Gestational Diabetes

[Renee in NC]

Ugghhh. I failed my glucose test.

 

I was so upset that I couldn't even commit to a time to come back and do the 3 hour test. The nurse was baffled as to why it was so upsetting!:lol:

 

I can't do this. I cannot possible think of one more thing or deal with one more problem right now.

 

Do lots of people fail the first but pass the rest?

[6packofun]

I failed the first and passed the 2nd twice. My first pregnancy and 4th (5th?) I failed both and controlled the diabetes with diet only (the last time I am not convinced I actually had the gest. diabetes anyhow!).

 

Chances are that if you have gest. diabetes you will just need to eat 5-6 smaller meals a day and control portion size, proteins vs. carbs and it's not too hard! I know the test itself sucks, but bring something to read and relax and enjoy a few hours away if you can.

[Gailmegan]

With my second I failed the screening but passed the 3-hour GTT with flying colors. I was really stressed about it too. Did you fast for the screening? Different practicitioners feel differently about this. Some think your blood sugar will jump higher initially with nothing else in your system. With this pregnancy my midwife told me NOT to fast but to eat eggs and drink lots of water - nothing else. It worked b/c I passed the screening with a score of 108. When you take the GTT (unless something has changed) you only have to pass 3/4 tests, so if fasting does cause a jump at the 30 minute or 1-hour mark, it should normalize for the other times, that is if you don't have GD.

 

Just get it over with. If you don't have it, you will know sooner, and if you do, the sooner you get your diet under control, the better. :grouphug:

[Renee in NC]

Just get it over with. If you don't have it, you will know sooner, and if you do, the sooner you get your diet under control, the better.

 

 

This is the part I don't know if I can handle. My life is such a disaster right now I don't eat half the time, much less be able to think about eating 5-6 times a day and in the right combinations.

 

The day of the initial test I ate some Ramen that morning, but that was it.

[Gailmegan]

The Ramen was probably enough to mess you up. Those noodles convert right to sugar.

[Renee in NC]

The Ramen was probably enough to mess you up. Those noodles convert right to sugar.

 

Yeah. Nasty stuff, I know!

 

Cheap.:glare:

 

Maybe that was it, then.

[TxMama]

I've always failed the initial. Walk while you do the 3 hour and hopefully it should be fine. I failed my last 3hour BUT I was already on bedrest when I had to do it.

 

It'll be fine. Just schedule and get it over with.

[LisaKinVA]

I've always fasted the morning of my Glucose test. My last one came in at 95. I don't think I've ever broken 100 :D -- but I believe a lot more people pass the 2nd test than fail it.

 

I was told "no carbs, fruits or juices" -- because they could screw up the results. I could eat eggs, but pretty much they didn't want me eating anything else.

[kokotg]

MOST people who fail the first test pass the second. I can't remember the number--something like 80% maybe? I failed both tests with my first pregnancy, but then failed the one hour and passed the 3 hour with #2 and 3.

[cathmom]

I'm sorry about this! I know what you mean about not being able to think about anything else!

[Rosie_0801]

Gestational diabetes sucks considerable. Hey, pregnancy pretty well sucks, let alone making it worse by throwing diabetes on top of it! Unfortunately it is a serious condition, serious enough that I would consider pm-ing you 'reminders' every morning saying unpleasant things like "Get your butt down to pathology, girl, and get that test done!!" Or worse...

 

I'm guessing you're about 28 weeks? We test at 28 weeks here because that's when diabetes goes "turbo." That means, if you are diabetic, it should be about as bad as it's going to get. I had it with my first pregnancy, managed to keep it diet controlled and my daughter was just fine. Since then, and that was only 19 months ago, restrictions have tightened considerably and it's been a lot more challenging to keep it under control. I'm not going to tell you it's easy. Well, it's not that difficult to eat an appropriate low GI diet, but it is tricky to make those adjustments and it's depressing to eat another salad when you want custard tarts. I've been through bouts of "culinary depression" where my appetite has almost disappeared so forcing anything down makes me nauseous. I've even had bouts of "food psychosis" where I've stood in the supermarket drooling over snack bars, you know, the ones that probably don't contain one natural ingredient and you wouldn't touch with a 6 foot pole any other time. So yeah, it sucks, but knowing the suckiness in advance is much better than having it sneak up on you unawares, which is why I'm telling you.

 

If you have it, you have it, and you do have to deal with it, otherwise you run very real risks of having your baby scooted off to intensive care after birth. That, of course, would suck far more than dealing with the diabetes. Uncontrolled diabetes will also have you booked in for an induction early, whereas if you control it, you can go to 40 weeks. So, here are my recommendations:

 

~Don't let them put you on insulin after the first week. You do need a bit of adjustment time!

~Do get as tough as you know how with your diet straight away, because they don't give you much adjustment time. Also because each time you restrict your diet, you'll get depressed. Most people feel that way for a couple of days, I do for about a week and a half. So, if you go tough straight away, you'll only have to put up with the depression once.

~Most diabetic info tells you to spread your carbs evenly over the 3 main meals, but I found spreading it over 6 small meals to be FAR better. It's not just how high or low your sugars go, but also about trying to keep them fairly stable.

~Do some serious studies on the GI index and read labels. One doesn't think about the potato starch in sausages, but your body definately notices. Also, raw carrots are low GI and cooked are really high. I got caught out on that!

~If you can't keep them under control by eating grains, and I haven't been able to since 27 weeks (now 30,) you need to get them from legumes.

~Pay attention to recommended serving sizes. They're a good start, but may not work. I'm thinking oranges must be bigger than when the recommendations were written because I can only eat half an orange in one sitting!

~If you have trouble drinking water, drink watered down apple juice. It still adds sugar, but not so much. Don't drink it between eating and testing your blood sugars though.

~If you just can't keep your bloods under control, you'll have to go on insulin. I can't comment on that because I haven't had to do it yet. Fingers crossed...

 

This might sound dumb, but imagine your body to be a large hotel and insulin to be the room service people. Your fasting or before breakfast test is checking how the night staff are working, and your post meal tests are checking the day staff. If you have problems with the day staff, you can twiddle your meals a bit, by only eating half an orange, for example. If the night staff are being lazy, there's not much you can do because you are asleep. They do work better, though, if you have supper the night before. If you have trouble eating right before bed, try a cup of milk. It makes a big difference to my readings. What happens, is your dinner keeps the room service guys buzzing along happily for most of the night, but then you start running out of glucose. So the little guy in charge of the pantry (your liver) dishes out some more. Problem is, he's diabetic so he's not thinking too straight. Instead of measuring everything out carefully, he just hauls out a few tubs of glucose and tells the room service guys to take it and nick off. That stresses them out so they can't deal with it efficiently, which means your blood sugar level will spike. Supper helps the pantry guy be a bit more diligent in his work. Snacking in between meals during the day also helps avoid this problem.

 

My day goes something like this:

~Wake up and test my blood sugars.

~Have a drink of 50/50 water and apple juice with my liquid iron supplement. (Does anyone make it through pregnancy without iron supplements?)

~Have breakfast when I start getting hungry.

~2 hours later, test my bloods and soon after have a snack.

~Lunch when I get hungry (it is better if you can keep meals at approx the same time per day, but that's not always possible.)

~Two hours later, test my bloods and soon after have a snack.

~Dinner when it is ready. Sometimes I need another small snack to tide me over until then!

~Two hours later, test my bloods. Have a glass of milk for supper and fall into bed.

 

You'll find it isn't so hard to eat that many times a day, because you'll feel awful if you don't. The right combinations aren't so difficult really. Pulling them off if you are tired and your hubby can't help is hard though. I usually have an omelette for breakfast, snack on a few pieces of dried apricot and some nuts, or maybe a small piece of fresh fruit and have left over dinner for lunch. It's not so hard to manage, unless I'm really tired, dh can't make my breakfast, and there's no left over dinner! Having the juice first thing usually gives me enough energy to get my breakfast though, so that could be a trick that works for you too. Dinner is usually normal food, but the grains are substituted with legumes. We had split peas instead of rice with dinner the other night. Often green peas or tinned beans will give me my carbs. They might be the "good" carbs for me, but that doesn't mean I can eat as much of them as I want. I have to fill up on veggies instead. Just not cooked carrot!!

 

The other thing: stress and pain raises your blood sugars quite a bit. That is much harder to manipulate than your diet. Gestational diabetes is a huge chore, so take as much help as you can. As my hubby puts it, he's really looking forward to me doing the cooking and taking care of myself again (so am I!) but he can't gestate babies and I can, and I can't cook and do the shopping and he can, so sucky as it is, it all gets done.

 

Hopefully you won't be diabetic, but if you are, no more refined grains! That includes ramen noodles ;)

 

Sorry for the great long thesis, but medical professionals haven't usually had gestational diabetes themselves and therefore don't have personal experience tips to hand out and their dietary recommendations don't necessarily work well enough. I suspect they are based on type two, not gestational diabetes specifically.

 

If you need, we can set up a gestational diabetes social group to cheer you on ;)

Rosie

[AFwife Claire]

Well, I just failed my 1 hour test today too! I wasn't too surprised, since I also failed my 1 hour one with my last pregnancy, and I haven't done anything differently. Sigh. I'm calling tomorrow to schedule my 3 hour test. I did pass that one last time, so there is hope. I also feel very overwhelmed at the thought of having another thing to deal with and keep track of. I was not a very happy camper this afternoon when the doctor called!

[ahousefullofjs]

I just dealt with this last week. I failed the 1hr (first time). I did the 3hr, fasting first thing in the morning, walked a bit during it too. You should be fine......I was panicking too, but the info that I found (Dr. Sears pregnancy book) states that only 10-15% of women fail both. It was probably a fluke, like mine. ;)

[Lolly]

Another failure here! Twice. Passed the 3hr with the first one with flying colors. Showed borderline on the second 3 hr. They just told me to watch my diet a bit closer. Seems I like oj and fruit a little too much.:001_smile:

[AnneC]

I failed both for my first two pregnancies and they didn't even bother with the 1hr test for my third, they went straight to the 3hr test. My diabetes was controlled with diet each time, and I didn't put on much weight. I did however get healthy normal-weight babies.

 

Seriously, gestational diabetes can be controlled quite easily and the risks of ongoing health problems for your baby are not worth putting it off.

 

I cried after I failed my first test too, but actually, you haven't failed.:grouphug::grouphug:

[Renee in NC]

The other thing: stress and pain raises your blood sugars quite a bit. That is much harder to manipulate than your diet. Gestational diabetes is a huge chore, so take as much help as you can. As my hubby puts it, he's really looking forward to me doing the cooking and taking care of myself again (so am I!) but he can't gestate babies and I can, and I can't cook and do the shopping and he can, so sucky as it is, it all gets done.

 

Hopefully you won't be diabetic, but if you are, no more refined grains! That includes ramen noodles

 

Sorry for the great long thesis, but medical professionals haven't usually had gestational diabetes themselves and therefore don't have personal experience tips to hand out and their dietary recommendations don't necessarily work well enough. I suspect they are based on type two, not gestational diabetes specifically.

 

If you need, we can set up a gestational diabetes social group to cheer you on

 

 

No more refined grains? The only reason I was eating Ramen is I can't really afford much else!:lol:

 

And stress - ummm, yeah! Now I can blame it on the stress instead of the Ramen!:party:

 

I will get the 3 hour done, but I have to figure out when I can give up 4+ hours to do so!

 

ETA: I didn't cry because I felt like I failed, I cried because I can't take one more thing - I can't! I have to close down this business, handle the foreclosure (or deed in lieu) on our house, figure out how we can live on $220 a week until dh can find a job (if he can!), and then figure out how I am going to take care of 7dc and pay back $200K+ after we liquidate.:tongue_smilie:

Edited November 18, 2008 by Renee in FL

[Rosie_0801]

Oh yeah, you can certainly blame stress! You've got enough! High blood sugar is high blood sugar regardless of the cause, so you have to get it sorted. Start with the low GI stuff now, even though you haven't managed to take the 3 hr test yet. That way, you are in the habit, and will find out faster if you are being strict enough.

On the plus side, tinned beans are cheaper than ramen noodles. I think they are, anyway. Better still, they don't need cooking, which is a definate time saver!

:grouphug:

Rosie