Hi Ladies,
Hoping I could get some similar stories or even midwifes that might be able to give me some information on your experiences.
I got diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 27 weeks and just slipped on over into the criteria for having it. As you will all know your levels have to be under 5.1 for fasting, and mine was 5.2.
My two other readings for one hour and 2 hour post eating were way under the guidelines, so the nurses told me it was my fasting levels that put me into the gestational diabetes category.
After finding out I had GD, I did a complete overhaul on my diet. I also started doing a lot of research and according to some of the QLD health guidelines, I didn't fall into the category of having GD. According to these guidelines it said I had to have two elevated levels from my glucose tolerance test, and I only just had the one that was marginally over. However I followed the midwifes advice and made very smart food choices, and really monitored my blood sugar levels. For the first week my sugar levels for the morning fast were well under (my ones through the day never spike or change) However I noticed that my morning fasting levels started creeping up, getting as high as 5.8 some mornings but averaging around 5.4. I was eating dinner most nights at 7pm then going to bed at 8:30pm and not eating until 7am the next morning, which gave me a fast of 12 hours, so no wonder why my body was struggling to get it under 5.1 in the mornings. Some nights I'd try and have a milo (which was recommended to me) at around midnight, and this seemed to help with my morning fast but its hard getting up to have one when I am so tired.
However I persevered with eating well and over the last 6 weeks I have not put on an ounce of weight (I am now 33 weeks pregnant). Prior to week 28 I had put on 11kgs however a lot of that was due to being complacent with my diet and making poor food choices and not exercising.
The doctors have been happy that I've had no weight gain bub is thriving and my sugar levels throughout the day are perfect, except the odd one in the morning when my fast level is just above 5.1 but they're still pushing me to start Metformin and this is where I am getting confused from the inconsistent information I keep receiving. I have one midwife tell me I don't need it, and a doctor say the same thing, but the diabetes nurse seems to be adamant that I must be on it and yesterday I spoke to a OBGYN who is only out here for 2 week stint and she said I need to be on it too. So from others experiences/knowledge of this area, what is your opinion?
Because I live rural I see a new OBGYN every week and the opinion is always different. I am confused and frustrated! From your experience of GD, what do you think?
P.S Please note that I won't take the advice from anyone on here as biblical but looking to see if anyone has had so much mis information on this topic??
Thanks ladies
3 Replies
Ok, so I am not a Dr, but something similar happened to me. I would not stress over it at all. The regular non pregnant reading is 4-6 before food and 4-8 after food. They then narrow it down as soon as you're pregnant to 4-6 before food and 4-7 after food I thought? Anyways, I was completely fine and so was my baby having 7.2 after food. Maybe just keep taking your blood sugar levels at different times of the day to monitor if it gets worse.
Hey I wouldn't stress about it. I was exactly the same as you. 5.2 the rest completely fine and I regret listening to the doctors and diabetes people. It was always just the morning one a little bit out from 30 weeks until the end and they put me on injections before bed and slowly the insulin had to increase every night until I got to 12 I think. My doc ended up imducing me at 39 weeks and I will never let them do that again. My little man was only 2775g or 6.2 pounds and we had all sorts of feeding issues which a lot of the midwives said looked like it was because he was born prematurely in other words they got my dates super wrong and I was prob only 37-38 weeks. I am positive I didn't have it and that they are just being super tight. Plus I got told that there is no Australia wide board that sets the recommendations on gestational diabetes it is an endocrinologist who sets them and they make the profit of having more people come see them the lower the standard is. So stick to your guns, you know your body and what is right for it. Don't let anyone bully you into it!!
Hi, I'm a midwife :) It's a shame you're getting inconsistent information. Unfortunate situation with the different doctors all the time, what a pain. Taking metformin during pregnancy for gestational diabetes is a relatively new recommendation, and while I haven't seen the research myself, I can see in the Queensland Clinical Guideline on gestational diabetes that they have references to the research that their guidelines are based on. Here's the link, you may already have seen this https://www.health.qld.gov.au/qcg/documents/g-gdm.pdf - it's the most up-to-date, evidence-based document available (August 2015), so please ignore anything else you have found on diagnosis of GDM. This is the only guideline that is relevant to you, and this is the guideline that has been used to diagnose your gestational diabetes. Refer to page 15: Only 1 or more elevated level tips you over into the diagnosis of gestational diabetes (not two or more as you have found in other documents). Please ignore all other documents, they're giving you out-of-date information! The metformin section is page 23. I see it's been 7 days since your original post, I hope you're feeling a bit more comfortable with it all by now! You're doing a great job by the sound of it, well done on the dietary changes. Hope you find what works for you - everyone's a bit different, as I'm sure you're well aware of! Enjoy the rest of the pregnancy, all the best for a safe birth and a healthy bub xo