Anyone developed GD later into their pregnancy?

[Jennifaerie]

LO has been measuring spot on all the way through my pregnancy, until last week when she was measuring 35.5 at 34 weeks. I've been measured today and she's now measuring 37 at 34.5 weeks. They tested my urine and it was +ve for glucose so I now need another GTT tomorrow.

Has anyone not had it at 28 weeks and then developed it later? Would I not have noticed if I had GD?

I also have some uterine irritability which they think is a result of LO growing so quickly, they said if my braxton hicks do turn into preterm labour they will give me steroids but won't stop her coming, and that if I do have GD she might need to go to NICU to get some help with her blood sugar.

I had my urine tested on Saturday about an hour after a chocolate bar and there no sugar in it, and yet today there was a lot and all I had eaten was a ryvita and philadelphia - what do you recommend I eat JIC?

I will also post this in the complications section

Thanks in advance x

 

[waitandsee]

Hello,
my diabetician told me that actually the glucose intolerance, once you have it, gets continually worse during the last tri so its possible.
Also here (Germany) they don't even test the urine because it has been found that half of women with glucose in urine don't have GD, while half women with GD don't have glucose in urine.
I also wouldn't rely too much on that GTT - do you have a glucose meter at home? I like that much better for frequent testing and reassurance.

Good luck though!!!

Oh i forgot: GD doesn't cause you any symptoms at all and apparently it also cannot be predicted who is getting it.

 

[AmeliePoulain]

My GD was diagnosed at 35 weeks. I suspect I began developing symptoms at 33ish weeks but it was detected at 35 weeks after 4+ sugar in my pee.

I had zero risk factors for GD so wasnt tested at 28 weeks.

The link below gives you an idea of the different GI values of various foods - you should try and stick to low GI things.

https://www.the-gi-diet.org/lowgifoods/

Chocolate is a weird one, some people can tolerate it pretty well and it doesnt really affect their sugars. I wasnt awful with sweet things but any carbohydrates made my sugars go loopy!

You will always be warned that with GD your baby's sugars may go low after they are born but this doesnt happen all the time (my daughter was fine, I fed her as soon as possible after the delivery to help)

When you say she is 'measuring' - is that your fundal height or have you had an growth scan?

 

[Jennifaerie]

I had a scan last week and a fh check yesterday. Thanks for the info x I have another scan next week to decide a plan of action

 

[AmeliePoulain]

My fh jumped to 4 weeks ahead of where I should have been but I didn't have excessive fluid and my little girl wasn't big (6lb 7oz).

I hope all goes well, even if gd is diagnosed it is likely they would want you to attempt diet control for a week or so, by which time you will be close to term!

 

[thelioncub]

I developed GD early in my pregnancy (at about week 16). I was due to have the GTT test later on due to my sister having GD with her son, but it got brought forward because I had glucose in my wee (due to having eaten pineapple!)

My understanding has always been that it gets worse as the pregnancy goes on, so it is far more likely that you would develop it later (if at all I mean).

Usually they do give you a self-monitor kit and try to get you controlling it by diet - and different foods will affect everyone differently.

Mine has been very up and down - so like I will eat pasta one lunch and have an ok reading, then have the same meal the next lunch and have a high reading.
For me, bread (especially white bread) always gives me a high reading, but foods that you would expect to be bad - like Dominos pizza for example, give me low readings.

It's a bit confusing, and I suspect that this late into your pregnancy you wouldn't really have enough time to monitor and work out which foods to avoid. I would generally say avoid tropical fruit tho, as these are much higher in sugar than you'd expect!

My sister's boy did have to go into intensive care when he was born due to hypoglycaemia, and that is the worst case scenario. Other than this, you may also be scheduled for a c-section or be induced a couple of weeks early if your baby starts to measure too big, as size could cause difficulty with the birth.

I truly hope you just have to monitor and carry on as usual for the next 6 weeks hon! Not long to go at all really.
x

 

[Jennifaerie]

Thanks for the replies. It's looking like they will be evicting her at 38 weeks regardless as she is getting very big now, had my GTT now so just waiting for them to call with the results. x

 

[Angelina123]

Hi, I got diagnosed at 32 weeks (2 weeks ago) with a result of 9.9 after the OGTT. I have been monitoring for the past two weeks and diet controlling. I had none of the risk factors either and urine showed up at 4 appointments in a row before they took it seriously enough to send me for the OGTT.

They have said they will induce at 39 weeks as they don't consider the lungs to be developed enough before that. That puts me at 22nd Dec for an induction... is there any chance I'll be out for Christmas day?

 

[Jennifaerie]

I've been diagnosed today. Don't know what will be happening with it yet xx

 

[AmeliePoulain]

The policy from area to area varies massively.

Where I live they induce at 38 weeks if on medication for GD or it is not being controlled by diet and 39 week induction if controlled by diet.

In lots of places though as long as baby is not showing a weight of 10lbs + they will not induce early unless there is an issue with fluid levels or it looks like the placenta isn't working as well as it should.

Remember that scans can be really inaccurate sometimes for estimating weight, I was told that Ivy would be 8lb + and I got a little 6lber!

 

[Jennifaerie]

She's looking very very big atm but we will have to see how she goes

 

[HellBunny]

Hi i was diagnosed with my little boy at 34 weeks (had it since 19 week they mixed up my result with someone elses!)
Until they set me up with the dietitian etc, i just looked up Low GI foods on google, so wholegrain carbs, lots of protein etc. Cereals were always a no no with me (though porridge and weetabix is usually recomended)
I was induced at 39 weeks as a precaution since it was uncontrolled for so long.
Its all confusing at first but you don't have long to go now, just avoid the obvious until you know more xxx

 

[waitandsee]

Well at least you know it now and can take action for the remaining time to go...

Avoid sweets, white flour products, also take care with the fruit. for some reason citrus fruits always give me sugar spikes. and something I didn't expect was that the more fats or oils there are in the food, the higher the sugar goes.

Good luck!

 

[Jennifaerie]

Things went fine at the hospital today, it was a midwife I saw rather than dietician - I see her next week as well as OB.
My levels after GTT were't terrible - fasting 3.8, after drink 8.7 no nothing too awful - MW is confident I won't need insulin. In fact my level after having wholemeal toast this morning was 3.1 - she asked if I'd eaten yet today

I got my diet sheet/ orange notes/ glucose monitor. I've to check my levels 4 x a day, level after lunch was 6.0 so that's fine. Just need to steer clear of chocs and baguettes I think.

She said if bubba's growth slows down then they may let me go naturally (though not past 41 weeks - if we go this route her eviction notice would be on my birthday). However I've read a lot about the risks of going to term with GD and I would rather try early induction or c-section I think. Looks like LO could be here some time in my 38th week, if so 3 weeks to go

x

I have another growth scan at 36+6 to check if she's still looking to be a chunky monkey

 

[AmeliePoulain]

It sounds really positive - my reading after my GTT was 11 and I couldnt even think about looking at a slice of bread or a potato

I hope the growth scan pleasantly suprises you I know that if I have GD in my next pregnancy I would be very keen to avoid an induction so I really hope things kick of naturally for you once you reach term x

 

[SabrinaKat]

thanks for this thread as am worried about being diagnosed GTT....

stupid question -- is that why they ask for urine, e.g. to check for diabetes? (I was pre-diabetic last year, but lost 3 stone (40-45lbs) through healthy eating over a year and my levels pre-pregnancy were good, I haven't junked out too much in this pregnancy, but am worried anyway)...so, the doctors would have some idea before my 28wk GTT test?

sorry if I am intruding on J's original question....(did you have routine urine as well???)

thanks!

 

[Jennifaerie]

thanks for this thread as am worried about being diagnosed GTT....

stupid question -- is that why they ask for urine, e.g. to check for diabetes? (I was pre-diabetic last year, but lost 3 stone (40-45lbs) through healthy eating over a year and my levels pre-pregnancy were good, I haven't junked out too much in this pregnancy, but am worried anyway)...so, the doctors would have some idea before my 28wk GTT test?

sorry if I am intruding on J's original question....(did you have routine urine as well???)

thanks!

They've checked my urine at every appointment, I had the GTT at 28 weeks because my BMI is over 30 - though I didn't have it then. They checked it this time as I had + Glucose in my pee. Hope this helps. If you consistently had sugar in there I'm sure they would test you. The MW said that it usually starts between week 24 - 32 if you're going to get it, though I will be checked at week 16 next time around.

Hope this helps - I'm sure you'll be fine.

Amelie - it's not looking terribly likely that they will let me got to term anyway, given she's currently looking about 7.5lbs she will likely be around 9.5lbs+ even if her growth slows down. On the plus side at least I would know when she was arriving. My sister had a really bad birth/ induction and with the risks of a big baby/ GD I've been getting really upset about it all, so it looks like she may well arrive "through the sun roof" so to speak. It's hardly my natural waterbirth with hypnosis that I was hoping for but as long as I feel confident she's going to arrive safely I don't care any more!

MW today said it would be nice (!!) if she arrived of her own accord in the next couple of weeks as she wouldn't be too big then - think she was joking.

 

[AmeliePoulain]

They test your urine for lots of things - sugar, protein, other things that shouldnt be there!

If you are concerned about GD then some of the symptoms are excessive thirst, craving sweet things, peeing alot - but then again they are all quite normal pregnancy symptoms!

 

[Jennifaerie]

They test your urine for lots of things - sugar, protein, other things that shouldnt be there!

If you are concerned about GD then some of the symptoms are excessive thirst, craving sweet things, peeing alot - but then again they are all quite normal pregnancy symptoms!

I have a lot of the above btw - particularly thirst/ peeing - my mouth is just always so dry!

 

[SabrinaKat]

thanks, guys -- my husband comes into the consultations with me and told me that she did the diabetes test in front of us, but of course, I wasn't paying any attention.

am not that thirsty, but always ALWAYS have to pee!

best wishes