Pregnancy is such an exciting time in a woman's life. If you're expecting, you probably have a million questions running through your head. You may be anxious about complications that can occur during pregnancy, such as gestational diabetes.
Our amazing team can help to calm your anxiety and help you deal with any bumps in the road along your pregnancy journey. Dr. John Paul Roberts is our board-certified OB/GYN who is happy to answer all your questions about the type of diabetes that crops up during pregnancy.
Your body undergoes many changes during pregnancy. You gain weight and your belly grows along with your baby. However, some changes are unexpected and can add unforeseen complications, making your pregnancy high risk. Gestational diabetes is one of those things.
Gestational diabetes is a form of diabetes that only occurs during pregnancy. If you have this condition, you have too much sugar in your blood. This can cause problems for you, such as high blood pressure and pre-eclampsia, and complications for the baby, such as:
You’ll be screened for gestational diabetes during your second trimester, between weeks 24-28 of pregnancy. If you’re diagnosed with gestational diabetes, it can be controlled. You'll need to check your blood sugar throughout the day and modify your diet. Dr. Roberts may also suggest that you incorporate light physical activity.
As long as you continue regular prenatal checkups and follow your eating plan, your risk of complications is decreased significantly.
You might be wondering how you can tell if you have gestational diabetes. You may feel more thirsty than usual or urinate more often, but you might have no symptoms at all. That’s why pregnant women are routinely screened with a glucose tolerance test. Depending on your results, you may need another test to determine if you're dealing with diabetes.
If you have gestational diabetes, you’re more prone to frequent infections in your bladder, vagina, and skin. Since everyone's body is different, you may experience only one of these symptoms, or several at a time.
Make sure to report any abnormal symptoms to Dr. Roberts as soon as you notice them. The sooner you get treatment, the better the outcome for you and your baby.
Sometimes, you're predisposed to gestational diabetes because of a genetic factor, such as having a family member with Type 2 diabetes. If you've had this condition in a previous pregnancy, your risk of developing it again is much higher.
Although there are some risk factors that you can't control, there are steps you can take to decrease your risk for gestational diabetes. Prevention is based on preparing your body for pregnancy.
Things you can do to help prevent gestational diabetes include:
Keeping your body in the best shape before and during pregnancy can not only decrease your risk of complications, but give your baby the best chance at a healthy start, too.
When you're pregnant, your health is so important. If you think you may have symptoms of gestational diabetes, call our office in Plano, Texas, at 972-591-8826 right away.
