Gestational Diabetes test?...

[mahiisland]

Hi mamas!

The Gestational Diabetes test seems like a really rough thing to do to your body, fasting then overdosing on sugar, not usually the way I like to abuse myself! Can someone give me the low down? Is there a whole lot of reaction here to a small risk? I am a minimal intervention type of gal and would like to avoid it. I really don't know much about this area, can anyone bring me up-to-date or point me to another post or link with info on this topic?

I eat healthy and am underweight if anything, but I do feel it if I have not eaten in a while, I don't really have reserves. So I snack and take care of myself. I do eat a lot but don't put on much weight. Very hungry with this (my first) pregnancy and eating lots of good food (lots of rich stuff, but mostly avoid sugar).

Sorry if this has been asked before. Feel free to redirect me!

[MyFullHouse]

Personally, I always take the GD test. IMO, GD is too serious to mess around with. The only way I'd skip it is if I were monitoring my blood sugar at home, and I'd just rather do a one time test than stick myself repeatedly.

That said, I won't do that nasty glucose drink anymore. I did it with my first two kids and it was gross and miserable. My mws give me a breakfast menu to eat, with the right amount of glucose in it. I don't have the sheet right now, but it's just your basic eggs and toast with a little juice (in specific amounts). It gets the job done without dealing with the sugar roller coaster, and it doesn't taste nasty!

[TheDivineMrsM]

The GD test was not fun. I eat well and have gained a "normal" amount of weight, but wanted to take it. I have a long family history of diabetes, so I wasn't going to skip it. There are all kinds of issues that can occur in a pregnancy if GD goes undetected or untreated. GD babies are also typically very large. There are no symptoms to GD.

I "fasted" overnight and took the test early in the morning, so I didn't have to worry about not eating all day. I went in at about 8 am. The drink they gave me tasted awful. I actually spent about two hours laying down in an exam room b/c I was dizzy and nauseous, but that faded. At the end of the test, DH came to pick me up and brought me breakfast. I felt kind of off for the rest of the day, but I was perfectly fine by the next day.

[Vespertina]

*DDC crashing*

It was never offered to me with my boys (when I saw CPMs), but when I saw a CNM at a clinic at 10 weeks with ds1 I turned it down.

The evidence and data don't support routine testing for glucose intolerance of pregnancy. I've done a lot of research on this and even corresponded with Henci Goer and Marsden Wagner about the issue.

Instead, I checked my blood sugar here and there with ds2 and my midwife with ds1 tested me with a glucometer around 32 weeks. My glucose was always in normal range.

[summersmama]

my midwife had me take the test with my first pregnancy, and i was all prepared for it to be horrendous and make me ill. in fact, i found it to not be a big deal. it tasted like a coke to me, (which i rarely drink) and the only stipulation was to not eat 2 hours before. to me, it didn't feel like fasting and the drink did not make me sick. i was fine. i didn't have gd, either. i understand some don't like it, and it may not always be necessary, but for me, it was not so bad and the negative hype surrounding it seemed unwarranted. that was just my personal experience. i will be taking the test again this next week at my 29 week appt and am not worried about it at all.

[WifeofAnt]

Mine tasted like really sugary mountain dew. It made me a little dizzy halfway through but I felt fine again before the test was over. The worst part was probably the blood draw afterwards, lol.
I agree that its not a perfect test and it gives more positives than it should (especially the 1-hour) but GD doesn't always discriminate to just the people we think would be at risk.

[CarricksMom]

I had the test and it was not bad. The bad part was that I had GD and was underweight and only gained 13 lbs with my pregnancy. I was devastated becasue I ate very well and was in good shape. I was able to control it with my diet and was eventually told that I did not have to test anymore towards the end of my pregnancy. Just thought I would post because weight and even how you eat isn't always a major factor. I think with me it may have been my age - I was 39. One good thing tho, I did learan a lot about my body and what foods affect my blood sugar levels. I, too, think it is nothing to play around with and personally would have the test. Hope this helps!

[wholewheatchick]

My CNMs require it; no ifs, ands, or buts about it, most unfortuneately. I get to do an alternative test, though; I eat a high protein meal 1 1/2 hours before my appoitngment, and the draw my blood at 2 hours after that meal. They can do it right there are the midwife office, so that is nice. My test is on Monday.

I eat healthy, have gained a normal amount of weight thus far, but...my mom had it when she was pregnant with me, which puts me more at risk for it, from what I gather.

[shellnurse]

I'm 5 2 and started at a wt. of 118, I run throughout pregnancy and eat healthy. I was shocked to come up positive for GD with DD. I have no risk factors aside from being over 25. I started checking immediately with DS and found high sugars even when eating reasonable foods. I'm determined not to let this little guy get too big. DD was 8 pounds 2 and took 4 days to deliver-I made it without a c-section by the skin of my teeth.

The size issue aside, babies grown in an environment of high sugars are often premature for their gestational age. As a NICU nurse I've seen too many giant babies with respiratory distress have to be admitted to NICU to ignore GD.

I know there is a lot of controversy and the "science" isn't so great. I just feel better knowing I'm doing everything I can to keep the baby a resonable size and on track with his gestational age.

[lawmama1984]

I'm not doing it this time. I never really felt it was necessary and my MWs don't really think so either. They will test it if I want it, but they said they usually don't and saw no reason for me to do it.

That said, I did it with my last pregnancy. I did the sugary drink, which was disgusting. I failed the 1 hour, as did everyone I know. The threshold on the 1 hour is such that it catches a lot of women who don't have GD as well as those that do. If I had opted to do the GD test this time, it would have been like wholewheatchick's, which I would be much more comfortable with if I opted to do it and/or my MWs required it.

[coraljean]

My midwife carries her own glucometer, and we just did the 1 hour glucose intolerance screening, which is much easier. I just drank a big glass of orange juice, and she pricked my finger with her glucometer an hour afterwards, and the results were instant. I didn't have to fast. Had I decided to opt out of the screening completely, my midwife would have been fine with it.

These are the options she offered for glucose intolerance screening in the handout she sent me:

"If you choose the 1 hour screening, you may choose one of the following options. None of these require any fasting.

Drink 50 ml of glucola* (a sugary syrup)
Drink juice that has 50 ml of sugar
Eat 18 Brach jelly beans

Normal values for the 1 hour Glucose Intolerance screening is a value lower than 130 mg/dl. If values are 130 mg/dl or greater, then the Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT) is offered."

[laurata]

I did not do the OGTT, but felt compelled to spend some time getting friendly with a home glucometer which showed that I need to make both dietary and exercise changes. I feel way better now than I did last month, and really don't find testing several times a day to be a big deal. My midwife is happy with my numbers, so I can back off on the frequency of testing. I will still be doing some checking, and will be paying close attention to what I eat, how often I exercise, and how I feel.

[rad]

My family dr who attending our first 4 homebirths never offered it. He just insisted on good nutrition and that seemed to work just fine. I've declined it with my last 2 pgs since I just don't feel it's necessary.

[soglad]

I really don't want to do it but my CNMs highly recommend it. They gave me a list of alternatives to the glucose drink - I am going to call the lab on Monday to find out if they'll allow me to use an alternative (things like half a banana and a small amount of apple juice - sorry, don't have the exact measurements in front of me). My midwife wrote a letter explaining that I should be allowed to use an alternative since I'm still vomiting frequently - well, I was when she wrote the letter ...hoping that works!

[the janet]

I did the 1 hr glucose challenge...and "failed" by only 5 points (which, btw, depends on what # your provider uses...mine was 140).

I just did the 3 hr GTT yesterday. I really hate drinking that crap. I didn't suffer any nasty side effects at the time but after both tests, I crashed pretty hard when I got home. HAD to nap, and still felt listless afterwards.

I'll get my results in about a week. I know that the screening and test aren't ideal/definitive but diabetes runs on my father's side so I figured better safe than sorry. I asked what would happen if my #s came back high and was told that they'd monitor my diet/blood sugar for a few weeks. I'm scheduled to give birth at the only freestanding birthing center in NYC so I hope that I don't end up risking out of it!!

[NoraFlood]

I just did this yesterday! It wasn't a big deal at all. I didn't have to fast beforehand, although they told me not to eat any simple carbs for breakfast. The Glucola was not delicious or anything, but it was not bad at all. It pretty much tasted like crappy fruit punch, the kind I had a thousand times as a kid. I did get a little bit of a headache afterwards, but that may have just been a coincidence.

I agree with many of the previous posters that GD is nothing to screw around with.

[Dichotomy]

Im taking my test on Monday...with the glucola.
Not looking forward to it, but really really hoping I pass.
While I can handle fasting for 2 hours, I think having to come back to do a 3 hour test with 10 hours fasting would be rough.


I plan on eating breakfast (2 hours) before going to my 1030 appt. Any suggestions on what I should eat or avoid to favor a good test result?

[owlgirl]

Yeah, I declined it. Several reasons. First is I am a L&D RN and promised myself when I went into this profession, after apprenticing w/ a homebirth midwife for many years, I would not sell out to fear that is so commonly found among RNs who see all the 'bad' stuff. I had seen so much normal and beauty prior to my new career choice and I still do I might add. For me personally this pregnancy is a practice in following my intuition. I don't feel it is a necessary test, for me.

The breakdown is a little something like this:
During pregnancy d/t inc. estrogen & progesterone we have inc. insulin production which inc. uptake and storage of glycogen and fat. We also have inc. insulin resistance d/t placenta hormones. If unable to keep up w/ insulin needs we get hyperglycemia. We transport glucose through placenta to baby but NOT insulin. So maternal hyperglycemia leads to fetal hyperinsulinemia which fxns as a growth hormone to baby. Read big baby, but not just big all over, an emphasis in chest and shoulders. No good. Also leads to a decrease in Surfactant production which leads to an inc. in RDS, what Shellnurse was referring to.

The pathophysio is quite interesting. However according to some evidence based research that Henci Goer has documented in Obstetrical Myths Versus Research Reality, routine testing has not decreased c/s rates, shoulder dystocias or NICU admissions for RDS.

I have no genetic predisposition (that I know of) for diabetes and I eat well. Meaning no refined sugar. The mere thought of a glucola drink makes me want to vomit. I have agreed to take it if I start spilling ketones when they dip my urine at EVERY visit. So far nothing.

At the end of the day every woman needs to make her own decision based on evidence and her gut....not fear. Really hard to do in the medicalization of birth world we find ourselves navigating through.

[ema-adama]

I have declined it this time around as I felt quite sick the previsou time I did it.

I am not a fan of an intervention that carries a relatively high risk for false positive (read - lots of unnecessary stress). I also do not have any family history of diabetes, I eat a wholefoods diet and moving a moderate amount.

I also do have a glucometer, and tested my glucose fasting, 1 and 2 hours after each meal over a period of a couple of days and was happy with the results (mostly under 100 within an hour of eating, although I had a higher reading after breakfast. This seemed to be a pattern - and looks like a pattern in most people from what I have read. Keeping my carbs down and making sure I am getting good fats and protein helped to keep my morning sugar more even.By this I was aiming to keep my sugar under 100 within one hour. I got a bit anal about it. Under 140 at 2 hours and under 120 at two hours in considered 'normal')

[the janet]

So...I took the GTT last Friday and was told they'd get results around Wednesday/Thursday but that unless #s were high I wouldn't get a call.

I just got a call today from the girl at the birthing center who administered the test. I started to panic. There was definitely a problem...but she said not with the results. She had submitted my blood samples to the lab in the wrong test tubes. So I have to take it again.

I'm not upset b/c it's an honest mistake and I like her. But I'm seriously bummed that I have to drink that crap again, get my blood drawn 4 times again and crash hard for 24 hours afterwards...again.