Gestational Disbetes
Yo ……… long time never update my blog liao…….
I am in my 31 weeks now, I still remember in 14th May 09, I was about 27 to 28 weeks, my weight gain from 60.9kg (last mth) to 64.2 and also my baby weight increased from 616g (last mth) to 1470g. Therefore, my gynae suspected I may have Gestational Disbetes, so I had to go back on the next day for 75-gram oral glucose tolerance test. Well, true enough, I failed the test, 2 hours after I had the sweet drink my reading was 142 mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter). Anything between 140 - 200 mg/dL is considered impaired glucose tolerance (sometimes called "prediabetes").
Since I am already a confirm case my gynae refer me to a dietitian, where she advised me to go on special diet!
What is Gestational disbetes?
Gestational diabetes is diabetes that is found for the first time when a woman is pregnant. Out Diabetes means that your blood glucose (also called blood sugar) is too high. Your body uses glucose for energy. But too much glucose in your blood can be harmful. When you are pregnant, too much glucose is not good for your baby.
In Singapore 8.6% of all pregnancies are complicated by diabetes. When we eat food particularly carbohydrate food the carbohydrate is broken down into basic units of glucose. The glucose then moves into the small intestine, where it is absorbed into the blood stream. Glucose from the blood cannot be absorbed by the body cells without insulin. Insulin is a hormone that produces by the pancreas. When levels of blood sugar increase (after a meal) insulin production also increases. The extra insulin unlocks our cell to more sugar, there by providing our body with energy and maintain a normal blood sugar levels.
During pregnancy placenta produces hormones to sustain our pregnancy. These hormones make our cells more resistant to insulin. As our pregnancy advances to second and third trimester, our placenta grows larger and secretes more of these hormones making it even harder for insulin to do its job.
Normally our pancreas responds to this by producing more insulin to overcome the resistance however, in some cases the pancreas in unable to keep up. When this happens, too little glucose gets into the cells and too much stays in the blood.
How will gestational diabetes affect my baby?
Untreated or uncontrolled gestational diabetes can mean problems for your baby, such as
Treating gestational diabetes means taking steps to keep our blood glucose levels in a target range. We will learn how to control our blood glucose using meal plan. Using a meal plan will help keep our blood glucose in our target range. The plan will provide guidelines on which foods to eat, how much to eat, and when to eat. Choices, amounts, and timing are all important in keeping our blood glucose levels in our target range.
I also got myself a blood glucose meter to do the blood test myself. I have to take at least 7 reading in a week and show the result booklet to my gynae.
I will probably have a blood glucose test 6 weeks after my baby is born.
Due to this Gestational Diatetes, my gynae wants me to give birth 2 weeks earlier then my EDD (12th Aug).
I am in my 31 weeks now, I still remember in 14th May 09, I was about 27 to 28 weeks, my weight gain from 60.9kg (last mth) to 64.2 and also my baby weight increased from 616g (last mth) to 1470g. Therefore, my gynae suspected I may have Gestational Disbetes, so I had to go back on the next day for 75-gram oral glucose tolerance test. Well, true enough, I failed the test, 2 hours after I had the sweet drink my reading was 142 mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter). Anything between 140 - 200 mg/dL is considered impaired glucose tolerance (sometimes called "prediabetes").
Since I am already a confirm case my gynae refer me to a dietitian, where she advised me to go on special diet!
What is Gestational disbetes?
Gestational diabetes is diabetes that is found for the first time when a woman is pregnant. Out Diabetes means that your blood glucose (also called blood sugar) is too high. Your body uses glucose for energy. But too much glucose in your blood can be harmful. When you are pregnant, too much glucose is not good for your baby.
In Singapore 8.6% of all pregnancies are complicated by diabetes. When we eat food particularly carbohydrate food the carbohydrate is broken down into basic units of glucose. The glucose then moves into the small intestine, where it is absorbed into the blood stream. Glucose from the blood cannot be absorbed by the body cells without insulin. Insulin is a hormone that produces by the pancreas. When levels of blood sugar increase (after a meal) insulin production also increases. The extra insulin unlocks our cell to more sugar, there by providing our body with energy and maintain a normal blood sugar levels.
During pregnancy placenta produces hormones to sustain our pregnancy. These hormones make our cells more resistant to insulin. As our pregnancy advances to second and third trimester, our placenta grows larger and secretes more of these hormones making it even harder for insulin to do its job.
Normally our pancreas responds to this by producing more insulin to overcome the resistance however, in some cases the pancreas in unable to keep up. When this happens, too little glucose gets into the cells and too much stays in the blood.
How will gestational diabetes affect my baby?
Untreated or uncontrolled gestational diabetes can mean problems for your baby, such as
- being born very large and with extra fat; this can make delivery difficult and more dangerous for your baby
- low blood glucose right after birth
- breathing problems
- increased risk for type 2 diabetes for the rest of our lives
Treating gestational diabetes means taking steps to keep our blood glucose levels in a target range. We will learn how to control our blood glucose using meal plan. Using a meal plan will help keep our blood glucose in our target range. The plan will provide guidelines on which foods to eat, how much to eat, and when to eat. Choices, amounts, and timing are all important in keeping our blood glucose levels in our target range.
I also got myself a blood glucose meter to do the blood test myself. I have to take at least 7 reading in a week and show the result booklet to my gynae.
I will probably have a blood glucose test 6 weeks after my baby is born.
Due to this Gestational Diatetes, my gynae wants me to give birth 2 weeks earlier then my EDD (12th Aug).
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