Gestational Diabetes master thread

**Jenn (and Bill)** · 06-14-2012, 05:50 PM

Chimi, that's the worst news you could have given me! I guess I'll make it work when they say it's time. I made it work last time and I lived a lot further from the hospital then. So I guess I can do it again. I'd just like to hold off as long as I can but I'm no longer optimistic.

**Chimichanga** · 06-15-2012, 07:05 AM

Sorry

It was a bit of a juggle for me last time; ODD wasn't old enough to be in school so I had to make sure DH was able to watch her. She was at that "squirmy" age still. ehh, I got to be "friends" with the NST nurse. We chatted a lot and she had me talk with the nervous moms - the ones who came in later in pregnancy and such. Since I'd been doing it for so long, I offered support/whatever if they were nervous. And sometimes they asked me questions instead of the nurse - I had to be careful to explain I wasn't a nurse, but IME XYZ type of thing.

Maybe they won't have you go in for NSTs so early/often. Every doctor is very different (as I'm finding out now with my new doc)

**mgrace** · 06-15-2012, 02:08 PM

Originally Posted by Jenn (and Bill)

Anyone have any suggestions about getting my numbers lower?

Also, has anyone done non-stress tests. Last time I was PG, I had to do them three times a week but I can't remember how many weeks I did them. But now that I've been diagnosed so early this time and I'm already on a fair amount of insulin, I fear I'm going to spend my whole life doing non-stress tests. Anyone know?

I agree on the walking. It can have a big affect.

Not sure on the NST's. I wasn't diagnosed early (didn't have GD before). I did have weekly biophysical profiles. And the last week, I had two. Mine were done at my doctor's office, right before my appointment. It would have sucked to go somewhere else!

**Jenn (and Bill)** · 07-01-2012, 10:04 AM

Anybody else been on insulin and had their doctor suggest an insulin pump? My GD counselor suggested it but now the endocrinologist has suggested it as well. My morning numbers are still high and they think that a pump might help because the insulin can be dosed out during the night while I'm sleeping.

I'm having a hard time imagining that having something stuck to me all the time would be comfortable so I was curious if anyone who had actually worn one had any input.

Thanks.

**sdauer21** · 07-02-2012, 05:29 PM

I've never worn a pump, but my sister has for 11 years. I know she would never go back to life before her "pocket pancreas"! However, she is a Type 1 diabetic, and has been insulin dependent for 20+ years. While she wore it through both of her pregnancies, I've never heard of someone with GD getting one. It was a pretty laborious process when she got hers - she had to meticulously track many things for 3 months or more (blood sugar, amount of sugar eaten, exercise, sleep, etc). And even once she got it programmed, it took many months to get it regulated. Maybe your docs are talking about a different kind of pump, one that doesn't require so much preparation?

As far as comfort, she has a site on her lower belly where she inserts a needle that is taped to her body (think like the needle for an epidural or hep lock at the hospital). The needle is connected to a tube that is attached to her pump. I think she has some mild discomfort occasionally when she inserts the needle, but it's much like any other needle poke. And she can move the site around a bit, and does to reduce scar tissue, as well as rotating which side she wears it on. I think once the needle is in, she doesn't feel it at all. She's extremely active (does IronMan triathlons, etc), and wears it to bed, in shower, exercising, etc, and she doesn't feel it. The pump itself is pretty small - about the size of a cell phone. She just attaches it to her pants/skirt or sticks it in her pocket. Most of the time, if you didn't know about it, you'd probably never know it was there. She does get hung up on the tube every once in a while, and has had an occasional issue with the tube kinking, resulting in insulin not flowing properly. But both those issues have been rare.

We were never able to regulate my fasting numbers when I had GD with DD #3, and for a few weeks, I had to wake up to take my blood sugar in the middle of the night. I think I even had to take some insulin a few times during those night checks. It seems like, for a short term problem (the GD) that the pump would be a whole lot more complicated then its benefit. That thought is based on my knowledge of my sister's experiences, though, so maybe things are different.

**Jenn (and Bill)** · 07-04-2012, 05:52 AM

Thanks sdauer. It's been recommended twice so surely they think it will help me. My GD counselor did tell me to take my sugars if I ever woke up in the middle of the night but even if I did, I haven't ever taken my meter up to my bedroom so that I could do it. Maybe I should set my alarm and do it a couple times to see what happens.

The only time my fasting numbers have been at or under 90 is on the one day of the week I get the chance to sleep till Noon if I want. Clearly, I should just sleep till Noon everyday!

**Jenn (and Bill)** · 07-13-2012, 09:48 PM

anybody else just randomly have a bad number day? My numbers today are like 20-30 higher than normal. Of course it is a Friday so I won't get a hold of anyone to see if I should be concerned. I assume it's just a hormone surge but I'm not sure if it will go back down or if I'm going to need to up my insulin to adjust.

Today was a hard food day too. I had a half day of work so I met my husband at the movie theatre. But I left work later than I planned and had to eat lunch at the movie theatre. They had a Nathan's food court so i got some chicken fingers and then tested my blood a half hour into the movie. So devoted. The hardest part was not ordering the funnel cake or pretzel bites and calling it "lunch." Would have if I didn't have GD!

**mgrace** · 07-25-2012, 02:54 PM

Originally Posted by Jenn (and Bill)

anybody else just randomly have a bad number day? My numbers today are like 20-30 higher than normal. Of course it is a Friday so I won't get a hold of anyone to see if I should be concerned. I assume it's just a hormone surge but I'm not sure if it will go back down or if I'm going to need to up my insulin to adjust.

That happened to me when I was getting a cold. My numbers were all over the place for one or two days. My doctor looked at my numbers and asked if I was doing anything different, stressed, sick, etc. I said, nope, all is good. Yeah, got a cold the next day.

**yby1** · 10-05-2012, 03:05 PM

I'm having lots of trouble with my numbers this pregnancy. My last pregnancy it was just my fasting, but this is getting out of control.

I'm already on insulin at bedtime. I started 2 days ago. Following the diet to the letter.

This morning, my fasting was 111

I ate a slice of whole wheat toast with smart balance margarine, a hard boiled egg, and a glass of 1% milk for breakfast

1 hour after breakfast, my reading was 159

morning snack was plain greek yogurt with flaxmeal.

lunch was small chicken breast, stir-fry veggies, 1/2 pinto beans and 1/2 small wheat tortilla and 1 cup unsweetened almond milk.

post-lunch reading was 165

I'm about to eat a 1/2 slice of ezekiel bread with natural peanut butter and 1/2 banana for a snack.

I'm scared for my post dinner reading.

Yesterday was better, except my fasting was 117 and post breakfast was 187.

My

**Jenn (and Bill)** · 10-05-2012, 04:26 PM

I always figure my post-breakfast numbers are high because my fasting numbers are high. But I'm not sure if it's your post-lunch too. Hopefully, you're just having a hormonal day and tomorrow will be better. But I imagine you'll be increasing your night-time insulin pretty soon How many units are you on?