Just Got Diagnosed with Gestastional Diabetes

Hi S.,

Congratulations on your second pregnancy. I had gestational diabetes with my second pregnancy as well, and they think that I actually had it with my first but did not catch it in time.

I was diagnosed very early on, and so was taking insulin for about 35 weeks. If they suggest you take insulin, here are a couple of tips.

1. Ask for the "pen" doser. It looks like a very large pen that you screw the needles onto and then "dial" the correct amount of insulin. For some reason, this made me feel a lot better about taking insulin. Maybe it was psychological, but the needles just looked a lot smaller than the normal syringe.

2. Yes, you most likely will have to shoot yourself in your stomach with the insulin. Just find a place where your baby isn't and then poke around a little bit until you find a place that doesn't hurt. Trust me, I was a HUGE baby about needles, but these darn things are so small that you can find places on your tummy where you don't feel a thing. On the reverse, I will warn you that there are a couple of places where it will hurt like crazy! That's why I suggest just poking around a little bit before you inject.

3. If you can, ask for the Freestyle Flash monitor for checking your sugar. In the beginning, my fingers were so darn sore from checking my sugar all of the time, and I almost stopped doing it. Then I noticed that the Freestyle allows you check elsewhere on your body. I started using my forearms, and there is virtually no pain on that area!! Thank goodness, considering I had to do this for 35 weeks!

4. I did try to eat more healthy with all of this, but I will admit that I still had my chocolate and occasional pig outs.

I guess it was all okay because my son was born perfectly healthy with no blood sugar problems, albeit a little small (6 lbs. 6 0z.). My daughter was over 9 lbs. (ouch for a first pregnancy), so I was not used to such a small guy, but he doubled his weight within two months! He's now a little over 5 months, and he's very healthy, happy and definitely developing faster than his sister. Rachael did not walk until 14 months, and I won't be surprised if this little guy does it around 9 to 10.

All in all, being diagnosed with gestational diabetes is not a death sentence, and you will make it through. It's normal to feel very depressed about it, and feel like you "failed" for some reason. At least, I did.

I hope this helps a little bit. Good luck with everything. Having two is definitely a new dimension to motherhood, but it's also so worth it!

D.

Hi S.,
I've had gestastional diabetes twice! The first time I was put on insulin the last 6 weeks of my pregnancy. The second time I was diet controled. My advice to you, is follow the diet to the letter. If your sugars are still high even with the diet, they will have to put you on insulin. My first pregnancy, I wasn't a vigiliant about sticking to the diet and as a result, insulin became apart of my routine. Fortunatly, it wasn't a large dosage, but I still had to inject myself twice a day. When I found myself pregnant the second time I immediately started the diet. I only failed the one hour test by one point, so they wanted me take the 3 hour because of my history, and even though I had been eating as a diabetic, drinking pure glucose sent my sugars up and over the edge. So I began testing after meals. Have you been given a glucose montier yet? That really helps you to moniter what you've been eating and what foods really affect your blood sugar. If you keep your morning results between 60-95 you'll be fine. Don't go past 120 after a meal and they won't put you on insulin. Of course in the first few weeks, while you are adjusting and figuring out how food affects your sugars, they tend to give you some leeway.
Good luck S.!
H.--Mom of 2, two year old boy and 4 month old girl.

I just had my son in September and I had GD also. I was able to control it with my diet. Hopefully they had you take the class on what to eat, I found it very helpful.
I cut out all drinks except for water and drank a lot of it and a small glass of milk in the morning. In the mornings I couldn't eat very much since you don't move around at night you can't burn as much first thing in the morning. The key is to watch your carbs because carbs turn into sugar. You don't want to cut them out completely though because that's what the body burns for fuel.
For instance I would have 1/2 English muffin, small cup of milk, and a couple spoonfuls of cottage cheese for breakfast. I would snack on string cheese, fruit, or peanut butter and wheat crackers. For lunch I would have a turkey and cheese sandwich on Natures Own Double Fiber Wheat bread and small cup of veggies. Dinner would be a lean meat, veggies, a carb, and fruit. By the way, the more fiber the better...If something has 15 carbs in it and 5 fiber then it actually subtracts from the carbs making it like it's 10 carbs. (I saw a dietitian thats how I learned about all of this.) And 1 serving of carbs is 15 grams. I hope this helps and good luck! I know it's hard to do, but very healthy. And remember you are doing it for the baby.
Luckily my son's sugar was fine also when he was born!!!

Hi S.!

I was diagnosed with GD during my third pregnancy and did really well with it. I was able to control my blood sugar levels with diet alone. I was referred to a specialist and had to record my blood sugar levels 4 times a day and had weekly non-stress tests and ultrasounds. The "diet" they put me on was tough at first but it really made me realize how much a was eating just because my then 20 month old & 3 year old were snacking. YIKES!!! I actually ended up losing 13 pounds during the last half of my pregnancy and felt wonderful!! This can be a positive thing for you once you put aside the fears. My third was induced and she was the smallest of my three and she was in great health. I bounced back so quickly - not much choice with two toddlers waiting for me at home - and I think it had a lot to do with the my better diet.

I can only urge you to stick to the diet, continue your activities with your 15 month old and enjoy the last 6 weeks of one-on-one time with him.

Good luck!!
B.

I have had a sister-in-law and a friend of mine go through a pregnancy with the same gestational diabetes diagnosis. My sister-in-law only had to take oral medication, but at some point my friend did have to give herself daily insulin injections, but in the end her baby was healthy and the diabetes diagnosis was no longer an issue.

I actually experienced a stroke during my 10th week of pregancy and had to start three different medications one of which was in injection that I had to self-administer twice a day. At the time it was a bit worrisome, but in the end I have a healthy now 17 month little girl. In all, I would say that the situation can be a bit uncomfortable, but if it results in a healthy child..it is all worth it. I hope that things turn out well for you and that you will not necessarily have to endure the more extreme experiences. I wish you the best!

Hi. I am a mom of 2, one is 18 months and the other is 2 months old. I had gestational diabetes with both and its not soo bad. I did have to take insulin and when I found this out with my first child I cried all the way home. Just the thought of taking insulin didn't seem right for me or my baby but I did it and both of my babies came into the world healthy weighing only 7lbs. You only have six weeks to go so if you do have to take insulin, think of it as just a temporary thing to keep you and your baby healthy. Congratulations on your new baby and I wish you all the best of luck and health. If you have any other questions just email me and I will definitely respond.

Venessa

Hi S.! My name is N.,and I am a Type 1. diabetic with twin 7 yr.old boys and a 5 yr. old girl. It was a little rough being diabetic and pregnant-mostly because I had a lot of low blood sugare. It is very important to have as close to normal blood sugars as possible so you and your baby will be healthy. Try to eat small snacks like every 3 hrs. instead of 3 big meals,and they will alleviate really high blood sugars. I know that God will give you the strenth you need to get through this pregnanancy. God bless,N.

I also had GD with my pregnancy. My beautiful baby is 18mnths and she is my first child. She delivered at a normal weight and has no health problems.The ladies gave you some great sugesstions on how to manage. If you watch your sugar levels and stay away from sweets and too many carbs, the baby will be fine. But there is a flip side to this that I want to tell you.

A women who had GD has a 50% chance of becoming diabetic later in life. Especially if you are overwieght or if diabetes is in your family. I had the baby and found out that I now have type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is a very seriuos disease, and many woman don't take care of themselves after they have thier babies. Make sure you see a medical doctor after you give birth and get tested for diabetes once a year. Hold on to your meter and test your sugar even after you deliver. After you have the baby you still need to watch your sugar and carb intake and maintain a healthy weight or else there could be a good chance that the disease can come back to haunt you. But try not to worry, the baby will be fine. Just make sure you take care of you and that goes for all you Moms who had GD.

I had gestational diabetes with my daughter. I was bumped to high risk pregancy and I had to follow a diet plan and go and get my sugar levels checked every single week. I had to show up fasting, they drew blood and then eat breakfast and then blood was taked again over the next 2 hours. I was lucky and my sugar levels were normal with the diet plan.
All I can tell you is to stick to a meal plan provided to you by a nutritionist and get your sugar levels checked on a regular basis.
With that you and the baby should be fine.

S.

While I want you to take your doctor seriously, I want you to also get a second test. At 41 I was diagnosed diabetic after one glucose test and put on injection-able insulin. They did not test me again because heck, I was over 40, 30 lbs overweight, so of course I had GD.

I didn't have GD and ended up in the hospital at 7.5 months with contractions and almost lost the baby. Insulin is treated rather laze' faire by the medical industry and it shouldn't be. Before you start taking injections, work on your diet and get a second test.

Also, watch for high fructose corn syrup in your foods. Read the labels. It is in everything. Ketchup, bread, mayonnaise, fruit juices, canned fruits, salad dressing. It is very, very prevalent in our processed foods. That and sodium (salt). They put it in there because it is cheap, and like nicotine, creates an addictive bond.

Also, stay away from chemical sweeteners. Splenda or the Pink Stuff. Those are chemically bonded products. They use such lovely things as chlorine and formaldehyde and when it breaks down in your system, you are feeding baby chlorine and formaldehyde. Not good for any living thing. If you need sweet, try honey, stevia or organic raw sugar.

Read everything you can on a natural diet, diabetes and sweeteners.

I can't stress enough how toxic sweeteners are; how much high fructose corn syrup is hidden in our foods and/or how dangerous insulin is.

Please be informed and be careful.

The best advice I can give you is to talk to a nutritionist. As soon as I was diagnosed with GD I was sent to a nutritionist who figured out exactly how many servings of each food group I needed and told me exactly when to eat them. I was amazed how well it maintained my blood sugar and I really didn't feel hungry at any time. I ate three regular meals and three small snacks.

I alos had GD and cried when I found out.The best advice I can give to you is to eat small meals every 3 hours a snack in between and check your blood sugars an hour after each meal,(breakfast,lunch and dinner).Eat what you are supposed to and what your body needs and write down everything you eat.It is not the end of the world and you can have yummy things on occasion as long as you fit them into your diet.I was in the best health when I ate like that it was after the pregnancy when I went back to my old ways that I gained weight.Just remember it's not just you your feeding, everything you put into your mouth goes to your baby,that thought kept me from wanting to "cheat".It's one day at a time and ask your nutrionist a millon and one questions if you need to.Goodluck and congratulations on your Pregnancy:)
R.