I have gestational diabetes - how did you manage this?

[Anonymous]

I had it with my second pregnancy (may have it with my third - too early to tell). I’m thin and active, so it was a surprise. I was able to manage with diet and exercise. What I did:

1. Test your blood sugar as directed
2. Find a food you can eat before bed to keep your fasting blood sugar in a good range (for me it was cheese)
3. Combined protein and carbs and are a lot of protein
4. Walked for at least 20 minutes after each meal
5. Walked for 80 minutes “just as exercise” in addition to # 4
6. Didn’t eat sugar or sweets that had more than 15g of carbs (so like one little ice cream sandwich)
7. Drank as much water as I could
8. Tried not to stress
9. Tried to get as much sleep as possible
10. Accept that it really sucks

I found GD to be very stressful (I was scared about my blood sugar being high all the time) and I struggled with getting bored with foods that “worked” because I ate them all the time. The only upside is that it’s usually only 12 weeks of living with it and it’s impossible to gain a ton of weight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get a continuous glucose monitor, work out (or at least walk) for at least an hour a day, and don’t eat sweets or processed food.

You definitely don’t need a continuous glucose monitor!

[Anonymous]

Very strict diet, but morning numbers were still off so had to add metformin - I was under the care of an MFM specialist and had to send my diet and numbers to them weekly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Very strict diet, but morning numbers were still off so had to add metformin - I was under the care of an MFM specialist and had to send my diet and numbers to them weekly.

Forgot to say, baby was born totally healthy, no issues - and my numbers went immediately back to normal after giving birth!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had it with my second pregnancy (may have it with my third - too early to tell). I’m thin and active, so it was a surprise. I was able to manage with diet and exercise. What I did:

1. Test your blood sugar as directed
2. Find a food you can eat before bed to keep your fasting blood sugar in a good range (for me it was cheese)
3. Combined protein and carbs and are a lot of protein
4. Walked for at least 20 minutes after each meal
5. Walked for 80 minutes “just as exercise” in addition to # 4
6. Didn’t eat sugar or sweets that had more than 15g of carbs (so like one little ice cream sandwich)
7. Drank as much water as I could
8. Tried not to stress
9. Tried to get as much sleep as possible
10. Accept that it really sucks

I found GD to be very stressful (I was scared about my blood sugar being high all the time) and I struggled with getting bored with foods that “worked” because I ate them all the time. The only upside is that it’s usually only 12 weeks of living with it and it’s impossible to gain a ton of weight.

Forgot to say that DC2’s numbers were off immediately following birth (my blood sugar plummeted during labor and baby had a lot of fluid in lungs because of how quickly the birth was so didn’t want to nurse). Outside of the initial number being off, numbers in the hospital were good. I breastfed and supplanted in the hospital because baby had a real aversion to sucking for the first 24 or so hours because of having fluid suctioned from lungs (may have been different otherwise). I EBF with both kids, but so do not have an ego about supplementing in a situation like that. Just prepare yourself for that initial reading being lower right after birth and potentially needing to supplement while baby is in hospital and your milk is coming in - just to make sure blood sugars are good and baby stays out of NICU.

[Anonymous]

My experience is a decade ago, so I'm not sure if the recommendations have changed....

1. Strict diet
2. Frequent finger pricks - I did one when I got up in the morning and one after meal (I think 1 or 2 hours after I ate)
3. Keep track of the results! Different foods and timing work for different people. My doctor worked with me to understand the results and make changes based on the numbers - like if my breakfast numbers were always high, we shifted some of those carbs to dinner.
4. A short walk after each meal did wonders for keeping my numbers in check. Even just a five or ten minute walk up and down the block made a huge difference.

[Anonymous]

Your OB should be giving you very specific instructions to follow on this. I was sent to the hospital’s diabetes center and educated about the next steps. I followed the diet strictly and was able to control my numbers without insulin, but it’s very common for diet to not be enough, especially for your early morning fasting numbers so don’t feel bad if you end up needing some insulin as well.

The biggest struggle for me was gaining enough weight while dieting. I did end up getting some high blood pressure near the end of my pregnancy and pre eclampsia signs. It was getting concerning so they would have likely induced but my water broke at 39 weeks. Unfortunately I then didn’t progress and was in labor for 40 hours before getting an emergency C section. My son was born with blood sugar issues and a fever from the long labor but recovered quickly with no further issues.

I didn’t have gestational diabetes with my second pregnancy. It can be really random.I had no risk factor for the condition.

Good luck and above all don’t beat yourself up! Do what you can but realize it won’t all be in your control.

[Anonymous]

Forgot to add, my numbers went back to normal right away after giving birth, and I have never had blood sugar issues again.

[Anonymous]

I am pregnant with #2 and both pregnancies had GD. Really good tips in here! A few other things that have been helpful for me:

The finger prick thing was haaaard for me, and test strips are expensive/PITA to get a refill for if you run out ahead of time. I find it easy to wrap a hair elastic around my finger a few times to create a tourniquet and can always get enough blood out the first time for a reading.

It stinks, it's annoying, and it's not your fault. As soon as I leaned into, "well, this makes meal prep a LOT easier", then it shifted my mindset. I have to eat lower carb then recommended (darn it) but stick to the same things over and over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a continuous glucose monitor, work out (or at least walk) for at least an hour a day, and don’t eat sweets or processed food.

You definitely don’t need a continuous glucose monitor!

If you can easily afford it though, they are so much less painful than finger pricks.

[Anonymous]

I had gestational diabetes with all three of my pregnancies. The diagnosis is scary at first but then you quickly realize it’s just that you have to follow a strict annoying diet. Everyone is different. For me, only a strict low carb dirty would control my numbers along with high protein. I stuck to berries for fruit and always combined a protein with a carb if I was eating a carb. I never needed insulin but if you need it, it is what it is. Don’t beat yourself about it. The most annoying thing honestly is monitoring your blood sugar.

[Anonymous]

You’ll need to avoid bread. Even whole grain bread spiked my blood sugar really high.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You’ll need to avoid bread. Even whole grain bread spiked my blood sugar really high.

Different things spike different people. Not everyone needs to avoid bread. I had whole grain toast with peanut butter for breakfast almost every morning because it was a meal that worked for me.

OP, there's a great GD forum on Babycenter with much better advice than you will find here.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP. I had GD with both of my pregnancies. It is frustrating, but very manageable. I was diet-controlled so didn't need insulin, and both of my babies were born a normal size with no complications. Neither I nor the kids have had any blood sugar issues since (they test my A1C every year because GD is a risk factor in Type 2 diabetes).

This is a great place to start if you're feeling overwhelmed: https://community.babycenter.com/post/a50476285/the_new_to_gd_guide

Things not to do:

Do NOT beat yourself up if you see a spike. There is some trial and error at first, and one blood sugar spike will not harm your baby.

Do NOT listen to the posters who say you got GD because you are overweight or you made bad diet choices. 50% of women with GD had no risk factors.

Do NOT feel like you failed if you have to take insulin. Sometimes the placenta just goes crazy later in pregnancy

[Anonymous]

If your fasting sugars won’t go down, you will get a put on insulin. It is NOT the end of the world. Once I started bedtime insulin I slept like a ROCK. It was great. Baby was born big and perfectly healthy at 39 weeks.