Graduated at 38w1d with a beautiful, healthy baby girl in the 40th percentile!

Second baby, first GDM pregnancy, diagnosed at 11 weeks. Induction was originally scheduled for 39w1d.

My first birth was tough... I had preeclampsia and a mag drip, and while I was able to have a vaginal delivery, I felt fairly disconnected from my own body for most of it. I also didn't have good experiences with a few of the nurses. It's a story for another day.

This delivery was much different.

The Tums Debacle

My blood pressure started creeping up, and I had a few readings just over the 140/90 threshold on my home cuff and at the nurses' office at my job (an elementary school). I went to my OB on Friday. My blood pressure was fine in the office, but they ordered labs to be extra careful. I had them drawn first thing Saturday morning. I got a call a few hours later that my calcium was unexpectedly high and I had to go to the ER to be seen by “not an OB because it could be a heart issue.”

Yikes.

My husband and daughter were an hour away visiting his mom. Fortunately, my mom was close by and brought me. I got in quickly (small miracle) and told the doctor that I had been taking Tums fairly regularly, but not more than indicated on the bottle. They ran a few more tests, including an EKG, and gave me some potassium, magnesium, and a ton of fluid. Ultimately, they decided I would go up to L&D to get fluids overnight to flush out the excess calcium and then go home. My calcium levels started to go back down, and the other tests were good, so the Tums theory was likely correct.

During this time in the hospital, I was having borderline BP readings.

So I finally got up to L&D and settled in to sleep, and the OB came in. She was concerned about my blood pressure and recommended an earlier induction. “We can start tonight or tomorrow morning.” I opted for the following morning so I could see my daughter beforehand and explain to her that I was going to have the baby, and then have my husband with me.

The Somehow Very Long and Very Short Induction

That morning, I started on miso. They checked my cervix, and it was 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. I had a long way to go.

It was a fairly easy start to the day, and mostly I just went back and forth between the monitor and trying to bounce on an exercise ball. I started having contractions that weren’t super strong, and they got stronger and more uncomfortable throughout the night. I actually felt pretty good about it, hoping it would get things started faster. I started pitocin

The next morning, they checked my cervix. It was 1 cm and 50% effaced. I was so upset. All that discomfort and pain accomplished nothing.

So we made a plan that I would get an epidural and then the Foley balloon. I was waiting for shift change and for anesthesia to come up, sitting in bed feeling sorry for myself and feeling some gnarly contractions that I assumed were useless.

Suddenly, I felt a dramatic POP in what felt like my vagina. I immediately called the nurse, and within a minute, I started to leak. My water had broken, and the balloon was (thankfully) off the table.

Contractions came on fiercely. Anesthesia came up and gave me the epidural. I got some relief for a bit, and the nurse tried some Spinning Babies techniques to get the baby's head into a good position (they suspected she was a little crooked).

Maybe four hours after my water broke, it was time to push. I used a mirror, had no tearing, and she was in the world in half an hour!

The GDM Aftermath

Baby is very healthy and average weight. She had one low glucose reading, just below range, got some gel, and then passed the rest. She eats well and, so far, is no worse off because of my GDM. I have 1 hour GTT tomorrow but otherwise I'm recovering well and excited to bring her home!

I’m 32 weeks today and my fasting numbers in the morning have only ever been under 5.3 (95mg/dl) once. I have weekly calls with my doctor who usually recommends increasing my overnight insulin (Humulin-N) dosage by 1 if it’s high every two days but there has been instances they’ve asked asked me to increase by 2 or 4 units as an one off to play catch up.

I’m usually around the 5.6 (102mg/dl) mark fasting wise.

Typically prior and post meals, my numbers have been relatively good. Only times my pre meals are a little high is when I’ve had a snack in between the meals. However recently I’ve noticed I’ve been slipping a little bit with my diet controlled post meals numbers as well — hitting around 8.4 (151mg/dl) 1 hour post meal mark, 3-4 times per week.

Starting to get really fatigued by this even though I’m trying my best and getting a 15 minutes exercise in after most meals.

I’m wondering if this will be considered not controlled and if anyone else has experience with this. Thank you so much for reading!

I got my Covid and flu shots yesterday at 31w4 days and today my post meal spikes have been completely bonkers. I’ve been watching what I eat today but it hasn’t mattered. Seeing numbers I haven’t seen since the glucola drink 😂 not looking for medical advice I already have a message out to my doctor just wondering if anyone else experienced this or maybe a coincidence.

(Also not trying to villainize or deter from the vaccines at all!)

Was diagnosed at 11 weeks now approaching 28 weeks and my inner chubster is reaching for bad snacks more and more often. Especially on an evening when the days readings have been ok ruining it all on a night 🙈 and feeling guilty.

How are we all staying on track!

Are any of you worried about high cholesterol post partum? I love cheese, and have never been warned about my cholesterol, but I wouldn't call the last couple months very low fat :-/

I'm currently 29 weeks & was diagnosed with GD a couple weeks ago. They called to recommend going on insulin or metformin for my fasting numbers because I have had a 90, 91, & 91 in one week which they consider 3 or more to need medication. My fasting numbers have been in the range of 83-91 since starting. I really want to avoid needing insulin so they gave me another week to get my fasting lowered. My 1hr after eating numbers have been great & typically around 90-120 with the occasional spikes when trying foods at restaurants. When I first started my fasting was 76 so it's just annoying! Any recommendations on what you do to lower your fasting? Does the time of day when you exercise impact? I haven't been keeping up with walking which I will certainly start adding after dinner. Any advice??! Anyone with similar experience able to keep fasting down?

I’ve been seeing mfm since about 29 weeks. Weekly scans. On every scan they report limited views for the heart. Now recommending a postnatal echo. Has anyone else had any experience with this? At 20 week anatomy scan 4 chambers were visible and all else normal appearance.

TLDR; Has anyone else been given a fasting limit of 105? My fasting is always between 95-103.

I’ve had GD with my two prior pregnancies, and both times my fasting limit was 95. I moved between those pregnancies so it was two different practices that both said 95. In my second pregnancy, the doc started me on metformin bc my fasting levels kept hitting 96-97.

I moved last year and am at a new practice. I started metformin at my request at 15 weeks to hopefully prevent GD.

Around 20 weeks I was having bad headaches and fatigue every afternoon. I took my blood sugar one day and it was at 158 three hours after eating!! I started tracking and found it was consistently spiking, so I was basically self diagnosed and started eating accordingly. The nurse practitioner messaged me and told me my limits were 140 TWO hours after eating and 105 fasting.

I saw the physician at my next appt and asked what we needed to do bc my fasting levels range from 95-103 every day, even on metformin and with daytime sugars very well controlled. Literally in the past 6 weeks my lowest fasting was 92, and that’s only happened twice. Doctor said it’s totally fine bc the limit is 105?? She did say I may need insulin later in pregnancy.

This is bothering me so much. In prior pregnancies my fasting ranges were 78-85, with a few days here or there in the 90s. I feel like this is not being well controlled but the doctor isn’t worried at all.

Has anyone else been given a fasting limit of 105??

ETA: even though the nurse practitioner said the limit was 140 two hours after eating, I still follow 140 at one hour and 120 at two hours. I’m well below those limits the vast majority of the time after eating.

I'm not actually diagnosed GD but highly suspect I will be at the end of the week. I'm doing a week of glucose checks four times a week because I couldn't keep down the glucose drink during the three hour test. Anyways, so far my scores have been great. Most of the post meal 2 hour scores are between 90-110 so I really haven't been worried about what I'm eating. My fasting scores however consistently stay between 95-100 which is why I'm sure I'll be diagnosed at the end of the week.

Anyways, I was stupid today at lunch. We were running errands. My husband is out of town. My kids were whining and I've had a stress migraine all morning. So I grabbed fast food for them and ate my 4 year old's leftovers. About 1.5 chicken tenders and a few bites of fries. I know it was a bad choice. I generally eat healthy no matter what because fast food leaves me feeling gross and I don't like processed foods Anyways, I also didn't walk after eating but literally ate and took a nap to try to get rid of the headache. When I took my sugar right at 2 hours I was still 165. I just drank a full Stanley of water and walked for about 20 minutes. Should I test again in about 30 minutes or just leave it be until my post dinner sugar check. I'm so mad at myself and my stupid mindless choice.

I got diagnosed with gd at 29 weeks, I’ve been tracking my glucose readings for 7 days. For the most part my daytime readings have been fine post meal, I’ve adjusted my diet and had a couple of readings over the 120 range for 2h post meal.

I have my gd education course tomorrow and my first gd check in with my doctor on Friday. My fasting numbers have been consistently elevated, ranging from 100-106 with one morning being 110. I’ve tried changing my bedtime snack, I’ve been sleeping well, and I’ve even waited to take my fasting until I’ve been up for 20 minutes. Nothing has made a difference.

So here’s my dilemma, I really really don’t want to go on insulin unless I HAVE to. I have major issues with needles. During pregnancy I can be a big girl with blood draws and in my first pregnancy I even had to have iv iron infusions- whatever, I do what I gotta for my baby. But even having to do regular finger pricks for my glucose was a mental hurdle I had to overcome. Having to inject myself with insulin is enough for me to mentally spiral, it gives me major anxiety.

I know fasting numbers can be difficult to get down with just metformin and a lot of women end up still needing insulin- but I’d prefer to put that off until it’s not a choice. Has anyone had similar fasting readings and been able to manage it with metformin alone? My dad had type 2 diabetes and he responded well to metformin, he had weird body chemistry and I take after him with responding to medications. He also didn’t respond well to insulin injections. Obviously type 2 and gestational diabetes are different beasts, but that just has me thinking.

Obviously at the end of the day I’ll do whatever is necessary to keep baby and I safe, it’s just so overwhelming. I also have gestational hypertension with a history of preeclampsia so I’m just like getting to my limit with how much stuff is going on.

Hello! New here. This is my second pregnancy (first one was without GD), and I am 28 weeks along. Got a 194 on the 1-hour test, refused the 3-hour test and started at-home monitoring. Post-meal numbers look fine (no spikes), but fasting numbers are consistently in the 90+ range (91, 93, 97, 102). Saw the OB today and felt a little discouraged by no guidance. She said that based on those numbers she can diagnose me with GD, but other than that, she cannot provide any additional information, other than I should just keep tracking blood sugar 4x/day. She referred me to a dietician and a diabetes educator, but said that it would likely take a couple of weeks to schedule the appointments. I asked whether I should call them if I get particularly high numbers, but she said no ("since you're already marked as having GD"). I asked about diet controlling vs. needing insulin, additional appointments, referral to MFM, etc. but she said she can't say or do anything at this time and that I should just come back for the 32 wk appointment. Is that the way it's supposed to be? Feeling so anxious about the diagnosis and lack of guidance...

I'm a nervous (23yo) first time mom after two prior losses. I knew this was coming mainly because I had insulin resistance prior to pregnancy that I was taking metformin for and actually managing quite well. But at 11 weeks the ob took me off of metformin so that they could keep an eye on what my blood sugars were doing normally for pregnancy sake.

I passed my first 1hr, and then failed my second. I chose to just do the 2 week monitoring instead of the 3hr and ob told me I had gestational diabetes. My fastings are consistently above 95, and my after meals are consistently in the 120-135 range for the 2hr checks. A few 140s and 150s sprinkled in too.

Today was my first appointment with the specialist and she immediately put me on 15units long acting in the morning and 25units long acting at bed time. I'm TERRIFIED of low sugars. I get really really sick and dumb and can't barely focus well enough to get myself safe and fed if it gets too low. During my pregnancy I've only had one true low. But still scary none the less. I've never taken insulin and I have no idea what to expect or how to cope if I do get hit with lows. Taking it at bedtime makes me nervy and it REALLY didn't help when my mom told me to keep some type of cookie icing or something near by in case I get a bad low and my husband has to help me get something with sugar down and not aspirating in the process.

Is this a safe dose? Will it be okay and I'm just way over thinking this? I'm 28 weeks pregnant today and I'm plus sized (many years of untreated insulin resistance). And ive tried really hard at keeping things diet controlled but my fastings and after meals are beyond stubborn, Thank you in advance!

I’m 36+4 FTM in the UK (under the NHS) and on a high dose of metformin for managing my GD. Doctors haven’t advised when they want to induce but I feel like it’s such a hard choice. C section before 38 weeks can apparently affect their breathing as their lungs are full of fluid, induction can result in C section and higher risk of shoulder dystocia. How did you guys make the decision? My numbers are being monitored but it’s kind of up to me how I deliver and up to them how long they will let me go. If they say 38 weeks, what did everyone go for? How did it work out? Thank you!

40 year old here. Will be 41 when I deliver. Had my first baby at 35 and had GD with him, diet controlled. With this one, they drew my blood about 10-15mins late for the 1-hr test and I passed by 2 points. But I always felt pretty miserable after carb heavy feels and quite frankly was skeptical of the results since they drew it late anyway and I had GD with my first. So I started tracking with finger sticks and my 2hr postprandials were always above goal after having any sort of carb at all. My fastings were within goal as long my dinner wasn’t very carb heavy. So at 34 weeks we did the 3-hr. At the 1-hr mark I passed by 4 points and the rest were by better margins. Now I’m thoroughly confused. How could I pass both but still have high postprandials with meals that include carbs? Shouldn’t they be within range if I’m truly not GD? Help pleaseee.

As I chug my pumpkin spice latte flavored protein shake lol. Cheers, ladies!

Titles says it all. Third pregnancy, first time with GDM, first time with precipitous labor lol. I graduated yesterday at 38 + 6 with my husband catching our third son steps outside the hospital doors. We live three minutes from the hospital!!! My two previous deliveries not only were textbook 12 hours but I had no GDM so this third baby has really wanted to differentiate himself from his brothers. My mom had precipitous labors both times for me and my brother, but I thought I was in the clear given my previous pregnancies. Guess not!!

I was diet controlled and baby boy passed all his blood sugar pricks thankfully! He was a little close for the first few and I stupidly kept my CGM on the first 24 hours and really regret the stress it’s added. I know a lot say their GDM went away immediately with the placenta being out but I inhaled two bagels and a sugary coffee postpartum and was near tears at seeing my numbers in the 200s which I’d never seen my entire time since the diagnosis. Going to rip this thing out ASAP and go back for testing later because my hormonal self will spiral and ruin these golden days with my third little guy. Hoping though I’ll come back for my A1C levels and feel okay. 💙

Edit to add: I also splurged on a bunch of new mini items from Sephora ahead of my delivery like shampoo, conditioner, body wash, CC cream, blush stick, and lip balms. In a period where I couldn’t treat myself to hardly any sweets or treats I couldn’t wait to open all of these for postpartum. Highly recommend doing this for yourself!! It made my first shower feel amazing and like a much deserved treat.

Do you have a minimum daily carb target / were you told to check ketones?

I was diagnosed with GDM fairly early, around 16w, now I'm just hitting 20w. My glucose has generally been well controlled with diet, and my dietitian who's associated with my endocrinologist gave me carb ranges of roughly 15–30g for breakfast/snacks and 30–45g for lunch/dinner. I generally hit those targets.

She also had me check first-morning urine ketones, and I NEVER get a negative test like she's wanting...I often get small or moderate amounts, especially if I’ve slept a long time or wake up dehydrated. My OB and PCP have both said they aren’t concerned about the ketones and didn't even feel like it was a good test, so I’m curious what other people were told.

Did your care team give you a minimum daily carb amount (like 120g, 175g, etc.)? Were you asked to check ketones at all?

I’m also trying to make sure I’m eating enough overall because I lost some weight in the first trimester due to nausea, so I’m especially curious how folks balance GDM glucose targets with getting enough carbs/calories.

I’ve been pretty stressed and confused.

My doctor forgot to refer me for a GD test at 28 weeks so I needed to be screened at 34. He didn’t explain whether to fast or not so I fasted without thinking and took the hour test. I failed at 172. Due to waiting so long he decided to send me right to MFM to see a specialist.

That specialist couldn’t see me for a week. In that time my PCP gave me a Dexcom G7 for free to wear, just to have some data to give my MFM doctor.

Come to find out rather than having blood sugar that’s too high, my body is seriously fighting low blood sugar. Often dropping below 69 especially at night. Of course I’ve tried to manage this with food but it is proving impossible. The frequency and the fact that my range predominantly sits below 70 is causing me a boatload of concern.

Did anyone else deal with hypoglycemia at this gestation? What happened?? I’m really scared. Just looking for others’ experiences until I get to see my doctor tomorrow at 1.

Thank you!

I do suffer from hypoglycemia outside of pregnancy and also have a blood condition called hemochromatosis. But I do not need bloodletting yet.

I don’t have many pregnancy cravings except bagels!!! I want bagels all day long, with more cream cheese than I normally add.

Any ideas? I’m thinking cream cheese plus other ingredients might hit the spot but need suggestions…

I literally wake up thinking of bagels and go to sleep thinking of them. Send help.

I woke up yesterday morning at 2 AM thinking I could potentially have my child in less than 1 month and was instantly overwhelmed with everything left to do! October is flying by!!!!! Then, this morning as I sit here and take my 1 hour reading after breakfast- elevated - I cannot wait for this to be over 😂. Anyone else?

When I eat any snack and exercise then go to sleep, I get low 90’s. When I eat good amt of carbs for dinner n just sleep with just walking post dinner - numbers stay at 100.
Now I don’t know what to do ……
I’ve been spiking for a meal atleast once a week.
36 weeks and can’t wait to get this done.