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I was diagnosed at 11 weeks. I started with diet alone and that didnt work so I started taking meds and that didn't work so I ended up with insulin. Which is not as bad as it seems. I was induced at 37 weeks and baby girl did have to have an iv because her sugars were out of whack. But she is a month old and we are both just fine.

I had GD, and I feel you on the tears. I was SO upset. I felt like a total failure. I was also diagnosed 2 days before Thanksgiving. Yay?

I was able to control it quite easily with diet alone. I was certain that the diet would be a death sentence, but it was very reasonable. You still need carbs in pregnancy, so it is all about spreading them out throughout the day, making healthy choices (carbs in whole grain bread or vegetables instead of a cheese danish, like I was wont to do), and pairing them with protein. So for instance, I would have a piece of whole grain toast and a scrambled egg for breakfast, a LUNA protein bar for a snack, a reasonable lunch, another snack in the afternoon (a protein and a couple of carbs), a reasonable dinner, and an evening snack. I ended up eating MORE than I usually would, because I had to have snacks to keep my blood sugars level, and more carbs than I normally would.

Anyway, I could go on and on about it. In the end, I did not need to be induced. It really depends on the doctor, but mine does not have a policy of inducing just to induce. If there are no complications, and the baby is estimated at a healthy weight, then things proceed as normal. I had weekly non-stress tests and growth scans near the end, and the baby was always estimated at a healthy weight. He was born 7 lbs even at almost 40 weeks. I went into labor spontaneously when my water broke. I would have been induced at 41 weeks, but because I was late, not because I had GD.

Once he was born, his sugar had to be tested every 4 hours (I think) for 12 hours because GD babies can have a sugar drop brought on by the sudden withdrawal of the excessive sugar they were getting in utero. But this isn't an issue if it's well controlled. He did have one slightly low number, the second time they tested him. We gave him a bit of formula and he evened out, and all his other numbers were great and he's been EBF since the very beginning.

Like I said, I have a lot to say about this, so if you ever want to talk or want more info on my experience, feel free to write on my wall! You're in the UK, right? I'm not sure how things work medically there, or what the standard protocol is, but I'm not a big fan of acquiescing to medical interventions if you're not comfortable with them. If you can seek a second opinion, you might want to. My understanding is that it's much less common to require insulin for GD, than to be able to control it with diet and moderate exercise (walking for 15-20 minutes after a meal).

But if you can't, then just know that no matter what your labor is like, the end result will be a happy, healthy baby and mother. So try to focus on that if you can! I thought GD was going to be the end of the world, but it wasn't that bad, and it taught me how much willpower I really have when it comes to my baby. If I can forgo Christmas cookies when 7 months pregnant, I can do anything

Good luck and let me know if you ever want to talk!

@swedishfish: OMG the eggs. Breakfast was easily the worst part of the day.

@ladyfingers: I miss my chocolate chip pancakes. I want this baby here so I can enjoy breakfast again!!

I'm sorry! I got diagnosed at 6 weeks and I was really sad about it. I was able to control it by diet...I still ate the stuff I wanted to eat but the portions were much smaller. I didn't drink any sugary stuff like juice or regular soda, reduced my consumption of fruit and ate more protein.

Good luck!

I don't have time to write much right now, but will add my experience later. Hugs!

Yup I feel you! Sorry you have it. Like everyone else, I was so upset at first (pretty sure I made a post here called GD Pity Party!) but in the end it was no big deal. I controlled it with diet and exercise, went into labor naturally at 39 weeks and LO was 6 lbs. Looking back it was nothing to get that upset about! As far as pregnancy complications it could be much worse (not trying to minimize what you're feeling because I was there too, but if I get GD next pregnancy I won't freak out like I did with the first).

@Cherrybee: I had to go through IVF to get pregnant and my RE put me on Metformin before we tried any other interventions to see if my cycles would regulate. He wanted me to stay on it throughout the pregnancy. It did make me nauseated at first but I'm used to it now - I just make sure I take each dose after a meal.

@Cherrybee: I think it has helped. My fasting numbers were increasing but now they seem to be under control (knock on wood!). What should your numbers be under after meals? Our meters must be different in the US because I'm supposed to be under 140 an hour after eating.

I was diagnosed at around 26 weeks, just before Canadian Thanksgiving in October. I was devastated. Tears galore! I didn't even have any of the risk factors.

The prenatal clinic I was going to had a diabetes clinic I had to attend every two weeks. I had a growth ultrasound at each appointment. I was weighed, had my BP taken, and discussed numbers with a dietician in front of the rest of the group (not private unless you requested). I have white coat BP, and having it taken in front of a bunch of strangers didn't help. Once that was done, I had to meet with one of the endos (whichever was free from a floating group of doctors). Then I saw a perinatologist to discuss the u/s. Because I never saw the same doctor 2 appts in a row, continuity of care was severely lacking. My numbers might have been good in the eyes of a doctor one week, but not good enough for a different doctor the next time. I found that really hard to cope with. It was hard any given week to know whether I was doing well! All that being said, I received good care. I will go back because I like my OB/GYN who works out of that practice.

In Canada, it seems like they don't do tablets for GD. I had to go on insulin for my fasting numbers and for lunch. I ended up forgetting my lunch dose more often than not, and could still kept my lunch numbers under control - I think the week they based the prescription on was just a bad week. I found the insulin needles much less painful than the blood sugar test pokes! I thought it would be awful, but once I'd done it for a few days, and got over the fact that I was sticking a needle in my side, it was fine. I could even relax a little because I knew the insulin was keeping my numbers low. I had reduced sugar ice cream as a snack quite a few nights

My LO ended up being breech quite early on, and didn't move. I did get the feeling that they would induce around 38 weeks if it weren't for that...not sure how that would have played out because it was a non-issue. My baby was measuring about 6 lbs 8 oz at my last u/s 2 weeks before my c section, but ended up being 5lbs 8oz at birth.

One nice thing about the whole experience was that I only gained 15 lbs! That weight is gone, and I just want to lose extra weight now...

I had my follow up glucose test at 4 months, and I was so nervous that it would be bad, but results were normal. I thought maybe because I needed insulin, that I had undiagnosed pre-pregnancy diabetes or something, but it wasn't the case.

All this to say that I know what it feels like to go through this. It's not fun, and I struggled with the scheduling of my day and figuring out what to eat. I remember I went to a grocery store by myself one afternoon and was almost I tears in the produce section because I couldn't just buy a banana or some grapes - it felt so unfair that even healthy foods were restricted!

If you end up on insulin and need someone to talk to, message me! Lots of hugs and prayers being sent your way...

(Sorry for the long reply!)

@Cherrybee: I wanted to check in and see how you were doing? I was recently diagnosed too and I was really worried at first about the diet and taking blood sugar readings, but now I'm kind of addicted to seeing what the meter says. I also was diagnosed while I was being bad about taking my Metformin, but I started taking it regularly again and every single reading I've had since I got my meter on Monday has been within the normal range. And I was pre-diabetic before!

@Cherrybee: I was diagnosed last week or the week before? I'm gonna blame pregnancy brain for not being able to remember, haha.

I'm not sure what my secret is - I started another thread on this, but I'm kind of questioning the diagnosis. I already knew I was pre-diabetic, which might be why I failed. But all of my numbers since then have been normal, whereas I used to have elevated b/s. So IDK.

ETA: Oh, and make sure to eat fruits if grains are too much for you, since you need carbs when you're pregnant. Sorry you're having trouble getting enough calories :-(. Try full fat dairy maybe? 4% cottage cheese won't have a bad effect on your blood sugar, probably.

@Cherrybee: I am thinking maybe it is the Metformin is helping. I was seeing an RE to get pregnant, and she did a bunch of blood tests. My A1c was at a pre-diabetic level (6.1), and so was my fasting blood sugar. Fasting blood sugar (in American measurements) over ~130 is considered diabetic, between 100-~130 is pre-diabetic. Mine was 120ish. But the last few mornings when I've taken it, it's in the 80s.

Stuff I eat - frequently egg mcmuffins for breakfast (surprisingly diabetic friendly), lunch is usually sandwiches on pita with whole wheat crackers and maybe an apple. Snacks are apples with peanut butter, or cheese sticks with crackers or turkey and cheese roll ups. Dinner varies, last night we had panko crusted tilapia, basmatic (white) rice, and spinach sauteed in garlic and olive oil. I know the rice plus breading on the fish was more carbs than I should probably eat, but surprisingly my blood sugar was well below the recommended level.

I have been trying to balance what I eat - carbs along with a protein or two, but I don't measure anything or count anything. Tonight's pizza will have cheese, chicken and prosciutto, so that I can up the protein content. But it'll be a lot of dough and I'm curious to see what happens.

Are you making sure to eat the right combinations of things? Cereal with milk might have too much sugar for you. And contrary to what I see recommended, I think whole milk is better than reduced fat because it has more fat (for balance) and less sugar. Maybe try a whole grain english muffin with eggs, or peanut butter (I assume they have those in the UK?) for breakfast?

Ah...I can't believe I missed this post!

I was diagnosed with GD at 28 weeks! I was devastated as well. I so thought I would pass with flying colors. I failed so badly on my 1-hour test that they didn't even send me for the 3-hour test! I was angry. I don't eat sweets, and pre-pregnancy, I was 5'1" and 110 pounds. I only gained a total of 25 pounds during pregnancy (it was somewhere around 17 or 18 at that point) and I was just plain angry.

The biggest thing was that my mom has type 2 diabetes now as an adult. So risk factor right there, and they didn't test for GD back in the day, but my younger brother was a 9 pound 13 oz baby! So I'm fairly certain it was genetic.

I AM one of those people who was able to control my blood sugar levels with diet alone. It was hard...REALLY hard, but i did it. We have a wellness coordinator in our department here who is also a nutritionist, so I consulted with her on better foods to eat.

@MrsCB: has great suggestions for diet. Try to match your complex carbs with some sort of protein to help balance your meals.

For breakfast, I almost always ate a whole grain english muffin with chunky peanut butter or plain Greek yogurt. Cereal with milk skyrocketed my blood sugar. Milk has a lot of natural sugar in it as does a lot of the wonderful fruit I was eating to try to be healthy. Nuts and veggies were my BFFs. For snacks, try to get an assortment of nuts...almonds, cashews, peanuts...things that also have protein.

I ate a lot of salads with oil and vinegar as my dressing (trying not to get a dressing with a lot of sugar). Dinner was almost always plain chicken/beef/fish with a huge helping of veggies and a very small helping of potatoes.

You can definitely do this...and try not to let someone tell you that you can't. You just have to be very careful of what you eat. The other thing that helped a lot is walking right after eating. So I would eat dinner and then go for a walk around our neighborhood with my husband. I would check my blood sugar at the appropriate time, and it was fine. Diet + appropriate exercise will give you a fighting chance.

For what it's worth, I gained only 25 pounds with my pregnancy. My son was 6 pounds, 15 ounces at birth. Perfect size...especially for someone with GD. If you have any questions or need other suggestions of what to eat...shoot me a note on my wall! I'll try to check back here too!!

@Cherrybee: LOL there's something ironic about not having english muffins in England. They're kind of like a cross between toast and a bagel. They're individualized, like bagels, but smaller than a piece of toast. These are the quintessential English muffins - http://thomasbreads.com/Our-Products/English-Muffins/Default.aspx.

I was also diagnosed with GD and was really upset at first, but it wasn't really that bad in the end. It was hard in the beginning figuring out what I could and couldn't eat, but once I had that down it was much better. I also got SO tired of having eggs for breakfast!!!

I was able to control my numbers during the day with diet alone, but my levels dipped and then spiked overnight no matter what I did, so I was on insulin before bed for most of my pregnancy. I am terrifed of needles and almost passed out when they told me how to use the insulin monitor so believe me when I say that the insulin shots aren't that bad!! They are nowhere near as bad as I made them out to be in my head.

The couple of tips I got from my GD specialist were to try sprouted wheat bread instead of regular whole wheat. I'm not sure if you have it in the UK, but in the states this was the one I liked: http://www.alvaradostreetbakery.com/product_detail.php?id=33

I don't know why it affects your insulin levels differently than regular bread, but it seemed to work. Also eating things like fruit and higher carb items in the morning seemed to affect my numbers much less than they did in the evening.

Finally, her biggest tip was to try walking for 20 minutes after eating. This did wonders for bringing my numbers down. I couldn't necessarily walk every time I ate because of my job, but when I could I had a lot more flexibility in what or how much I could eat without a huge spike.

I hope that helps. Good luck!!

@Cherrybee: from what ive seen, i think the closest thing to an english muffin here is a crumpet, although crumpets seem to be a denser bread.

Sorry, totally unrelated. Lol

@Cherrybee: Haha...yes! Muffins here in the US are pretty much the same as your standard muffins...but hilarious that they call them english muffins when you don't have them in England!

I had a lot of issues with fruits too. Apples, bananas and strawberries are loaded with natural sugar and would send my blood sugar skyrocketing. I was so disappointed since fruit was my go to snack. Veggies like carrots and celery with peanut butter became my go to snack. Peanut butter and avocado were my saving graces! Another veggie to avoid is corn...lots of natural sugar in corn and popcorn!

Aside from the walks right after I ate, the other thing that saved me was how much water I would drink every day. My OB told me to drink at least 80 ounces a day from the start of my pregnancy. I would drink anywhere between 80 -120 ounces of water every day. When I found out I had GD, they asked me how much water I drank and said that was great in helping to manage it.

So much of it is trial and error. I would try different things and if my blood sugar was high, I would avoid those things. By the end, all I wanted was a big vat of ice cream and pasta! Haha...