What’s everyone’s first meal ideas for after birth? I was thinking a dozen donuts and a doughy pizza lol. I’ll just be happy to eat without feeling like I’m spiking my baby’s sugars🥹 but also seriously thinking about what I want.
I gave birth this past Thursday , a day away from being 38 weeks. Had a c section scheduled for the 10th. I was truly struggling, starving & unhappy with this diet. Didn’t know how much longer I could handle it and then went into labor Wednesday night around 11pm , went to the hospital Thursday morning & had baby girl that night. THANK GODDDD. I have ate so many yummy carbs, sugars & things I was just genuinely craving and life feels good again. Goodbye cheese sticks, goodbye hard boiled eggs & GOODBYE to gestational diabetes it’s been hell. Can’t wait for all of you to make it out with your babies.
Also - GOODBYE AND GOOD RIDDANCE to those damn FINGER POKES 🙌🏻✌🏻
I’m guessing they monitor your blood sugars, but what do they do if they are too low and you are not supposed to eat? Do they ever hook you up to a glucose drip or something?
I was recently diagnosed and have been struggling with foods to eat, especially breakfast. Breakfast has always been hard for me before GDM and even before pregnancy. However, it's gotten much harder as I've developed an aversion to plain eggs in pregnancy. Scrambled eggs, omelets, over easy, poached... I feel sick when eating it all.
I can tolerate it in certain dishes when it's mixed with enough other things.
Do you have any recipe recommendations?
Has anyone else experienced fewer baby movements since they got diagnosed and moved onto a GD diet? I’m assuming it’s because she’s getting less sugar now, but she used to move around like crazy and now much less so. I have been in for monitoring just to check she’s ok and all is well! Just wondered if anyone else has same experience.
Hello, looking for some insight from anyone who managed/is managing their GD with Metformin. I'm in the UK and it's standard here to try it before moving to insulin. Did you/will you take it right up until birth? If you've already delivered and come off it, how long before you felt the side effects subside?
I'm 38+4 and have been on 1000mg since week 32 to manage my morning fasting readings. It's worked really well and I haven't had any readings out of range for a few weeks now. I am really struggling with the side effects though, mainly sudden and intense GI issues. I've tried probiotics, taking the tablets with food, extended release...the works. The gut issues persist and if anything are just getting worse day by day. I'm clearly just one of the unlucky ones whose side effects never settled.
I have my C-section booked in for this coming Friday (39+2) for reasons unrelated to GD. My diabetes nurse specialist is confident that I won't need to keep taking it once the baby is here which is great news but I'm really starting to worry about having major surgery and then pp recovery while still managing these unpredictable (and sometimes upsetting) symptoms. I'd like to either stop taking it a bit early or even just drop down to 500mg. I'm probably kidding myself that a few days will make a difference but I think even pretending will help manage my anxiety at this stage!
I've got a final scan tomorrow along with a meeting with both my consultant obstetrician and diabetes nurse. I intend to ask if this will be possible but I suspect the answer will be no. I was just wondering if anyone else had done something similar. I'm also curious to know how long it took for people to get back to normal after coming off it.
Any advice or insight would be great! Thank you.
P.S. This is no dig at insulin, btw! I would absolutely have taken it if it wasn't for the fact I'd have had to leave my wonderful local maternity unit to go to a larger hospital a 3hr round trip away. Thankfully Metformin worked well it's just not been much fun these last couple of weeks.
After starting this diet I have had a few days where im high. Here recently im having a lot of lows. I keep hitting 70 or below. Is this normal? I woke up at 4am feeling off and I was at 68. How do I stoo this side of it.
Hi all. Thank you so much for this group over the last 7 months(was diagnosed at 12 weeks at the request by me to take the test early due to BMI and family history, first time mom). I wanted to share my, interesting story for those who it may not go the way we want but there a reason for everything. I wanted to avoid a c section at all cost, the surgery, being over weight and recovery time worried me. I was scheduled to be induced at 39+1 , went into the hospital on Friday in the morning and started the process. We starter at 1 1/2 cm and did the ballon first, after 5 hours I was at 4 cm and my water broke, great progress I was told. Overnight they increased my meds but by the next day at 2 pm I wasn’t progressing and only at 5 cm. I was crushed when I heard c section. I cried, asked for more time but also realized the best for baby was to get her out, she actually went further up then down at one point. Thank god for this. She has the cord wrapped around her neck 3 times, she would have never made it out. A side note, the amount of ultrasounds we get, they can’t do any in actual labour?! Weird!
They also found a cyst on my ovary which they asked if I wanted to be removed and currently being tested now.
Just a reminder that even if things don’t work out the way we want them to, there’s another reason!
Currently recovering with this beautiful baby next to me just so thankful. Also- I was up and walking less then 24 hours later, pain is maybe a 1 when I walk but that’s more the pulling from it! I heard day 2-3 are worse so we’ll see.
I was just diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 28 weeks and I feel so frustrated and upset. I wasn’t expecting to have it because I’ve been pretty healthy (although my sister did have it when she was pregnant). I have always been afraid of pregnancy and birth and have had a lot of anxiety around it and I’ve been getting more anxious as the due date is getting closer. I know it sounds dumb, but to lose the complete freedom to eat whatever I want or give into my cravings as often is very frustrating to me. I feel like I’ve given up so much for this pregnancy and this is just another thing I have to give up when I was already actively trying to eat healthier than I ever have in my life.
On top of that, I also was diagnosed with marginal cord insertion and I struggle with emetephobia on top of this anxiety. One thing that kept me going until the due date was being able to eat whatever I chose to up until labor but now I have to micromanage and overthink every meal I have, if I can have a sweet treat that day, trying to get some exercise in after my meals while I’m at work…
I know it will be worth it once he’s in my arms but I can’t help but feels so frustrated with my own body and like I keep getting these setbacks. If another thing goes wrong or I find out more bad news with this pregnancy, I’m not sure how much more I can handle.
I’ve got 4 more weeks and I’m already dreaming about the snacks I can have after I deliver 😅 I’m doing a c section so I want some treats for myself after I’m out of recovery. I’m planning to bring Gatorade/body armor and some saltwater taffy since I’ve been craving those the most. Plus my mom is going to run and get me pineapple whip as soon as I’m cleared to eat 🤤 Any other ideas? I miss food lmao
I will be admitted to the hospital at 4pm next Wednesday (39 weeks) for induction if nothing happens before then. What was your last meal before you were admitted?
Hi everyone! I had my baby girl on June 25th, and I wanted to tell you guys how important and helpful this subreddit has been for me. It was so refreshing to read people’s stories and relate to problems other people were having. I went naturally into labor, where I had an epidural and a vaginal birth. I didn’t need Pitocin until the last half centimeter or so, but wow it increased the severity of the contractions and pressure tenfold. They allowed my epidural to lighten so that I could feel when a contraction was coming and use it as a tool when pushing. Holy wow it was a crazy feeling. If you gave birth without an epidural, please know that I think you deserve an award or something! I was “diet-controlled” and had a 6lb 14.9oz baby girl after pushing for an hour and a half. After birth, they didn’t check my blood sugar, but checked baby’s every 3 hours for the next 12 hours. It was so sad to listen to them prick her heal, but all of her blood sugars tested great. We’re now a week in and enjoying every second of it (despite being tired). I can now eat whatever I want, and it’s funny the things that I wanted so badly but couldn’t have weren’t as good when I got to have them lol. I imagine with my next pregnancy I’ll probably be diagnosed again, but I can go into it with confidence using the things I’ve learned here. Thank you guys for everything, and I wish all of you happy, healthy, and smooth pregnancies, births, and lives in general. Being a mother is tough, but so are you!
There have been a couple times since my diagnosis (haven’t seen anyone about it yet) that I haven’t been hungry at dinner time. Today, I had a little snack plate around 3:30pm, but even five hours later I’m just not hungry at all. How do I get my final reading for the day if I don’t eat dinner? Is it okay to skip readings or meals from time to time? Thanks in advance
For my fellow American GD moms celebrating the fourth. I did not realize hotdogs (plain) even if they're all "beef" can have added sugars which can spike you. It wasn't too high and a few squats brought me in range in 10 minutes but just wanted to give a heads up because I was clueless.
Hi there! I suspect that I have to much amniotic fluid, out of nowhere I have been having pretty bad shortness of breath to the point of where I’ll wake up in the middle of the night having trouble breathing. Plus I have been having cramping in my lower abdomen. I have a scan on the 15th. Idk if it’s just random pregnancy symptoms or if I should talk to someone about it before the scan. I need advice please and thank you!
My ob told me to check my glucose levels after 1 hour every meals (1 hour after first bite). And the numbers have been good. I was told to check at 2 hours only when I missed 1 hour mark. I had lunch, pricked my finger after 1 hour and it was 117. Then I started feeling tired so I checked my glucose level at 2 hours and it was 132. The number still looks good (My ob said it has to be 140 or below at 2 hours) but I was wondering if I’m having a late spike or is this concerning? I just started checking my glucose levels a few days ago so I have no idea. Also my fasting number is kind of high. It’s between 90-94 and I was told it has to be 95 or lower. I don’t eat night snacks after dinner so I was wondering. I eat lots of fibers and proteins before carbs but is there anything I can do to avoid this?
For my USA girls, are you tracking your numbers today? I’m going to a bbq for dinner so that’s really the only meal that will potentially be out of my comfort zone, but I’d love to know what everyone’s doing!
Obviously I’m not gunna go nuts but I also want to enjoy the holiday (and a hotdog or two🌭)
Edit: thank you everyone! I’m going to continue checking and try to enjoy myself in moderation🙂
I’ve tested for two days now. My fasting number yesterday and today was 106 & 108. (I am in the US) all my numbers yesterday outside of the fasting number were great. I had Greek yogurt mixed with PB and berries one night and 3 pieces of very dark chocolate with PB last night. Roughly 8-9 hours of fasting.
Any ideas on what I can do? I know it’s not too terribly high but I’d like this under control. Very worried about developing type 2 later in life.
Thanks!
Hi everyone,
I just wanted to make this post in case it could help one person get the right treatment.
I gave birth in July of last year after dealing with a stubborn, but not severe, per se, case of GD. My fastings would not move from 98-110, insulin might work for a day or two, but they would always climb back up very predictably. I ate a low carb diet (I know that the safety of this is not quite decided upon, but I did a lot of research and self ed on it and felt the risks of eating not a ton of carbs were less worrisome than the risks of having consistently high BG, and my care team was comfortable with this), and although my meals would technically be in range, they would be much higher than what you would expect in a typical person (Ex. 115 at 2 hours pp). The highest reading I ever got was 170 1 hour after a very high glycemic index meal, which is also not really consistent with insulin resistance. I actually remember saying to by husband “it’s like my insulin sensitivity works just fine, but I start at a higher baseline and can’t bring that baseline down, but that’s not how diabetes works.“ little did I know, there actually is a monogenic condition called GCK-MODY that works exactly like this.
My dad was (mis)diagnosed with type 2 16 years ago, while thin, active and healthy. he was always told “well thin people can develop insulin resistance too,” which is totally true! But his diabetes behaved incredibly strangely. It never improved or went into remission, despite medication, increasing exercise and limiting carbs progressively, but also never progressed, and his a1c has never left the 6.5-7% range. His fasting glucose has been 112 since he was diagnosed. Diabetes is a progressive disease, so this was very strange. He also has optimal fasting insulin levels, for those who don’t know, in someone with a high fasting BG due to insulin resistanc, fasting insulin is very high because your body is trying to compensate for the insulin it is not using.
i was diagnosed with prediabetes as a reasonably healthy young woman (another red flag) my a1c was 5.9. It’s been 5 years since then, and I have lost some weight, dedicated myself to nutrition and a wide variety of exercise, been on metformin for over a year, and greatly limited any lifestyle patterns that worsen IR, and my A1C remains at 6%. I also confirmed that my fasting insulin is optimal, despite a fasting BG of 110.
ANYWAYS, this is all to say, if any of this sounds familiar to you, I would suggest looking into MODY. MODY is a group of genetic mutations that in themselves are sufficient to cause high BG. Many of them have to do with beta cell dysfunction and are functionally very similar to T1 or 1.5, but one subtype, GCK MODY, (the one my dad and I just learned through genetic testing that we have), is a “typo,” so to speak, in the gene that codes for the creation of the enzyme glucokinase, which helps your pancreas sense when your blood sugar is elevated and you need to start secreting insulin. This results in lifelong, mild, non progressive, elevated blood sugar. It notable does NOT respond to treatment, which is actually recommended heavily against due to the emotional and financial impact of treating a misunderstood disease with therapy does not work. The great thing is, though, that it is not thought to cause an increased risk of any of the health risks that are normally associated with high blood sugar, like heart disease and neuropathy.
onto pregnancy, it is thought that at least 1 in 100 mothers with GD actually have undiagnosed GCK-MODY, compared to 1 in 1,000 in the general population. A recent study actually found that in expecting patients with a BMI of 21 or lower and a fasting glucose regularly above 99, only 2.7 needed to be tested to find 1 case of GCK-MODY! It is incredibly important to identify these patients, because treatment for GCK-MODY in pregnancy is very different from typical GDM, and depends on the genetic status of the baby, who has a 50% chance of inheriting the mutation.
Anyway, if anyone finds my situation relatable, I would totally consider trying to undergo genetic testing. The UChicago Monogenic Diabetes Registry has really great resources and is actively trying to find better solutions for pregnant patients with any form of MODY. i also want to say that even if this story isn’t yours, one of the most frustrating things about navigating gestational diabetes was the stigma ad the assumptions made about those with it. Diabetes is a very strange disease and there’s still a lot we don’t know about it (especially T2). Hope everyone on here is able to find the answers they need.
Can we have any of the usual things like dates or raspberry leaf teas to try to ‘bring on labour’?
I’m 33 weeks so I would want to start in a couple of weeks