Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

When I first hear that I had Gestational Diabetes Mellitus, GDM in short, my world came crashing down.

Since upper Secondary school times, I had transformed from a normal sweet tooth to a non sweet tooth. Because I had family history of diabetes and having seen how they had to prick themselves with needles before every meals to take blood glucose readings and all the medications they had to take, I don't wish to be one of them. So for past decade, I seldom touch sugary food and drinks. I changed from drinking milo to milo kosong, teh c to teh c kosong, condensed milk to evaporated milk, etc.

I thought I would not get GDM with such diet. But when my gynae told me the news, I was very depressed. I kept thinking how was that possible? I have avoided sugars like plague. If it wasn't because of my diet, then it was my family history which is unavoidable.

After a walk at the beach, I decided to fight GDM since it was something I cannot avoid. I did research and also experimented myself. Here I am sharing my experience so that you know what to expect and remember you are not alone!

The concern about having GDM during pregnancy is the risk of pregnancy complication like pre-eclampsia. So GDM mommies need to keep blood glucose under control.

The downside of GDM is mommies had to prick their finger at least 6 times a day, 7 days a week and to record each meal they eat and the blood glucose before and 1 or 2 hours after meal. This goes on from the day of diagnosing till at least 6 weeks after giving birth.

Most mummies recover from GDM after giving birth. But there is still the risk of getting real diabetes after GDM. So you have to take Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) every year where you will have to fast the night before, have your blood drawn, given a very sweet orange drink and have your blood drawn again after 2 hours. The test result will be out only after a couple of days.

Low glycemic index (GI) food are important for GDM mommies and diabetic patients. Complex carbo food such as sweet potatos, basmati rice, wholemeal bread, pasta are low GI. Avoid grapes, white rice, potatoes as they are high GI. Usually protein based diet is quite friendly for GDM mommies. Do note that for the same food, it may be different for every mommy on how the food affects the blood glucose. For instance, eating bee hoon soup may cause one blood glucose to spike but may not for another mommy. So it is important to note down and record which food would or would not cause your blood glucose to spike.

I came up with a general list during my GDM period:

Low GI

• Pasta
• Wholemeal bread
• Basmati rice
• Avocado
• Sweet potatoes
• Protein based food
• Fresh milk (not HL)
• Soya Milk
• Cherry tomatoes
• Unsweetened Soya milk
• Unsalted 100% Peanut Butter
• Greek yogurt
• Wraps
• Rolled oats

High GI

• White short-grain rice
• Potatoes
• Kueh
• Rice based food like chee cheong fun
• Sushi
• Instant oatmeal
• Dessert
• Ice Creams
• Soda
• Soft drinks

Through all these years living with high risk of diabetes due to my strong family history, I had brushed past an encounter with pre-diabetes. Thank goodness I managed to reverse it.

How did I reverse it? I have realised and proven that exercise is the best way to counter high blood glucose. In that one year after doctor told me I had pre-diabetes through the OGTT, I started to swim regularly. I swam once or twice a week for at least 30mins, 10 laps each session.

With pre-diabetes, I was asked to have follow up consultation every 6 months instead of the usual 1 year. After 6 months of swimming on a regular basis, I was surprised with my next blood glucose readings during the 6 month follow up consultation. It has improved alot. The only lifestyle changes I have made is by swimming regularly. I am still a non sweet tooth as always. So I am sure the swim has made a difference.

I continued on for the next 6 months and came the jaw dropping moment. My 2 hours reading is even lower than my fasting reading. Whats more, I didn't control my diet as much for that 6 months, I have let the reigns loosen a little. This is absolute amazing! Seeing my results, the doctor removed my pre-diabetes status.

So mummies, go exercise! It don't have to be swimming. Find some exercise that you would enjoy, even brisk walking in the park helps. But key is, you have to exercise regularly.

Do you know that pregnant woman can also swim? :)