Being Diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes

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The Glucose Tolerance Test was complete and I had the dreaded phone call to say that Gestational Diabetes was now confirmed.  I was expecting it, as I have had it twice before, but it is still an unwelcome call but I was given an appointment for the following day, with a consultant and the dietitians.

Gestational diabetes occurs only in pregnancy. It can occur at any stage of pregnancy, but is more common in the second half. It occurs when your body can’t produce enough extra insulin to meet the demands of pregnancy. Gestational diabetes goes away after you’ve given birth although you’re twice as likely to develop type 2 diabetes later in life if you have gestational diabetes when you’re pregnant.

Sat in the waiting room, I was called in to see them and it was lovely to see faces I recognised from before.  In fact the whole team has not changed, so we chatted away like old friends.  I was politely teased as I had informed them that I wouldn’t see them again after having Eliza, but then it was down to business.

With Isaac and Eliza I tried managing my diet to control the Gestational Diabetes, which worked up until about 28 weeks and then I was given Insulin.  This time, as my levels were so high already, they wanted me to start on the insulin straight away.

We briefly covered trying Metformin which is an oral diabetic medication, but the chances of me ending up on Insulin as well were very high, so we ruled it out.

The next port of call was the Diabetes nurse, who refreshed my memory on how to use the Glucose Testing Kit and the Insulin Pen.

My Equipment

I inject myself with Insulin at every meal and have been started off on a low dose, which I can then increase / decrease depending on how my glucose levels are.  I then have to test my blood 2 hours after the meal, which involves pricking my finger and testing the blood with a special machine (pictured above).  My target is a blood sugar level of less than 7.5mmol/l.

Next up was the dietitian, and we discussed good foods – a low GI diet is best, and portion sizes.  I have kept up with most of the good habits from before, but it is always good to refresh your memory and I already know which foods are triggers for me.

You will probably see me tweeting a craving for Pizza / Fajita’s at some point as these are real no no’s and there will be no Cadbury’s Creme Eggs for me this year as each one contains a staggering 5 teaspoons of sugar!!

The Diabetes journey begins again…………..

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