Goodness Gracious Gestational Diabetes

I had to test for gestational diabetes on Friday. It was an hour test and I got 155 and it should have been 139. So now I have to take a three hour test and fast prior to it starting at midnight the night before. Yuck. I hope I don't have gestational diabetes but I did hear that it is common in pregnancies and that it goes away after the birth.

The baby has a heartrate of 144 bpm which is right in the middle of the range he should be in :) I'm growing as I should, blood pressure is low, and my iron is good. Which is all good.

I had a bit of orange juice with my breakfast before my appointment and wondered if maybe I caused my blood sugar to be higher because of it. I was not told to fast, only to avoid foods with added sugar. I suppose that orange juice might be considered an added sugar drink. So I asked my sister, who has been living with diabetes since childhood, about it. This is what she had to say:

Gestational diabetes is really common and it does go away after pregnancy- typically within a couple of months. If you are positive for it, your baby will be plumper than average, but nothing really bad happens with it.

Since you have type 1 in your family, you have a tendency to contract some type of diabetes in your lifetime. If you are positive for gestational diabetes, you will most likely get type 2 in late adulthood.

Good news: 139 vs 155 is NOT REALLY THAT BIG A DEAL. i'd be concerned if you were in the 200s. I can test my blood at 5:50 and get 120, but test it at 5:51 and get 132 from the same finger and the same blood sample. Blood meters are usually about 20 mgl off at a time. Which is scary, but true.

I wouldn't worry so much. I would def get tested again- just to make sure nothing happens with your baby- but I wouldn't worry too much about it.

oh, and yes, OJ will do it. It is the highest sugar content in all the juices (natural sugar counts too). take a look at the carbs and the sugars underneath!

However, a normal human will digest all consumption within 2 hours. 2 hours after you eat, you should have a glucose around 100 or less.

So after her pointers I was relieved. I am still anxious about how I am going to survive a three hour test... Will I die from pure boredom? I was told you should try to eat every few hours to help your baby thrive. How are they going to make me go from midnight the night before without eating, and then drink a nasty sugary drink, and not have any food for three hours? This just seems like cruel and unusual punishment!!