Gestational Diabetes

M

megan2008

Registered User
Hello All,
I took the glucose test because the sugar levels were high in my urine. It turns out that I have gestational diabetes. I am 31 weeks pregnant and was wondering if anyone else has had or is having this problem? Also, I was told to eat less carbs and sugar and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on meals or good foods to eat? I am also concerned for my baby's health and was wondering if anybody has had this problem who has already delivered their child; what issues I may be faced with? I am a little worried so any information would be greatly appreciated and very helpful. Thanks in advance :smile:
 
i had it very mildly during my 2nd pregnancy. they tested me very early bc my dad has diabetes and i was experiencing occational dizziness.

most chinese restaurants use thai or china rice. long grain is ok, but we've found that these varieties are not so good for the sugar levels. australian rice, red rice, wild rice are better. but if at a restaurant, i just ate less rice and more veggies and other dishes.

sugar from fruit is ok as it is fructose and not glucose. pastas and wheat bread are carbs u can have. tho avoid other chinese bakery goods ie. cocktail buns and char siu buns..etc. and obviously avoid refined sugar, but having the occational treat is ok.

this was just my experience and as i said, my case was very mild. observe your weight gain. as long as your gaining normal and not too much, your baby should be fine. if your still worried, talk to your doc about seeing a dietian. :gl:
 
Hi
I had failed my glucose test at 28 weeks and was told to see a dietician....who gave me a meal plan and the good news is that i was able to control my sugar levels with this diet plan. My values dropped from 10.1 to 5.2 in 3 weeks just by strictly following this diet plan. You can visit Tsan Yuk and they are very thorough with helping you to control your sugar levels...if you want i can fax you my diet plan ( send me your fax number) its important to be able to control your sugar levels as if u don't you can end up with a very large baby and a very hard delivery.
good luck
 
Thanks for offering your diet plan :smile: I don't have immediate access to a fax machine, I will have to find one and get in touch. I have a couple more questions I was hoping could be answered. Is the diet plan one that caters to a Cantonese diet? I am not too familier with the foods here. Also, did you have to have a c-section or did you deliver naturally? I haven't gained hardly any weight in the past six weeks (less then two pounds) would that make a difference with diabetes? Thanks again, all the information so far has been very helpful.
 
Megan, You can use our fax # if you like. All our faxes are converted to emails and can email it across.
 
Dear Megan2008,

Although I didn't have gestational diabetes I know a fair bit about the condition. The concern is problems which your high blood sugar could cause to both yourself and the baby. For you, these problems include pre-eclampsia and a higher risk with needing a caesarean delivery. For the baby, uncontrolled diabetes generally leads to larger, sometimes enormous babies and problems with regulation of the levels of sugar, calcium ect in the baby's blood.

I think the advice to see a dietician is very important but also low impact aerobic exercise is also very important as it contributes to control of your blood glucose (sugar) levels and other hormones which contribute to the control of the glucose levels (i.e insulin).

I hope this helps!
 
I would strongly advise talking to a dietician. I found them incredibly helpful when I had GD, and each persons case can be different. I was diagnosed with it at 18 weeks in, and the dieticians advice kept me off insulin (I have a neddle phobia) until the last month before my son was born... where even though I was following everything still, but my levels just kept rising and rising.

As a general rule, rice is bad.. they suggest only 1/2 a rice bowl per meal. (or 1 rice bowl of basmati). Wheat can also be bad. Try to look for breads with less than 15 gms of carbohydrates per serve. Pasta is also bad, but you can get away with about 1.5 cups of pasta if the sauce on the pasta is not high in carbs (generally the tomato-based sauces have less carbs). A whole banana is bad, but 1/2 a banana is fine. Oranges and orange juice will send your sugars through the roof. Potato is bad. I think no more than the equivalent of 1 potato serve on a meal.
A small piece of chocolate as a snack is fine once a day (despite popular belief), but it must be the only thing you eat for your snack with carbs in it.
I was told meals are important. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus snacks in between, but to try and keep 2 hours between eating.

I found gestational diabetes really hard. Admittedly it wasn't my only complication, but given my needle phobia, I was really scared. I had to prick myself for a blood test in the morning, before meals and an hour after meals. And I had to get my husband to administer the insulin doses when they were required because I couldn't handle seeing the needle... but you make it through. If I can get through it with my fears (and believe me when the endocrinologist said the GD had stopped responding to the diet and I'd have to have insulin shots, I was literally crawling up her far wall screaming).

If you don't follow the guidelines given, you can harm your baby. There is a risk of a much larger baby (although because we managed the GD it wasn't the case with us). The baby itself can also develop diabetes or become ill if you don't keep things closely monitored.
In Sydney hospitals, once bub is born, they do some additional monitoring to make sure he/she is ok.. so don't be shocked if they do that. it's normal, and just a precaution. Better to be safe than sorry for bub.

Good luck. I hope it stays stable and doesn't get any worse. *fingers crossed*
 
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