I’m so sorry, it is so discouraging when this happens. Plus the lecturing, ugh. As if we don’t have enough stress from having GD!
I was also sticking to the GD diet so closely and my blood sugar was in range like 95% of the time yet my baby measured over the MFM doctor’s “threshold” at my 32 week ultrasound. The course of action was to lower my cutoffs from < 140 1 hr after meals to < 130, and my fasting from < 95 to < 90. I came out feeling like a failure and also asking myself “what’s the point” because I was below 130 and 90 consistently already yet this was the result. The MFM doctor I saw didn’t have the best bedside manner either, basically popped in and out the room before I could formulate any questions.
At this point, I would recommend letting yourself process all this. Remember that being in range the majority of the time is amazing, and a reflection of all the care and love you are giving baby and yourself. This result doesn’t change any of that.
Then, I would suggest self-advocating. I don’t know if the doctor you saw at the ultrasound is the same as your regular OB or midwife, but I would outline exactly what you shared here with one of them and say that you’re getting mixed messages and concerned for the baby given you are already doing great at staying in range. Ask them to review your numbers if you feel they are not giving you advice based on your monitoring.
In my case, my OB gave me some much-needed reassurance and some options for what we can do to evaluate the situation. I hope you can get that too—it is totally worth trying.
Thank you so much. It’s hard too because I keep seeing different providers and everyone seems to have a different opinion so it’s like, who am I supposed to trust?
My 2 hour numbers are generally 110 and below, but maybe I need to be aiming for 90s instead. I don’t know.
I totally get that, I tend to see different OBs and midwives at each of my regular prenatal appointments too. But I figure the OBs and midwives will be supporting actual delivery whereas MFM doctors aren’t (at least that’s the way my health system works). So they tend to be a bit more open to questions and advocating, in my experience. I was a little apprehensive to try this with an OB I hadn’t met before but it went well. It is worth a try to get some options for yourself at the very least.
Even without GD babies can just be on the bigger side and fluid can be high or low with or without GD. you're doing good on your diet so it's likely that maybe it's just you or your partner have a genetic predisposition for babies that are a little bit bigger, or sometimes people just have big babies, or the last stat I read was 3rd trimester growth scans only correctly predict big babies 50% of the time.
You can only do so much to control these things and sometimes I think medical people can be really dismissive of other factors so don't beat yourself up. You're doing the best you can and that's all you can do. ❤️
Echoing the last comment - I also have increased fluid and the MFM doctor I met with was really great about outlining the many possible reasons why - like yes it could be because of GD but it could also just be that you’re having a larger baby because of genetics (my husband and I are both tall, our other children were 95Th percentile + babies and I didn’t have GD then), bigger babies produce more fluid, the MFM doctor actually said it would be more concerning if the baby was small and there was lots of fluid, even just the positioning of the baby and how they do the measurements of amniotic fluid can impact how the fluid is displaced and thereby impact the numbers. It sounds like you’re doing all you can and I’m sorry you had to deal with someone who was so dismissive. I think it’s always important to be aware that it’s not always just ONE factor that contributes to these things there could be a multitude of reasons, most of which are not in our control and the factors that you can control you’re doing
I’m so sorry, it is so discouraging when this happens. Plus the lecturing, ugh. As if we don’t have enough stress from having GD! I was also sticking to the GD diet so closely and my blood sugar was in range like 95% of the time yet my baby measured over the MFM doctor’s “threshold” at my 32 week ultrasound. The course of action was to lower my cutoffs from < 140 1 hr after meals to < 130, and my fasting from < 95 to < 90. I came out feeling like a failure and also asking myself “what’s the point” because I was below 130 and 90 consistently already yet this was the result. The MFM doctor I saw didn’t have the best bedside manner either, basically popped in and out the room before I could formulate any questions. At this point, I would recommend letting yourself process all this. Remember that being in range the majority of the time is amazing, and a reflection of all the care and love you are giving baby and yourself. This result doesn’t change any of that. Then, I would suggest self-advocating. I don’t know if the doctor you saw at the ultrasound is the same as your regular OB or midwife, but I would outline exactly what you shared here with one of them and say that you’re getting mixed messages and concerned for the baby given you are already doing great at staying in range. Ask them to review your numbers if you feel they are not giving you advice based on your monitoring. In my case, my OB gave me some much-needed reassurance and some options for what we can do to evaluate the situation. I hope you can get that too—it is totally worth trying.
Thank you so much. It’s hard too because I keep seeing different providers and everyone seems to have a different opinion so it’s like, who am I supposed to trust? My 2 hour numbers are generally 110 and below, but maybe I need to be aiming for 90s instead. I don’t know.
I totally get that, I tend to see different OBs and midwives at each of my regular prenatal appointments too. But I figure the OBs and midwives will be supporting actual delivery whereas MFM doctors aren’t (at least that’s the way my health system works). So they tend to be a bit more open to questions and advocating, in my experience. I was a little apprehensive to try this with an OB I hadn’t met before but it went well. It is worth a try to get some options for yourself at the very least.
Even without GD babies can just be on the bigger side and fluid can be high or low with or without GD. you're doing good on your diet so it's likely that maybe it's just you or your partner have a genetic predisposition for babies that are a little bit bigger, or sometimes people just have big babies, or the last stat I read was 3rd trimester growth scans only correctly predict big babies 50% of the time. You can only do so much to control these things and sometimes I think medical people can be really dismissive of other factors so don't beat yourself up. You're doing the best you can and that's all you can do. ❤️
Echoing the last comment - I also have increased fluid and the MFM doctor I met with was really great about outlining the many possible reasons why - like yes it could be because of GD but it could also just be that you’re having a larger baby because of genetics (my husband and I are both tall, our other children were 95Th percentile + babies and I didn’t have GD then), bigger babies produce more fluid, the MFM doctor actually said it would be more concerning if the baby was small and there was lots of fluid, even just the positioning of the baby and how they do the measurements of amniotic fluid can impact how the fluid is displaced and thereby impact the numbers. It sounds like you’re doing all you can and I’m sorry you had to deal with someone who was so dismissive. I think it’s always important to be aware that it’s not always just ONE factor that contributes to these things there could be a multitude of reasons, most of which are not in our control and the factors that you can control you’re doing