Gestational Diabetes

The first thing that the diabetic midwife told me when we meet her was that the gestational diabetis did not occur because of anything I did or ate. The reason it happened is that during pregnancy my body requires extra insulin for the growing baby and so, there is now not enough insulin. Or, because of the many hormones running through the body because of pregnancy, the insulin in my body is not acting as efficiently as it should. Therefore, it is NOT my fault! Fuh..what a relief..

The risk in having GD is that the baby may get bigger and requires a c-sect later to deliver. The baby's body will also produce extra insulin to cope with the extra glucose and will result in the baby having low glucose after birth and will have to be taken to special care unit for her glucose levels to be monitored. Having GD also means that I am at risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life..

Then she goes on to explain some modifications that I will need to do to my diet to control my glucose levels. I should eat regular meals, avoid sugary and fattening foods, increase intake of starchy food like rice and pasta, eat low-fat dairy etc. The suprising thing is that i need to decrease intake of fruits and vegetables from the recommended amount of 5 portions a day to 4 portions a day. The reason is that fruits contain natural sugar. I should also watch out for sweet fruits like over-ripe banana, melons etc.

As i control my diet, I will need to monitor my glucose levels daily. She gave me a home glucose testing kit, and explained to me how to use it. It's really quite complicated to do...maybe i'm not used to it yet..i have to take blood sample twice or sometimes once a day.

my glucose kit. I like the package, neat ada bag dia sendiri. The monitor is digital and gives the reading. This machine must be calibrated for every new pack of strips and it must be checked every week with glucose water to make sure it works properly.

Here's the prick! with needles, and strips. Try sekali tadi prick my finger and read the reading in front of the midwife, to make sure i know how to do it...sakit jugak! tapi oklah...

My glucose monitoring diary...she gave me a schedule for when i need to check my glucose levels daily for this week. Next week on Wednesday I will have to come in to see her again. I guess i cannot cheat in my diet lah..she will check it every week..I was quite surprise how frequent i will have to have my ante-natal check-up now..in addition to the weekly check-up, I will also have to come in for frequent scanning to make sure the baby's not growing too big (separate sessions) kesian my husband..nanti his work will pile up..dahla dia tgh busy skarang...sorry bang...

to dispose of the needles

There is quite a long procedure that she taught me to use this kit. How to calibrate, how to test the machine, how to set up the needle, how to put in the strip, how to prick etc. My husband said I should write it all down or else I might forget how. I'm thinking I will have to lock myself up in a room before I conduct the tests otherwise i can never get it done with Adam around..

I really hope controlling my diet can help control my glucose levels...If by dieting my insulin is still not enough...i may need tablets or insulin shots..

The midwife also checked my belly and the baby's heartbeat...then she said, wait, where's your baby's head?? she quickly then ordered a scan for me....tgk2...la...the babys is breeched! Alamak Baby sayang...pls turn soon ok...if she is breeched, dahla size might be big..payahla nak dpt deliver normally...at 34 weeks they will check again, if still breech, they will refer me to...(ok lupa department ape) where they will try to turn the baby from outside..

hmm...hopefully everything will be ok..

Looking at it from another angle though, it's amazing how the NHS here works. I mean, all of this care for me is free! Is there a similar system by hospital kerajaan in Malaysia? We took things for granted with Adam because we have insurance kan..with NHS, any pregnant lady in similar condition would have this special care available...imagine someone with no money...this free medical care would really help! alhamdulillah...