Managing Your Gestational Diabetes

A woman is often barraged by testing and blood work and urine tests and lots of handouts with information when she is pregnant. She’d probably just rather think about the coming baby, what she’s going to do about work, and how this baby will change her life as it is. 

But sometime around week 24 to week 28, the doctor will tell her that it is time for a gestational diabetes test.
Gestational diabetes, also referred to as glucose intolerance during pregnancy, affects about 3-6 percent of pregnant women. All pregnant women should be tested since it is difficult to know in advance who might have gestational diabetes. There are certain risk factors, though, and some are: 

? Being over the age of thirty
? Being obese ( a BMI of 30 or higher)
? Family history of diabetes
? Gestational diabetes in a previous pregnancy

The first test for gestational diabetes is usually called the “one hour test”. This test is done at the doctor’s office and involves drinking a very sweet glucose sugar solution, usually poorly disguised with orange or lemon flavor, and testing the blood one hour later. A blood sugar level of less than 140 is considered normal and no further testing is needed. 

In my second pregnancy, I was 38. I was not overweight before the pregnancy, but during my first trimester, I had gained 24 pounds! I still wasn’t too concerned about gestational diabetes, even though my mother had type 2 diabetes that indirectly caused her death two years before. I began to feel a little worried when my one-hour glucose test came back at 240 and I was sweaty, nauseous, and dizzy for the remainder of the day. 

When the blood sugar level is higher than 140, the person is considered to have gestational diabetes. Usually, the doctor will request a three hour test at that time. This is a fasting test. For ten to fourteen hours prior to the test, the woman should only have water. This is difficult for a pregnant woman, particularly one who does have gestational diabetes, since hunger is one of the symptoms.