Gestational Diabetes: Pancreas Under Attack

By Krista Elliott

When you're pregnant, there are no end to the indignities which are visited upon your newly beseiged body. Constant demands to pee in a cup, painfully swollen feet, intrusive physical exams, morning sickness ... it feels like both the medical profession and your own body are conspiring to make you miserable. 

At one visit, I was scheduled for a glucose screening test. I figured, "OK, fine. They'll just take a drop of blood, like regular diabetics test their own blood, right?" 

Wrong. Oh, so wrong. 

Instead, I was forced to imbibe a bottle of fizzy orange drink. This doesn't sound so bad. It's just soda, right? Not even close. This stuff is what would happen if a pound of pure sugar fell into the soda and was then filtered through cotton candy. 

But, I drank it. And an hour later, I dutifully sat still, stomach churning from the foul stuff, to have blood drawn. 

And as it turns out, the results were not good: I had gestational diabetes. 

What is Gestational Diabetes?

Gestational diabetes is similar to Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, in that it causes your blood sugar to run too high.

Normally, your pancreas produces insulin, which helps your body use up the glucose in your bloodstream from your food and drink. Pretty straightforward stuff. 

But when you're pregnant, the hormones in your body change things (as they are wont to do). The developing fetus needs energy, so pregnancy hormones turn a few of the proverbial dials in your body, making it less receptive to the effects of insulin. 

For most pregnant people, it works well, with enough insulin still being absorbed so as to keep glucose levels at a manageable level. 

But for some unlucky souls like me, it goes awry, with the pregnancy hormones cranking everything up to 11. The result? The body just about stops using insulin altogether. The glucose in the body builds up, causing the poor beleaguered pancreas to churn out more and more insulin. But it can't keep up. And all that excess glucose floating around the bloodstream can cause serious problems for both parent and baby. 

How to Manage It

The most important thing is to catch it early. Prenatal tests are a pain, but they're crucial. 

If diagnosed with gestational diabetes, you will have to test your blood with a glucometer, usually as soon as you wake up and after every meal. Some people can keep their blood glucose levels within an acceptable range solely by reducing carbs and sugar from their diet which, when combined with pregnancy cravings, is one of nature's cruel jokes. Others, like myself, have too severe a case to be managed via diet alone, and get to experience the fun-filled adventure of insulin injections. 

Gestational diabetes is a pain, no doubt. But if you have it, taking good care of yourself is pretty straightforward once you get used to it. The bright side is that as soon as baby is delivered, the body stops making pregnancy hormones and things return to normal.

My blood glucose was back at normal levels an hour after birth — just in time for a celebratory cupcake.