Gestational Diabetes...

I would like to know what it is and if I have it.

Hello this is emily's aunt. I ended up having gest. Diabetes and did not know it until the day I went into a dka and gave birth at week 30. The entire pregnancy I told the doc. Something was wrong with me, and he basically shrugged it off to pregnancy. My worst symptoms were thirst, extremely frequent urge to urinate, extreme fatigue, felt like my legs and arms were dragging concrete blocks. At night I would have charlie horses in my legs. Just to walk outside took extreme effort. There are small test strips in your pharmacy that you can buy and pee on, that will tell if you are having ketones come up in your urine( a sign of acidosis ) if you don't eat for a couple hours and then eat a large amount of carbs- and you become sleepy, weak and fatigued I would check it out. I'm not a doc., but they blew me off with this and my baby spent 73 days in an incubator trying to live, and I nearly died. So please check it out. Best of luck.

If you think you have gestational diabetes then please go see a doctor!
It can be controled with changing your diet, but you must be sure that's what it is. I was completely asymptomatic during my pregnancy and wasn't diagnosed until I gave birth to a huge baby who had an enlarged heart and respritatory problems. You don't want to have your baby in the nicu if you don't have to. Speak to a doctor and if they won't listen go to another. Have a glucose tolerance test. That will help them determine if you have it or not. Good luck!!!

I am 9 weeks pregnant and developed gest. Diabetes within 2 weeks of getting pregnant. Having had problems with hypoglycemia years earlier, I knew my symptoms during pregnancy where blood sugar related and not normal pregnancy related.

I live in the burbs of chicago and for some reason it is difficult to schedule and appt. With an ob/gyns before 9-10 weeks. This I find ridiculous so I called around and insisted I be seen. My ob/gyn gave me the classic line "it's just a bad pregnancy, some women go through this". That's a bunch of crap! I know my body. I even asked if he would test me for diabetes. For some reason he didn't, but did recommend that I see my family doctor. Thank god I did. My primary doctor, who is a doctor of internal medicine, immediately knew my symptoms were diabetes related (extreme fatigue, extreme thirst, frequent urination, unusual hunger, nausea). He ordered a glucose tolerance test for me at my lab and I failed it. The hospital called my doctor with the results immediately and I was finally properly diagnosed with gestational diabetes.

My advise to you is that if you feel weak and extremely fatigued, request a glucose tolerance test. It is true that there are urinalysis trips that you can get at the pharmacy which check for glucose in your urine. However, that test can be negative while you have diabetes. It happened to me. Once the strip came back positive and the rest of the times I tested it was negative.

The good news is that in some cases -like mine- it can be treated by diet alone by avoiding bad cards like sweets, junk food, starches (potatoes, white rice), whole milk, bread and pasta. If you suspect you have it, see your doctor and immediately change your diet.

I have learned that I know my body better than any doctor. Years ago I almost died from blood clots. I was initially diagnosed with exhaustion. Good thing I didn't listen to that doctor and rushed to the emergency room and was treated for 12 day in the hospital.

Listen to your body, it doesn't lie.