When I was pregnant with our 3rd child, I flunked my three hour glucose test. The test determines if a mother can handle glucose during pregnancy. One is asked to come to the test fasting — nothing to eat or drink for the previous 8 hours. One drinks about 8 ounces of a glucose solution containing 3.5 ounces (100 grams) of sugar. This is about three times sweeter than full-sugar Coca-Cola and must be drunk quickly, in one sitting.
They determined that I was diabetic and would need to take insulin (through an injection in the abdomen) to keep my fasting blood sugar in the morning below 70.
All of this was unnatural, but at the time I complied because a few years earlier we had lost a child at 20 weeks gestation. I was eager to successfully carry to term. Blood sugar below 70 in the morning is very low. 100 grams of sugar drunk at one sitting is outrageous.
I put insulin for the next three months into my body (my two older daughters called my tummy "the rainbow of hurting"), sometimes having a waking blood sugar of 50. Our boy was born healthy and that was that.
and then I remembered that my last 3 hour glucose test was done about a week before we lost our previous child at about 20 weeks gestation. so- when I got pregnant with our fourth child, I refused the 3 hour glucose testing. I assured the doctors that I would eat a low carb diet and that I would take my blood sugar four times a day. They didn't believe that I would have the discipline, but I was successful, had normal blood sugar readings with no insulin pokes in the abodomen, and our girl was born healthy
the lesson? Maybe the medical professionals are working with out-dated information. Yes- doctors are taught "when you hear hoof beats, think horse and not zebra" That might be true, but we should all see ourselves as 'zebras' and advocate for our our health- and that of our children
I have had gestational diabetes with my last 3 babies and my fasting blood sugar goal was 90, which seemed unnaturally low to me. 70 seems terribly risky. I've never been put on insulin, as my gestational diabetes has always been controllable with medication, but I must admit to a fair amount of cheating on my blood sugar numbers this last time around, to avoid insulin. Testing at 1 hour and 15 minutes always yielded "acceptable" results, but testing at 1 hour (as I was supposed to do) would have had me on insulin. I think the bar is set way to low for diagnosis. They talk about the increase in the diagnosis of gestational diabetes, but the net is getting wider and wider. On the other hand, I've never eaten healthier than when following the gestational diabetes diet strictly.
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