds. I took part in the "sweet success" gestational diabetes program at Sutter Memorial Hospital in Sacramento. I met with a nurse whoe taught me how to do injections and a dietician who made sure I was getting my nutritional needs met.

In laymen's terms, diabetes is all about controlling carbs. The carbs turn into sugar and too much sugar is bad for baby when your insulin doesn't control how much glucose is made from those carbs. I bought a book at a regular books store and gosh, I wish I could remember the name for you. It was a "pocket" guide (small book) that I kept in my purse and it had conversion charts of Fats, Carbs and Calories for nearly every fast food restaurant you can think of. It also had conversions for most foods ("an apple has so many carbs etc") So that book was my best friend and I kept it with me at all times. I also kept my blood gluose moitor with me at all times in addition to my humolog pen and a small case of my Dexa tabs. (I think that's what they were called) They are glucose tabs you keep in your purse so if you have a sugar low you can grab a bottle of water and chew up 4 tabs, which I think equals 16 carbs? Then you wait about 10 minutes and re-test your blood sugar. Repeat if necessary.

Low blood sugars are really bad for baby. They produce keytones in your circulatory system and keytones can be harmful to the baby. Short term highs are ok for baby, but long term highs can cause baby to have glucose withdrawls at birth as well as just being a large baby from the sugar over doses. (cause baby to grow fast and gain too much weight)

I hope some of this helps. If you need any more info about tips and tricks if you're on insulin let me know! Can you believe I was scared of the finger pricks at first? They really aren't bad at all and you will become used to them. I hope you are able to control it by diet. It's hard, but worth it if you can avoid hauling the insulin around. Good luck!

T.
mom to (almost) 3 year old twins.

1 mom found this helpful

I had it with both my pregnancies. it was tuff to stick to the strict diet. I was going to start shots when my 1st son came early. I got it the second time, but at least i kinda knew that I might get it and i knew what i was in for. its all about controling the diet and if that still doesnt help then they put you on insulin shots. The diabetes goes away after you have your baby.

i did have to exercise for 20 minutes after i ate at each meal!

1 mom found this helpful

Hi,

I too had gestational diabetes. My daughter is now 14 months and I was 42 when I was pregnant with her. I was able to manage the diabetes with diet and glucose monitoring. It actually was not that difficult. It is amazing how timing your meals and food choices can positively affect your glucose level.

My daughter was born prematurely due other complications (HELPP syndrome) so the diabetes did not affect her birth weight.

L.

1 mom found this helpful

Hello R....I had gestational diabetes when pregnant with my son. Apparently it was triggered for me by the fact that I have hypoglycemia. All I had to do was check blood sugar levels regularly and eat healthy. Best wishes to you! ~A.

1 mom found this helpful

Dear R.,

It is nice to 'talk' to someone named R.. I named my first doll that, and still remember her all these many years later. She was beautiful with long dark hair and pretty eyes. I hear that some mommies name their daughters after their first dolls, but I didn't - it just didn't fit my daughter, Susan. Anyway, hello R..

So, I will warn you I am pretty straight forward, that is the way that older women are - 76 - and, my only experience with gestational diabetes is as being a by stander to my grandson's wife in her second pregnancy. It looked to me like it was sort of a very important thing to follow the doctor's instructions, and do the testing and the diet changes and so on. She took that opportunity to let her almost 3 year old daughter see her doing the testing, therefore my grgranddaughter is not afraid of being pricked on her finger for a blood test. It is just soooo darling to see that little one hold up that tiny finger, I almost get tears.

Back to serious business though. I think that the new baby came a bit early, and Grandaughter in law was warned that the next baby, if she were a girl, would have a very hard pregnancy especially with gestational diabetes. Being 40 now, you probably don't plan to have anymore? Any way, it is a warning to wantons. One of my friends had to spend the last weeks in a hospital setting with G.Diabetes - she was having twins. That is all I know, Good Luck, C. N.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi!

I had it with my daughter about 3 years ago. I also think I still have it or borderline. I was on the diet and insulin. Email me ____@____.com so we can talk :) You will be fine :)

1 mom found this helpful