Risk of gestational diabetes? Or overanxious Mum?

[HelenM]

My daughter is about 9 weeks into her third pregnancy. I'm a bit worried.
In pregnancy 1 she had pre eclamsia, pregnancy 2 a 5kg baby and unfortunately she was very overweight before becoming pregnant this time. Add to that my diabetes (though not type 2) and I feel she has a high risk of gestational diabetes.
She has seen her GP but doesn't have an appointment with the midwife until she's 16 weeks.(staff shortages)
I wonder if I should suggest she checks her fasting BG every 5 days or so and then if it was ever over 5.3 mml check on subsequent days.
Am I being a bit overanxious?, I don't want to cause her unnecessary anxiety either.Is that a sensible fasting BG threshold to suggest?

[KickStart101]

My daughter is about 9 weeks into her third pregnancy. I'm a bit worried.
In pregnancy 1 she had pre eclamsia, pregnancy 2 a 5kg baby and unfortunately she was very overweight before becoming pregnant this time. Add to that my diabetes (though not type 2) and I feel she has a high risk of gestational diabetes.
She has seen her GP but doesn't have an appointment with the midwife until she's 16 weeks.(staff shortages)
I wonder if I should suggest she checks her fasting BG every 5 days or so and then if it was ever over 5.3 mml check on subsequent days.
Am I being a bit overanxious?, I don't want to cause her unnecessary anxiety either.Is that a sensible fasting BG threshold to suggest?

Hi Helen: Sorry, I don't check this area much. You
have every reason to be anxious and concerned.
That should have been noted to her before she became
pregnant so she would be doing the occasional test.

Although I am a bit wary about a Midwife handling a
woman with your Daughter's past pregnancy conditions
plus Diabetes in the Family, I would hope that she is up
on Diabetes at the Very least. I also hope that your
Daughter is also in your area during her time of needing
her Mom. Her sugars will probably rise a bit even though
she is not Diabetic.

Very Best Wishes to your Daughter through her
Pregnancy/Labour/Delivery and having a Sweet
Healthy Baby. Good Luck to you Grand-Mere! ;)

Okay, Please Try not to worry now. It's not Good
for your blood sugars. Everything most likely will be
just Great! :)

[lorelei]

How long ago were her other pregnancies? Did she have glucose tolerance tests with those pregnancies? If so is there a way to find out what her numbers were?

I had my first child 18 years ago and my BG was high enough that had they used the same standards that they do now, I would have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. But at the time the standards were much different. (Thankfully they have changed things, and many more women get help.) So even if they did test with her previous pregnancies and didn't think she was diabetic, it's quite possible that her numbers were high enough to qualify if they were using todays standards.

I think you're right to be concerned, and it would be a very good idea to keep an eye on her fasting sugars. It would also be a good idea to ask if they are willing to do an early glucose tolerance test on her when she sees her midwife.

At the time of my last pregnancy the recommended fasting sugars for gestational diabetes were below 115, but my endo disagreed. He said that since the baby should be using up some of the sugar that was normally in my blood, I should be aiming for slightly lower than 'acceptable' results. I worked hard to keep my fasting BG under 100 and keep my after meal BG under 135. Alicia weighed 3kg when she was born, so I believe he may have had the right idea.

Don't stress yourself out too much over things though. You know about this disease, and how to manage it if she starts showing signs of high fasting BG. You don't have to stress her out about it either, just ask if she would be willing to humor you and poke her finger every once in awhile? For gestational diabetes they are not just concerned with fasting BG though, they are also worried about how well the body recovers from eating sugar, so every once in awhile checking her after meal BG might be a good idea.

Relax if you can, and trust that if she shows signs of gestational you'll be able to help her get through it. I think it's wonderful that she'll have your knowledge and support to help her through things if she is diagnosed.

And congratulations on being a grandmother again :) !

[lorelei]

I'm sorry I forgot to convert the BG for you. I went back to try to edit the post, but it was too late. From what I understand you can just take the mg/dl numbers and divide them by 18 to get mml.

[susique333]

I dont see why checking an occasional fasting BS and an occasional 2 hr post carby meal would hurt, it would give you a few ball park figures without alarming her. I was diagnosed pre-diabetic 14 yrs ago, got pregnant a few months later and was on insulin by my 3rd month. They wanted my fasting BS to be under 100. I was NOT well controlled during any of my 3 diabetic pregnancies and developed problems. Your daughter is very lucky to have a pro active mom like you!