gestational diabetes - guide please......

**sonumickey** · 16th June 2005, 07:03 PM

hi everyone -
this is my 29th week of pregnancy, and i went for this gulcose screening test. but when the results came they told me, i may have a gestational diabetes and have asked me to go for a 4 hour gulcose screening test. i am really worried about this.
will this affect my baby in anyway or will there be any problems during my delivery time.
will gestational diabetes go away as soon as the delivery is over. i am very confussed as well as scared.

please help ...

thanxs in advance
gayathri

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**rajraj** · 16th June 2005, 07:19 PM

Gayathri,
I have seen this in some of our friends. If monitored it is nothing to worry about. Please visit
www.medcohealth.com and look under diseases. You will get the information you need. Your doctor will monitor your glucose level and also the baby. There are self-testing kits your doctor might recommend.

Congratulations!

**Idiappam** · 16th June 2005, 08:06 PM

The Resident Doctor of Forumhub is on leave. She will be back in a week, I guess!

**pradheep** · 16th June 2005, 08:56 PM

Dear Gayathri
Did you do walking and other physcial exercises during pregnancy?
My experience in helping pregnant women is that women who did not do any physcial exercise have more chances of getting GD.
I tell women to sit on the floor or sit cross legged on chair, which is good for getting exercise for the pelvic region. Walking for atleast one hour a day is needed and do all exercises except heavy weight lifting. Today I see women they are co cautious that they seek help to even lift a pumpkin.

**Thiru** · 16th June 2005, 11:20 PM

Originally Posted by sonumickey

hi everyone -
this is my 29th week of pregnancy, and i went for this gulcose screening test. but when the results came they told me, i may have a gestational diabetes and have asked me to go for a 4 hour gulcose screening test. i am really worried about this.
will this affect my baby in anyway or will there be any problems during my delivery time.
will gestational diabetes go away as soon as the delivery is over. i am very confussed as well as scared.

please help ...

thanxs in advance
gayathri

I know a few friends of mine who had this during their pregnancy.. The only concern is that you have to watch what you eat. you have to be careful not to eat too much of rice and sweet stuff. I'm not an expert on this and dont want to misguide you.. At the same time, this is not something you have to get too scared or confused..

**Anandi** · 17th June 2005, 12:16 AM

Hi Gayathri,
Do not worry. If you are v careful in your diet and keep watching/testing your blood sugar v frequently, then GD should not be a problem. Do a lot of walking(not strenuous) and watch your weight. GD people have the risk of carrying big babies. As soon as the baby is delivered, GD goes away.
It will not affect your baby, the only thing is the baby may be big when it comes to term.

**Pooh** · 17th June 2005, 12:46 AM

I had gestational diabetes.

I had a normal delivery. I watched my diet. My doctor put me on a diet and I stuck to it. My baby is now five years old and she is fine.

I just stayed off sweets and watched potatoes and starchy foods. My doctor put me on a calorie diet and he gave me a chart and I stuck to it.

There is no need to worry. One just needs to keep a guard on the tastebuds.

ps: the gestational food watch made me look better and I got a lot of compliments. (that was an added benefit(

**sonumickey** · 17th June 2005, 08:20 AM

hi

thanks a lot for giving me an idea about GD. this is really helpful. after my 3 hr gulcose test i will let you all know further about it.

gayathri

**SRS** · 17th June 2005, 11:37 AM

Originally Posted by sonumickey

hi everyone -
this is my 29th week of pregnancy, and i went for this gulcose screening test. but when the results came they told me, i may have a gestational diabetes and have asked me to go for a 4 hour gulcose screening test. i am really worried about this.
will this affect my baby in anyway or will there be any problems during my delivery time.
will gestational diabetes go away as soon as the delivery is over. i am very confussed as well as scared.

please help ...

thanxs in advance
gayathri

Since you are in the 29th week of pregnancy, this means your baby (specifically its body) has already formed. So the baby will not be born with any congenital defects as such. However, what can happen is that the glucose that your pancreas produces will cross the placenta into the baby's bloodstream. Naturally, the response will be for the baby's pancreas to increase insulin production... increased insulin production will result in increased glucose uptake by the cells, in particular red blood cells, muscle cells, and fat cells. As you may be knowing already, glucose is used by the cells as an energy source. However, your baby does not need so much energy at this point... what will happen is that the extra energy will be stored in fat cells (adipose tissue). So essentially, your baby is at risk of obesity, and also, might experience breathing difficulties when born, due to very low levels of glucose in the blood. Type II diabetes is another risk when the baby becomes an adult; what happens in this case is that the cells do not respond properly as they should to increased levels of insulin... so the blood sugar level remains abnormally high.

Best thing I can recommend for you is to modify your diet so that you are taking in more natural sugars than simple sugars. Complex sugars are also good. Exercise is also good. When you exercise, your muscle cells convert the gluocose to ATP.

Also as you have had gestational diabetes during pregnancy, this puts you at a higher risk of diabetes in later life. So I would advise you to continue with a good exercise program, even after the baby is born.