Confused about gestational diabetes #s

[Anonymous]

I failed my 3 hr GTT with #s in the 200s. I was given this test early at 15 weeks.

I've been tracking my sugars at home for the last two weeks and I'm so confused. I haven't seen a spike yet.

Fasting is between 84-95

Last night I had a slice of birthday cake and tested after an hour and I was 130. My one hr threshold has to be under 140.

I spoke to the gestational diabetes specialist at my ob office and she said no rice bananas, citrus fruits. And I asked if I could just track my normal meals before I cut things out and see what happens she said she doesn't think it's a good idea but sure.

Yesterday's snack was banana, 2 clementines and 1/4 cup nuts - 116 after an hour

Dinner a few days ago - 1/2 cup white rice, 1/4 cup dal, salmon and spinach and I was at 112 after an hour

Before the cake last night we had Mexican take out- shared amongst friends. I had a steak taco, a few bites of nachos and a slice of cheese quesadilla - I was at 116 after an hour

On one hand I'm really happy I'm not seeing a ton of spikes but also annoyed my ob office put in my chart that I have pre gestational diabetes because they caught it so early but my a1c is 5.1 and I was tested during fertility treatments over the last 3 years and I don't have type 2. Now I'm questioning if my placenta is truly having issues regulating?

It can't hurt baby to keep tracked so I'm definitely fine doing that. But has anyone started off with good #s and no real diet change and then it got progressively worse?

[Anonymous]

You are only 15w pregnant. Insulin resistance worsens considerably after 24w with a steep increase in resistance between 32-36w. It’s great that your numbers are fine right now, but that is likely to change as your resistance increases if you make no dietary changes. Monitoring your numbers over time will help you track how your resistance is increasing and allow you to change diet as needed. A number in the 200s on the glucose challenge is a sign of a problem.

I am on my 4th pregnancy right now. It’s my first w/ GD, which I was in almost total disbelief about. My numbers were like yours at 24w and I also did not really “get” the problem. Then around 32w I could not tolerate foods I’d had no problem with for weeks and had to basically eat a handful of almonds at 11pm to keep my fasting in range. I almost had to go on insulin and struggled a lot between 34-36 weeks in particular.

My resistance has backed off a little (I’m 37.5w now). But my diet is still highly restricted to stay off meds. GD is so annoying, but you have an advantage catching it early. In most typical pregnancies, blood glucose is between 65-120. You should not “eat to the test” the 140 after an hour is a high boundary for GD, not the normal range. Wishing you the best. Hang in there!

[Anonymous]

You don't have pre-gestational diabetes. You have gestational diabetes. It will get worse as the pregnancy goes on. Also, you're now at an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes (50% of women with GD go on to have T2 later in life). Be sure to have regular a1c checks post baby.

[Anonymous]

This isn’t really a situation to be annoyed with anyone. Your test results mean you need to keep monitoring and consulting with your doctor. If you can manage it just with a moderate diet, hooray! If not, monitoring is how you’ll know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You don't have pre-gestational diabetes. You have gestational diabetes. It will get worse as the pregnancy goes on. Also, you're now at an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes (50% of women with GD go on to have T2 later in life). Be sure to have regular a1c checks post baby.

I know I didn't have diabetes before pregnancy. But a provider wrote in my chart that I did. When I spoke to the GD nurse she was surprised and questioned that assessment based off my a1c and labs from the last two years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This isn’t really a situation to be annoyed with anyone. Your test results mean you need to keep monitoring and consulting with your doctor. If you can manage it just with a moderate diet, hooray! If not, monitoring is how you’ll know.

I'm annoyed that they wrote in my chart I had diabetes pre pregnancy when I didn't. It was the same provider who wrote this baby was egg donor conceived when she wasn't. We used donor sperm.

[Anonymous]

Get a CGM- I found it super helpful during GD

[Anonymous]

Yeah I couldn’t eat rice, most fruit, tortillas, or basically any simple carbs in the third trimester. Good luck - your resistance increases as you go on. You need to be counting the carbs at every meal. Start figuring out how many carbs are in your meals now - if you want to remain diet controlled.

[Anonymous]

At 15 weeks, pre gestational diabetes may be more accurate. When you spike above 200 with a GTT, even with an a1c of 5.x, that is indicative of diabetes. Fwiw, I had GD with both pregnancies, have an a1c of 5.1 and will spike above 200 after a high carb meal. Because it will eventually go down, after 3-4 hours, doctors aren't very interested. It's diabetes, albeit very mild.