Help! Just diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

I have just been diagnosted with gestational diabetes and I'm nervous about the weeks to come (espeically blood tests 4 times per day). Has anyone else had this? If so, was it as bad as it seems? I don't think I'll have to make major changes to my diet as I eat pretty healthy anyway, but I'm very nervous about the bloodwork.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

The finger pricks were no big deal. You get used to carrying the little kit around and keeping track of the numbers.

Adjusting the diet was very difficult - no bread, no white rice, no regular pasta, no corn, no potatoes. I lived on raw baby spinach and nuts and green beans and cheese, with occasional carrots and apples thrown in as a treat. I missed pizza the most. The insulin injections were not fun either, but certainly not really painful - just a hassle.

I did learn a lot more about nutrition, and learned to like brown rice and whole grain pasta.

[Anonymous]

This is my third pregnancy and third round of gestational diabetes. Honestly, it's no fun, but you get used to it. The insulin injections get to be routine, as well as the finger pricks. The best thing is that it goes away once the baby is born. You do have to really modify and be cautious of what you eat. As your pregnancy progresses, your blood glucose gets harder to control and your insulin needs may increase. However, I've heard some people are able to control their sugars with diet and exercise. You never know! Good luck and you'll get through it.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all of the replies! I'm feeling really anxious about this so it is good to hear from people who have gone through this.

[Anonymous]

I also had GD, which turned out to be not as difficult to manage as I had imagined. Like you, I always had healthy food. But I did not eat that regularly. Once I stuck to a scheduled diet, things were under control. During my whole pregnancy, I gained about 26 lbs, of which 1-2 in the last trimester (i.e., after GD was diagnosed). My DD had perfectly average weight too.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

36 weeks here with pregnancy #2, gestational diabetes #2. Like PPs said, the fingersticks are no big deal. The diet modifications are a pain in the butt, but they're worth it. With pregnancy #1 (and so far with #2), mine was controlled by diet alone. It does take some getting used to to read labels for everything and "schedule" your eating, but it's doable. Make sure you're referred to a nutritionist--they're fabulous for giving you meal ideas and an idea of how to accomplish all of this "carb counting". Hang in there--it will be over as soon as you deliver! Good luck!