At my pregnancy booking appointment, I had to give my medical history, which included my family history of various health conditions. My brother has type 2 diabetes and my Dad was borderline at one point (he has since then been diagnosed with type 2).
I was booked in for a glucose tolerance test on the 27th June to test me for gestational diabetes. Did I think I'd test positive? Honestly? I had no idea. I do eat a lot of sugary foods, especially chocolate.
What is Gestational diabetes?
Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that occurs in pregnant women. It is usually diagnosed in woman who are medically classed as "overweight" or who have a family history of type 1 or type 2 diabetes. It basically means that pregnancy hormones are stopping a woman's ability to tolerate sugar/carbs in her diet which can cause many complications for both Mum-to-be and baby. Any pregnant women who are at risk will have to have a glucose tolerance test to determine whether they have it or not. This can be carried out at any time during their pregnancy. Gestational diabetes may be similar to type 1 and type 2 but is very different in that it needs to be treated properly in order to keep Mum and baby safe. Gestational diabetes can be controlled by insulin, medication or completely diet controlled. Every woman diagnosed will be issued with a blood sugar testing kit and will be required to test their blood sugars regularly. These results will be monitored closely and will depend on how the diabetes is treated.
Glucose Intolerance Test - 27 weeks Pregnant
I had to fast from midnight the night before which was fine as I'm always fast asleep by 12am. It was not having any breakfast that morning that I really struggled with as I always have to have breakfast in the morning. I was so hungry and missed having my toast and cup of tea. I left my house and went to pick Vera up as she was coming with me. When I arrived at the outpatients department of my local health centre, I went straight in to get my first blood draw done. I hate getting bloods taken. I was given the glucose drink to drink and told to drink it within 10 minutes. I am honestly the slowest drinker ever. However, I was very thankful for something sweet since I wasn't allowed breakfast and was starving. The drink was like a very sweet orange fruit shoot in a pouch. I drank it as fast as I possibly could. I then had to wait an hour until my next set of bloods were taken. During this time, I played happy colour on my tablet. I wasn't feeling very well and I had quite bad heart burn which was making me nauseous. After my 2nd blood draw was taken, I had to wait another hour to get my third and final blood test done. The waiting wasn't fun at all. I was so hungry and my heart burn was getting worse. I was only allowed sips of water but it wasn't helping at all. Once I got my third and final blood draw taken, I was given a ticket to go down to the coffee shop to treat myself. it was worth £2.35 if I can remember rightly. I purchased a decaf vanilla latte. Vera got a drink and some cookies. We then went into town, had a wonder around before getting some lunch.
Finding Out I had Gestational Diabetes
I was told I would be contacted the following day if I had gestational diabetes but I didn't hear anything so I assumed all was good. I then received a phone call on the 29th (my bloody birthday of all days). to say that I had gestational diabetes. It was not the best start to my birthday. I wasn't told much over the phone but was told I'd be sent some emails and there would be a zoom class that I'd have to attend the next day. I didn't really know what to expect at all. I did a little research on goggle but found a lot of the information was contradictory. This was my last day to go wild with my eating. We ordered a take away for my birthday but it wasn't very nice. The following day, I had a two hour zoom class with a diabetic midwife and midwife. I have a strong dislike for zoom classes and during my pregnancy I have found them not very informative at all. I'd rather be in a room, face to face with someone, getting proper information based on my personal case, rather than looking at a tablet screen where 20+ other people are also watching, listening to people waffle on about this and that. I generally felt like I didn't learn anything from the call at all. My blood sugar testing kit arrived in the post that day. It took me so many goes to get my machine to work and my poor fingers were pricked useless. It all felt very surreal and worrying. I was going to have to cut out a lot of foods that I enjoyed eating and not just sugary foods but foods high in carbs too. It was going to be a huge change that I was very worried about. Simon had tried the keto diet on several occasions which was very similar so thankfully he knew how to help me.
Being Diet Controlled
Being diet controlled means that you can easily control your GD (in short) with diet alone. This was one positive as I didn't want to be put onto any medication. Being diet controlled means completely changing your diet in order to keep your blood sugar readings under control. I had to test my blood sugars 7 times a day. First thing in the morning as soon as I get up which is known as the fasting reading. Then I have to test an hour after breakfast, just before I eat lunch, an hour after lunch, just before I eat dinner, an hour after dinner and then before bed. It might seem like a lot of testing but I soon got used to it. It can be quite annoying, especially if you're out and about and need to whip the kit out. Some people might get a little weird about it all. Not that there's anything strange or startling to see as you can't even see the tiny needle used to prick your finger and it's the smallest amount of blood. Being diet controlled means having to cut out foods high in sugars and cut down on large amounts of carbs. This was quite difficult at first as we eat a lot of carbs and I've got the sweetest tooth. This meant; potatoes, chips, pasta, rice, bread, sweets, chocolate, crisps, cakes and even types of fruit and fruit juices. I soon learnt about pairing carby and sugary food with fats and proteins in order to help by body digest them properly. For a few weeks it was all trial and error to see what my body could tolerate. Tolerate is what foods my body digests well without sending my sugar readings over the targets. My pre-meal target was between 4 and 5.3. My post meal target was anything under 7.8. I could eat the same breakfast for 7 days in a row and find on the 7th day, it has spiked my sugars. It can get very frustrating at times. Thankfully I have been able to tolerate some carbs so haven't had to cut certain things out completely. I can manage small amount of chips, pasta and potatoes and I can still have bread for breakfast as long as I have cheese on it. I still have snacks throughout the day but I'm careful about what sort of snacks. I can have small amounts of dark chocolate dipped in peanut butter or I have cream crackers with cheese. I've had a few high readings here and there which could be down to a number of reasons; eating too much, too many carbs, too much sugar, not drinking enough, not enough exercise etc.
Consultant Appointments
Since being diagnosed I was no longer under the care of my community midwife and now had to attend consultant appointments at Antrim Hospital which I wasn't looking forward too. I had my first appointment in Antrim the week after I was diagnosed. Simon wasn't allowed in with me which was really annoying. Apparently, the waiting room fills up quickly and there's not enough room for everyone's partners. I had my blood pressure taken first then had to wait to see a consultant. I was taken into a room and had my sugar readings checked which were all fine with no issues. I then had a scan which was all good. I was given a new diary to record my sugar readings in. Then I was sent on my way. I thought I was supposed to see a dietitian but they weren't in that day. I still to this day at 39 weeks haven't spoken to a dietitian face to face. My next appointment wasn't much more informative. Vera wasn't allowed in with me again and it followed the same process. I did have a short phone consult with a diabetic midwife after sending my sugar readings to her. Not much was said during that conversation other than me trying to eat an earlier lunch which is possible when working as I take my lunch when I get the chance. I was starting to get very anxious about my appointments due to what I might be forced into having such as an induction or a c-section. I had been following the gestational diabetes UK Facebook page for a while and it was very common for women to agree to both. This really scared me. Induction was only mentioned once at my 36 weeks appointment but I took it with a pinch of salt. Before my 39 week appointment, I was so anxious and scared, reading every piece of information on declining an induction I could find. I was definitely not letting the oxytocin flow to help start labour. My appointment was supposed to be at 8:40am but I wasn't seen until after 9am by the midwife to check my blood pressure. "Have you got a date for your induction yet?" Was what I was asked by her and I was absolutely horrified. There was no question of how I'd feel about being induced but more of the assumption that I would agree to one. I declined of course and was very firm about my views. This really angered me and I went back out into the waiting room with my blood boiling (thankfully it didn't send my blood pressure through the roof). It made me so scared of speaking with a consultant. Thankfully, the lady I had was lovely and so understanding about my choices. I told her the truth as to why I was so against induction and rather than scaremonger me, she listened. My scans were all good so there were no high risk factors. The diabetic guy didn't really get a word in but he was happy enough with my readings and told me to eat more in the evening before bed as I was having lower readings first thing in the morning and wakening up hungry. I went out feeling a little relieved and very hungry.
Other people's attitudes
One thing I've realised is that people really love to have an opinion on other's health conditions and me having gestational diabetes has brought on some annoying opinions. From people telling me about every person they know who's diabetic to people with diabetes trying to tell me how to deal with my condition. I had never heard of gestational diabetes before getting pregnant so I can see why many others are naïve about it. GD is NOT the same as normal diabetes as I mentioned before. It doesn't just affect Mum but baby too. Mum has to think about the tiny little human growing inside her which is why we have to be strict about what we eat and drink. I've had far too many people tell me that I can continue eating what I want and that it'll do me no harm and that one bar of chocolate won't hurt when in reality, we don't know what harm it could be doing to our babies. I'm not going to lie, it has been hard at times not being able to eat what I want when I want but it's a small sacrifice I have had to make. People really don't understand the fact that there's the life of a tiny little human to protect. I've even had people insistent that I've not got GD for various reasons. Even one of the diabetic consultants was shocked (mainly due to my petite frame). I can manage the odd treat every now and again but truthfully, the risks are not worth it just for a cream bun or a large bar of chocolate. Some people with diabetes might not care about the risks on their health or even care about controlling their sugars but having gestational diabetes isn't about me, it's about my baby and doing whatever I can to keep him safe. I honestly would never ever forgive myself if anything bad happened to him because I couldn't go without a bar of chocolate or packet of crisps.
Gestational diabetes is treatable and controllable. It can be extremely difficult for pregnant woman though, to have to give up so much food, especially in their last trimester when they're supposed to eat more. It can be a long and difficult slog for us but at the end of the day, cutting out certain foods is a small sacrifice to make to keep our babies safe. Gestational diabetes if treated properly, will disappear after birth and we can all go back to eating normally.
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