14 Comments

  • Karen

    Hi, I’m really loving your blog and the facebook page. I am wondering though what difference being in a high risk category such as GD makes to how much say I can and should have in labour? I am currently 29 weeks and am scared I’ll be pushed unnecessarily into c-section or being induced. If baby is in danger, of course I want to do whats best. Can I still rely on my own instincts and my body or will I need to listen more to the medical team?
    Karen

  • studentmidwifey

    Hi Karen,
    If for some reason you doubt the accuracy of your test, try doing finger prick monitoring for a specific amount of time with your normal every day intake. Or just ask for a retest. I hate the glucose tests because fasting a pregnant women for that long isn’t recommended normally, and then to overload her with sugar is just…well wow! Remember, you are always in control of your body and if you have any doubt or want something else, find someone to help you achieve the birth you want.
    Talk to your provider and find out what their proposed plan for treatment for GD is. See if they have any recommendations on labor and delivery based on your positive GD testing. And be prepared that if you retest for negative, some will still try to hold that positive test against you. You still have plenty of time to find another provider if you discover the two of you done mesh.

    Also, have you looked into the Brewer’s Diet? It’s fantastic!
    Here’s a great site to get you started:
    http://www.drbrewerpregnancydiet.com/id33.html

    • Rachel

      I drank about 1.5 tablespoons of coconut oil (melted in warm water) the morning of the GD test and passed with flying colors (fat slows everything down, and coconut oil is a wonder anyway). Probably would have either way. I wasn’t told to fast, but my medwife (yep, a Kaiser CNM) did advice me to avoid sugar and refined starch for the 24 hours prior. Good tip.

  • Susan Peterson

    Karen, I can see that your question wasn’t answered. If you follow your diet, take the medications you are supposed to, and keep your blood sugar under control, you should have a perfectly healthy baby. You still deserve to have the kind of labor and delivery you want.
    If there is pressure on your for an early induction ask for a biophysical profile to make sure your baby is still healthy and try to hold out for going into labor on your own. Try to find out everything you can about GD and how it affects the baby and placenta so that when you are given advice you know whether it is soundly based or not. This will also enable you to ask informed questions. Don’t be afraid of asking, or ask anyway even if you are afraid.
    Besides trying to avoid induction unless there is a clear indication that baby needs to come out, see if you can plan for mobile monitoring. Some hospitals have telemetry monitors which you can wear while walking the halls. Birth is just so much more painful when you are stuck in bed. I would say that those would be the two most important things to negotiate for. Also, if you have to be induced, ask if you can have a slow, gentle induction, and if the pitocin can be turned off once you are in labor. After all, if there is some indication that your baby needs to come out sooner rather than later, wouldn’t that be a reason not to stress him with hyperintense and close together contractions? Hopefully you will have a doctor willing to discuss all this with you.
    I hope you have a healthy pregnancy and a wonderful birth of a healthy baby.
    Susan Peterson

    • Karen Joy

      Karen, your provider makes a lot of difference. It’s still worthwhile to ask these questions. FWIW, for my last (5th) baby, I transferred care at 27 weeks to an OB I felt I could trust. I was freaked out because I didn’t see him for the first time until I was 30 weeks, but it turned out to be a perfect decision. Don’t be afraid to transfer care if you need to!!

      I was a moderately high risk, because I was 35 years old, it was my 5th baby (ups chance of hemorrhage), plus I had severe varicose veins, up into my vagina — vaginal varicosities (fun, fun!), plus ALL of my babies are at/above the threshold for macrosomia. (8 lbs 13 oz was my smallest, 10 lbs 0 oz my biggest.) So, I had moderate-to-high risk of hemorrhage, and that was a concern to my OB. My OB was generally very supportive of me laboring naturally, but I had to put my foot down and say, “Don’t even talk to me about inducing until I’m 41 weeks.” Now, I had *NO* intention of allowing myself to be induced at all, but I figured that would at least put him off. And, you know what? He never brought it up again, except at my 40 wk appt. 🙂

      Do all you can to keep your blood pressure down, and your weight-gain down. By 28 weeks or so, your baby’s new development is all completed, and from here on out, your baby is just growing what’s already there and putting on weight. So, actually, you can gain ZERO weight during your 3rd trimester and it’s still totally healthy. I learned this from my OB! He put me on an extremely low-carb diet. I basically ate a primal diet (all fruits, veggies, meat, eggs, dairy — no refined sugars at all, no processed foods, no grains), gained ZERO pounds for my 3rd trimester, was not induced, and delivered my 8 lb 13 oz baby 100% naturally at 40 weeks/2 days. 🙂

      I hope this isn’t a pointless comment! I never did have GD, but I am trying to say that it IS possible to labor with an OB in the hospital even if you’re high risk. You just have to be really diligent about your own health, and you have to choose the right OB who *TRULY* supports you in your desire to birth naturally.

  • Becca

    While I was pregnant I read everywhere about choosing the right person to attend your birth. This brought me to tears several times out of shear frustration! Here in Regina Saskatchewan we are limited in our choices at the time we had no midwives, we now have one, and you get referred to an obgyn but that rarely means that will be the dr at your birth!! My dr at my birth was some man I had never even seen before let alone had a conversation about my wants and needs for a happy birth. It sucks but I did the next best thing (I was not comfortable with an unassisted birth) I hired a fantastic doula and had a very supportive husband. We wanted delayed cord clamping so after my sons birth the dr went to clamp the cord and both my husband and doula shouted no! I was so cinfused I thought I had done something wrong!! Ha ha

  • Xylina Weaver

    With my last baby, I interviewed my midwife on my due date, hired her the next day and had my baby the next! It was abosolutely the right thing to do and I would do it again! Trust your gut mamas!!!

  • Shandi

    I changed care providers at 20 weeks because my OB stated “you can’t give birth in any position other than lithotomy because I need access” and “I can’t let you tear naturally. If I see the need for an episiotomy, I will do it.” I ran for the hills. I hired my fantastic midwife who is all about MY needs, and she even told me she’d be the bouncer if unwanted people try to show up at my house while I’m in labor. 🙂 It’s also nice that my husband is so comfortable with her he doesn’t feel like he needs to fight her or protect me from her, and that’s exactly how he felt at the OB’s office. He wouldn’t let me go to the OB alone because he wanted to make sure they listened and didn’t try to fill my head with BS.

  • Sarah

    I changed OBs at 35 weeks. Best decision ever!!! Had my ideal unmedicated birth at 41 weeks and 1 day. My former OB wanted me to induce no later than 41 weeks. Thank goodness I switched!

  • Janet

    So what happens when you have a wonderful midwife and doula who support your choices and that you are very happy with, but it’s your husband who is the one who is against it? I want a home water/hypno birth and he wants me in the hospital with an epi (like our first – I was completely uninformed about my options with ds). We live 9 blocks from the hospital so I am not concerned about safety, and the main reasons for having a home waterbirth is that you do not have that option in the hospitals here (there are no birth clinics), and I have back and hip issues that cause me pain on a daily basis (pre-existing) that I would like to have the water for to help with joint relief. I’ve tried talking with him, but it never ends well.

  • Rene

    Janet – I’m curious as to how your story turns out? We’re not pregnant yet but husband is already against anything other than hospital w/epi. I’m wondering as you were, what to do to get him to see that it’s possible to do it another way. Especially being that you were so close to the hospital.

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