I Have Gestational Diabetes.

kylienicole90

Hi My name is Kylie. I'm 21, and pregnant with my first baby, I'm 29 weeks. About a week ago I got diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes, and it is leaving me quiet worried, I'm not exactly how scared I should, or shouldn't be about it, I was wondering if any other moms have had this and could give me some advice.

Thank you. 

o2bme

I had diet control GD with my DS.  I was able to keep it diet controlled all the way to the end.  My Ob said keeping it controlled by diet I really wasn't at any increased risk than any other pregnancy.  With GD they would not let me go past my due date so I was induced the day before. I have a happy and health 10 month old. 

gy86

I was diagnosed with it too, despite having any of the typical risk factors.  I was walking daily, doing prenatal yoga 3-4x a week, wasn't overweight, was gaining just the recommended weight at a proper rate, etc... apparently it's quite common since the placenta's hormones interfere with insulin regulation and your pancreas is working overtime during pregnancy to process sugars. 

My fasting blood sugars never got very high so I never required insulin or meds, but basically they wouldn't go down fast enough within the first 1-2 hours after I ate carb-heavy meals.  By 3 hours they were fine, but the worry is that whatever sugars the body can't process just get dumped into the baby and could potentially contribute to faster/larger growth.  Don't get me started on correlation vs. causation, but that's the fear.  Diabetes -> big baby -> further complications in L&D.

If you aren't already, make sure to eat plenty of lean proteins and healthy vegetables.  Be careful with carbs -- even healthy carbs like whole grains, legumes, and fresh fruits need to be eaten in small portions and in moderation.

Exercise is also important.  Doing some kind of physical activity after meals will help lower blood sugar faster. 

Pay attention to how your body reacts to food, and keep a good log so you can pinpoint foods to avoid or what worked well for you.  The first week or so is a lot of trial & error. 

Talk to your doctor or midwife about how they may treat the rest of your pregnancy given your GD diagnosis and what the hospital protocol will be once you go into labor.  Ask whether this is different should your GD be diet controlled, med controlled, or insulin controlled.  Also ask what additional monitoring or treatment they might want to do on your newborn baby.

I had a healthy baby girl at 40 weeks 3 days, she was born 7.5 lbs and 18.5 inches.  I had a natural, drug-free, intervention-free labor and delivery and my daughter had no complications at birth.  That being said, I really had to lobby hard on my behalf for them to get to treat me like a "normal" patient and not do all the normal stuff they want to do with GD mamas.

The high risk board has a lot of GD posts and I found it was a great resource for me.