Diabetes Questions and Update

I thought I'd write a FAQs post about gestational diabetes. I get asked a lot of questions about it, plus it seems to be pretty much all I can think about these days. Feel free skip whatever questions you don't wonder about.

I'll put an update about how my diabetes is doing at the end, but right now things are not so great. So here goes...

1. What are the risks to the baby?

-large baby leading to possible problems in delivery or possible weight problems as a child and into adulthood
-higher possibility of jaundice at birth
-breathing problems at birth
-low blood sugar after birth because the baby's body gets used to over compensating for the high amount of sugar coming from the mother in utero


2. Did Brynna have any complications because of the GD?

no, none


3. What causes GD?

I don't really know what causes it. I just know that in some pregnancies, the hormones put off by the placenta interfere with the mother's pancreas. As the placenta gets bigger later and later in the pregnancy, it puts out more and more hormones. Because of that, most GD moms have more trouble keeping their blood sugar in range the later into the pregnancy it gets.


4. Will the diabetes go away after delivery?

Yes, generally the diabetes goes away as soon as the placenta falls. When I delivered Brynna, Daryl literally brought a box of Whitman's chocolates into the delivery room.

That said, as many as 10% of women find that the diabetes does not go away after birth. Many/most of these may have already had Type II going into pregnancy without knowing it. High blood sugar has very few noticeable or alarming symptoms.


5. What risks are there to the mother?

GD moms have a 20%-50% chance of developing type II diabetes 5 to 10 years after giving birth. That's a 20%-50% CHANCE, not simply a 20%-50% higher chance than the rest of the general population. Other risks factors play a part as well -- family history, diet, weight (separate from diet), exercise (or lack of).


6. What can be done to control it?

-special crappy diet
-insulin injections


7. What is the special crappy diet?

It's all about carbs/sugars. I eat 6 times a day. Each meal/snack must have a certain amount of carbs/sugars, which turns to glucose in the body. Glucose is what feeds your brain and the baby's brain. That's why you can't just cut them out all together. I also have to have at least one serving of protein to help balance everything.

At breakfast and morning snack, I can have 15 carbs. That's about one piece of toast or half and English muffin. I'm not allowed to have any milk products or fruit in the morning because of the way they break down.

One of Daryl's and my favorite dates is breakfast at Chick-fil-A. A chicken biscuit has about 45 carbs, not including my usual medium coke.

I can have 30 carbs with lunch and dinner. That's about 2/3 cup of rice.

I can have 15-30 carbs with my afternoon and bedtime snacks.


8. Can it be controlled by diet alone?

Sometimes. I did not have to take insulin with Brynna.

Sometimes not. In some pregnancies, even if the mother is able to strictly adhere to the diet restrictions, the pancreas simply can't keep up with the hormones and insulin is required.


9. If blood sugar is kept under control, either by diet or insulin, do the risks to the baby go away?

That's the goal. The risks are significantly reduced if blood sugar is kept under control.


10. Can you take pills or supplements instead of insulin?

No. Those have not been studied in pregnancy sufficiently.


11. Once you have it, will you have it with all pregnancies?

GD moms have a 66% of having it with each subsequent pregnancy, but it can behave very differently from pregnancy to pregnancy even in the same mother. It is proving to be more severe in this pregnancy than with Brynna. Next time :), I might not have it all, it could come back more severe, it could come back in a mild form.


12. How big was Brynna?

8 lbs 10 oz


13. If you take insulin during pregnancy, does that increase your risk of keeping/developing Type II Diabetes?

No. That is something I thought was possible and wrote on this blog, but my doctor assures me that is not the case.


So that's all I can think of right now. Do you guys have any other questions?

Here's my current status. My blood sugar has been pretty erratic and spiking well out of my goal range for the past week or week and a half. My doctor put me on a bedtime dose of insulin two days ago, and tomorrow I start a morning dose. So far Daryl has been giving me my shots. I don't like them. Finger pricking I can do... shots I don't know.

I got really discouraged yesterday because it was my first official day on insulin, and after lunch I got my highest spike ever. The insulin I'm currently on is really just to regulate morning blood sugar and doesn't have anything to do with post lunch blood sugar, but it was still pretty disheartening.

It's possible I could be put on two more insulin injections a day, bringing my total to 4 shots a day. That would be, bedtime and with every meal.


With Brynna I had room to mess up/cheat a little with my diet right up until delivery. Not this time. I am being as strict and diligent as I know how to be, and I still can't seem to keep my blood sugar in range. That's hard as a mom. I know it's not really my fault, but with every high reading I'm second guessing myself and trying to think of what I could have done.

So that brings me to frequently asked question number 14: How can I pray for you?

First that, the baby will be protected and continue to develop normally while we're trying to get these erratic numbers under control.

Pray that my numbers do come under control and quickly.

Pray that I will be able to make good educated choices about the food I'm eating. Carbs have a way of sneaking into things you wouldn't expect, like the marinade used for fajita meat.

Pray that I can enjoy this pregnancy but that this battle with diabetes will pass like a flash. I know I only have a very limited number of times to experience pregnancy as part of motherhood, and I don't want to waste it fretting and worrying about food and drops of blood.

Pray that I won't have to take a lunchtime injection. That's the one time of day that Daryl really couldn't help me. I don't know how I would do it without him. Yes, I know I could and would, but I just can't think about how.