Posted by Pregnancy is a long journey, full of surprises. I am really happy to share that I am currently 32 weeks pregnant again!
So far everything has been going extremely well, the baby boy has been moving around since week 18, so he has been accompanying me vividly for a few months, I feel extremely happy.
Usually in the Belgian pre-natal caring system, around pregnancy week 24 – 28, a blood sugar test needs to be done to check whether a pregnant woman has gestational diabetes. Funny that the test is done differently in the Dutch-speaking area and French-speaking area.
In Dutch-speaking areas, the blood sugar test is done via 2 steps, first a 1-hour test (called glucose screening) to pre-screen if you are excluded from gestational diabetics or not. If you pass, then nothing is to be done, if you don’t pass, it does not mean you get pregnant diabetics, but you need to go for a real test – 2 2-hour blood sugar test.
In French-speaking areas, everyone goes directly for a 2-hour test.
During my 26 weeks of pre-natal follow-up with my gynecologist, I thought I would get the blood test directly. However, the doctor just gave me a prescription paper and asked me to go to the family doctor or hospital to do the test.
As my hospital and my address are in the Dutch-speaking area, I was asked first to do a 1 hour, 50 grams of sugar blood test. I booked an appointment with my family doctor the next week.
During the whole pregnancy (even before), I have been keeping a very healthy lifestyle, I do a 20-30-minute workout every morning, I eat very healthily with very limited sugar intake, I am not overweight even after 26 weeks of pregnancy, so logically my thought was that diabetics must be very far from me.
Glucose screening process (50g sugar)
My appointment was on a Monday morning around 10:30, when I arrived at the family doctor, she prescribed me 50 grams of sugar powder that I needed to pick up at the pharmacy across the road, it cost me 25 cents.
Then the doctor put all the sugar powder in a glass of water, and asked me to drink it within 2 minutes, oh my god, really disgusting sweet water! She told me gently “Please don’t throw up, because otherwise, you need to do it again”. After I drank the water, I was instructed to sit in the waiting room for the next hour, I was not even allowed to walk home which is only 700 meters, she said it would disrupt the test.
So I worked on my phone for the next hour in the waiting room. After exactly one hour, the doctor asked me back into the office and drew some blood out of my arm. Then she asked to call for the result the next day around 4:30 pm.
The next day was a busy day, at around 13:00 I got a call from my family doctor, and she told me that it seemed my sugar value was a bit over the limit. (the limit is 140 mg/dl after one hour, while I had 143). So, I failed the glucose screening. She suggested I call the gynecologist and plan for the next test (which is 75 grams of sugar and 2 hours of the test) in the hospital.
The painful 2-hour blood sugar test
My 2 hours blood sugar test was planned for the Friday of the same week. I was a bit surprised but not worried, as I read online, that lots of women failed during the glucose screening and didn’t get diagnosed with gestational diabetes eventually, my midwife even told me that she has a client who got 173 mg/dl during the first test, but still passed the second test.
For the 2-hour blood sugar test, there are usually 3 blood draws, the first one is from the fasting state, the second one is one hour after drinking the 75 mg of sugar water, and the third one is 2 hours after the drink. The limit of the sugar in each blood draw is 95, 180, and 155 mg/dl respectively.
On that Friday, I went to the lab of the hospital in the early morning, lucky for me, there was a table in the waiting room so I could work on my computer, and also the 75mg of sugar water was flavored with lemon, so it was easier to drink!
After the test, I was picked up by my husband, I continued working that afternoon in the office.
The surprising result
Around 14:00, the gynecologist called me and told me that I was diagnosed as a gestational diabetic, as one of the blood draws was too high, I got 181 mg/dl in the second blood draw (the upper limit is 180), and the other 2 were ok. So the next step is to make an appointment with the diabetic department to discuss the next steps.
ouf what a journey! I got quite annoyed by the fact that I have been quite careful and healthy, but yet still diagnosed with gestational diabetes 🙁
Appointment with the dietician
The next week I met the dietician from the hospital, and she reassured me that the diagnosis of gestational diabetes is more related to pregnancy hormones, it does not have any indication about my current lifestyle. But we do need to be careful about the sugar intake, for the health of the baby, and myself.
Too much glucose in the blood for the mother can cause several issues such as damage to the organs, preterm or oversize of the baby (which makes it difficult to deliver), and also baby might suffer from hypoglycemia after the birth, as he or she is used to producing more insulin to handle extra sugar before the birth.
What do I need to do next?
The dietitian gave me a pager with instructions about the diet, the main idea is to avoid sugar completely, limit carbs (and replace refined carbs with brown ones), try to have small portions, and add healthy snacks in between meals to keep the blood sugar stable.
Then I received a blood glucose meter to measure my blood sugar 4 times per day, following the diet. Normally we expect the sugar level should be within the limit (95 mg/dl for the fasting state, and 125 for 2 hours after the meal). If not, then additional measures need to be implemented (such as diet, medication, or insulin injection).
I need to test 4 days in the first week and send the result to the dietitian for analysis. The first week I followed strictly the diet and my glucose level was quite ok, I was told to keep the same diet, and then I only needed to test one day per week and send over the result.
So far, after a few weeks, my glucose levels were quite ok!
If you are interested in how the glucose meter works, here is a small video, I carry the little bag with me all the time just in case I need to test after a meal with deviation. 🙂
In the end, pregnancy diabetes is not such a big deal, I just need to be cautious with food intake and control some sugar cravings, but overall I feel ok!
There is also a higher risk of getting diabetes type 2 after giving birth, so I was registered to go for another blood sugar test after the birth to make sure my hormone is back to normal and I am free from diabetes type 2, fingers are crossed!
Check out my other posts about pregnancy and birthgiving in Belgium:
How much does it cost to give birth in Belgium?
What benefits can you get for newborns in Belgium?
Essentials for your baby from 0-6 months
The paid leaves linked to giving birth in Belgium
My tragic pregnancy experience in Belgium (1)
Photo credit: Thinkstock
Photo credit: iStock.com / bluecinema
https://www.babycenter.com/pregnancy/health-and-safety/gestational-diabetes_2058
Congratulations. Mrs Chris currently at week 7 here after three unsuccessful IVF cycles. All the best.
Oh wow! Congratulations!! All the best!