Failed my 3 hour glucose test - HELP!

[Talking Hands]

I had diabetes with both my girls. I use insulin and always have. Full blown diabetic. Cut down on the carbs (Starches and sugars). Eat small meals that include protein 6 times a day. Get a blood sugar monitor and test regularly. I tested 6-8 times a day when I was pregnant. Only test 4 times now. Ask your doctor what range he wants your readings to stay in. Good luck. You will do fine.
And don't feel guilty about it because you had no control over getting it. Just take care of yourself now you know.

 

[MsDisney23]

You will also need a diabetic educator, call your local hospital. I also recomend the Calorie King. This will help you with the carbs. www.calorieking.com you can also pick up this pocket size book at your local bookstore. It is used #1 by most diabetic's. I am on an insulin pump. and some diabetic's like yourself will use an insulin pump during their pregnancy. Please check out www.Minimed.com for this info. MiniMed will loan you a pump for your pregnancy or a small fee, which would/should be covered by your insurance. Friends of our's wife had to use the pump while pregnant. Her children are very healthy. Good Luck.

 

[Idaho]

I just failed my 1 hour glucose test last Friday and had my 3 hour on Saturday morning. I passed 3 of the tests and failed the 4th, which means my doctor is putting me on the "borderline gestational diabetic" list, but I feel your pain. I did think to myself, "What did I do to make this happen this time since I have had two other kids with no troubles." Then I just figured it was just this baby. All pregnancies are different after all. Anyway, my doctor, who is a high risk doctor to begin with, didn't tell me to do anything other than restrict all of my sugars. Some specific things I was told to avoid are syrup, pop, candy of all kinds, canned fruits because of the syrup they are packed in, and anything that lists sugar (or any variation of sugar) as a first, second, or third ingredient. That means things like chocolate milk with Nesquik or something of the like are out, sugared cereal, cakes, etc. He did tell me to eat regularly, but not to make myself eat if I wasn't hungry. He is also going to take a random blood test at my next appointment just to see how we are progressing. I specifically asked him about fruits and he said that for now they would be fine for me, but I know that if I had full-blown GD that I wouldn't be allowed to have lots of fruits or carrots or other items with natural sugars in them either. So until you meet with your nutritionist, I would avoid those things as well.

Trust me that you have done nothing wrong because if you did, then I did and so did about 25% of all pregnant women. GD is the most common pregnancy problem there is.

One more thing my doctor did tell me is to not thing about this as a "diet" because you shouldn't be cutting calories at all, especially if you haven't gained a lot of pregnancy weight up to this point.

 

[Doctor P]

Here is the gold standard of websites. I have linked to the specific page about GD, but the whole site is highly recommended. http://diabetes.org/gestational-diabetes.jsp and here are the recognized diabetes education programs in Minnesota http://diabetes.org/education/eduprogram.asp Hope this helps.

 

[robsmom]

I too had gestational diabetes. Was on a very specific diet and did end up taking insulin . But.....the silver lining in it all was that i arrived home from the hospital 17lbs lighter than the day that I got pregnant. . My baby was over 10lbs in weight, so he obviously got enough to eat while I was pregnant.

You will be amazed at how perfect you will follow a diet when you are doing fit or your baby instead of yourself!!

One thing, I am sure that they told you, but having this is a sign that you might have diabetes later in life. Pay attention to this, i found out about 1 1/2 years ago that I do have type 2. The second silver lining in that is that I followed a similar diet to my pregnancy and lost 40 lbs in about 4 months.

You and your baby will both be fine.

 

[Stepharoonie!]

 

[mommytotwo]

I would consult with your doctor and what you should do and eat.

 

[Minnesota!]

Thank you all for the wonderful advice, links and hugs. Just a really trying time now, with this, and we are moving, and our house isn't selling, etc. I just kind of cracked yesterday thinking about it all. But, I am coming around. The WebMD link was wonderful, and I am glad to see it is ok for me to eat some fun stuff (rather than just the brown rice and wheat tortillas I bought ).

Thank you all, again. Love this place!!

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

I was gestational with DD at around 7 months. You've gotten a lot of good advice. I found that I had no trouble keeping my blood levels normal. One time it went really high was when I had some pork bbq. Foods that are high in fat can turn to sugar if not burned off. I remember measuring out some macaroni and cheese for dinner and I could only have 1/8 of a cup. You mainly have to look at carbs and sugar.

After my daughter was born I lost a lot of weight from fear of becoming diabetic like my father. When I was pregnant with my 3rd child I wasn't gestational.

I did have more amniotic fluid with the gestational pregnancy and I measured 4 weeks earlier than my actual due date. These last 10 weeks the baby will be growing a lot so I'm sure you'll be careful to not gain any more weight than the doctor advises. My doctor hounded me about that so I know it must be important. My daughter weighed 9lbs. 1 oz. but so did my DS #1.

Lastly, blood sugar levels can be elevated by stress and emotions. Be sure to take good care of yourself!

Lori

 

[ahutton]

*hugs* to you - This is a difficult and emotional time in a pregnancy! I was considered borderline with my second pregnancy. I found I did best sticking to eating lean protein (meat & dairy) and fresh veggies and fruits. The less processed food I ate the better I did. The best part was all the fresh fruit that I normally might have passed up ended up in my cart and I learned I loved a lot of good stuff...

 

[luv2nascar]

I failed the 1 hr so badly they didn't make me take the 3 hr
had to go to a diabetes class at local hospital it was all pregnant women learning what we should and could eat
they gave each of us a specific calorie diet and sample of meats and snacks to eat
sugar was forbidden - end of story
they gave me all the supplies I needed in the class
glucose strips, lancets, one touch meter had to test 1st thing in the morning, 2 hrs after breakfast, lunch and dinner

it wasn't fun but I knew I had to do it for my babies health
I was near the end of my pregnancy so I managed to stay off insulin but they were leaning towards me having to give myself shots. They told me no insulin pill for pregnant women causes birth defects.

dd#2 was born 6/25/03 she was 9'0" & 20 inches and I had a csection 2 1/2 wks early
so be prepared for a big baby the sugar makes them bigger
they do test and watch the baby right after birth dd's blood sugar started to dip once she was born so I had to nurse her right away to try and bring it back up

we both came out okay and are both healthy now but it was very scary to me
so scary that I decided not to put myself or any potential baby of the future through that. so dd#2 is our last child, I had my tubes tied during the csection. I'm 35 and worried about my health regarding that. I have been participating in on the WISH board to eat healthy and lose weight.

 

[gshoemate]

I went into preterm labor and that is when I found out I had GD. I was in the hospital for 7 weeks and on a very strict diet. I took one shot of insulin in the morning and watched what I ate. I was allowed 15 grams of carbs for breakfast, 15 for a snack, 45 for lunch, 15 for snack, 45 for dinner and then 15 for a night time snack. I knew that if I ate to many carbs, it meant more insulin, and I did not want that. So if the cafeteria sent up something they weren't supposed to, I had a nurse on the phone right away. Juice is a big no no, it will shoot you sugar sky high. Bannanas aren't good either. Towards the end of my hospital stay, I could manipulate my menu so that all my food was carb free, and my 45 grams could be used for cheesecake. I impressed the dietician, I would even find errors in their menu, like if they listed the wrong carb count for things.

It is nothing that you are doing, it's just the way the body works. If you are able to exercise, I would suggest it. I was borderline with my first pregnancy and I think exercising was the only thing that kept me from insulin. As long as you do what the doctors tell you, everything will be alright. I know my dietician had said that they had women that were taking insulin and they wouldn't pay attention to the diet, they would eat more sugar. They figured they were already on insulin so eating sugar wouldn't hurt anything. They were very wrong. Just hang in there, you'll be fine. If you have to do insulin shots, they aren't that bad. And this is coming from a person so terrified of needles, that I went through 2 natural childbirths just so I didn't have to have an epidural.

 

[WhenUwishUponAstar]

just wanted to stop in and say try not to be so hard on yourself, we all have our pregnacy freak out!! lol

no skin to skin contact please! lol