Gestational Diabetes....

[cillybean83]

Does anyone know why GD sugar level goals and regular diabetes goals are different?

It's more strict with GD because of the baby.

But why? What are the extra concerns?

babies born to mothers with GD or even "real" diabetes are at risk for hypoglycemia at birth...they are often kept in the hospital for up to a week in the NICU because they refuse to eat and need feeding tubes, they are considerably larger than average babies and most often need to be delivered via csection...very, very, very rarely GD can contribute to stillbirth...

 

[pennysbored]

Does anyone know why GD sugar level goals and regular diabetes goals are different?

It's more strict with GD because of the baby.

But why? What are the extra concerns?

babies born to mothers with GD or even "real" diabetes are at risk for hypoglycemia at birth...they are often kept in the hospital for up to a week in the NICU because they refuse to eat and need feeding tubes, they are considerably larger than average babies and most often need to be delivered via csection...very, very, very rarely GD can contribute to stillbirth...

Thanks. I just wanted to know what I was actually looking at. i've been finding my appointments taking twice as long with half the information because I need to take my daughter to all of them.

 

[Phexia]

Does anyone know why GD sugar level goals and regular diabetes goals are different?

It's more strict with GD because of the baby.

But why? What are the extra concerns?

Because of the risk of complications. A very big baby, shoulder dystocia, low blood sugar when the baby's born etc. There's also a slightly increased chance of stillbirth.

 

[letia659]

I cut out "sweets"...pretty much anything that tastes sweet is gone...including juice. I drink just enough milk for the baby to get the calcium and other than that I drink water.

I'm really careful about how much fruit I eat, one small apple, 1/2 of a banana, a handfull of grapes, etc

I'm careful about what veggies i eat...i'm trying to stay away from potatoes of course, and corn, and even carrots

Instead of eating sandwiches on bread, i'm eating them on lettuce leaves, for snacks I eat a bit of peanut butter on high fiber crackers (6 =15 carbs), I eat string cheese, nuts, etc...i cut out pasta entirely...I've been eating a lot of grilled chicken...i'm basically following an atkin's like diet, very low carb

I think my system is totally jacked up...i called back to speak with a different nurse and she said I should consider losing weight, not after the baby is born, but now...she told me to eat 1500 calories a day and drop 15 pounds, then the diabetes will go away....i'm overweight but i don't know about dieting while in the 3rd trimester

ok so that nurse is crazy your not supposed to try to lose weight during your last trimester...I will say since I cut back the carbs (I only allow myself 90 a day) I havent gained more than a pound maybe 2 now in the past couple of months but I havent lost...after her saying that I would demand to speak with the Dr about it and see what he says regarding what the nurse is telling you because I would hope he wouldnt agree...they dont need to be thinking about you losing weight they need to be thinking about the health of you and baby right now and put you on the insulin you need to regulate your sugar so all can be healthy for the delivery...I would be getting a second opinion if they are going to be like that...I was sent to an endocrinologist (sp?) have they not tried to refer you to one??

 

[cillybean83]

they won't send me to one because my insurance won't cover it since I haven't been "formally diagnosed" with actual diabetes

 

[cindi]

you would only have a baby with sugar problems and in the nicu if the mother had untreated diabetes. My daughter was fine and my sugar was controlled with diet. I've known others whose babies were fine and they were insulin controlled. The objecct is teh control. It has to be under control and you have to be on alert about your sugars at all times. Not all gd babies are huge either it can go the other way as well. My daughter was 5 lbs 13 oz at birth and i had gd with her. So just monitor your sugar, keep your ob appointments and the specialists appointments and do your best that's all you can do.

 

[Phexia]

you would only have a baby with sugar problems and in the nicu if the mother had untreated diabetes. My daughter was fine and my sugar was controlled with diet. I've known others whose babies were fine and they were insulin controlled. The objecct is teh control. It has to be under control and you have to be on alert about your sugars at all times. Not all gd babies are huge either it can go the other way as well. My daughter was 5 lbs 13 oz at birth and i had gd with her. So just monitor your sugar, keep your ob appointments and the specialists appointments and do your best that's all you can do.

Yeah, I agree. My daughters were both average size and didn't have any problems after birth even though I was on insulin. The younger one did go to the NICU because I was insulin dependent but it was only for observation, she was fine.

 

[cillybean83]

my pastors wife had GD and her little man spent 5 days in the NICU...not because anything was majorly wrong, but because he didn't want to eat due to hypoglycemia then jaundice set it. He was 9 lb 9 oz....she wasn't on insulin and who's to say she followed the GD diet...but even he was totally fine. Honestly, I think GD has a much worse affect on mom than it does on baby.

 

[Baby2ontheway]

All we can all do is try our best and hope for the best for our little ones. I hope every mother here with GD has a great rest of their pregnancy, an easy delivery, and a VERY healthy baby!!

 

[cillybean83]

awww thanks hun!

 

[cupcake]

I cut out "sweets"...pretty much anything that tastes sweet is gone...including juice. I drink just enough milk for the baby to get the calcium and other than that I drink water.

I'm really careful about how much fruit I eat, one small apple, 1/2 of a banana, a handfull of grapes, etc

I'm careful about what veggies i eat...i'm trying to stay away from potatoes of course, and corn, and even carrots

Instead of eating sandwiches on bread, i'm eating them on lettuce leaves, for snacks I eat a bit of peanut butter on high fiber crackers (6 =15 carbs), I eat string cheese, nuts, etc...i cut out pasta entirely...I've been eating a lot of grilled chicken...i'm basically following an atkin's like diet, very low carb

I think my system is totally jacked up...i called back to speak with a different nurse and she said I should consider losing weight, not after the baby is born, but now...she told me to eat 1500 calories a day and drop 15 pounds, then the diabetes will go away....i'm overweight but i don't know about dieting while in the 3rd trimester

sounds like you are really doing your best with diet, im not sure i would listen to the nurse though, diet in the third tri with GD?
be careful not to go too low on the carbs as the baby actually needs them, did they refer u to a qualified nutritionist who deals with GD they would give u the right kind of diet. Good luck!

 

[Tiff]

Gestational Diabetes is caused by the hormones given off by the Placenta. That's why it typically goes away once you give birth. No placenta = no gestational diabetes.

That nurse is on crack. Telling you that in dropping 15lbs that GDM would go away? If it were that easy, everyone would be put on that diet and they wouldn't be giving out insulin shots. Definitely don't listen to her hun, she's obviously not very knowledgeable on the subject.

 

[Phexia]

Gestational Diabetes is caused by the hormones given off by the Placenta. That's why it typically goes away once you give birth. No placenta = no gestational diabetes.

That nurse is on crack. Telling you that in dropping 15lbs that GDM would go away? If it were that easy, everyone would be put on that diet and they wouldn't be giving out insulin shots. Definitely don't listen to her hun, she's obviously not very knowledgeable on the subject.

Agreed! Nurse is on crack. Pregnancy isn't a time to diet, just eat healthy.

With baby #1 my GD was diet controlled, but with baby #2, after losing 20 kilos (!) I needed loads of insulin! Weight isn't everything and she can't say that you´ll get rid of the GD by dieting, no way!

 

[cindi]

type 2 can go away if it's weight related but it's not time to test that theory during pregnancy. GD goes away with the placenta going. They had that part 100% right. I'd talk with someone else if you can. i lost weight on the GD diet and that's normal but to actually try to lose weight while pregnant isn't real healthy

 

[cillybean83]

I'm not trying to diet. I am however doing the whole "lifestyle change" of cutting carbs, sweets, etc...I haven't yet monitored calories because I get hungry at really weird times and if I did try to count calories I would either mess it up, or get discouraged when I went over, so I'm going to just eat healthy when I'm hungry, and not just eat because I'm bored (I definately have a habit of that). Like last night I was starving at 10pm so I had a handful of almonds and 1/2 of a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread...

I've not seen a nutritionalist because I can't, my insurance won't cover it because I don't have "real" diabetes and with all my other bills and a baby coming and the holidays coming...I can't afford to drop a couple hundred dollars to listen to someone tell me what to eat. It sucks but it is what it is. I just have to use my own common sense and blood sugar numbers as a judge.

 

[Tiff]

Well, I was sent to a nutritionist, if you want I can pass along to you what they told me. (I had GDM while I was pregnant too )

Bear with me, some stuff you probably already know.

I was told to look at my plate, and divide it into sections. First, divide the plate in half. One half of your plate should be greens/veggies. Then take the other half and divide that in half again. Have one portion be protein and the other portion carbs. A big mistake that alot of people make is thinking that they should skip carbs altogether, but your body needs them. Just make sure that you always have protein with your carb as it'll take your body more time to digest it.

We talked about how food isn't always a source of high blood sugars. Stress plays a really wicked part in spiking your levels. My OH's uncle is diabetic and when he was at work his sugars spiked up to 63 (when a normal is between 5-7). Exercise helps as well, but nothing to strenuous. I was also told that I didn't have to skip sweets entirely, but to be sensible with my portions of them, and if I wanted to have some then I should go for a moderate-paced walk afterwards to help balance out the sugars.

She also explained to me that GDM is different than regular diabetes, because sugar is sugar is sugar. Regular diabetics can have some sugar, and it'd be fine. However, with GDM because it goes straight to the baby it doesn't matter if it is synthetic, regular or processed. (Again, not saying that you have to cut them out completely, but don't think because it is organic sugar that it won't spike your sugar as much as processed/refined sugars might).

She was a little iffy on the Glycemic Index method of eating, where each food is given a number: The lower the number, the more (in theory) you can have. Like a blueberry is something like a 2 or a 5 on the GI chart, whereas pineapple or watermelon is up near the 80s... I think.... I can't remember off hand. The GI method was given to me when I was referred to an Endocrinologist.

Not sure if that helps any, and I'm sure most of this stuff you already knew. Figured I'd pass along what I learned. It certainly isn't worth paying for (IMO) and the only reason why I went was because it was covered under OHIP. If it wasn't, I wouldn't have gone.

 

[cillybean83]

thank you so much hun!!! I really appreciate you taking the time to explain all that to me.

 

[Baby2ontheway]

Went to doctor today and they upped the dose of my insulin...apparently he is growing just fine but my body needs more insulin... the things we do for our little ones!! I would have never thought I could give my self a shot!

 

[Tiff]

thank you so much hun!!! I really appreciate you taking the time to explain all that to me.

No problem!

I was SO freaked out when I first found out I had GDM, and I couldn't find any info on it at all! Super frustrating! Another thing the Endocrinologist told me is that not all food affects us the same. So say, one person could eat cake until the cows came home and had little effect on their blood sugars. The other person could have a slight piece and have their BSL spike through the roof.

Alot of it is experimentation! I don't know everything, but if you have any concerns/questions... feel free to ask! I'll do my best to help.

 

[pennysbored]

thank you so much hun!!! I really appreciate you taking the time to explain all that to me.

No problem!

I was SO freaked out when I first found out I had GDM, and I couldn't find any info on it at all! Super frustrating! Another thing the Endocrinologist told me is that not all food affects us the same. So say, one person could eat cake until the cows came home and had little effect on their blood sugars. The other person could have a slight piece and have their BSL spike through the roof.

Alot of it is experimentation! I don't know everything, but if you have any concerns/questions... feel free to ask! I'll do my best to help.

No questions, Tyff, but just want to say hey!
I miss my ladies from my first round with Betty.