Update on my change in diet

I have been very badly neglecting this blog. I have been so tired and felt like I've had next to no energy. I am slowly getting better though.

I've had to dramatically adjust my diet to keep my blood sugars low. I ended up with lots of ketones in my water which according to my diabetic midwife was from my body going into starvation mode so I have to eat a little more whilst still keeping my blood sugars within my limits. Its hard and I have had the odd spike in them once or twice every couple of days but this is the best diet I have ever been on as I can't cheat as I know it is not just me who will be affected by the results of my overeating.

I spent the first week getting really stressed out when I got a high blood sugar reading but am starting to relax a bit now as the stress is no good for baby either. I am keeping a food diary which is helping as then if I get a high I can look at what I've eaten and try and figure out where I went wrong. Normally means I had too many carbs. I don't even pretend to understand all of it though so have stopped stressing as I'm eating a million times more healthily than I was and am doing the best I can for myself and our baby girl.

I have been spending lots of time this week worrying about labour. I had 2 really good labours with my other 2 and they were big babies too (10lb 7 and 9lb 7) but I just don't know what's going to happen this time round. I am almost certain I will be induced at 38 weeks (7.5 weeks to go!!) but am worried I will end up with a caesarean if she's bigger than Josh was. I am petrified of the thought of one but on the other hand I will do whatever is necessary to make sure our baby is ok so if that means a caesarean then so be it.

I have another appointment with the obstetric consultant tomorrow and am also seeing my diabetic midwife and diabetic nurse. I have loads of appointments lined up for every week between now and having the baby which is reassuring that I'm being monitored so closely. I have my next scan in 2 weeks which will be interesting to see how she's grown.

Also, can't remember if I've mentioned it before but we have finally come up with baby's name - Gabrielle Victoria K____(our surname)

An update from my appointments today

I had my growth scan this morning and Gabrielle is already one large baby weighing 3lb 12oz at 28+4. (I thought they were wrong at the 4d scan when they said she'd be around 8lb at birth lol!!) Thankfully everything is ok with her and the fluid around her is normal (apparantly you can sometimes end up with excess fluid around her because of gestational diabetes)

We had a busy appointment afterwards and I am being looked after by a diabetic midwife, diabetic nurse, diabetic consultant, obstetric consultant and a dietician so was at the hospital over 3 hours getting sorted out.

I feel better about it all now. I have to try and keep my blood sugars between 4 and 6 when fasting and less than 7.8 2 hours after eating. I have to test 4 times a day with a little pen thing that pricks my finger then I squeeze some blood out onto the end of a tab connected to the meter. After lunch my sugars were 7.2 and after tea they were 5.9!! I am so pleased that my blood sugars were both under the limit, especially the one after my tea which was lovely and consisted of half plate of salad, small jacket potato spread with bertolli spread, small portion of chicken breast) so I can have that again another day.

I am not allowed to snack between meals which I know is my biggest weakness and I will find that hardest. I can have a yogurt or fruit straight after a meal as a desert but not as a snack midway through the afternoon/evening which I find very strange. I surprised myself though by feeling very satisfied after my tea and still am so have skipped the yogurt.

I have to test my sugars 4 times a day sometimes before eating and other times 2 hours after eating and they have to stay within set limits so hopefully I can control it through diet alone.

I will be induced no later than 38 weeks due to Gabrielle's size and at the moment there is no reason why I have to have a caesarean which was really worrying me but if they try to induce me and it doesn't work or she gets distressed then I would end up with one. Hopefully it will work being induced first time as it did with dd and I will be doing all the old wives tales to try and get her out without being induced if possible.

I have another scan in 4 weeks and then will have fortnightly scans to keep an eye on her. I also have to go in for her heartbeat monitoring regularly from 34 weeks and they will check my kidney function then too.

I feel happy now that I know we will be monitored closely and I have appointments practically every week to keep an eye on things.

Hopefully everything will be ok and the gestational diabetes should disappear as soon as I give birth and Gabrielle will have her blood sugars tested within 3-4 hours after being born to make sure her sugars aren't too low. It means I'm now more at risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the future but this has given me a kick up the bum to take care of my diet and lose the weight and get myself in better shape.

Gestational Diabetes

28+4

I've had a phone call yesterday afternoon from the Diabetic Midwife. I had my Glucose Tolerance Test yesterday morning and it turns out my results are raised. I have to go this morning to the diabetic clinic at the hospital to see diabetic midwife, dietician and my consultant. They have also arranged a growth scan for this morning too.

I am completely in shock about it. I had no inkling that it would come back positive as I've had no glucose in my urine or anything. I have had 2 previous large babies but after having the gtt test with Ellie and that being negative I assumed I just naturally had larger babies. My bmi is high but I am just completely shocked by it.

The diabetic midwife sounds lovely though and everything will be explained to me today and I will have to do fingerprick test to test my blood sugars I presume everyday or even a few times a day, not sure yet.

I will be induced at 38 weeks and baby will have to have her blood sugars monitored. I am worried that she'll have to go to special care and I won't be able to be with her. Not sure if this will be the case or not.

I've been looking in the cupboard at what we have in. I have no idea what sort of things I can eat. I suppose that will all get sorted today and we'll have to go to Asda on the way back from the hospital.

I'll try and update again when I get back later and try and take it all in.