Diabetes Pregnancy

I’m 28 weeks and I failed my first glucose test. They are going to retest me in the 3 hour test next week. I don’t really eat much "simple" sugar and I get plenty of exercise a day so I don’t know what will be expected of me. I’ve also been loosing weight my entire pregnancy (I think due to better diet and exercise) and don’t know what roll this plays in gestational diabetes. I’d like more info on what the effects of gestational diabetes can have on me and my daughter if I don’t pass the next test and they certify me as diabetic. Thanks.

When you have gestational diabetes, your body is not breaking down the sugars that you are taking in, and they linger too long in the blood stream and are not taken up by the cells in your body for use in metabolism. When there is too much sugar in the blood stream, it goes to the baby. They baby can put on excess weight. The lack of sugar being able to be taken up by the cells affects the placental cells, which help create amniotic fluid, which filter products of the blood stream, so in theory it creates a more toxic environment for the baby. They do not understand all of the ways in which excess blood sugar causes complications with the baby, but women with gestational diabetes are at a higher risk for stillbirth and premature labor. The baby can be born excessively large, making vaginal delivery more dangerous and raising risk for ending up with a c-section, baby can have unstable blood sugar levels after birth when it is "cut off" from your supply, which can lead to temperature instability too.

So even if you don’t feel any ill effects, the effects still can be very serious. This is why it is important to follow whatever diabetic diet they prescribe, monitor your blood sugars carefully, and if you need to take meds or insulin do it as prescribed. And don’t feel like a failure or that you did anything wrong or shouldn’t have it because you did everything right. . . gestational diabetes is just a spontaneous disease which you cannot control.