Gestational Diabetes - Eaton,OH

It's actually very over-diagnosed. Google "Brewer's Diet", Dr. Brewer came up with it, it works for most women.

Dear M.,
Stick w/your diet. Don't drink anything w/nutrisweet or aspartame Atrificial sweetners. I had this too in the last 3 wks. with my son. Drs wanted him to be 6 lbs so I could have a normal delivery but he was 8 lbs 8 oz. so I had another c-sect. Since you are having a c-section any way, you won't have that worry. While being on the diet, I lost 4 lbs during the pregnancy so it does work but it was so late in the preg. that my son already gained the excess weight. As long as you stick with your diet you will be all right. Drs say that you have a greater chance of getting diabetes when older but I don't have it and it has been over 15 years. L. J

My sister had it with at least one, if not two of her four pregnancies. She got to where she could tell when she was high, and adjusted her diet accordingly. She also knew what her trouble foods were and avoided them. She did not have big babies, her largest was 7lbs 15 oz, so having GDM does not guarantee big babies. I on the other hand did not have GDM, was tested each pregnancy, even had the GTT with my biggest baby, and she was 10#! Go figure.

I had gestational diabetes during my pregnancy. I failed both sugar tests miserably. We tried adjusting my diet...which was already adjusted to begin with and that didn't work for me. I actually had to have insulin injections 4 times a day to keep my numbers down. It wasn't too bad. The first time I had to inject myself was the hardest...luckily it didn't hurt because I don't know if I would have been able to do it a second time if it had hurt. My insulin had to be increased almost steadily throughout the rest of my pregnancy...not the frequency of my injections - but the amount at each injection.

Even with the insulin injections, I still had to have a modified diet. The key is to spread out the carbs not eliminate them. A good rule of thumb is:
3-4 carb servings for breakfast
2 carb servings for a morning snack
3-4 carb serving for lunch
2 carb servings for a afternoon snack
3-4 carb servings for dinner
2 carb servings for evening snack
Each carb serving is 15 grams of carbs...so 3 carb servings = 45 carb grams, 4 carb servings = 60 carb grams, etc.

Try not to drink your carbs (i.e., OJ)...try to eat them. Also - green leafy vegetables don't count towards your carb count- I was allowed to eat an unlimited amount of that type of food. If you're eating this amount of carbs in a day - the calories should follow. This plan was mapped out for me by a Endocrinologist...my OB was ok with it too.

And just in case you have a craving for ice cream (even though they suggest you don't eat it...my thought is your pregnant - you deserve to satisfy some of your cravings!!!) the regular Klondike Bars are equal to 30 grams of carbs - so that's 2 carb servings - perfect for that evening snack to satisfy that craving!!! :-)

Not to scare you, but if modified diet isn't keeping your numbers low enough - they'll have to put you on insulin injections. Pills are not an option for gestational diabetes as the medicine will cross the placenta and effect the baby - making the babies insulin work more and causing the baby to grow even more. The insulin injections will not cross the placenta and will only impact your sugar levels, not causing your baby to grow too large. It might seem scary - but if you embrace it and take charge of it - it's really not that bad. If you can prick your arm or fingers 3-4 times a day to test your blood sugar, you can inject yourself. Actually - 95% of my injections didn't hurt and in fact - I barely felt most of them. The pricking my arm for the blood test was more painful than the actual injection. If they are considering putting you on insulin injections - request the metered pens that you just attach a tiny needle to, dial the dose and inject...this way you don't have to deal with a syringe and drawing the dose that way.

And as soon as my daughter was born - no more testing my blood sugar and no more injections!!!

It's a lot to take in at first - but if you take control over it - you can do it!!!!! I hope this information is helpful and not scary :-) Good luck! You'll get through this!!!

Boy are you lucky, I was on a 2000 calorie a day plan and thats only because I started to loose too much weight. I had gestational diabetes with both pregnancies. I watched what I ate and monitored my blood sugar 4 times a day. I was lucky that I could control it with diet and exercise. I walked at least a half hour a day. I never need to use insulin to control my blood sugar although I had two friends that did. Its hard because in order to take care of the baby growing within you, you have to put your needs first. It was harder with the second one because once your already a mother you tend to put your needs last. I also had to snack at midnight otherwise my waking blood sugar was too low. Just keep in mind that this is caused by the hormones produced by the placenta there is nothing you did wrong. The first nutritionist I saw put me on a really restrictive diet and told me I did this to my child because I was overweight.

My doctor did not agree and said that the diet was too restictive and I was loosing a lot of weight. My doc sent me to a second nutristionist and sent a note to the original one's supervisor at the hospital. Also I started to show signs of the diabetes earlier in my first pregnancy. With the second it did not show up till after my 27th week.

Good luck and you'll do fine.

I had Gestational Diabetes with my second. And I found that after a couple weeks I could sort of figure out what would make my sugar go up more and what would keep it lower. I took the stance that if I knew I was going to have a meal that wouldn't be as good then I would be extra good for the meals and snacks before and after. I learned that trick from my Grandpa who had diabetes. It made living with GD much easier. My baby was 7 lbs 12 oz, 1 oz bigger than the first. I did however gain very little weight the last couple months, but my doctor was not concerned. It probably helped in losing the baby weight afterwards.

Well you are lucky because you don't have to much farther to go! I found out at week 24 and was on a diet the rest of the time. I was sick up until week 20 so only had about a month of eating foods that I was actually craving and finally strted gaining weight, but once I started the diet I started losing again. I ended up only gaining 10 lbs the whole pregnancy, and most of that was at the very end (and I am not an overweight person). During my pregnancy I was constantly told how great I looked, and lost all of the baby weight almost immediately. My diabetes was not controlled by my diet, so my doctors put me on Glyburide (sp?) but I would NOT suggest this. The alternative would be insulin injections, and if I get diabetes again that will be the route I take. The doctors were constantly adjusting my meds because my sugar levels kept increasing, and I would wake up in the middle of the night about to pass out and would have to go to the kitchen to get a snack to keep from fainting. Also, I spent more time in the doctors office because they have to monitor the baby's heart rate when you are taking medicine that passes through the placenta (insulin doesn't). I actually did use splenda, but that is a personal preference on whether you feel it is safe or not. Good luck and congrats on baby #3!

I had GDM (Gestational Diabetes Mellitus) with my son. As a dietitian, I wrote down what I ate and then my blood sugar results according to my physicians recommendations. I had no problems associated the GDM. My son was large 9#, 13oz but they can't say it was all because of the GDM. He also has a genetic disorder which caused a large head. My physician seemed pleased by what I was doing, even when I treated myself to a banana split! Those darn cravings! Good Luck!