Feel free to PM me anytime (not necessarily just about this). Always happy to have a chat.

A funny (and probably silly) thought about superstitions just occurred to me. Maybe it's to do with the idea of MacBeth being bad luck. Isn't there a line in it that says "by the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes"?

xx

In your case, the fact that your baby is due soon means that a lot of what you're dealing with will resolve itself with time. Congratulations on your engagement. Remember what it means for your baby as well as for you, and I don't think you'll feel guilty about your happiness anymore.

I have type 2 diabetes, and my son had weird blood glucose levels when he was born for about 10 days. He was also slightly prem (36 weeks) and was 6 pounds 9 ounces. The explanation I got about his sugar levels was that his body had got used to producing extra insulin in the womb to combat the extra sugar coming through the umbilical cord, and it took that time to get used to the lower levels of sugar he got after being born.

As to why pasta doesn't make your levels spike like potatoes - pasta is fairly low GI, just like grain bread, so your body breaks it down slowly. Potatoes are higher GI, and rice (especially jasmine, like you'd get from the Chinese take away) is higher still. Carbs in themselves aren't the problem. It's the speed with which your body processes them, and different carbs are processed differently.

I will share some tips with you that my educator shared with me:

Avoid washing hands with soap before testing because some soaps give inaccurate sugar readings

Make sure hands are dry before you prick

When you choose a finger to prick, shake your hands first, make them warm and then milk your finger like a cows udder from the knuckle to the tip so the blood flows there.

When you prick, prick about 3mm to the side of your nail. She told me that anywhere else leaves noticeable pin pricks in the skin, can numb your finger tip, hit nerves and hurt more.

Don't prick with cold hands or you wont give enough blood for the reading

Always remember to wash your hands because it will interfere with the reading

Eat nuts as snacks inbetween because they break down the fats, sugars and carbs. I was told that almonds were the best.

Check all products on the back of the label. You should be checking sugar, fats and carbs. Sometimes diet products are not the best as some of them actually have more sugar to make up for less fat! Sugars are worse than fats in this case. Some products I found stupid were weetbix, special k, skim milk, diet yogurt.

Don't eat more than 2 carbs in 1 sitting (equal to 2 slices of bread or one small baked potato). Try to aim for grain bread as white is full of carbs. Stay away from mashed potato lol too many carbs in one sitting. Although this was a little contradicting because mash potato made my readings go through the roof but yet pasta lowered it.

Avoid take away. Because you might think you get away with it with your after lunch reading but the next reading will spike. Depending how slow your glucose levels are and breaking down the sugars you might still even be over the limit until lunch time the following day!

If you eat fruit, avoid oranges and orange juice. Try to aim for apples because the skin of the apple has many vitamins in it and it breaks down the fruits natural sugars.

You shouldn't be that bad you only have about 3 weeks until bubs is due. If they do give you injections though, ask to have it in the stomach. Make sure you pinch a bit of belly fat and put the needle through at a 45 degree angle, you wont feel a thing!

And remember gestational diabetes usually goes away after the birth of the baby. Not all the time though so you will need to get a check up yearly to check for type 2.

This also does not mean your baby has diabetes. They just have more chance of developing type 2 in the future so to be careful.

I kept to an extremely strict diet during my pregnancy and exercised for 30 mins every day. I still went over the sugar levels. I wasn't allowed to go over 5.0 in the mornings and 6.7 after any meal. I was constantly going over the both of them. I had to prick myself up to 8 times a day. That's a lot for someone with a needle phobia. It made me pretty upset.

My waters broke 9 weeks early and I was rushed to hospital in an ambulance. They managed to keep my son in there for another 2 weeks but then he decided he was coming. For 2 weeks I had to inject myself with insulin four times a day and eat nothing but salad. Do you know how hard that is when your major pregnancy craving is MILO?? LOL

I remember I snuck one during the night and my nurse cut sick at me and lectured me for about an hour about how people lose arms and legs because of diabetes so I behaved myself from then on.

My son was born 7 weeks premature and was 6 pounds 11 oz. That's heavier than some full term babies!! My hospital roomy had a full term baby at 5 pounds 13 oz!! He was the biggest baby in the special care nursery. God... Image what I would have had to push out if I went full term. My mid wife was already talking to me about c-section options just in case.

After he was born they did heel pricks to test his sugar levels and they were normal so that was good. The only bad thing for him is that he now has a higher chance at developing type 2 diabetes when he gets older.

Your mid wife/doctor will monitor his development, weigh up your options, do a heel prick. Then ask you for a follow up visit as you have a higher chance of developing type 2 diabetes too once given the diagnoses of gestational diabetes. They will ask you to check in every year to make sure.

Congrats on the engagement. It's not too concerning for you to worry about. Just get some rest to avoid fatigue, eat healthy and drink lots of water to keep your fluids up.

You say you need to concentrate your attention on the baby... The baby is going to grow and be born no matter how you're feeling, and worrying about anything is only going to stress the baby, so how is concentrating on your baby rather than your happiness going to make any difference other than to stress the baby out?

i had gestationsional diabetes with my 3rd son and if you follow what they tell you and watch your diet you and your baby will be fine. having a big baby isnt a bad thing may just make delivery harder

my son came at 37 weeks and he was a healthy weight and a healthy baby some minor probs but that had nothing to do with the diabetes.

so dont feel guilty for being excited if they had found a major prob you would still be at hospital in the middle of having the bubs

so be happy celebrate your engagement and be stress free and enjoy the moment.

congrats on the engagement

Big babies are sometimes a side effect of gestational diabetes. This late on they are probably just being extra cautious- do not worry as you are in good hands-they are watching you. Just keep on getting your checkups and let your medical practitioners care for you. Happy mum=happy baby so keep embracing those postive feelings.

I dont know a lot of gestational Diabeaties ( I should cause I was borderline with my son) But I do know 1 thing and that is stress is bad for the baby and for you.

You said you are 37 weeks, so baby could be here any time soon. I would just try and concerntrait on being happy about your engagement and worry about the gestational diabeties when you know more about it.

Good luck and I do know that a lot of the time this goes away after birth. Oh and a large baby isnt a bad thing per say, just maybe harder to birth. My hubby was 10pounds 11 at birth and his mum didnt have gestational diabeties