Gestational Diabetes

My family has a history of diabetes so getting gestational diabetes was always at the back of my mind when I was pregnant. With my first pregnancy the test came back negative but it wasn't to be the next time.

A lot of things happened when I was pregnant

the second time. The worst being that my partner was seriously injured in a car accident. The stress of this as well as a probably none too healthy diet while he was in hospital meant that I tested positively for GD. I was put on a diet but it didn't work so I had to take insulin. The dosage kept being increased as my blood sugar levels kept going up. The fact I had GD meant I couldn't give birth in my nearby hospital so my antenatal visits were a 2 hr drive away. I also had to go every 2 weeks from early on. Another stress for me was that my eldest son had to come with me. My partner could not look after him as he was still in a wheelchair. I am very grateful however for the hospitals understanding in my situation. They tried to arrange tests to be done at my local hospital so I didn't have extra 2 hr commutes and when bubs heart rate needed to be monitored every 2nd day they also made sure my local hospital helped out.

I was booked in for a c-section to happen at 39weeks. I had been having ultrasounds to check bubs growth and despite the BSL going up all the time for no apparetn reason all was going well. During this time I also found out about a little known fact to do with GD babies. Because their BSL can go wrong after birth many need to be topped up with formula. This did not worry me becasue the same thing had happened with my first son but due to dehydration. However i found out about expressing colostrum while pregnant so that your expressed milk can be given to bubs instead. this gave me something to focus my energy on. although I got very little milk (maybe 1 ml each time) it was all to be used for a good cause.

I was 37 weeks pregnant when my waters broke in my in laws shop of all places. I was driven by ambulance to the hospital (2hrs riding backwards on roads the goverment underfunds for repairs). My partner had only just been outof a wheelchair for 2 days when I  had my son via c-section. Thanks to the very understanding midwife I had apart from when bubs had his checks I was able to hold him in the theatre and into recovery at which stage I attached him for his first feed. Well the first feed took 1.5 hrs with 2 side swaps during that time. He wasn't taken from me until after he finished at which time a midwife took him to be weighed, did not bath him becasue I requested her not to and dressed him for me. All the time I was able to enjoy tea and toast that they had made for me. Bub was then put back in bed with me where he stayed until I needed to start moving around the next morning. He never did need that milk that I expressed but it was there just in case. Because of my family history of diabetes and becasue being a GD baby increases your risk of developing diabetes I will continue to breastfeed til past 2 years if my son decides to. It decreases his risks of developing diabetes so I figure they cancel each other out and he has just as much chacne of developing it as most people.

Apparently stress can be just as much a contributing factor to getting gestational diabetes as diet. No matter how well I refined my diet my BSL would increase over the smallest meals. Sometimes they would be fine other times I might eat grilled chicken breast with salad and they would skyrocket. I will need to be tested every year just to make sure I don't get diabetes but there is always a chance considering family history.