Gestational Diabetes

So.... I failed my 1 hour test. BADLY. To the point that they expect me to fail the 3 hour on Monday, but are having me take it to double check the results.

So I'm looking for ANY and all advice on gestational diabetes. They've told me to plan on meeting with a nutritionist after my test to help me plan a full diet plan, but they want me to eliminate as much sugar/carbs this weekend leading up to the test as I can and log what I eat and how I feel. So at least I know I'll be getting help with that. But it's kinda scary, so I'd like whatever advice I can get.

Thanks in advance,
Dominique

 

First off, :hug: for you. Diabetes in any form can be really scary. Take a deep breath, and you can make it through this. If you do fail the 3 hour test, meet with the nutritionist as soon as you can. They will have some great guidelines for what to eat, and what not to eat. A good friend of mine had GD, and felt so much better after going on her new diet. I'm hoping you have the same experience.

There are also a lot of sites out there with good information. www.diabetes.org is the American Diabetes site. They have really good information on gestational diabetes. Until you meet with the nutritionist, you can find the carb counts for foods on the nutrition labels, or Calorie King online which includes a section for restaurants, too.

Good luck! :hug:

 

:hug: 's to you Dominique! Lots of woman, especially when you are carrying twins fail the first screening. Like Emily said, go to diabetes.org and do some research. Eat as healthy as possible this weekend and go and take the next test on Monday. Keep your thoughts positive!

 

Hi Dominique,

I am carrying twins and was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes at 9 weeks (currently 17 weeks). They tested me very early this time because I had it with my last pregnancy and with my current pregnancy being twins, they wanted to catch it early.

Hopefully you will pass the next test ! Unfortunately for me, I am also on insulin to control mine because we tried with diet and it did not work. Many people though are able to control totally by diet and do not need insulin, I however was not one of them.

I haven't eliminated all sugars/carbs but my nutritionist does have me fairly restricted. I have specific amounts of carb's I need to eat for Breakfast, Snack, Lunch, Snack, Dinner and then night snack. It really is not bad at all and my only problem right now is finding it feels like too much food to eat ! They should give you a list of what items contain what amount of carbs to help you control if it is necessary. I fax my blood sugar numbers to my doctor every week and visit the Diabetes doctor every 2 weeks. It just takes very good control on what you eat and everything usually goes okay.

On a very good note, my GD went away within hours of my 1st son being born and I had no other problems until I got pregnant this time with the twins. My son was born perfectly fine with no problems caused by the GD.

I know it is scary but at least they have identified that it may be a problem for you and you have someone you can see who can help monitor you. Any questions you have or any support you would like please feel free to let me know, I feel like an old pro now with GD !

Let me know what help I can provide !

Beth
17 weeks pregnant with di/di twins

 

I have actually heard NOT to cut back on carbs the weekend before the 3 hour (so your body is used to processing glucose - otherwise, your body could see the 100g of glucola and go a it nuts)

Anyway, gestational diabetes is really not too bad - they don't have me on a diet per se, only watching carbs - and making sure I'm eating often enough - breakfast, lunch and dinner, with snacks after each one - it's pretty important to eat every few hours or so. I failed my 1 hour with a 184 (and then failed my 3 hour with 96, 207, 217, 128 - only the 128 was passing)

With twins, they aren't restricting my calories at all. A typical days meals might be something like:

Breakfast - Special K soy cereal with milk
Snack - 1/2 ham and cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread
Lunch - Turkey and cheese on wheat sandwich, 1/2 cup cantaloupe
Snack - sugar free pudding cup
Dinner - varies a lot - this week it's been chili with rice (I just have to actually measure the rice, otherwise I end up with too much)
Snack - Wheat thins crackers (fiber selects) with cheese

I'm still working on things a bit, because I tend to spill ketones in the morning eating this way - so I'm trying to figure out if I need a bit more carbs late at night, or a middle of the night snack (when I get up to pee).