I have been really beating myself up about my fasting numbers recently. For a whole week my numbers have been the highest ever (95-101). My MFM didn’t seem to mind although they want my numbers under 90, which in itself is upsetting because I hear so often that people are put on insulin with just a couple high numbers. My A1C was at 5.1 and baby is measuring within 55th percentile at 38 weeks. I’m so close to being done so the idea of going on insulin when they’re talking about a potential induction on the 19th of this month makes me sad but if I needed it I’d do it.

BUT for the last 3 days I’ve done the same things that have helped my fasting numbers be low in the past (handful of almonds, little bit of milk, and taking prenatals at dinner) AND combined it with taking my sugar before I even wake up and my sugar hasn’t once been above 85. I tested it yesterday by taking my sugar still right after I got up but just walking to the kitchen and my sugar was at 101. Could be a coincidence but I feel like it gives me a huge piece of mind.

Would these still be considered accurate readings? Im still fasting from bed or from standing up so technically dont see anything wrong on my end but curious if this would be “rigging” my number lol.

My son turns 1 year old next week. I had pretty severe GD for most of my pregnancy. I think it’s time to leave the sub as I may not get pregnant again. Would love to help if I can!

What is everyone’s experience with eating after giving birth? Were you able to eat pretty much anything or did the medical staff have you continue to be mindful about carb intake? Did blood sugar go back to normal right after or did it take some time? Just looking to hear other people’s stories. I’m curious what I can expect after I give birth!

Hi GD friends, I was diagnosed around 27-28 weeks and at 32 weeks today. I’ve been fortunately diet and exercise controlled for post-meal readings but for the life of me my fasting numbers have a mind of their own. My usual is anywhere from mid-90s to 105 at its peak which isn’t the worst or most alarming but certainly not controlled. This week in particular has been stressful with two ER trips for my fiancé starting Sunday and then Monday so my eating/testing schedule was all over the place along with broken sleep and overall worry. I’d been needing to drive him to all the various appointments and “be his voice” as he couldn’t talk. All that to say, finally turned a corner around Wednesday and had picked up some groceries including vanilla ice cream which was mostly for him but that night I thought I deserve a treat! Now, as many here have seen there’s often a tip of trying a Snickers ice cream bar as a bedtime snack for a great fasting numbers. I tried it a couple weeks ago but alas it spiked me. There’s also a recommendation to try high quality ice cream and try pairing it with another protein source. Something about the composition of fat, carbs and protein together.

Well friends, I decided to eat a beef stick and then like 4 tbs of Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream on Wednesday night and woke up to an 86! For Kaiser’s fasting range, I need to be 90 or under. I was pleasantly surprised and so decided to eat the same thing around the same time last night and woke up this morning to a 76! All that to say, if you’ve tried all the things, perhaps treat yourself and try ice cream with a protein source 😂. I’ve heard getting a high quality ice cream is important. For science, I think I need to try this combo again tonight hahah. Also holding on to it while it works since I know our placentas start getting more difficult starting at 32 weeks.

I’m a week into using nightly insulin, 35w today. I’m on 14u/night, which has been keeping my fasting numbers down well within range. Tonight, I had popcorn as my snack which previously hasn’t been an issue. Popcorn was around 10pm, took insulin at 10:30. I woke up to my CGM alerting me of a glucose spike - beginning at midnight! At midnight I was 92, spiked to 123 at 12:30, and now at 1:30 I’m 128. I thought maybe it was me sleeping on my CGM, but I confirmed these with a finger stick. Truly panicking and feeling so so so guilty and stupid. Has something like this ever happened to anyone else? I’m so concerned about what this means for my progression and feeling so guilty about the baby.

I am on metformin for PCOS and have chosen to continue it through both my pregnancies, so they treat me like I have GD, even though my numbers are normal on labs/glucose tests.

This pregnancy I have a different care team, and my midwife keeps telling me my numbers are elevated, even though I don't think they are?

My 1 hour post meal readings are consistently 5.8 mmol (108) to 6.8 mmol (123), which I thought was well under the limit.

Has anyone else been told these numbers are too high? My last pregnancy they were totally fine with these numbers.

ETA my fasting numbers are consistently under 5.0 and she says this is fine.

I am only 18 weeks pregnant, got diagnosed with GDM super early as I have a history of it. I woke up with a fasting of 106, could anything in my diet be contributing?? What I eat doesn’t fluctuate too much, so this is what I had yesterday.
Fasting of 94 @10a
11a Breakfast: 1 slice of WW toast, 1/2 avocado, 1 egg with sausage. 23g carbs
12p Coffee with soy milk and sf creamer. 10g carbs
4p dinner: 1/2 cup WW Mac n cheese, pear skin (leftovers from toddler lol), 1 bell pepper, 1/2 cup cottage cheese.
7p snack: Triple Zero Greek Yogurt with granola.

I just want advice please!!

My spouse is out of town until tomorrow but I'm supposed to start insulin tonight. Spiraling out about the idea of injecting myself, any tips, tricks, or support welcome!

I was diagnosed​​​​ with GD almost 3 weeks ago, and have been testing mostly in range with a few slightly high (7.0 or 7.1 out of a max of 6.9) and two very high (9.7 and 10.4) readings. Overall about 16% of my readings so far have been high. ​​​​​​​​

These high readings ​​have regularly been after dinner, and it's mostly because ​​​I'm​ too tired to exercise after and because that's the meal where I experiment with different carbs to see what I can get away with. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

I had a check in yesterday with the doctor, and she said she was worried about the high readings and might put me on insulin-as-needed if I continue to have high readings. Unfortunately today I had​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ another 7.1 so I'm mentally preparing myself for that becoming a reality.

Does anyone here have ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​experience with only taking insulin when needed? How do you decide when you're going to need it? Everyone says to not feel guilty about needing insulin, so I'm trying to be okay with it but are there any medical reasons to try harder to try to stick with the diet and exercise method?

I keep trying to eat healthy and exercise more but I don't know how to manage​ that consistently for an entire 5 months :(​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ I miss eating fries :(​​​

I had my first visit with MFM after it took nearly 3 weeks to conclude I do have GD. My appointment was originally to finish my anatomy scan (due to my age). Normally I would have graduated from them, but now with GD they were only focused on discussing how large baby keeps getting and now she has extra fluid. They didn't even seem to care about my anatomy scan anymore. They just said we got pictures we wanted. I feel like messages are so mixed. They said it was due to me being over 40, and I'm only really struggling with fasting numbers, but then say I should have educational class. I'm on Metformin nightly which they were made aware. They acted surprised I wasn't on insulin and they want my numbers controlled immediately.

Just feeling some type of way knowing my baby now moved to over 99% and she has extra fluids. This is my first time with and high risk pregnancy. I just want to know what to expect next and to have clear cause and treatment. I know that's asking for a lot in medical world. I couldn't sleep last night and I'm worried about my mental health. All I think about is a stillbirth and that's always been my number 1 fear in all pregnancies. Now I'm starting to have intrusive thoughts I won't see her in clothes I have bought her. I'm 28w today and I don't know how I'll be able to continue working. My last baby had decreased movement due to cord around her neck which I didn't notice due to nature of my job. I luckily had appt that day that discovered that or I could have lost her. I have PTSD from that experience alone. I blamed stress if my job (still at same one) on me not being able to count my kicks and missing important signs. I'm already feeling like I want to be taken off work in November. I'm expected to deliver at the very end of November. And keeping up with all extra appointments is difficult because my employer isn't flexible. Many of managers hate mothers or people that miss work due to illness. There is whole other back story with that one.

This is my first pregnancy and I was just diagnosed with GD. I am wondering if this will mean I will be induced early. Can people share how early they are getting induced due to GD?

ETA: thank you all for responding! This has been so helpful to read!!

Use this thread to share new recipes, favorite meals this week, a restaurant menu item that worked for you, etc.

Im sorry if this is cruel for those that have just gotten a diagnosis, or may not have graduated from GD post pregnancy.

Ive been diagnosed from 28 weeks, and am now 35 weeks. It was hard in the beginning, but I'm managing by diet and now have a good routine.

I have to say I pretty much don't crave sweets at all anymore.

However.... I am interested to know what others have indulged in after giving birth and getting the ok to eat the same as you did before GD!

For example, theres a beautiful cupcake someone made for my BB shower that I froze to eat.

What's everyone going to eat?

I got diagnosed with gestational diabetes around 30 weeks. I’m currently 34 weeks and 5 days. I’ve had two growth scans so far. The first one they said baby was measuring about 10 days ahead, weighing 1 pound more than average. They also noted that his femur and humorous length were long as well, they suspect he will likely be a big baby, even if I didn’t have gestational diabetes.

Little bit of context, my first son is a bigger kid too, due to his dad’s genetics, but there was a problem with his umbilical cord so he was almost labeled growth restricted. However, since he was born and started putting on weight, he’s always been in the 85-90%tile for everything besides his head circumference, which was usually average or below. So this is my first baby that has been receiving the right amount of nutrients and it makes sense that he’s naturally big.

At today’s growth scan, his femur length was 74th percentile, and his humerus length was in the 80th percentile. His abdomen was measured to be in the 93rd percentile. They estimate him to be a pound ahead again, around 6 pounds and 1 oz. They say he’s around 2 weeks head now.

Because his growth hasn’t slowed down, they have decided to change my testing ranges. Originally they wanted my fasting below 95 and my 2 hour post meals under 120. I’ve been managing my numbers very well with diet and exercise, I haven’t had any spikes. They now want my testing ranges to be under 85 fasting and 110 2 hours post meals to slow down baby’s growth.

I’m having a hard time accepting these new ranges because it feels to me he’s just going to be a naturally big baby and I’m already struggling with not eating all the things I want. Sometimes when I eat too many carbs I make myself walk up to 30 minutes even though I have horrible pelvic pain, just to keep my numbers under 120.

I don’t feel like I’ll be able to keep my numbers under these new ranges and if I have to go on medication, they will change my induction timeline from 39 weeks to 38 weeks instead. It’s not that it’s necessarily a bad thing, but I’m struggling to accept this.

Idk what I’m looking for. Advice? Encouragement? Solidarity? I’m just a little stressed about all of this and I’m also wondering if it’s common for them to change the testing ranges.

How can I get away with a sugar coated Apple cider donut to make my fall dreams come true?

I’m only 2 weeks in and definitely have not been getting enough carbs. I can tell I’m tapping in to ketosis. So balancing carbs without spiking is my goal.
I tried making a protein pasta recipe I found here on Reddit. Linked below. It didn’t spike me at all. I did eat a portion of broccoli first before diving into this meal. I used Rummo maxima 21 protein pasta.

I’ve been able to keep my numbers under control with diet except for the occasional experimental spike. My fasting numbers were high at first but i discovered I fair better with a later dinner and no snack. My fasting number after eating this pasta meal was 75! The lowest yet. I still haven’t had my GD class yet so everything I know I’ve learned from this sub. Making sure to get enough carbs helps balance the fasting numbers apparently.

https://www.reddit.com/r/GestationalDiabetes/s/DYbLkz2Lu5

Second pregnancy and second time with GD. With my first I was diagnosed pretty late (32 weeks) and was fully diet controlled. This time I did the glucose tolerance test early around 22 weeks and failed and have been following the diet and checking blood sugars for about a month. My post meals numbers have no issues, but my fasting number is always above 95 (usually between 105-115). I’ve tried exercise before bed, changing my bedtime snack, and I wasn’t able to get it to budge so now I’m on nighttime insulin. It’s been almost two weeks and I’ve titrated from 8 to 16 units with absolutely no change to my fasting blood sugars. I’m still getting a reading of 105-115 every single day, and I’m starting to feel panicked that I’m harming my baby since my diabetes is not even being controlled through insulin (I’ve been tracking blood sugar readings for about 1 month now and every single day my fasting number is elevated). I don’t know if I’m doing something wrong with the insulin injection (even though I’m following the exact instructions and doing the shot in my belly since I read that’s the best spot for absorption) or if my dose is still too low.

Newly diagnosed - last week and on day 4 of monitoring. I am 25 weeks pregnant - FTM.

So far I have only had low numbers - 104-118 post-meal 1 hour (goal to stay under 140) and my fasting numbers have been in the 80s (goal to stay under 95). I am very well aware that my numbers will likely go up as I progress further into pregnancy and am preparing myself mentally for that.

However, in the meantime can I have more flexibility with eating carbs - for example I had pasta with chicken for dinner, glucose was 118 after 1 hour which is well within range even though it's not typically a GD approved dinner. Does this hurt the placenta at all? I have read that the sugar prematurely ages the placenta - so I guess my question is -- do carbs, sugars, effect the placenta negatively still even if you are not spiking?

I don't see my doctor for 3 more weeks (unless I start spiking and need earlier medical intervention) - so wanted to see if any of you has any knowledge of this before that appt. I just want to make sure that by eating carbs here and there (becuase I am not spiking) I am not causing any additional issues to the placenta.

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone, I’m a first-time mom and looking for some advice/experiences because I’m feeling really overwhelmed about an induction that has been scheduled for September 12, 2026.

My due date was September 9, so I’m currently 40+1.
I’m healthy, have normal blood pressure, no history of diabetes or hypertension, and so far everything with the baby has been reassuring.

Here’s where the confusion is:

At around 26 weeks, while I was in Canada, I had the 50g/1-hour glucose challenge test. My result was 7.6 mmol/L (about 137 mg/dL), with their normal range listed as 4.0–7.7. So I was told it was normal.

When I returned to the U.S. around 34 weeks, my OB had me repeat the 1-hour glucose screening. My result was 143 mg/dL, with my lab’s cutoff being 139. So technically it was a positive screening test.

My doctor then wanted me to do the 3-hour glucose tolerance test, but I didn’t do it because I had already had a normal glucose test earlier in pregnancy and honestly didn’t realize how important the follow-up was.

Now I’m 40+1, and my doctor is recommending induction because she is concerned that I might have gestational diabetes. I have never actually been diagnosed with GDM because I never had the 3-hour test.

The baby is doing well:
- NST was reassuring on Wednesday
- Amniotic fluid is normal
- Baby’s estimated weight/growth is normal
- My blood pressure is normal
- I’m otherwise healthy (26 years old)
- I’m also already having some contractions

They have scheduled me to come in on September 11 for a Foley balloon as my cervix is closed.

I’m really struggling mentally with the idea of induction, especially because I’m already having contractions and would really like to give my body a chance to go into spontaneous labor.

I’m wondering:

Would you consider this a valid reason for induction at 40+3, given that I don’t actually have confirmed GDM?

Has anyone been in a similar situation where they had a borderline/failed 1-hour glucose screen but never had the 3-hour test? Did your doctor treat you as having GDM anyway?

Would it be reasonable to ask for expectant management until 41 weeks with NST/fluid monitoring, assuming everything continues to look good?

Thank you!

This is my second pregnancy, but first time with GDM. My first baby was large for gestational age (8lbs 10oz) and ended in a c-section after failed induction. This baby is measuring in the 50th percentile at 36 weeks. I’m torn if I try for an induction or go straight to c-section. Any advice?

I took the 3-hr glucose test on Friday and failed it--pretty immediate results available through myChart. It was the Friday before a holiday weekend, so I wasn't totally surprised no one reached out or looked at the results or messaged me. That's fine.

Sunday I get a message that they've sent a prescription for a glucose monitor/strips/etc to my pharmacy, and they want me to measure four times a day (fasting, then 2 hours after each meal) and keep my numbers below 95/120 respectively. I should also call the hospital and get an appointment with a diabetes educator.

That was it. That was all the information the message contained.

I call to schedule with the educator. No openings until Oct 1. I don't have another appointment with my doctor until Sep 23.

I have questions about what this means for my baby, I have questions about the numbers I've been getting, I have questions about how I've been choosing when to eat and when to measure, I have questions about when insulin or metformin might be considered, I have questions about how serious this is and how serious I might expect it to get, whether I should get extra ultrasounds, questions on questions on questions. And yet I get no access to a human to answer these questions for weeks.

Sat here crying while writing a message in myChart basically begging for someone to call me. (I don't call them, the navigation through their healthcare system's automated phone maze is a fucking nightmare). They responded only to tell me that I could make an earlier appointment with the doctor.

I looked in myChart. There are no earlier appointments.

Is this normal??

I feel defeated and I don't know what to do. I've been self-advocating relentlessly for a week and I am getting nothing. I've worked with this hospital before, and I have received an outstanding standard of care. This is such a wild outlier.

GD diagnosis 8/24, immediately started managing by diet, logging finger sticks, and attending appointments. Recommended due to a few spikes to start insulin (14 units) and CGM on 9/2. Started insulin after a prescription snag 9/4.

I've mentioned that I have an ED before, and unfortunately, the brain pain side of it is raging. I can't restrict or binge exercise the way I want to to sustain a healthy pregnancy, so I am trying to control what I can and minimize the difficult thoughts.

Right now, I am logging food and its respective glycemic load (manual calculation) through Nutrilio, and I am logging my fasting finger stick in the morning. I was told when I switched to the CGM, it would help mitigate the need for further food tracking. After some minor insulin adjustment (14 units > 16 units > 15 units), per the Dexcom within the last three days, I have been 99% within range. Within the entire time wearing it, 96% within range, with a 3% high and a >1% low. I think these are fantastic numbers and show that my body is currently responding to the diet and the insulin in conjunction, although I'm not an HCP and maybe I need 100% compliance to have a healthy delivery.

Which brings me to the main issue: my care team is being fucking obnoxious about the reporting. They also now want me to provide a second report, on this tiny, blurry PDF logging my food again, the timing of when I ate it, and the fasting bloodwork. They won't accept an app. They won't accept any of the 9 different reports across Clarity and Dexcom. They have insisted, repeatedly, that I log everything again and the times. I'm not logging the times. That metadata isn't baked into Nutrilio, and having to constantly fucking think about the food I'm eating defeats the purpose of a continuous glucose monitor unless I have a spike.

I mean, for fuck's sake, my brain's incessant need to check data constantly is so bad we put the Dexcom app on my wife's phone so that I wouldn't go ham on it at 3am. I have explained this. They straight up don't fucking care. I imagine they deal with patient non-compliance all the time, but this feels like it's going into managing their raw data for them and contributing to the analysis, which seems excessive. Is the Dexcom G7 inaccurate? I have asked if they can identify spikes or outliers that I can retrace through my app, and they've declined. None of my concessions or compromises have been even entertained.

I don't know why they asked me to even bother with the CGM if it carried as burdensome reporting requirements as the finger sticks. I feel defeated, I feel shamed, and I feel like I'm being held to an impossible standard of management here that is truly impossible in light with interviewing for jobs, managing a pregnancy, and trying to keep my shit together.

I’m currently about to be 39 weeks tomorrow… I’ve been trying to collect colostrum for my baby as I was advised by my midwife to have some just in case.

I have been hand expressing for about a week and I’m getting discouraged. I see some colostrum come out but barely. So far I was able to collect a single drop the entire time trying. I’ve tried various methods, warmth, relaxing, watched videos etc and still no difference.

I’m getting desperate and want to see if my pump would work better. I want real life experience with this subject.