Gestational diabetes screening in pregnant woman, how my situation unfolds.

I seriously debated whether or not to post my last entry because I felt it was an unresolved issue that left me open to the possibility of getting tons of “you are a crazy hippy, listen to your doctor” feedback… You guys are amazing though!

I never imagined I would receive so much helpful information as a result of that post and I am now very glad I choose to share my vulnerable moment with the internet. There really is so much knowledge and support out there!

Basically after reading all the comments you left and after chatting with many people about it I’ve got some direction and resolution. I found out that my mother also failed her GD tests with each of her 3 pregnancies. After failing the tests all they did was advise her of ways to eat a better diet. Essentially they did nothing more to treat the issue, my brothers and I we were all born fine…

Also, my midwife is not concerned about my failing the gestational diabetes screen by 1 point. When I talked to her she said her major concern for me was to watch my blood pressure and any potential swelling (you know preeclampsia or pregnancy induced hypertension).

She also suggested that I get my hands on a blood glucose meter so I could monitor my own blood sugar levels at home (for peace of mind). She said I didn’t need to follow up with the second 3 hour blood glucose test like my OBGYN wants. Nothing wrong with saving myself the stress and the insurance company money.

She did say we should keep an eye on my sugar levels with a meter for a few weeks just to be sure nothing funny really is going on. If I do show blood sugar problems with day to day testing then we’ll dive right in to diet modification.

Even if I was officially diagnosed with GD after the 3 hour blood glucose test I would only be advised to change my diet. In rare cases when a woman’s blood glucose level is super high insulin can be given as a treatment method but with my test coming back at 140 (which is normally the highest normal result with other physicians) all this is a bit funny to be getting worked up over.

For most women GD is something that can be managed and even avoided with the proper diet and nutrition. It’s not a world shattering thing for the average woman like the doctors make it out to be.

We’ve decided to decline the 3 hour blood glucose test along with the RhoGam shot the OBGYN is pushing. Either they will respect our decisions about it all and back off or they will continue pushing and we’ll just cancel our appointments and discontinue care with them.

We are definitely planning to get a blood glucose meter to keep tabs on by blood sugar here at home just to be sure we aren’t ignoring any potential issues. Plus, the glucose meter will help me to see what foods (if any) are impacting me.

We are pretty sure there is no blood sugar problem, I just need to focus on eating more good stuff like I was trying to do back in the first trimester before the bad advice from the OBGYN.

Eating well is always something I’ve had to conciously focus on, if I let my cravings dictate my eating I’ll eat nothing but crap, I knew that when I discovered I was pregnant. Then I let the OBGYN make me feel bad for not eating what I was craving, now I need to just go back to my initial way of thinking. I can do that!