gestational diabetes

 

Just been diagnosed- 

what does it mean.

In my previous post I explained that our rainbow Wass growing to fast and was big for the gestational she is at, with a slightly bigger tummy. This lead to some investigation into Ben's sugar levels. He had already done two glucose intolerance test which were negative. So for the last week he been testing his blood sugar levels at home. There is a video and explanation in my last post if you want to know more. 

Over the last week of testing he has had a few high readings. In thee morning which is fasting bloods some have been a bit high where as other mornings they have been low. Then there was a few other high levels post meals. These are a hour after eating main meals. One was nandos and choclate cake because we gone out for lunch with our donor to catch him up on everything going on in. The pregnancy. While another Wass ham toasty using white bread. Just having white bread instead of brown or wholemeal spike his blood sugar to 9.1 (it is meant to be under 7.8) this was the main one that cause alarm for the diebaietes specialist and was enough with a the morning levels to diagnosis Ben with gestational diebetes. 

What is gestational diebetes 

So diebetes is when your body is not producing enough horrmon called insulin making it harder for the body to break down sugar. Therefore you have too much sugar (glucose) in your blood.

In pregnancy, hormones makes it harder for insulin to work, so your body has to produce more insulin however so ones the body does not produce enough and bloood sugar levels will rise causing gestational diebetes. This type of diebetes is only during pregnancy, once the baby is born. And hormones settle then insulin is able to work effective again to break down thee sugar.  However there is a risk that later on in life you could develop type 2 diabetes if not treated throughout prgancy or diet is not kept healthy after the baby is born.

There are some symptoms however many are also general ppregancy symptoms too so can easily be missed. Some of them included.

• Feeling more thirsty 
• Having a dry mouth 
• Feeling tired
• Having frequent urine infections or thrush 
• Having blurred visions/dizziness
• Needing to wee More often 

Having too much sugar can effect yourself and the baaby during pregnancy y who h is why it is important to test and treat it. Tests are normally done during weeks 24-28 for people who maybe at great risk in developing GD in pregnancy but sometime there is a late onset so can be tested up to 33 weeks.

The risk factors of developing gestational diebetes are:

• Your BMI is above 30 (over weight before ppregancy) 
• You havee previously had aa big baby weighing 9lb 15oz or more
• You have Hadd GD in a previous preegancy
• There has been glucose in urine samples
• A close family member, parents or siblings have had diabetes. 
• Your family origins are South Asian, Africa  Caribbean or Middle Eastern. 
• Your baby is growing big thought this pregnancy.

Gestational diebetes can affected an unborn baby as the baby will also get increased sugar levels which can then cause the baby to grow too big. This is the case for our rainbow who is already estimated to be weighing 5lb 3oz at 32 weeks. Now we are 34 weeks it be interesting to see at our next scan in two weeks just how big the bay is getting. As rainbow is on the 95th persentil for growth of abdominal as they are bigger then expected at this gestation. Also having GB can cause more aminated fluids around the baby which can result in preterm labour (giving birth before 37 weeks) having a bigger baby can cause complications when giving birth and there is a risk to birth problems like premature lungs. Very rare risk is having a stillborn. Which is why it is important to test for GB and treat it.

The test involves haaving blood taken
A few times. Once after fasting over night. So no eating after midnight and only plain water can be drunk. Then after the first blood is taken then a you have to drink. This horrible sugared drink. Your blood is taken again after two hours or three depending on what test clinic decided on.

In the first instance they will treat gestational diebetes by diet and exercise, simply changing to a low carb sugar free diet can reduce the amount of sugar your body intakes. Then excerise helps the body be aablle to break the sugar down effectively. If diet and excerise does not help alone then medication may bee used to regulate sugar levels thus aree tables or insulin injections. More scans will be book especially an extra growth scan at 36 weeks to to. Ensure the baaby is noot growing to much or that there is too much waters surroundinng them.  This scan will possible determ weather a c section will be needed or the to induce and delievery thee baaby early. 

What is means for us is Ben he has to now cut out all sugar and have a low carb diet with more protein. We do this anyways as we only eat wholemeal bread, pasta, rice and tend to have lots of egg and beans, meat and salade. He eats apples and pears and apricot rather then sugary fruits like Bannna or grapes. He also does not have much sugar the occasional bit of chocolate or buscuits. However he does drinks alot of orange juice which he has to cut down on. We are seeing the dietitian on soon so we can get a better idea of some meal plans and get a diet together, which I will then blog and share because it is important to stick to a diet when you have gestational diebetes. 

He is also now allowed to do more and start coming off bed rest, thus helping his blood sugar levels to regulate again. As sitting in bed or laying down all day does not help the body break down glucose being more at risk of getting gestational diebetes. Of course he will not be able to run or play sports quiet yet but even a little walk after eating can help and hopefully get him up and fitter again. 

Ben has to keep testing, then If his levels are managed with diet and the tablets as well ass baby being fine then we will still havee our c section aat 39 weeks. However if his sugar levels are still high aand not managed he may need stronger insulin injections and steroids to boost the baby's lungs as they may need to delivery ben early if the baby is getting to big or Ben's levels are dangerously high.

We have an appointment next week with Mel and Austin or ouma probably all of them to see how this week has gone, review his levels and see if the diet and tablets are working. They will see if we need to be scanned then but we do have a scan booked at 36 weeks which is to check the babies growth. If rainbow has gotten big or in any risk with the baby's sugar levels they will do the c section anytime from then. So we are very much on a wait a see, trailing medication, a little exercises and diet to hold her in there for as long a possible. While we have to be ready to except a early delivery. 

It is going to be hard what with being away this weekend at Ben's cousins for her birthday. Then being at a kids party Sunday with party food he can't eat. Then we are having our baby shower next weekend where he can really eat much but I will make sure he has some bits along with a treat of our cake, one of bit won't do any harm. As long as he keeps to the diet the rest of the time. I am going to do it with him too. It is just hard when I work a lot and very late I do not have time to cook for hours when I am home, but we will do anything it takes to have our rainbow here safe.

While we been away we have eaten mc Donald's and some chip shop. Hips however Ben has also made sure he ate fruit and just had water, he has some orange juice and a small amount of chocolate despite eating less healthy the. Usual, his blood sugars have been fine. Which is great. However we have had more concerns this weekend.

He started getting mucusy discharge which we think is the start of his musca plug coming, he also getting bad tighness and braxton hicks again, on the monitor it showed actively of slight contractions but nothing for midwive to be too concerned about as his stitch is all in place and cervix is not dilating. So got sent home to just keep an eye on everything.

Also he has an abscess come up in his arm, which then got infected. Over the weekend it got really bad, very swollen and red. The pain and pressure radiated up Ben's arm. I was so worried Saturday night when we were away that I did not sleep, as we waited for 111 to call us back. They were awful in margate and did not call us until 5 pm on Sunday evening as we were on our way back to London. As we then went to delievery for tighness we got his arm checked because if the infection went into his blood stream that could have dangerous. Once we knew baby was fine, we were told to go to a&e from the midwives. In urgent care they had to give him local anaesthetic before cutting and draining it all out. The nurse wrapped it up, advised him to come back if it does not heal or starts to look worse in a few days. He is still on antibiotics for until Friday so hopefully it will  clear up.

We also have had a follow up today with thee specialist, his blood sugar levels have been all within rang and looks like wee just going to have a big baby. We signed all the c section consent forms and went through what we should expect so 2 weeks for our next scan aand then this time in 5 weeks we will have our rainbow here.

(Written at 34 weeks)