I was just diagnosed, and am scared and have no clue what comes next. Can anyone help? I am tiny and was counting on a water birth, which I may not be able to do now. I am very big already at 31 weeks, how big will the baby grow?

I started out about 112 lbs, 5'2". I had two perfect pregnancies while being an insulin dependent diabetic. I drank my skim milk, ate all meals and snacks on schedule and did everything by the book. I only gained 20 lbs with my first, 26 with the 2nd child. I felt my best while I was pregnant and honestly, my sugars have never been so as good since. Don't worry. Our doctors make us do so many tests that they are monitoring us every step. My boys are healthy. The 2nd was breastfed for a year, which REALLY made the weight come off quick and he is on the just above avg size at 7 yrs old now. Both delivered at 6 lbs, 12-14 oz. 2 wks early. You can plan for any kind of delivery, but my first had stress (not enought amnio fluid) and was C-section. The 2nd I planned for a vaginal del. and he faced down at del. and ended up being delivered with forcepts. Just go wth it and whatever is meant to happen will. The baby will be fine. Everything you do right now is making that baby so be healthy! Good luck! kammon67

Dear Scaredmama. Try not to be so scared. Your worse enemy during ANY pregancy is STRESS! I am 40 years old, I have had 4 children, they're 23, 15, 14 & 4!!! I had GD with all 4 pregnancies, I was only 17 with my first child. Talk about scared out of my mind! I put on 40 lbs., with her & had a ahigh forceps, vaginal delivery. She was perfectly healthy, weighed 7 lbs. & 4 ozs. I breast-fed her (& her siblings) & dropped back down to my normal 98 lbs. (!) in no time at all. My next 2 children were C-sections & I put on 40 lbs with them, too. (my son, the 14 year old was delivered at 36 wks. & weighed in at 11 lbs., 3 ozs) Those two are perfectly healthy also. My last little tax deduction I had at 36 years old! I put on a whopping 80 lbs. with her. She was delivered by C-section as is now a happy, healthy 4 year old that just started school. I know that no one wants a C-section or an unhealthy baby. You just need to trust your doctors, eat right, get plently of rest, excersize & drink plenty of water. The most important thing is making sure that your baby is healthy. Try not to worry about what type of delivery you may have. Just concentrate on relaxing, staying healthy & enjoying your free time while you still have it! Good luck Sweetie. I'll keep you in my prayers.

I have a 5 month old and a 2 year and I was GD with both of them and I am a diabetic now. The 2 yr old was 8.3 (vag) and 5 month 10.14 (c-sec). I can understnad that you are set in your way on how you want to deliver, I was totally against the c-section, but I am just happy that I have two healthy kids. I put on a lot of weight with both of them (b/t 70-80 lbs). The main thing that you need to concentrate on is your health and eating right and getting plenty of exercise. If the docs think that insulin is good for you don't stress about that, it will help keep your bl sugars in line, so the little one won't get so big and help keep him and you heathly. Enjoy the prenancy and peace and quite now while you can!!!

My Goodness! Wow. Of course GD is serious. I have two wonderful children. Had GD with both. I gained 24lbs with my girl. and 15lbs with my boy. They were both relatively small babies. 5lbs and 7lbs,7oz. I was Insulin dependant with both. Of course I was scared. But I took care of myself. Sang to my babies while prego. and I tried to not let anything get to me. My first prego I worked full time. Shortly after having her I quit my job and was a stay at home mom. My second one, (boy) I was still a stay at home mom. I wouldn't change it for the world. My little girl should have been a c-section but wasn't. Now shes got vision problems. But my second one was a C-section. (I changed docs) Your doc is the most important thing right now. Stick with someone that you are incredibly in agreeance with and comfortable with. I wouldn't change anything in the world. Although you do know that now that you have been diagnosed with GD, it's a higher risk for you now to keep it or develop it later on after your birth. I was just recently diagnosed with Diabetes. It's been 1 1/2 years since the birth of my son. So now, Im hoping that if I get my extra weight off, the diabetes will go away. (It is possible!)
But just keep your spirits up and stay in tune with your docs. Go for your stress tests, if you are required to go. They are just making sure that the baby is getting enough nutrients and you and keeping track of the babies heartrate. You probably need to get a book on GD. I have one, and it explained everything perfectly. Just eat right and at the right times.....you'll have a healthy baby! Good luck. You are in my prayers.