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Most women that develop gestational diabetes, are they usually over weight or is it all just a genetic thing?
AVG weight prior to we start. we gained seventeen pounds as good as am about twenty-three weeks. It is strange, though given we can not see the weight. I’m not the outrageous swell as good as we have not gained weight in alternative places. Nobody in my family, he as good as we eat sincerely well. Should we be endangered which we do? Is there the approach to avoid?
April 13th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
i think it varies from woman to woman and is not necessarily genetic. one woman i know had gestational diabetes and she is tiny!! when she was preggers it just looked like she had put a basketball under her shirt. so i don’t think it will always have something to do with being overweight. they usually do a glucose challenge test to test for diabetes at around 25-28weeks from memory. can’t remember was sooo long ago i just wish that this baby would come out now!
April 13th, 2010 at 9:50 pm
If you do not have a family history of diabetes… have a previous birth of a baby over 9 pounds, or are overweight your chances are not as high but you can still get GD.
I am not and was not overweight at all with my second child and had GD had a 9 pound 2oz baby.. but I also had a family history of diabetes.
Dont be to concerned about it just do what they tell you to when they do the screening.
April 13th, 2010 at 10:00 pm
This may help answer some of your questions…click on the orange table of contents link near the top to see further info on gestational diabetes in general.
April 13th, 2010 at 10:54 pm
Gestational diabetes, or diabetes that occurs in pregnancy and resolves at birth, occurs in approximately three to eight pregnancies of every 100 in America. Risk factors for developing gestational diabetes include
A family history of diabetes
Being overweight
Having prediabetes
Having given birth previously to a child weighing 9 pounds or more
In addition, the same populations at risk for type 2 diabetes — Latino Americans, African-American, Pacific Islander, and Asian Americans — are also at greater risk for gestational diabetes.
Gestational diabetes mellitus, or GDM, is diabetes that first appears in pregnancy and resolves at birth. An estimated 200,000 American women, approximately 5% of total pregnancies, are diagnosed with GDM annually. Women who develop gestational diabetes have problems metabolizing blood glucose. Their pancreas produces plenty of insulin (the hormone responsible for “unlocking” cells so that glucose can enter them and provide energy), but a condition known as insulin resistance prevents them from using it effectively. When insulin doesn’t work properly, blood glucose (or blood sugar) builds up in the bloodstream, and gestational diabetes is the result.
Gestational diabetes requires treatment with dietary changes and exercise and/or insulin injections to keep maternal blood glucose levels as close to normal as possible and to prevent complications in both mother and baby. Women with GDM are also encouraged to self-test their blood glucose levels often.
A fetus of a woman with GDM may become large for date as it stores the excess glucose it is receiving from mom as fat, a condition known as macrosomia. A large infant may have a more difficult time descending down the birth canal. Other potential risks for baby include hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and jaundice. A neonatolgist, a physician that specializes in high risk infant care, is often present at the births of GDM babies to handle any potential complications.
April 13th, 2010 at 11:34 pm
A lot of people think gestational diabetes is more prevalent in women who are overweight. However, I have met far more smaller women who have had gestational diabtetes than large women.
It boils down to how your body processes sugar. When you become pregnant, your body chemistry changes…this is why some women experience acne or have growth of body hair in interesting places.