Anyone have gestational diabetes? What kind of diet were you on? Are there different levels of diabetes?
Posted by admin on Oct 15, 2009
I just had my 3 hr test done yesterday and will find out if I have gestational diabetes on Friday when I go to the doctor. I was just wondering what to expect if I do have it… and if there are different levels of diabetes? How will it effect the baby?
Its a low carb diet. It totally sucks and you have to poke yourself 4-6 times a day. If you have severe GD then you will have to take insulin and be on a low carb diet. In GD, the glucose in your blood is processed at a much slower rate-therefore exposing your baby to increased sugar for longer periods of time.
The only way that GD really affects the baby is that he/she runs the risk of being large which can lead to a difficult birth. If baby is too large, sometimes during a vaginal delivery arms and shoulders are broken. Doctors do not want this to happen and hopefully the size can be determined before hand and a c-section can be performed. These extremes really only happen with untreated GD.
Additionally, babies can be born with hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). This is generally cured by breastfeeding immediately after birth.
Its a low carb diet. It totally sucks and you have to poke yourself 4-6 times a day. If you have severe GD then you will have to take insulin and be on a low carb diet. In GD, the glucose in your blood is processed at a much slower rate-therefore exposing your baby to increased sugar for longer periods of time.
The only way that GD really affects the baby is that he/she runs the risk of being large which can lead to a difficult birth. If baby is too large, sometimes during a vaginal delivery arms and shoulders are broken. Doctors do not want this to happen and hopefully the size can be determined before hand and a c-section can be performed. These extremes really only happen with untreated GD.
Additionally, babies can be born with hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). This is generally cured by breastfeeding immediately after birth.
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Personal Experience
The diet I got put on consisted mainly of managing carbohydrates….I was allotted a certain amount of carb grams for each meal and snack, as well as given some specific foods to avoid overall, and some to avoid only in the morning at breakfast. I was given a blood sugar monitor to use at home, and had to track it 8 times daily for the first few weeks, which sucked, but once they realized it was going to be able to controlled with just diet, then they said I only needed to monitor it once or twice daily to make sure it stayed under control.
If you cannot control it with diet, then they look at giving you insulin, I believe, but mine never progressed that far so I don’t know much about that.
I don’t know so much about different levels of diabetes per say, but I think it’s more like varying degrees of severity…some people it is mild in, like me, and easily controlled, and then some people have severe cases of it.
However, even a mild case can cause you some complications….My baby is measuring quite large for how far along I supposedly am (at 34 weeks, she already is estimated to weigh 7 pounds). That is the #1 thing I heard as a potential complication for gest. diabetes, was that the baby could be quite big. I have also heard that in the more severe cases, the baby may need some assistance with their own blood sugar levels after delivery, but that it usually goes away in a minimal amount of time.
If you can make yourself stick to the diet though, and it is controlled that way, you’ll be better off! I will keep my fingers crossed for you that if you do have it, it is mild and easily controlled! Good luck.
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I had gestational diabetes and they put you on a very strict diet. You really have to restrict you carb intake as well as sugar. They also have you eat six small meals a day and tell you to stop drinking soda or any other high sugar drinks. They also like you to limit your fruit intake. I failed my 3 hour test actually after two hours and they got really aggressive with it. I had to start giving my self insulin in my 30th week. In all actuality it really saved me. I lost weight while my son gained and he was born a week early and was 8 pounds 8 ounces. I was smaller two weeks after I had my son than I had ever been in the past. It will all work out.
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Hi, I got gestational diabetes when I was 33 weeks pregnant and was put on a well balanced low carb diet by a dietitian. I had to check my blood sugar levels after every meal as well as see an endocrine specialist to monitor things. If the blood sugar gets too high and you can’t control it with diet alone they will give you insulin to inject.
In regards to effects to the baby? It can make the baby grow larger in which case you will probably be induced early (that’s what happened to me). There are other effects that are less common (no need to scare you). I would suggest just watching everything you eat in hopes it will keep your blood sugar down.
Good luck! :O)
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If you are diagnosed with GD, the first thing you will have to do is totally re-vamp your diet and eating habits. You will be put on a low carb diet in order to keep your sugars at a healthy level for you and your baby. You will also be taught how to check your sugars with a finger stick. I had to check mine 4 times per day. You may or may not have to check your urine every morning for ketones. They had me check mine, with a little strip of ‘paper’. It was really easy. If you have high levels of ketones in your urine, you will have to talk to your doctor about it, and discuss what to do to get them out of your urine. Small amounts are normal however! If you can’t control your blood sugars and ketones, they may have you start medication to maintain and stabilize your sugars, etc. I was able to control mine with diet and never started meds. The main concern for the baby is that he/she will gain more weight in the womb than normal. Meaning, you will have a big baby. Expect to have lots of ultrasounds to monitor your little ones growth!! It’s actually a blessing in disguise, you get to see your baby lots more than a mom without GD! That’s the only good thing about GD I think:) They will also check your newborns sugars when he/she is born to make sure they aren’t too low or high. GOOD LUCK!!!!!
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3 month old son
I just got diagnosed a week ago. I kinda knew it was coming, because I was having some symptoms, but I was in denial!
I’m basically on a diet where I have to eat less carbs than I am used to. I also had to increase my protein because otherwise I wasn’t getting enough calories. Also, I have to avoid all highly refined sugars.
I get 2 servings of carbs for breakfast, 1-2 for a snack, 3-4 for lunch, 1-2 for afternoon snack, 3-4 for dinner and 1-2 for night snack. So, it’s not so bad!
I’m not allowed to skip meals or snacks.
I have to keep a diet diary to keep track of my carbs,
and I have to take my blood sugars in the morning before breakfast, once after breakfast once after lunch, once after dinner. It doesn’t hurt and the machine is really easy to use. I also have to check my urine with a test strip in the mornings for ketones.
It’s not as bad as I thought it might be, but sometimes I feel weird…food is like medicine now instead of something I really enjoy!
Diabetes can cause breathing problems, large birth weights (meaning an increase risk of c-section…normal women have a 25% chance, GDM women have 36% chance of needing a c-section), even fetal death is the sugars are left uncontrolled. Some women have to go on insulin if their blood sugar can not be managed with diet.
After baby is born he may have low-blood sugar, which sounds weird but it’s because he has to make extra insulin becuase of your high blood sugar levels. It’s easily treated.
My OB said as long as I control the sugar with diet, they will treat it like a normal pregnancy.
The diabetes goes away after the baby is born in 95% of cases.
Good luck and don’t be worried! 20% of women develop GDM!
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