We graduated but it was so hard emotionnally (hypoglycemia, tubefeeding etc.)
Don't read this if you need to read positives stories but I wanted to put it here because I would have liked to know to better prepared myself for this.
I was diagnosed with GD at week 14. It was my pregnancy number six but the first one with GD. I have been diet and exercises controlled until around week 32-34. Because of my baby projected birth weight, I was put on strict targets (under 4.6 fasting and under 6.0 after meals.) I wasn't able to get under the fasting one so I started insuline at night only.
The last week of my pregnancy, I had a lot of hypoglycemia. We were lowering my insuline every day. I haven't hand expressed colostrum because I had pre term labour.
In September, at 37 weeks and two days, I was at the hospital to induce the birth. On the 36 weeks growth scan, the baby measured already 8lbs and 4 ounces. The birth was supposed (from what they told me the weeks before) to be induce in the morning for him to be born in the day because the baby had 1/2 chance of having hemophilia like his brother.
Finally, we only got a room in the labour's yard at dinner time. We had the best labour nurse in the world. I was induced around 5-6pm with pitocin, upping the dosage every 30 minutes. It was quickly intense. He was born at eleven. I was able to nurse him and keep him with me for one hour and fifteen minutes. Then, we were separated because they said he needed to remain in the baby unit until he saw a pediatrician and there were no available before the morning shift around 8-9 am. First regret here, I would have refused the induction at night have I known it would prevent us from being together.
I was not allowed to go with him at first because I had to be set in a mother and baby's room, the first cares and all that. I was able to go see him more than two hours later. He had his first low glycemia reading. Right after that, I hand expressed colostrum for him and my husband gave it to him. His glycemia was then ok.
When I finally got with him in his unit, we did skin and skin and on-demand breastfeeding and his glycemia was very good. We stayed in the unit until the ped came. He said the baby could go to our room around nine, and could do the remaining test needed from our room.
So the nurse said, go to your room I will bring him to you. We said yes because as I was still in a wheelchair, it would be simplier.
Like fifteen minutes later, the baby is not there so my husband go back. They tell him the nurse is in a break. So he stays there. I make the big mistake of staying in my room, still thinking he will soon be with me. I get his things ready for him.
Eventually the nurse come back and said she decided that despite the doctor's said he could come back, she wants to wait for the test (it's lab imaging, preventive for hemophilia). The test was done like in ten minutes for my older son so I think it will be fast. They bring the baby on another stair (with my husband following) for the test but finally it's just so long. The baby shows hunger signs, my husband writes to me. I go to the unit to be there when he will comes back. When he arrives, he hasn't been nursed for like 2-3 hours because everything seems to move so slowly. Then a new somewhat low glycemia reading. Here I want to add something.
Their glycemia machine is not made for babies and very inaccurate. So each time they have to make a second test to the lab after it and the results are often completely different. Another big regret, if I haven't trusted them and followed him, he could have nursed more and probably avoid the hypoglycemia. I have read it is one of the things to do when you have diabete, skin to skin + nursing more.
I nursed him (still in the unit). The nurse still doesn't allow us to bring him in our room for no clear reason stated. I get upset and talk to another nurse about the fact we should have been in our room hours ago from the doctor's order.
She finally get him in our room around like one or two pm. She does one glycemia reading, low on the often inaccurate machine. Sends one to the lab. We agree to give him a little bit of formula with a syringe in the waiting time. Then she comes back, without waiting the true result from the lab and says now she will bring him back and put him on tubefeeding now but the doctor say we will get him back during the night (this too was false).
Later we learned the true lab test result was far from alarming....
And then we lost control over our baby. Back in the unit where we can't be with him 24/24. They say no breastfeeding at all.
We were supposed to introduce the baby to his siblings via facecall but we can't in this unit. We have no idea when he will come back and we have to left him alone there. It's a nightmare emotionally, we cry a lot. I know there's worse and all that but for us, it was very hard.
After almost 24 hours of tubefeeding they say we have two choices: either we accept to put him on bottle-feeding only or they will keep him tubefeed and he won't be able to come in our room. We ask for SNS, she laughed saying they haven't use it since twenty years ago! In this unit, strangely none of the babies (all newborn) were breastfed. They were all put on bottles, it seemed like it was how they liked it in this unit.
Of course, we accept even if breastfeeding is important for us. We just want our baby back at this point.
So finally like three hours later, they say he can go in our room, another nurse get him in our room (it took like five minutes this time!). We are then another day in the hospital, having to call the nurse at every feed to say how much he drank. But the nurses of this unit are far more welcoming of breastfeeding and finally allow me to breastfeed before using bottles to top up.
So this was how my story with GD ended. I felt robbed of my first days with my baby. Of my breastfeeding journey also. I don't know if it's the GD "trap" that made all of this happen. Maybe it could have been without GD but I know the hypoglycemia can be related.
Also I don't know why but the doctors didn't seemed to use the numbers for hypoglycemia I see online for baby under 72 hours. Maybe it depends of every country as it does for GD target.
Now we are home and we are working toward exclusive breastfeeding. all is going better everyday.