Gestational diabetes test

VelociMama

Hi ladies,

I got the results of my GD test this week, and I passed, but only BARELY.

My midwife suggested that I try to regulate my blood sugar with diet. She suggested that I stay under 150g carbs per day, but I'm not sure if this is something I should worry about or not since I technically "passed" the test. I'm having a pretty hard time keeping my carb intake that low and eating enough to keep up with my nutritional needs and calorie goal.

Did any of you modify your diet to better regulate your blood sugar? Did you find it helpful?

Pepper2185

I was diagnosed with GD, and I didn't fail by that much.

Both my husband and I agree it was almost a blessing in disguise.

I managed it with diet and exercise, and my sugar numbers ended up being perfect throughout the rest of my pregnancy.

I also ended up only gaining baby weight, lost it all right after delivery, and I know my baby is healthy because he wasn't grown in a crap food filled environment.

I felt super healthy following the diet, they had me eat 2000 - 2200 calories per day, with an emphasis on protein, fibre, and good carbs. 30 carbs for breakfast, and up to 60 for lunch and dinner (snacks were 15).

I think it's totally doable, I actually want to maintain the diet now that I'm not pregnant because I felt so good.

Jenny_Rose77

I was gonna say, Liz, that the first person I thought of when I saw your post, was Pepper. Her food journals were like the model for what you should eat if you have GD. I was scared I was going to have it (because my sugar intake is always so much higher than what MFP recommends and because diabetes runs all over my dad's side of the family), so I was looking at Pepper's food journals to start figuring out what I should eat if diagnosed with it.

TLCEsq

I have my dreaded glucose tolerance test tomorrow... at least it's at 8:45 AM so I won't be too much of a cranky b!tch by the time I get to work. I'm doing the long one though, so I need to remember to bring my iPad!

Edit: I say dreaded because the first time it made me sick (when I was 8 weeks), and I think forcing pregnant women to consume 75 grams of pure liquid sugar while fasting is just tortuous and ridiculous.

Jenny_Rose77

I have my dreaded glucose tolerance test tomorrow... at least it's at 8:45 AM so I won't be too much of a cranky b!tch by the time I get to work. I'm doing the long one though, so I need to remember to bring my iPad!

Edit: I say dreaded because the first time it made me sick (when I was 8 weeks), and I think forcing pregnant women to consume 75 grams of pure liquid sugar while fasting is just tortuous and ridiculous.

I did the long test too, and it was seriously the most painful part of the pregnancy so far (and I am including a couple of days of "morning" sickness that were so bad that my husband called off work to take care of me).

RBXChas

I have my dreaded glucose tolerance test tomorrow... at least it's at 8:45 AM so I won't be too much of a cranky b!tch by the time I get to work. I'm doing the long one though, so I need to remember to bring my iPad!

Edit: I say dreaded because the first time it made me sick (when I was 8 weeks), and I think forcing pregnant women to consume 75 grams of pure liquid sugar while fasting is just tortuous and ridiculous.

Ugh, they made you do it at 8 weeks? I remember doing the regular test last time and having a hard time downing the gross orange drink in 5 minutes, as required. Let me tell you, I ran the clock down!

But at 8 weeks I'd have puked it all over the lab tech lady. That's pure torture when you're fighting morning sickness, too, plus you're starving on top of that, which does NOT help with the nausea.

TLCEsq

Yep, indeed! I was on Metformin prior to pregnancy (250 mg once a day, very low dose) because I had hyperinsulinemia along with my adrenal hormone issues. Since I stopped it when I conceived they wanted to do a baseline... my glucose after the hour was 84, which is pristine according to my doctor.

I thought I had to do the 3-hour today but only did a 2-hour (yay!) and surprisingly I felt pretty good and wasn't even that hungry afterwards. They gave me a lemon lime flavor today - I thought the orange was bad enough, LOL! I visibly retain water around my eyes and stuff after eating a lot of carbs so I feel crappy now, especially after eating pizza the past two days.

shnoots

I go for my test in two days (Monday) and I'm terrified I'm going to fail. Not that it honestly matters, my diet isn't awful and my sugar has never been a problem. I just don't want that on record somewhere. Ya know? It's like the only time I ever had a high blood pressure reading at the doctor's office. She actually threatened me. "Here, take these water pills and come back with a lower reading or this WILL affect your ability to get cheap insurance." Even after I explained that it was due to a high licorice root intake (I have a licorice obsession.) I ended up skipping the pills, laying off teas with licorice, and BAM my blood pressure was back to perfection.
I'm rambling I think.
I had to take the same test when I was like 12 I think. I was really overweight, and diabetes runs in my family. Passed it with flying colors. I can only hope I'm so lucky this time. Hopefully the pregnant factor will be tempered by the fact that I'm 40lbs lighter (and a LOT healthier) than I was the last time I took the test.

RBXChas

I go for my test in two days (Monday) and I'm terrified I'm going to fail. Not that it honestly matters, my diet isn't awful and my sugar has never been a problem. I just don't want that on record somewhere. Ya know? It's like the only time I ever had a high blood pressure reading at the doctor's office. She actually threatened me. "Here, take these water pills and come back with a lower reading or this WILL affect your ability to get cheap insurance." Even after I explained that it was due to a high licorice root intake (I have a licorice obsession.) I ended up skipping the pills, laying off teas with licorice, and BAM my blood pressure was back to perfection.
I'm rambling I think.
I had to take the same test when I was like 12 I think. I was really overweight, and diabetes runs in my family. Passed it with flying colors. I can only hope I'm so lucky this time. Hopefully the pregnant factor will be tempered by the fact that I'm 40lbs lighter (and a LOT healthier) than I was the last time I took the test.

I gained about 65 lbs with my last pregnancy (and I started out heavier than I am now at 17w), and I ate HORRIBLY. Two of my SILs had GD, and my sister failed the first test with both of her pregnancies but passed the second, longer test both times. I was sure I was going to fail given my horrible diet. I passed with flying colors (pre-drink level was 70, post-drink was 74, which was on the low side of normal).

I do know a couple of women who were healthy weights/eaters and yet failed. Sometimes it just happens, and it's pretty unexplained why people like me who ate sugar like there's no tomorrow passed the test with no problem.

You really can't do anything about it, though. All it means is that if you fail, they'll do the longer test, which is a pain in the butt, and you'll either pass or fail that one. If you fail, you'll have to be put on a special diet, which isn't the worst thing in the world.

We just need to stop thinking of it (and other tests, like the strep test - I was strep B positive with my first pregnancy) like some personal failure. I know that's hard, since, if anyone, we are the only ones with control over our bodies, but in the end it is a very manageable condition.

shnoots

I passed! I didn't ask about my specific numbers, ya know, because I was going to die of sugar induced nausea, but they said my numbers looked great. I'd have done a happy dance, but I might have passed out. What kills me is that so many people I've read about got to do a 1 hour test. I was there from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. >.< Where was my super cool 1 hour test?!

And speaking of the Group B Strep test coming up, that one I really REALLY don't want to fail. I don't feel like being forced to take antibiotics is the best thing for me or my baby. But do they care? Noooo. So I'm loading up on kefir over here and taking probiotics. My midwife suggested it might help. I can only hope.

When I went in to take my test today the nurse started talking about doing the Group B Strep test and I nearly had a heart attack. That's the kind of thing a person has to mentally prepare for. And then she was like, "Oh! Wrong patient." -_- Thank you. As if driving my happy *kitten* all the way over here at 8 a.m. on an empty stomach wasn't bad enough.