Experience with Gestational Diabetes

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Permalink Reply by Holly Buckingham on July 31, 2009 at 5:58am

My first baby wasn't huge, 8lb 8oz I had him at home with no tearing. Like you I am slightly nervous that the next one will be bigger but I think the size of the head is more important than the weight, and my son's head is big, always been in the 90th percentile. I used an epi-no http://www.avoidepisiotomy.com/
to stretch my muscles which I'm sure helped. I am planning my second homebirth in Nov, my midwife has advised me to cut out carbs and sweet things for the last 2 weeks of my pregnancy as that's when the baby puts weight on. It sounds like you are being sensible re eating etc so I'm sure you'll be fine - good luck!

Permalink Reply by Kaiya on July 31, 2009 at 6:05am

ok, the last 2 weeks? Whew. :) I can definitely do that.
I have been sensible, but I have been cheating here and there. Craving chocolate is not helping! (Craving beer too but obviously not chuggin' that. LOL) Wtih vacation last month and lots of birthday celebrations in August, I am going to have a hard time resisting temptation.
I have heard about the Epi-No, but wasn't sure if it was worth it. I should probably start doing some massaging/stretching down there either way.
Thankfully DS's head was always in the average range. His height/weight was in the 90's, but did not have a huge head. Here's hoping!

Thanks!

Permalink Reply by Cherylyn on July 31, 2009 at 6:51am

Kaiya, I don't know if this helps, but ultrasounds are not very accurate at determining the baby's size, especially after the first trimester. In the first trimester fetal development is very specific for gestational age, and the ultrasound can very accurately determine the baby's size. After that, the gestational development is not so clear-cut, and the ultrasound estimates are not nearly as accurate. I think it's better NOT to have u/s scans because they can create a false alarm if the technician or doctor feels the baby is larger because of the scan results. Even other things like non-stress tests can be concerning because of the possibility of false readings or findings. I think you are on the right track for a healthy pregnancy and healthy baby. You have a care provider who has been monitoring you throughout the pregnancy and you are doing your best to stay healthy and low risk. If your midwife does regular urinalysis at your check-ups, that is another way that a glucose imbalance can be detected. Just keep staying on top of it like you are, and be at peace about your choices. Trust your intuition, and good luck!

Permalink Reply by Kaiya on July 31, 2009 at 9:03am

Thanks! Actually one of my reasons of choosing the midwife/homebirth this time is that I would skip all the paranoia they put me through last time.
Testing my sugars and the NST were stressful to go through last time, but at least I had something tangible to look at if that makes sense. But I agree that they often cause more scares than needed.
Even with the most laid back OBs they still have to monitor and consider liability.
I know the u/s aren't all that acurate for size, but I guess it's just getting used to the new mindset of less monitoring.

And my urine tests are all going fine so far so that's good. :)

Permalink Reply by Jamie Bond on July 31, 2009 at 8:58pm

Just as a little reassurance, my second baby was born a home and she was a whopping 9lbs 4oz. I had very little tearing and she came out really fast. If the baby's head is big the midwife will probably help you to push it out slowly to avoid tearing. From what I understand, it's not so much the size of the baby that causes tearing, but the time the perineum gets to stretch around the baby. Most midwives like to avoid having to stitch you up afterwards, so I am sure you are in good, capable, slow perineum stretching hands :)

Permalink Reply by Erin Buxton on November 9, 2009 at 3:00pm

I didn't have GD but a friend of mine did and she ended up with a 7 lb baby. Watching the diet was the biggest factor. If you can, meet with a nutritionist and get the right diet. You might have already done that with the last one.

For my friend, the carb and sugar intake was the big thing. Even though I did not have GD, I was not allowed ANY sugar with an absolute cut off date of 26 weeks. That's when the baby is supposed to put on most of its fat. She said sugar doesn't give any additional nutrients but can significantly increase the size and weight of your baby. She said that this would increase my chances of complications. She also suggested no white foods like white bread, rice, potatoes and said to eat the dark versions of these for the same reasons. Exceptions were milk and cauliflower. While was a little hard, I found Stevia to be a great sugar substitute. Even though I put on almost 70 lbs, my baby was a mere 6 lbs 3 ozs. The only other thing I heard is that if you have GD, you need to watch your total carb intake but I don't remember how much is recommended. Can your midwife give you any advice on this?

Permalink Reply by Holly Buckingham on November 10, 2009 at 8:35am

I've just had a very large baby at home and it was fine! Our second son Max was born in the birthing pool at home on Sunday 8th November at 6.10am weighing a whopping 10lb 8oz (my first son was 8lb 8oz so I was expecting a similar weight) My labour was 5 hours and I pushed for about half an hour, after his head came out my midwife helped me as his arm got a bit stuck but all was fine. I didn't need stitches with my first baby but I needed a couple after Max but they are good and not causing any problems. If I had known I was having such a big baby I would have worried but it just goes to show ignorance is bliss, he came out fine even though he was big.
Admittedly after not being able to eat chocolate throughout most of my pregnancy due to morning sickness, heartburn etc I did eat a lot in the last 2 weeks but my family do have a history of large babies.
I found the second baby to be so much easier, labour was intense but short, he's feeding well, sleeping well there's a lot less worry with no 2 as you know what's going on.
Just re read your post and realised you must have had your baby by now so hope it all went well.

Permalink Reply by Kaiya on November 10, 2009 at 8:45am

UPDATE: BABY WAS BORN 9/22/09

Just to give an update my darlin boy was born at home in the water. He weighed in at 9lbs exactly but that was after several bowel movements. LOL I did have some tearing but none more than I had the first time. I did watch my diet and generally eat pretty healthy, but there were some "cheats" in there too. Thanks for all the responses!