Gestational Diabetes?!

I had a phone call from my Obs & Gynae doc this morning to say that my glucose tolerance blood test results just came in and that my blood glucose level is extremely high. He said that 140 is considered normal but mine was something like 192. If my results had been just a bit over 140 they would've asked me to go take the 3-hour test just in case but as they were so high there was no need to. He said that the fact that I'd had lunch right before taking the test wouldn't have made a significant difference either. :(

A bit from the www:

Gestational Diabetes Screening: Glucose Challenge Test
(1 hour after a 50-gram glucose drink)
Less than 140* mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L) Normal glucose tolerance
140* mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L) and over Abnormal, needs OGTT (see below)
* Some use a cutoff of >130 mg/dL (7.2 mmol/L) because that identifies 90% of women with gestational diabetes, compared to 80% identified using the threshold of >140 mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L).

Gestational Diabetes Diagnostic: OGTT
(100-gram glucose drink)
Fasting* 95 mg/dL (5.3 mmol/L)
1 hour after glucose load* 180 mg/dL (10.0 mmol/L)
2 hours after glucose load* 155 mg/dL (8.6 mmol/L)
3 hours after glucose load* ** 140 mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L)
* If two or more values are above the criteria, gestational diabetes is diagnosed.
** A 75-gram glucose load may be used, although this method is not as well validated as the 100-gram OGTT; the 3-hour sample is not drawn if 75 grams is used.

So I've been doing a bit of reading on gestational diabetes this morning and I'm actually in the very low-risk category but somehow... It's been one thing after another with my pregnancy and as Peter once said I've been "over-achieving" (morning sickness went on longer than 90% of average pregnant women, ending up in A&E / ER, etc) but this is the most worrying of the lot as it may affect Sara(h) while she's in the womb, during the birth, after birth and beyond for both of us. Only 2-7% of expectant mothers develop gestational diabetes, which apparently makes it one of the most common health problems of pregnancy but with my medical history, my family's medical history, and everything else considered the chances of me ending up with gestational diabetes were lower than low... There's a higher risk of stillbirth, of me needing a c-section, of my developing pre-eclampsia (was involved in a clinical trial with women with pre-eclampsia - it's not nice at all!!!), and 2/3 of women who have gestational diabetes have it again during future pregnancies and usually go on to develop Type II diabetes within 5 years after delivery amongst other things! Sara(h) has a higher chance of developing childhood & adulthood obesity and of developing diabetes too - poor thing!

My Obs & Gynae doc will be setting up appointments for me attend a clinic for pregnant women with gestational diabetes so I can learn as much as poss about it and start regulating my diet and exercise appropriately as too much exercise can be just as bad as too little. *Sigh...*

Only Peter and mum know so far... I haven't even told Peter's parents yet. There's a very slight chance that it might be a false alarm and our doc said that he'd get the lab to re-check my results but...

I think the most important thing to remember in order to keep things in perspective is that most mums with gestational diabetes have natural births without too many complications and have healthy babies.

Please continue to pray for us, especially our health, that there will be no complications during the next couple of months.

Prayerfully yours on a nostalgic, lovely, rainy day in San Jose,
Jenny