Hi all!

I am 28 weeks and my doctor said this is the time to get steriod shots and to get tested for gestational diabetes.

Well, he said to do the glucose test first and then the Matria nurse will give me my first steriod shot. My husband is responsible to give the other three, 12 hours apart. The steriod shots are just a precaution, my cervix is in good shape and my contractions are totally under control. He said this is the time to get the shots to get the most bang for your buck.

The shots are going fine. They sting a little but after all of the fertility treatments we went through at the beginning of last year, we are pros at handling injections now.

The problem is that I took the one hour glucose test and my blood sugar level is 186. The nurse said anything over 140 is a concern. She thought I would need to take the 3-hour test but my doctor said that was not neccessary. He said with triplets he would not make me go through the fasting and the testing. He said we would proceed like I have gestational diabetes and have a diabetic diatician come to my house to put together a plan for me to get this under control.

I am so bummed!! I have to tell you I eat alot of sugar now like ice cream and sugary breakfast products. I also eat lots of carbs like baked potatoes and pasta. These are the foods that are easiest for me to eat even when I do not feel like eating anymore and have been working great for me to help put on the weight I need. I do not want to give these up. But I obviously want to do what's best for these precious babies.

The nurse made it sound like gestational diabetes is more of a concern for vaginal deliveries because the babies get bigger and they have problems getting the shoulders out. It sounds like that would be a good thing for my babies to get bigger and since I know I am getting a c-section it wouldn't be a concern.

If you had gestational diabetes during preganancy, did you have problems with the babies after they were born? What kind of issues could the babies face if I do not get this under control?

Thanks so much for your input!!

Vicki

Hi Vicki,

I failed my gestational diabetes test last week..with a blood sugar level of 141. I had to go through the three hour fasting test a few days later. After all of that I passed the three hour fasting test..thank goodness!

The day I took the initial test I had nausea and vomiting for most of the morning. I eventually ate a bowl of ice cream (Hagen Daz vanilla with caramel...what was I thinking?). I have no doubt this is why my blood sugar was elevated! I also do much better eating sugary foods, potatoes, pastas, etc...All of these food will certainly increase your blood sugar levels. I wonder if this is why you tested high also?

As for how it would affect your babies I know that sometimes babies can be born with hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)and will require sugar at birth. Babies can be larger and cause shoulder dystosia, however, like your nurse said it will not affect you since you will be a c-section delivery.


Laurie

BBB(2 identical,1 fraternal) EDD: 3/27/04

http://hometown.aol.com/belize12/myhomepage/laqualia.html

Laurie

BBB
2/20/04
34.6 weeks

Vicki,
I didn't have GD with my triplets but did with my singleton (go figure??). There are other "side effects" of GD than a large baby. The babies tend to hold more fluid in their tissues resulting in larger birth weights but also larger weight losses after birth, they may be born with low blood sugars and require IV glucose immediately after birth and they have a greater tendency to have jaundice. My son had the increased fluid retention and jaundice and weathered both with little trouble but it is not something I would plan to give my child.
With the girls I decided to follow a diebetic diet anyway and feel it was very beneficial to both them and me. The diebetic diet is very high in carbs (but complex ones) and protein which are the building blocks of little bodies. I wiould try to stay away from simple sugars esp in the morning.
I think meeting with a dietician would be an eye-opening experience. Most will work with you to find a diet all 4 of you can live with.
By the way, I think my diet helped alot in being able to carry the girls 36 1/2 weeks, weights of 5-5, 5-9, and 4-13, and all of us coming home 4 days later.
Good luck,

Judie and Victor
lucky parents to
Frankie 3/95
Maggie 7/96
Rose 7/96
Elizabeth 7/96

Judie and Victor
lucky parents to
Frankie 3/95
Maggie 7/96
Rose 7/96
Elizabeth 7/96

I failed the 3 hour glucose test. I don't remember the test results but my doctor made me take the 3-hour test. Since I was already on bedrest and couldn't sit in the lab waiting room for 3 hours, I was given a room in the office that had a bed I could lie down on for the duration. A lab tech came in for the blood draws every 1/2 hour or so. I was weak from not eating. As soon as it was over, my husband took me out for a huge meal, then back home to sleep!

I passed the 3-hour test by just 1 point. I don't see why your doctor won't let you take the 3-hour test. With accomodations, it isn't too bad.

Meeting with a dietician couldn't hurt either. They know so much about nutrition that you might learn a few more options about eating for 4!

Best wishes,

Sharon
6 year old b/b/b + 10 year old son

I also failed my 1 hour test on Tuesday with a level of 143. I then took the 3 hour test on Wednesday and passed with great numbers. I know your dr says he doesn't want to put you through the fasting and the test. The test wasn't much fun, but it was better than a diabetic diet for the remainder of your pregnancy when you may not need it. I would request the 3 hour test and see what the dr says. You may end up with gest diabetes either way, but your test may also come out fine!

Shiloh--Proud Mom to:
BGG born 2/04
B born 7/06

I had GD while pregnant with my trips...we first tried diet to try to control it....it did not work...I ended up going on full blown insulin and I was in the hospital during this whole time, had to eat the horrible diabetic hospital food.( Even for Thanksgiving and Christmas...talk about depressing) Yucky! My doctor told me that it is important to keep your sugar down...she told me the kids could have problems from it...Unfortunately..a year later, I don't remember what problems she told me. BUT....all of my kids were perfectly fine. So follow your doctors advice...cut out the extra sugar and carbs...eat whole grains and healthy protein...it will help all of you in the end. If you have any specific questions, email me!
Good Luck!

"Raising children is like being pecked to death by chickens"


Helen
Mom to Jennifer, Albert and Jessica
Born 1-3-03 @ 34 weeks

Vicki,

I failed my one hour glucose test but then went for the three hour test and passed with flying colors. It seems foolish to me that your doctor won't let you take the three hour. It's going to get harder and harder and harder for you to eat ANYTHING, and to be on a diabetic diet when you don't need to be would be horrible. When I took my 3 hour I went in and announced I was pregnant with triplets and would have to lie down. They took me in front of everyone and let me have a room to myself where I read a magazine laying down in between blood draws. It wasn't that bad!! Push him for the 3 hour test because odds are you are fine. Good luck.

Michele
30w2d
g/g/b triplets

Michele
Sarah, Gregory, Amanda
born 1/22/04 at 35w1d

Our surprise baby Austin born 06/15/2005

www.fourtimesthefun.blogspot.com

Vicki,

I failed both tests and managed my GD with diet throughout the entier pregnancy. It was hard to fast then eat and still gain weight. I had a total melt down in the peri's office one day about it. This was after I had been to the diabetes center for a check, to the nutritionist (the nutrition nazi for me) who kept telling me I wasn't gaining enough weight and was in an ultrasound when I finally lost it. The doc looked at my stats said I was doing fine and told me to eat whatever I wanted from then on. My advice is do what they tell you to and do your best. But other than that don't sweat it as there really isn't anything else you can do.

Kim

Kim
Nate, Nick & Noel(36w4d)and Nia.

<a href="http://www.tickercentral.com"><img border="0" src=""></a>


http://www.tickercentral.com>

I had GD too, I didn't do the 3-hour either, my peri just treated me for it...do not take it lightly! The neonatologist said that the boy's lungs may have grown better if I had not been on insulin, not that you'll need that, I'm just letting you know that GD does effect more than just the size of the baby! I thought the same thing!

I forget what my blood sugar was, I too eat lots of snacks, but the diet was really good for me and I only gained 34 lbs. total! I was worried up until my 33 week, I had only gained 25 lbs, but the babies were big and my peri said it is not true that multiples moms should gain more weight! He said to eat healthy, don't try to add weight and let the babies do the rest! I actually lost inches on my butt and arms after the delivery because the babies were taking so much from me, it was great!

Good luck and you'll be fine!
Carol, mom to Rex, Owen & Macy, 9/4/03 @ 35 weeks

HI Vicki, I had GD with my singleton pregnancy and with the trips. The first time I could control it with diet and it wasn't too bad, although like you I am a carb lover and that was hard! With the trips I needed Glyburide almost immediately--the diet was not enough. I only needed Insulin right after my steroid shots. I delivered at 32 weeks, I suspect much longer and I would have needed Insulin again. See a nutritionist, that will help. Its not that you can't have ANY carbs, its that you need to limit them and balance them with proteins. Lots of small meals and snacks.... There are more risks to the babies than just size, though, so be careful about your sugars. They are getting what you are getting, so if yours are too high, they can have blood sugar issues at birth when they are suddenly not getting all that suger, kwim? I think, and I could be wrong, that it may also negatively affect lung development and since they are almost certainly going to be preemies, you want to avoid that!

I was upset at first, but it is not so bad and it doesn not last forever...

BTW, I am in Cincinnati, I see by your name you are somewhere in my state. We have a great multiples group down here if you are in this area.....

Sonya, Mommy to:

Tyler 8-15-01
Amanda 5-23-03
Leah 5-23-03
Trevor 5-23-03

I had GD during my pegnancy, my test result was like 190. I was SHOCKED .. I had not had anything sweet to eat the whole pregnancy, I had a total aversion to sweets..
my peri did not do the 3 hr test, he just had me monitor my blood sugar.. those annoying painful finger pricks several times a day.. luckily my trend did not indicate the need for insulin.. although
my blood sugar remained elevated throughout the pregnancy.
My peri did tell me that GD was very common in HOM pregnancy's because with so many placentas working , the body may slow down the processing of blood sugar.. Anyway after the boys were born their blood sugar was high, but there were no lasting effects..


Lisa mom to Melanie(23)
Guillermo,Jonathan,William (2 yrs old)

Lisa mom to Melanie(28)
Guillermo,Jonathan,William(10.9.01 @34 weeks)

I failed my GD test at 27 weeks but controlled my blood sugars with diet after that. I agree with the other posters that you should take the 3-hour test if you can, because many people DO pass it and the GD diet can be really rough. I was another one of those folks on hospital diabetic food from December to late January, and gained not a single pound. I was doing better at home when DH could help me a bit more. One of my babies had blood sugar problems and 2 were vented for 3 and 5 days, but they had no long-term problems (they were born at 32.4).

Anyway, besides all the other problems of GD mentioned already, I think I remember reading that the insulin imbalance can cause your body to start breaking down muscle, shedding ketones into your blood, and maternal ketosis is NOT good for fetal brain development. Plus, babies whose moms had uncontrolled GD are at significantly higher risk for developing diabetes themselves, and diabetics have shorter life spans because of elevated risk for half a dozen serious medical conditions.

The good news? You can control GD with diet and insulin if necessary and avoid all these problems.

BTW, for all those who DID have GD, please please PLEASE take a GTT (the NON-pregnant test) every 2-3 years and stick to complex carbs and small meals. We all have as much as a 50% chance of developing diabetes now (although I suspect the risk is probably a bit lower because of the HOM factors involved) and we need to take care of ourselves!

Happy New Year,
Jody
g/b/g born Jan 2001
http://www.geocities.com/hombiblio/

Jody
g/b/g born Jan 2001
http://www.geocities.com/hombiblio/

Thanks everyone for the input. The feedback has really helped me understand the issues involved.

So far no one from my doctor's office has called to set up the diabetes counselling, so I haven't made any real changes yet. I will have to call them tomorrow if I still don't hear anything.

I will definitely take this seriously and make changes to my diet as they recommend. I don't want this to affect the babies.

Back to the couch for me. Thanks again everybody!!
Vicki

I'm coming in late on this one.

I was also diagnosed with GD -- but very early and have been on insulin the entire pregnancy. The preferred blood sugar range for pregnancy is between 70 and 110, so your blood sugar is really quite a bit off. Towards the third trimester, the babies will begin producing their own insulin and may help hold down the total levels, but you cannot count on that.

As far as damages, there are a lot of different birth defects linked to GD, including heart defects (if blood sugars spike during weeks 12 to 16), problem with lung development; eye problems; ketosis resulting in limitations on brain growth; and, creation of childhood diabetes, which is the most deadly type and will shorten the lives of your children. It is something that really needs to be taken seriously. Additionally, it can launch you into full-blown diabetes, which can cause retinopathopy (blindness) and heart disease and other problems.

Additionally, GD does not create the same growth patterns as normal uterine growth. While the baby will gain size, that does not mean that the lungs will be developing at a faster timeline and/or that any other body system would be developing at a faster timeline. Remember, we're not trying to grow "bigger" babies so much as we are trying to grow "mature" babies. Additional size without additional maturity might help with body temperature regulation, but it may impact breathing, heart rates, etc. I simply don't know.

Do as your doctor tells you. You are less than 12 weeks away from d-day. After everything else you've gone through, you can afford to invest the extra frustration and energy needed to deal with this little glitch. If they can control this with diet, great! If not, the injections are not painful or complicated, and this will pass very quickly.

Good luck!!

Cat
30 weeks, 5 days

Cat w/3 Kittens
Caidan, Carina and Caeleigh
Born at 31 weeks, 1/8/04.

Sometimes I feel that because we were here (Qatar) that I did not have the smae number of tests, etc as everyone else, but this is one I had just about every day! Or it seems that way. I had the standard glucose test and it was borderline (which I guess happens when you gain a lot of weight in pregnancy, so it's pretty common in triplet pregnancies). I repeated different versions of the test and they also came out borderline. The only test that came out normal (and I took a LOT of them) is when I took the baseline test before eating anything (always normal) and then ate MY OWN FOOD and then did the glucose tests again. Yes, the glucose syrup set off alarms, but how often was eating that kind of thing? When I ate my own healthy breakfast, even with fruit, my tests were FINE. And the babies are all fine, but they were big. When my first son was born he was 9 1/2 lbs which is ENORMOUS for here (set a record that he STILL holds at the hospital) and they tested HIM. The trips were an average of 6 pounds each, so it was weight gain well worth it!
Good luck. I just like the feelign that the docs are staying on top of everything.
Good luck!
Ali

Jack - 10 years old
Abraham, Dylan and Zane - 8 years
and now . . . . Tobias, 2 years old!