No, nothing yet.
I’m sorry if this is a repeat, but it’s important to consider that, even if you do have GD, you may not have diabetes after you deliver. So, while irritating, the condition is manageable during pregnancy and may not exist afterward. Either way, best of luck to you. I know how scary it is when doctors find anything whatsoever.
During a routine ultrasound, my tech found cysts on my baby’s brain and told me it could be Trisomy 18, a rare condition that results in fetal death (usually stillbirth, but definitely death before the first year). Turns out that the research proving that cysts were markers for Trisomy 18 was flawed and such things are common in healthy babies. But it didn’t prevent me from researching it exhaustively and freaking myself out anyway. Let us know what happens!
In my case it was “scalloping”, which is a facial bone structure thing apparently, and we did the quad screen for Trisomies (ha, spell check accepts that) 18 and 21, anencephaly and… hmm… spina bifida, maybe? I was like “Trisomy 18? Never heard of it…” and then I explained it to Ben like “Oh, it’s sort of like Down Syndrome except THEY DIE.” which probably isn’t accurate at all, but I was panicky so whatever.
Nobody else saw the scalloping on review and the blood test came back fine. Still… awful.
Apparently techs aren’t supposed to do that, btw. I had one tech actually take measurements of a mass in my uterus and tell me it was probably a fibroid. When I mentioned it to… somebody else, a nurse or something… they got all pissed off like “They aren’t NOT supposed to tell you things like that, that’s for the radiologist to determine after reviewing the images, blahblahblah.” Turned out it wasn’t a mass at all as it disappeared the very next day (I’ve had a lot of imaging) and was most likely a contraction.
Probably why the techs aren’t supposed to say anything.
Well, my diabetes educator is an idiot, then, because I was never told soap and water, and they gave me a bunch of alcohol wipes. :mad:
OK, just tried it. 10 points lower! :mad: :mad:
It is true that most Trisomy 18 babies die in the womb or shortly after birth. My friend had a Trisomy 18 pregnancy. The deformities are usually quite extreme. The reason nobody has heard of Trisomy 18 is that these children don’t survive to need special services (except in rare cases). It is actually the second most common trisomy after Down’s.
There are a lot of misinformed diabetes educators out there. I have received much misinformation from people who have medical training. I have also received much good information; but you have to be wary, because diabetes research has progressed a lot in the last several years, and if you happen to run into someone who hasn’t received any additional training since they first learned about the topic 10 years ago, well, you’re going to be told some outdated stuff.
But yes, when you are doing your finger-prick test, here are some guidelines. First, avoid alcohol wipes. Second, always wash your hands first, because even a small amount of food residue can throw your results off very significantly. Third, don’t “milk” your finger, i.e. squeeze up from the bottom to get more blood out. You can get non-blood fluid into the sample by doing that.
Q.N. Jones and anyone else in this thread who is interested, I would highly recommend the book The First Year: Type 2 Diabetes by Gretchen Becker. Lots of useful information and not written in a condescending way like so many of these books are. The author herself is a type 2 diabetic.
Also, while we are on the topic of dumb things that med techs do, I have never heard of doing the GTT draw via a finger-prick test. They are always done via venous blood draw in my experience and the experience of everyone I’ve ever talked to. My understanding was the results aren’t as accurate if you do a finger-prick test. Frankly I’d be a little peeved about that one-hour test.
I’ve always used the wipes after I prick. Handwashing first, prick, then hold wipe against tiny pinhole in my delicate flesh.
Gah, she was SQUEEZING MY FINGER, TOO. What the hell?
The initial one hour screen used a venous draw, as did the initial fasting sample from the three hour test, which was done by Tech A who said when I asked that they would take from veins the whole time because finger pokes are not as accurate because of the “non-blood fluid” thing. Tech B, who did all the post-glucose draws, basically said Tech A is a dumb-head and finger pokes are just fine.
Wow, this is crap. So even if I get a desired result, it’s possible (maybe even probable?) that it isn’t accurate anyway?
Oh, and they used alcohol wipes for the venous draws they did.
I actually have a copy of this book from back when they told me I was Type 2. It’s in brand new condition, and I don’t need it anymore since I’m going to stick to being a Type 1 
If anyone would like it, I’ll put it in the mail for you. Whoever PMs me first with their mailing info gets it.
How am I supposed to get enough blood for the test? Seriously, that is the only way I get more than a tiny speck. Even if I put my lancet on a setting that jams it halfway through my finger.
All of this helps to explain why my home-tested numbers are much higher than my lab-tested numbers, though. I took a fasting test at my doctor’s office and it came up 106, which is a good 40 points lower than my home tests.
Try running hot water over your hands before testing. (Easy enough, since you should wash your hands prior to testing anyway.)
Regarding the home numbers vs. the lab numbers, we are now outside my area of knowledge, but I have a vague recollection of reading somewhere that venous blood draws always show a lower blood glucose value than the same draw done from a capillary, for some physiological reason. I did a quick Google search on the topic but only turned up some journal articles that are somewhat over my head.
Seeing that the lab isn’t in any big hurry to let me know what happened, I gave this a shot.
I ate approximately three servings (1.5 cups) of Fudge Crunch Bar ice cream, at 17g sugar/serving, topped with probably 1.5-2 servings (3-4 tablespoons) of Hershey’s syrup, at 20g sugar/serving. So, you know, close to 80-90g sugar. That’s got to be enough to show something, right?
Immediately after eating the ice cream (which I didn’t quite finish), 116. Ten minutes later, 106. Twenty minutes after that, 107. Just now, forty minutes after the very first reading, 115.
If I’m still up, I’ll see what it looks like one hour post ice cream binge.
Whoops, missed the one hour mark. The 1.5 hour mark is 100 though.
I got a call from the clinic today instructing me to call the hospital and make an appointment with a diabetes educator as well as try to squeeze in with my very busy OB doc next week to discuss the implications of my gestational diabetes.
OH FREAKING REALLY?
How is that even possible? How?
O RLY.
Did they say what your results were? I would demand that before taking further action, personally. The numbers you are seeing with your home meter are simply not diabetic numbers, full stop.
No, I spoke with a nurse rather than somebody from the lab and I don’t think she had actual values in front of her, just the interpretation of those values.
Somebody is going to have to explain to me how I can get numbers like I’ve gotten at home (and when I’m purposely TRYING to have elevated blood glucose) and still have a legitimate diabetes diagnosis. I’m not retarded and the home meters aren’t hard, so it’s not like I’m doing it wrong. It seems so ridiculous. So who better to talk to first, the diabetes educator or my OB?
And Ben asked me, because I’m pissed off and ranting about it, if it’s possible I’m in denial. No, I’m really not. I have no problems complying with whatever treatments are necessary. I fully understand the seriousness of diabetes and the severity of complications associated with untreated and neglected diabetes and I am not about to fuck around with it. Not to mention that the treatment (watching my diet) is something I should be doing more of anyway.
If I’m actually diabetic, fine. That’s fine, I’ll do whatever it takes. But I’m not. There’s no way. That’s not denial, that’s fact.
Maybe your home meter needs recalibration? Just a thought.
Maybe the reason you didn’t get such numbers at home is because of the fat in the ice-cream? That’ll slow down the absorption of the sugar significantly, so it may be that. Try drinking a can of soda and see what happens for some sort of confirmation?
Oh, I didn’t know that.
I think Ben has an orange Mountain Dew in the fridge. Ew.