Gestational Diabetes

Hello, Last wk. I had a visit with both my OB as well as the specialist. I will be 23 wks. tommorrow. In wk. 21 I was suffering from some exscruciating abdominal pains and I did not know what to make of it. It was the weekend and my Dr. visit was not until that Monday. After suffering from those pains for about 4-5 dys. I noticed that they got worse. I called my Dr. at midnight on a Saturday but the midwife called back to try and help me determine what was going on. I ended up waiting for the Mon. appointment while I stayed in bed getting plenty of rest and drinking lots of water. That Monday I found out that I had a Urinary Tract infection. The nurse also did a NST (non stress test) to see if I was contracting. The test showed that I wasn't so she sent me on my way with a prescription for Nitrofurantoin-Macro 100 MGMYL ( a catogory B for Pregnancy ) Everything else checked out fine during this routine visit. My blood pressure was good, no traces of protein or sugar in my urine, fetal heart rate normal, My hands feet or face is not swollen, I weighed btwn 150-155 before pregnancy and I now weigh 168- the same as the last visit. Thursday when I went to the specialist, Everything there checked out well. Babies heartbeats,they are at the correct gestational weights (only 2 0z. apart) My cervix is still holding the babies high and is tight. But there was something that the specialist want to keep an eye on and that is my fluid level. She said that the fluid level in the sacs should be between 2-8 oz. and in one of the sacs it was 8.6 oz. So I am scheduled to go back in 2 wks. to be monitered. She told me not to be alarmed because there is a possibility that it's nothing. But they want to make sure that I do not have gestational diabetes. I will be given that test at wk. 25. I am not freaking out over this or anything...just as I was advised-I have a drug book and in there I read that my taking of the medication for my UTI may cause elevated serum glucose and a few other things. So Sunday is my last dose that I will be taking. I have read up on Gestational Diabetes and I understand what it does to the system and the risk factors of not controlling it. There is an initial testing for gestational diabetes and if that initial test is failed there is another test administered that takes around 3-4 hrs. to be sure of the diagnosis. My question is.....Has anyone failed the 1st or 2nd test? I also know that there are several ways to control the diabetes. I would like to know for the people who were diagnosed with G.D. what method did you and your Dr. use to control the diabetes? (diet, insulin, exercise, etc.) How are you and the babies doing and what changes have you seen? (fluid levels normalized, babies born healthy, etc.) Feel free to add any helpful information from your experience. Thank you in advance for your responses. :grouphug:

 

Testing for gestational diabetes around week 25 is pretty standard for all pregnancies. The first test is a one hour test. You drink a sweet drink and they take your blood at the one hour mark. If you glucose level on that test is elevated, then you take a three hour test that is much more sensitive. With the 3 hour, they draw blood every hour and having more than two elevated levels indicates GD.

I failed the one hour glucose with both of my prior pregnancies, but passed the three hour one. This time I opted out of taking the one hour since I've never passed before so I'm taking the 3 hour one on Monday. It sucks, but I rather just get it over with sooner rather than later. I will admit that I'm a little nervous just because GD is more common in twins.

I don't have any advice about GD, but I wanted to stress that failing the one hour does not mean you will fail the 3 hour. I know tons of people who have failed the one hour and not had GD.

 

i failed both tests, but didnt even have them done until 32 weeks. i asked the MFM how high the numbers were and he said they simply go by a method of pass or fail. Considering that he will be delivering between 34-36 weeks, im not overly concerned about it. i eat more protien and veggies and watch the sugar and carb intake better, but im not going to freak out and change my eating habits drastically for less than a month's time left in this pregnancy. If i had been diagnosed with GD weeks ago, i would have, but not now. i personally have not noticed any adverse effects of having it, and both babies are still doing wonderfully.


33W0D mono/di boys

 

QUOTE(indisbelief @ Mar 14 2009, 12:25 PM) [snapback]1227926[/snapback]
i failed both tests, but didnt even have them done until 32 weeks. i asked the MFM how high the numbers were and he said they simply go by a method of pass or fail. Considering that he will be delivering between 34-36 weeks, im not overly concerned about it. i eat more protien and veggies and watch the sugar and carb intake better, but im not going to freak out and change my eating habits drastically for less than a month's time left in this pregnancy. If i had been diagnosed with GD weeks ago, i would have, but not now. i personally have not noticed any adverse effects of having it, and both babies are still doing wonderfully.
33W0D mono/di boys

I believe that they normally do the test between the 24-28th weeks of pregnancy and not later in pregnancy (33 wks & so forth) Personally, I think that you are doing good if you made it to 33 wks. and the babies are fine. I'm happy that you and the babies are doing good.

 

My boys are now 3.5 so I don't remember the dates I had the test -- but around 24 weeks. I failed my 1st test and I failed one hour (the 2nd hour) of the 3 hour test. I didn't technically have GD, but was diagnosed with a glucose intolerance. My peri did not want me to get GD so I went on a GD diet and had the blood sugar monitor (pricked my fingers 4 times a day) and I never had a high reading. I went on to my 37.5 week scheduled c-section to deliver to healthy baby boys. I was freaked out at first -- reading all the stuff that could happen on the internet. The diet was a little tough, but so worth it for my boys. I'm sure everything will be fine!!!

Mendy

 

QUOTE(me&myboys @ Mar 14 2009, 04:25 PM) [snapback]1228136[/snapback]
My boys are now 3.5 so I don't remember the dates I had the test -- but around 24 weeks. I failed my 1st test and I failed one hour (the 2nd hour) of the 3 hour test. I didn't technically have GD, but was diagnosed with a glucose intolerance. My peri did not want me to get GD so I went on a GD diet and had the blood sugar monitor (pricked my fingers 4 times a day) and I never had a high reading. I went on to my 37.5 week scheduled c-section to deliver to healthy baby boys. I was freaked out at first -- reading all the stuff that could happen on the internet. The diet was a little tough, but so worth it for my boys. I'm sure everything will be fine!!!

Mendy

Thank you so much Mendy this information is very helpful. I did not know how the blood sugar monitoring worked. Somewhat relieved to know that you only had to prick your finger and not do any real needle shots on your own or in your stomach or anything. And from 24 wks. you did make it successfully to your scheduled C-section. Happy to hear that you and the boys continued to be healthy. Thanks Alot! :hug:

 

A friend of mine is pregnant with a singleton and she tested positive for GD. Before she took the nutrition class, I went over her eating habits. She was drinking orange juice 2-3 times a day and having about 3-4 servings of fruit. I told her that it was too much natural sugar. She stopped eating both fruits and fruit juices and with just that change, her blood levels came down to under 120. She never had to do the insulin!