final thoughts on gestational diabetes

(Please, please, please let these be my final thoughts).

I finally talked to the GD doctor today. His receptionist had twice told me that I could not have a follow-up appointment until I had redone the GTT at 12 weeks post-partum. I had twice told her there was no possible way I was having that test and that I still wanted to talk to the doctor. I would have preferred to have a real face-to-face appointment, but settled for a conversation over the phone instead.

In case you're wondering, he agreed 100% that I do not need another GTT. After all, I was insulin resistant pre-pregnancy, my numbers did not change with pregnancy, so there's no reason to presume that I would be worse post-pregnancy. And more importantly, I'm not going to do anything to radically change my lifestyle (He suggested that I must have been pretty healthy pre-pregnancy and following a diet without simple carbs. I maintained silence while eyeing my double-portion bowl of oatmeal covered with brown sugar ...)

For the most part the doctor stuck to the party line: You had blood sugar problems (note: he did not say GD on the phone today), your baby was healthy because you kept them under control. She was not abnormally small (25th percentile, it turns out but both JD and I were 9 lbs and everyone in my family has enormous babies) nor is GD responsible for her sudden weight loss after birth. And of course, I got to have the unmedicated birth I wanted, so I should be grateful for their advice.

So I asked if it was possible that by being so strict with the diet I had starved my baby. And he said that there are several good studies indicating that following the GD diet strictly does not have adverse affects on babies, even those born with low birth weight ... and then there was a long pause ... and then he added "Of course, none of those studies start with women with normal BMIs before pregnancy." So there you have it. There really is no evidence about whether such a restrictive diet (and the related not gaining weight and fighting just to stop losing weight from month 7 to the end of the pregnancy) can have a detrimental effect on a baby whose mother is not overweight. Brilliant.

In happier news, I have discovered that despite my adamant wish not to co-sleep,* my firm belief in schedules and crying it out, etc. we might just be an attachment parenting family. The little alien is currently snoring away in a sling on my stomach (the outside of which has several distinct traces of oatmeal on it), she slept on JD's chest all night until he left for work, after which we nursed in bed for 2 hours ... so much for all that planning.

* Just to clarify, not because I think there's anything wrong with co-sleeping but because I am such a heavy sleeper and sleep better without extra company.