Advice desperately needed

Hi Littlelorna.

First of all here is a link to some information about Gestational Diabetes from this websites main pages. This may help answer some questions. There other links there too.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/gestational-diabetes.html

Here is another link about Blood Sugar levels during Pregnancy.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care ... nancy.html

We have several Mom's on here who have no doubt gone through what you are going through now ?
I am sure they will also advise you as well. We do have a midwife here wiflib. Maybe you should pm her with your concerns ?

Good luck with everything. I am sure you and baby will be fine.

Ken.

This is from the NICE guidelines

Target ranges for blood glucose during pregnancy
1.3.1.1
Individualised targets for self-monitoring of blood glucose should be agreed with women with diabetes in pregnancy, taking into account the risk of hypoglycaemia.
1.3.1.2
If it is safely achievable, women with diabetes should aim to keep fasting blood glucose between 3.5 and 5.9 mmol/litre and 1-hour postprandial blood glucose below 7.8 mmol/litre during pregnancy.
1.3.1.3
HbA1c should not be used routinely for assessing glycaemic control in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.

1.3.2.1
Women with diabetes should be advised to test fasting blood glucose levels and blood glucose levels 1 hour after every meal during pregnancy.
1.3.2.2
Women with insulin-treated diabetes should be advised to test blood glucose levels before going to bed at night during pregnancy.



I have an American book, whose author John Walsh I respect,This actually gives slightly lower maximum levels than the Nice ones so unless your specialist himself changes what he advises I'd try to keep to the lower levels as far as possible. (and you won't manage it every time...because your body and its needs are changing rapidly.)

It might be worth looking into the glycemic index , this index ranks carbs according to how quickly (and consequently how high) blood sugars are raised after eating. Weetabix has a high Gi of 75 There are some breakfast cereals (mostly oats and bran based) with much lower gis Theres a lot of information and a gi database on http://www.glycemicindex.com/ After the theory, theres often some good recipes in the newsletter section.

And, try not to worry . I know it sounds trite and is d so difficult to do but stress also raises blood glucose levels so its a bit circular.

Oh you poor thing. The gestational diabetes thing had me in a real tizzy when I first got it and it was not my first baby either, which in itself is new and daunting. Make sure you see the community midwife if she is nice, as well as the clinic. I find the community midwives make me feel as if I'm going to have a baby and explain everything about that, but the clinic makes me feel like a medical problem!

I was on insulin during my last pregnancy, and the clinic told me the baby was big one week, and small the next and had me in constant confusion as to what blood sugar levels were OK. In the end I had a tiny baby (just 6lb 6 compared to the previous ones which were over 8lb) and he was fine. The diabetes is such a nuisence, but when you hold your baby in your arms for the first time and gaze into its eyes, it will all be worth it - every last second of stress and worry, not to mention all those needles.

It is normal to have some fluctuation in blood sugar results - there are just too many things which affect it to take everything into consideration - exercise, stress, food, illness to mention just a few.

Ultrasounds are not always accurate, so try not to let them worry you too much. Babies have growth spurts before they are born just like they do afterwards, and do not follow the nice even lines of the charts. It is only if baby is consistently getting much bigger than average that you need to worry.

If you keep a good food diary, that helps. 2 units per meal isn't a lot - that used to lower my blood sugar about 1mmol at most.

Carbs are not good, no matter what the dietician/clinic say - salad, omlette, fried breakfast, meat and veg is good. I often have loads of cauliflower instead of pasta or potatoes. It is so difficult, as you have try to achieve instant control, and you don't have the time to experiment a bit in a relaxed way.

The book which has helped me most is a tiny book, a "Collins Gem" carb counter, which details the amount of carbohydrates in food. If you look on ebay for "carb counter" it is only a couple of quid or so, or it is available from amazon etc.

Try volunteering for charity work within your related field of education, u'll gain experience...if you need a salary too get a bar job, u'll meet people and get to see a bit of life.