gestational diabetes treatment

I

ICmom

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I've just been diagnosed with GD at Queen Mary. They want me to check into the hospital for a day and a night so they can monitor my blood sugar throught the day. I'm wondering if there is another way--how do the private physicians handle this? I'd really like to avoid checking in as I have a 3 1/2 yr old at home who will be very upset (and no kids allowed at hospital). Anyone had similar situation and found another solution?
 
yup, its pretty high. seems there's no way out of the hospital stint, though your idea is actually what they do in the US I learned. good thinking. dear son and i will just have to deal!
 
I had GD, but the levels were not really too bad. Ididn;t need to go onto insulin, but they monitor you to see exactly what your insulin is doing at which times of the day. It also means that before you leave you will probably see the endocronologist, dietician etc etc......
I found the dietician to be quite useless.
I woud go with what Rani said - I would buy a blood sugar monitor (if you need insulin, you nay be able to get one through the Hospital AUthority) - I used the Accu-Check 'Go" - found it very easy. THat way you can check your levels yourself.
ALso, have a look at
www.dav.org.au
http://www.mendosa.com/gilists.htm
The first is a link to a diabetes web-site that has lots of interesting info. The second is link to a glycemic index - very uselful when you're trying to work out if that favorite meal will send your sugars over the edge.
Godd Luck
 
I had GD during my last pregnancy and current one. I stayed in the hospital for one night and one day. For me, my blood sugar level can be controlled if i follow the diatician's menu. so they let me out after one day. but one of my "ward friend" need to stay in for more than two weeks becuase she had to use insulin and she could not go out untill the approprite amount of insulin was determined by the doctor. in my opinion, for the safety of your baby, you should accept your doctor's advice. And the testing kit can only tell you the result, if the result always exceed the normal level, what will you do?
 
thank you all. i did my sleepover at the queen mary, luckily no insulin is needed, will go to watsons to get the monitor. happy v thanks especially for glycemic index site! i remembered your posts about GD at QMH and your experience with the horrible dietician but luckily i think i got a better one--atleast she didnt tell me to eat rice!
 
GD Diagnosed today

Hi all,

was at check-up today and was diagnosed today with GD, quite bummed about the dietary restrictions, i looked at the snacks in my drawer at work and i can't eat ANYTHING in there.

i'm at 34 weeks already, so luckily not too long to go, but i am also worried about the increased chances of being diabetic later in life. the doc did not mention insulin today, sounds like it's all about the diet for now, which i'm still grateful for.

was wondering if any of you have suggestions and experiences on yummy-er breakfast/snack/meal ideas for GD ladies?

thanks,
kellyst
 
I had always had toast or museli for breakfast - both of which sent my sugars too high. I found the following really easy for breakfast (or snacks during the day -
1. Celery smeared with peanut butter
2. vegetable sticks with hummus
3. Fry up! tomatoes, mushrooms, egg etc - even sausages seemed to be OK.
4. Vegetable soup - but not pumpkin (too starchy)

I found it took me a couple of weeks to work out what did/did not send me over. Perhaps try to keep a basic food diary for a few days.
I have a friend who works for a Diabetes foundation in Australia, and she said the #1 question people have is 'Is it OK to go over every now and then?'. She said that dieticians hate the question, but the reality is that you WILL go over occasionally, and just be sensible about it. If you go over because you were at a restaurant on Friday night, that's different from always going over at lunch, bc you can't resist the Starbucks blueberry muffins. Pizza was my downfall - good luck!
 
OK it seems too good to be true--is regular old peanut butter ok? I've begun searching in Central for sugarfree snack options but not much luck so far. Happy V did you find any?
 
CitySuper in IFC has 'no added sugar' chocolate, and 'sugar free' red and black licorice twists.............there may be other such snacks there, but I never got far beyond the chocolate!
 
thanks

thanks for all the tips HappyV.

just wanted to mention this for thread for reference, i went to Chinese doc for advice as well and curiously, she was recommending pumpkins as one of the foods that helps lowers blood sugar. guess i'll just have to monitor closely when i try that out.

thanks again! will definitely give City Super a visit.

--kellyst
 
I was told by an Australian dietician that root vegetables (such as potatoes, yams, pumpkins, even carrots (although not to anywhere near the same extent) all raise blood sugar levels because of the high starch content in these foods - maybe pumpkin has some other properties that I don't know about. But everyone's body reacts differently to different foods - I found small amounts of pasta to be fine - but potatoes and bread sent me high.
I should also have mentioned that although having GD does raise the statistical likelihood of your developing 'normal' diabetes later in life, in something like 97-98% of cases it does disappear after pregnancy. About six weeks after you have your baby at QMH, you will be asked to do the 2 hour blood sugar test again just to check.
 
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