Forum Health

Gestational diabetes?

7 replies

SarahGuest ·
Hi everyone,
I'm currently 28 weeks pregnant. I had my first sugar test and it was just slightly elevated. I got 142 and was only allowed a max of 140. So I was referred for the second sugar test. The fasting result was 83, so that was fine. An hour after drinking the sugar solution, blood was taken and that was also fine. Another hour later, blood was taken again and then the values had risen to 205, which is too high. I have an appointment on Monday at the hospital in the endocrinology department, where more tests will be done and I also have an appointment with a dietician.
I'm wondering if there are any people here who have experienced this and/or had gestational diabetes? What were your results? How are your babies doing? Four weeks ago, he was just slightly ahead in length and weight, but now I'm really afraid he'll be too big or that any damage has been done? I do have a sweet tooth, so I blame myself, probably unfairly, but still... I really hope our baby is completely fine.
Brrr, still waiting until Monday. Seems so far away

Replies

  1. Anne #2

    Exciting! I'll just follow along for now. I hope it works out okay for you. I guess you're from Belgium? Those values don't sound familiar to me haha. I had that test during my first pregnancy too. I got 7.6 after 2 hours, and the limit was exactly 7.6, so I was labeled as not having gestational diabetes, even though I strongly doubted it (I had a lot of hypoglycemic episodes during the pregnancy). In the end, I had a "big" baby, 53 cm and 4200 grams, and I was above average in weight gain throughout the whole pregnancy. During my second pregnancy (which unfortunately ended in a miscarriage at 10 weeks), I had a lot of hypoglycemic episodes right from the first trimester (so I have the opposite problem, my levels keep dropping). I haven't noticed any high levels yet. Now I'm preparing for a third pregnancy, decided to measure myself once a week and check during hypoglycemic episodes, and bring this to my midwife when it's time. I've also come up with a meal plan to prevent hypoglycemic episodes and eat small amounts very often (I'm really worried that those hypoglycemic episodes might have harmed my fetus and affected its growth).

  2. Sarah started this #3

    Hi Anne!
    I’m indeed from Belgium
    Those hypo episodes sound really familiar to me. I’ve always struggled with hypoglycemia, so I eat small bites throughout the day to prevent them. The doctors say they’re just regular fainting spells that you can prevent, since hypoglycemia apparently only occurs due to insulin administration. I still find it all quite strange. Having so many issues with sugar dips while simultaneously having high blood sugar.
    What do the doctors say about your low blood sugar?

  3. Anne #4

    I used to have them sometimes too, indeed, but as a teen I didn't know what they were. During pregnancy, though, they were really more frequent: trembling, feeling weak, and sometimes barely having the energy to even reach the kitchen, sweating. As soon as I eat something sweet, it goes away, luckily. So I'm trying to prevent that in advance now, but since I work in home care, regularity isn't my strongest suit. I don't know if I have high blood sugar sometimes; I'm going to find out now I've never really talked to doctors about it because I never looked into it much. But now, in hindsight, yes, and especially after the miscarriage... If I get some values and such, I'll go to the doctor if they're off! How did it go for you then?

  4. Falca #5

    My sister just gave birth to a healthy baby boy after also dealing with gestational diabetes. Luckily, she was able to keep her high blood sugar under control with a diet, so she didn't have to inject insulin. But she did have to prick her fingers a lot for blood sugar checks and had more frequent appointments with the midwife.
    Her son was a bit of an 8-pounder, but her older daughter was too, and she didn't have gestational diabetes then, so she just tends to have big babies.
    Don't worry too much and follow the advice from your hospital.

  5. Sarah started this #6

    I'm curious to hear what your values are! The doctors never really took my fainting spells seriously. Eat more often, less sweets (because then you get too high sugar and a few hours later it drops too hard, causing you to start trembling, etc.), eat more whole grain products... But I could sometimes have just eaten a healthy breakfast and an hour later be trembling and sweating at work and yeah.. What do you do then? Quickly eat some cookies or something
    The weird thing is also, my mother and her sister always have those fainting spells. My mother is a big sweet eater and bad eater, maybe that has something to do with it? Also, my grandfather has type 2 diabetes.

    By the way, I really don't think you get a miscarriage from low or high sugars. My first pregnancy also ended in a miscarriage. My gynecologist then explained that there's usually a mistake in the child's DNA and the child is rejected because it's simply not viable. I've already managed to schedule an appointment with the gynecologist tomorrow evening. I'll ask about that too. Low sugars/high sugars and the connection with a miscarriage.

    Greetings

  6. Sarah started this #7

    That's already a small comfort! Thank you.

  7. Fleur24 #8

    @Sarah
    How did it go with the endocrinologist? Did they find anything? I'm in a similar boat with a hypo of 23mg/dl from a blood test. The GP mentioned checking it out with an endocrinologist, but I can't really picture what that involves. Is it just waiting for an attack to happen? Because I can't imagine it's just a quick blood prick and then you're done, since it's really about temporary attacks. This hypo just happened to be at the right time, in the right place, for the right test. No one knew there was a hypo, and I tried to hide the discomfort because I didn't know the cause myself.
    Greetings

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