Living with gestational diabetes

So since my diagnosis of gestational diabetes I've been testing my blood sugars 3 times a day every day, avoiding white carbs and sugar wherever possible and while it stresses me out it hasn't actually Been that bad. I haven't put on much weight this pregnancy because of the constant sickness the first 16 weeks and now I'm watching what I eat so that's always a upside! I'm relaxing on it slightly and enjoying creme eggs again and the odd potato as my readings are very rarely high - this is where my annoyance with the GD diagnosis comes in though.

When we were first diagnosed I was terrified I didn't know much about GD and a quick search in google will bring up horror stories of 14lb babies and stillborns!! We were really strict and I cried for 2 days straight half for me and what was to come and half for my poor little girl who I'd inflicted this on before I even got her out into the world - I felt like it was my fault and id failed her already.

Then we met Petra - an amazing midwife who ran our antenatal classes and has given me more of a kick up the backside than she could ever probably realise. She opened my eyes to the fact that the NHS now tests more women for GD than ever before, 1 risk factor and that's it you're set to be tested - this was never the case. Not once have I had glucose in any of my urine samples, I do not have a big baby and other than this label hanging over my head I am a perfectly healthy mother to be. 

So we started reading up ourselves about GD with advice from Petra and discovered that induction, constant monitoring of myself and baby and intervened labour is not he best way forward while I remain diet controlled and baby remains normal growth - we have since met with a senior midwife from the midwife led unit at the hospital which advocates natural birth and she is more than happy for me to birth in her unit while I stay under those constraints. 

While I think my care since being pregnant has been fantastic I do have a problem with how they deal with risk - I get it's a tick box system where they're covering their own backs but without meeting Petra we were given no choices about which path we wanted to go down now we were just scared into going along with their plans in fear of something awful happening otherwise and that I don't agree with. Thank god for some of those amazing midwives we've met in the last few weeks!! Next hurdle - 36 week final growth scan and getting into spontaneous labour!!

Baby girl at 33 weeks - 4lb 9oz estimated