An Inspiration of Life

Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is defined as carbohydrates intolerance of variable severity. It is a condition that develops during pregnancy. The mother has an abnormally large amount of sugar in her blood. It usually resolves itself after the baby is born.

In the 21st week of my pregnancy, I was diagnosed as borderline case of gestational diabetes. My sugar levels were not very high but if I did not control my diet, it could well develop Gestational Diabetes. I was somehow terrified of the idea of injecting insulin everyday. So I tried to control it will strict diet and I can say that I have been successful in it. Trust me, controlling diet is not very easy especially for a person like me who had crazy sweet tooth

Consequences:

• One of the main concern of having too much sugar in your blood is that it crosses the placenta to your baby which means that baby can grow big. A big baby makes labor and delivery more difficult and the chances that you might end up having caesarean section are very high.

• Another cause for worry is that too much insulin or glucose in baby’s system may delay lung maturation and cause respiratory/breathing difficulties in babies especially the ones which are born before 37 weeks.

• Baby might develop Hypoglycemia immediately after birth. Hypoglycemia which refers to low blood sugar in the baby immediately after delivery. This problem occurs if the mother’s blood sugar levels have been consistently high, causing the fetus to have a high level of insulin in its circulation. After delivery, the baby continues to have a high insulin level, but it no longer has the high level of sugar from its mother, resulting in the newborn’s blood sugar level becoming very low.

What worked for me:

1) Taking 1 spoonful of Methi powder everyday morning of empty stomach with water. Its very effective, though it tastes horrible. First few days were difficult, but now I am used to it.

2) No sugar in coffee, tea, milk etc or in any form. Please refrain from taking sugar substitutes as they cause more harm than good.

3) Eating small and frequent meals on time. Avoid eating junk food.

4) Reduce intake of carbohydrate or at least eat less carbohydrate at breakfast as this is when insulin resistance is greatest.

5) Avoid eating fruits which are rich in sugar content like Mangoes, Papaya, Sapota etc. Replace them with Apple, citrus fruits like Orange, Sweet lime etc.

6) Choose food high in fiber such has whole grains, breads, cereals and greens.

7) Drink at least 8 glasses of water

With my doctor’s permission, I used to indulge in sweets once in a while as an occasional treat

Way forward

In my antenatal appointment at 31 weeks myOB/GYN had told me that she might induce me at 38 weeks if the baby’s weighs too much. She advised me to get a glucometer and monitor the sugar levels every alternative day. I bought One Touch glucometer which is very simple to use and monitored the blood sugar levels every alternative days. One day I did fasting and then after breakfast, then fasting and post lunch and so on. I recorded each days reading and my blood sugar level was fairly consistent and within normal range. So in my recent appointment, she was quite happy with the sugar levels and told me that we will wait till the due date if it goes the same way. So keeping my fingers crossed!!!

All I can say that I was glad when my first trimester got over. I don’t know how many of you would count each day and see how many days left for first trimester to get over…I did!! As I inched closer towards the end of first trimester, I was very relieved.

Apart from the little adventure (or rather misadventure) which happened sometime in the 4th month of my pregnancy, my first trimester went on very smoothly.

What causes bleeding in First Trimester:

 The fertilized egg will attach to the lining of the uterus, which at times causing light bleeding. This is known as implantation bleeding.

 When the placenta is being attached to the lining of the uterus, in this period some uterine lining might be discharged, This is usually considered normal.

 If the bleeding is bright red in colour accompanied by sever abdominal cramping, it might be a sign of miscarriage. In this case you need to contact your Doctor immediately.

Slight bleeding/spotting is considered normal in pregnancy. Usually it is brownish or pinkish in colour and there will be no cramping. But still it is always better to contact your OB/GYN. She might ask you to have an ultrasound to ensure everything is fine.

You need to worry if the bleeding is heavy and accompanied by cramping. There is no specific reason why bleeding occurs in the first trimester.

If anyone has any similar experiences, please share your thoughts

They say all pregnant women have some craving….I did not have one nor I had the “morning sickness” (thank god!!) associated with pregnancy…so I was just wondering if everything was alright…

Now I have a new found craving for..guess what??….Mishti doi!!!!! and that explains all the extra pounds I have been gaining lately….. I don’t know how many Shaimak Davar dance classes I will have to join in order to lose all the calories I have been piling up…… sigh…….

But what the heck….it feels great!!!!!!!!!!!

What really amazes me is the progress medical science has made. Gone are the days when pregnancy was confirmed based on the vomiting and the fainting spree and that knowing look on the face of other womenfolk in the house (at least that’s what they showed in movies!!)

Thank god we don’t have to rely on those tell tale signs anymore. One of the easiest ways to confirm pregnancy is to simply take the Home Pregnancy Test. This is especially convenient for women who are trying to get pregnant so that you don’t have to run to your health care provider every time you suspect that you are pregnant!! It is very simple to use and can be done within the privacy of your home.

In India, one can choose from various brands Pregcolorcard pregnancy kit, Velocit Pregnancy test kit etc. I took the Velocit Pregnancy test kit it was fairly simple to use and the instructions were not too complicated.

How it works?

All home pregnancy kit detects the presence of hormone called Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) in your urine. It appears in pregnant women’s urine in approx 20 days after her last menstrual period. The hCG level rises rapidly after this.

Interpreting the results

It’s fairly simple. If single line or band appears it means that the test in negative. are not pregnant. If you see two lines on the test kit, it means that the result is positive and you are indeed pregnant!! If you get a faint line it means that there is level of HCG in urine is very less but still it indicates that you might be pregnant. Don’t get disheartened, try the test again after few days and you will be able to see a darker line.

However, some times home pregnancy test might give a false positive result i.e. you may get a positive result although you are not pregnant. This can happen due to certain medical condition, improper testing or defective test kit. So it is always better to confirm the pregnancy by the doctor once you get a positive result on the home pregnancy test before announcing it to the world!

Similarly, you might get false negative results too!! The test will show negative, but you might be actually pregnant!! This can happen if you take the test too early or the pregnancy test kit might be defective. If you get a false negative result, then try the test after 4-5 days again. By then the hCG level in urine might rise and you may get a positive result.

Home pregnancy tests are not considered 100% accurate. You need to visit a doctor and get a blood test done to check the beta hCG levels which will confirm the pregnancy.