GD test

[Sydnee]

Is everyone having this done?? I made my appt. yesterday, and the receptionist looked at me all funny when I said I was declining it??

[vicky72]

I was GD with my DS so I am sort of branded as high risk for developing it again. I did one test at 19 weeks and passed and will do another around 25. Not everyone takes it, if you search the boards you will fing many varied opinions. There are quite a few diabetics in my family so I have a few risk factors.

With my DS I was Diagnosed at 30 weeks. I went on to have a natural birth with a midwife and he was a healthy 8lb 9oz fellow. He never had any glucose issues, and never received formula in the hospital.

I was totally diet controlled.

Good luck

[alexisyael]

I'm not having it. My MW hasn't even said anything about it.

[NYCVeg]

I'm probably going to decline. I DO have some diabetes in my family (one grandfather and a great-uncle, on different sides), but no other risk factors: I'm normal-to-slightly underweight when not pregnant and haven't had miscarriages. If, due to the family history of diabetes, the mws want to do a blood test after I eat a normal meal, I may do that.

From what I've read about the test, though (Henci Goer, Sears, et al.), the "diagnosis" does not correlate with actual outcomes. It's also such an artificial situation--how often does your body actually have to process that much sugar at once? I really don't want to give that drink to me or my baby!

[tomtemama]

I have taken, and passed (phew), the test.

My mother and paternal grandmother are both diabetic and GD is supposed to be a possible precursor to diabetes later in life so I get checked (did last time too) just so I can know for later if I had it.

As far as I know there is very little you can really do to control the weight of the baby except reduce sugar intake and exercise regularly so really knowing or not knowing shouldn't make that big of a difference in the final weight of the baby anyway. As long as you are already doing the above which is what my MW recommends to everyone, especially a woman who has had a 9lb 10oz baby in the past :blush.

In Canada the GD test is a standard Dr. ordered test as part of prenatal care and if it is where you are too that may be why the receptionist gave you a look. I find that whenever I am declining or doing anything "different" because I am a midwifery patient I get the same look from the lab receptionist. Oh yeah, and then she quickly adds a note to copy my GP the paper work :irked:

I do eat a normal meal, that my midwife suggests, I agree with NYCVeg, the sugar drink is just SO MUCH!!!

[Ksenia]

I am not doing the test because 1. I have no risk factors and 2. true GD seems to be much more rare than diagnosed. Here's a great article:

Article by Henci Goer on the Uselessness of Standard Management of Gestational Diabetes (http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/gdhgoer.html)

[NYCVeg]

I've heard a lot of people say, "I'm declining the test b/c I have no risk factors." Does this mean that I'm foolish for declining the test, b/c I DO have a risk factor?--that is, having one grandfather and one great-uncle who had diabetes. (This sounds a little snarky as I re-read it, but I mean it as a serious quesiton.) From everything I've read, maternal size and size of babies in the family is a far better predictor of who will have large babies than GD. I'm a 110-pound (pre-pregnant) woman and weighed 6'11" at birth; dh weighed 6'2" at birth, my niece weighed 6'6" at birth, and my mom's 4 kids were 8'2", 7'11", 7'6", and 6'11". Dh's sister was 7 and a half-ish. None of this suggests to me that I should be expecting a huge baby.

One other thing I don't get--toward the end of pregnancy, your mw or OB can palpate your uterus and feel the baby's head (and body) pretty well. For an experienced care provider, wouldn't this give a better sense of the baby's size than a GD test at 28 weeks? (Not that head size correlates exactly with weight, of course.)

[Ksenia]

I've heard a lot of people say, "I'm declining the test b/c I have no risk factors." Does this mean that I'm foolish for declining the test, b/c I DO have a risk factor?--that is, having one grandfather and one great-uncle who had diabetes.IMO, no - based on the article that I posted above.

[NYCVeg]

I've read other stuff by Henci Goer on GD. I find her very persuasive!

I've also always wondered what "diabetes in the family" really means. That is, is a great-uncle really a close enough relative that it counts? It seems different than, say, my dad or my sister being diabetic. Also, both of these cases were people who developed type 2 diabetes due to being overweight--that seems different to me than having type 1 diabetes, since it's lifestyle-related (although I assume there's a genetic componant in there, too).

[busybusymomma]

I'm declinging the test. Well, actually since I haven't been seeing an OB I don't even have to decline the test. :lol

For all the reasons mentioned above... :wink

[alexisyael]

I've heard a lot of people say, "I'm declining the test b/c I have no risk factors." Does this mean that I'm foolish for declining the test, b/c I DO have a risk factor?--that is, having one grandfather and one great-uncle who had diabetes. (This sounds a little snarky as I re-read it, but I mean it as a serious quesiton.)

Also IMO, no. I have a grandfather who died of diabetes related complications and I'm not taking the GD test. I don't really buy the "GD" label -- see the article Ksenia posted. Now, are there some women who are pre-diabetic going into pregnancy, for whom pregnancy brings out diabetes? Yeah. But that is a totally different thing. Plus, wouldn't those women be spilling TONS of sugar in their urine?

[alexisyael]

I've also always wondered what "diabetes in the family" really means. That is, is a great-uncle really a close enough relative that it counts?

My CNM (our backup care provider) actually did mention that my grandfather who had diabetes isn't considered a close relative (siblings and parents are) so she wasn't at all concerned about it.

He also developed it as a result of obesity.

[Snowdrift]

I'm also trying to decide what I want to do about this. My grandfather died of diabetes complications, but he got diabetes in his 50's bc he was very overweight and refused to control his diet *at all*. When my grandmotehr finally put her foot down and made him eat right it was controlled exclusively by diet. I'm "overweight" by the charts but don't look fat and am pretty active (walk almost daily, hike and backpack in the summer, did martial arts until I messed up my shoulder) and I eat well. I have never had any other symptoms of medical complications of being overweight (blood pressure is always great, no high cholesterol, no signs of high blood sugar--although of course havne't taken the GTT yet). When I was 'normal' by the charts I was anemic and looked sickly skinny. I think my body just likes being between 180 and 200 pounds and I think I should be fine.

But...there's that pesky risk factor of being "overweight." And the diabetic grandfather. And that my mom had three full term babies, all aroudn 9-10 pounds. My brother the preemie was five weeks early and weighed 7.5. My family does *not* grow small babies. I'm just glad my main care provider is a homebirth midwife who doesn't worry about stuff like GD and "huge babies" overmuch.

So I haven't decided yet. I've got about a month to make up my mind. The CNM I'm seeing for all my medical tests suggested i research some of the alternatives---jellybeans, etc., so I should probably do that...

No words of wisdom, just commiseration on trying to make a decision.

[luckylady]

I am supposed to do it next week. I had GD with DD, but this one I have been eating MUCH healthier. So I am not worried about it. At my 21 week US though he already weighed exactly 1 LB!

[maybebaby]

Well, I declined the GTT but I've been labeled GD by my backup CNM. I'd started doing random finger pricks and my numbers are elevated and I made the mistake of telling her :wink

But I also had the HbA1c test which showed that I didn't previously have elevated levels (so it wasn't preexisting diabetes). I think this is just a variation on "normal" that's normal for me personally. My numbers aren't in diabetes range, but higher than the norm.

And yeah, it's got to be a first degree relative who'd had diabetes. My dad had it, but was dx'ed in his late 60's (that does change things, if a relative developed it in old age it's not as big a deal as developing it earlier) and he had muscular dystrophy so obviously the fact that he could really get hardly any exercise had some impact on his sugars imo. I have humungo babies, but all the women in my family do. I am overweight though...so I have some strikes against me :)

I'm glad I've known about it, it's caused me to eat much better than I probably would have (I don't eat LOTS of bad things, just too much of the good things and way too many carbs). I'm glad my homebirth mw's are fine with my numbers and are supportive of my still having a homebirth.

So, anyway, long story short...I don't think the GTT is a very valid test. I think if you really want to know what your sugars are doing, checking with a glucometer or having a post prandial blood sugar draw are MUCH more effective and informative.

[L'lee]

Another grandchild of a diabetic who plans to skip the GTT test, here! :wave

My aunt was 13 pounds when she was born because my grandmother had GD. She ate pretty poorly from a diabetes standpoint, though, so I'm sure that was a large factor. Plus, she was in her 40s by then which I believe increases your risk. She was diabetic later in life, not surprisingly.

I am planning to get a prescription for a glucose monitor and do some random checks (partly just because I find it interesting). If anyone else is interested in this, ask your local pharmacist - it looks like I should be able to get a monitor for free with a prescription. I already try to eat very little processed sugar and few white flour products, so I'm not really too worried about it. I want to have a record, though, in case I need to "prove myself" later!

[merrick]

What exactly are the negatives of taking the test? I'm supposed to do it my next appt. and I had never heard anything bad about having it done. I'm not looking forward to that yucky orange drink though. My grandmother is diabetic, and I don't know about my bio dads side of the family, so there probably is some risk for me.

[busybusymomma]

Candace- There's a loooong thread/poll about the GTT test on the I'm Pregnant forum with lots of good info. :) :thumb

[mamacatsbaby]

This is another one I'll skip for all the reasons already listed. :)

[lacysmommy]

I'm skipping the test, too. I don't see any reason why I should waste so many hours out of the day to just take a test and have them tell me it came back negitive.