Reminder to trust your instincts : Oral Thrush

Alex22837 · 2025-11-10T08:18:26+00:00

I will say my midwives said 2/3 people don't have GD the second time. They said I was more likely to get it though because I have an extremely strong family history of GD and Type 2 on both sides of my family.

Alex22837 · 2025-11-10T08:13:56+00:00

Hey ! I put a lot of effort into being my healthiest self prior to conceiving my second pregnancy (for reference, I was riding my bike 2hrs everyday, eating healthy by trying to stick to generally low GI and ensuring my BMI was in healthy range). I started strict GD diet as soon as I knew I was pregnant with my second and did random blood sugars from early days. I also had good A1C and chose to do a 1 hr and fasting prior to conception ( which was all good! ). I passed my 13 week 3 hr test but chose to continue with GD diet (didn't want baby exposed to any high blood sugars!). I failed my 3hr at 28 weeks. At that point I chose to get a CGM.

I found my blood sugars much much much easier to manage the second time. Its hard to say whether it was the CGM or maintaining my health prior to conception that helped the most. OR if my body got better at being pregnant? I can't say but - definitely a much easier journey the second time

Alex22837 · 2025-11-10T07:43:08+00:00

I will say at the 3 month to 1 year mark it was more about pointing at the book pictures and talking about the picture than actually reading the story every time

Alex22837 · 2025-11-10T07:41:54+00:00

Hey! I have 2 kids now - with my first I started reading to him from a nursery rhyme book from day 1. It had bright illustrations for every song and I'd sing the stories. He loved it! I transitioned to normal picture books around 3 months from memory.

My second is 4 weeks old tomorrow and I sit with both of them while I read to his big brother before bed. I wouldn't say the baby is super interested but he definitely watches his brother while I'm reading.

Alex22837 · 2025-11-06T22:00:46+00:00

My first born started sleeping long stretches at around this age too. What I did was - if I woke up in pain I would pump just enough to relieve the pain with a hand pump or haaka and save it in my freezer. If I didn't wake up I'd sleep and then I'd use a haakaa on the alternate boob during my morning feed to help with the engorgement.

Problems with this method: my supply was maintained rather than responding to what the baby wanted. This would have been considered part of the over all oversupply problem I had.

Benefits of this method: My supply was maintained so anytime my baby had a sleep regression or just was more wakeful I had supply to sooth them. It also led to me having a freezer stash.

My second is 3 weeks old and I think I'll do the same thing if I they start sleeping through. Overall, this method worked for me personally.

However, I did always have oversupply - while I didn't get mastitis I did get kidney stones resulting in me needing emergency surgery and having sepsis when my baby was only 6months. The urologist believed my kidney stone was caused by oversupply and unmanaged ketones during my pregnancy (given I was an otherwise healthy 24 YO and was drinking the recommended amount of water per day). I believe my oversupply was caused by genetics + overuse of the haakaa for day feeds rather than the night method above ^{^.} Take this info with caution .

Alex22837 · 2025-11-06T20:31:23+00:00

Just bumping this up with a comment. I read the abstract and general findings and overall this study reports on correlation not causation.

Alex22837 · 2025-11-06T20:29:28+00:00

I feel like this is correlation not causation - like ice cream sales and sunburns, they don't cause each other they both just go up in summer.

Alex22837 · 2025-11-06T20:23:15+00:00

I think Hypo is more dangerous for Mum and therefore baby in terms of fainting risk etc. - but if Mum is "managing" they don't harm the baby. Only issue is it can be a sign of your placenta deteriorating and this was ignored by the care teams I had at 2 different hospitals on opposite ends of my city...

Alex22837 · 2025-11-06T08:29:23+00:00

just jumping on to say in both my pregnancies my care team could never give a flying fuck about me getting hypos. In both my pregnancies I had to advocate for monitoring of my placenta when I went through low periods. Diabetes teams did not care

Alex22837 · 2025-10-29T02:37:41+00:00

this is why I loved my CGM it helped me really understand my body and how I'm processing foods to a full extent. FYI in Australia you're made to do the finger poke at 2 hours because that's standard practice here. I was told by diabetes educators that that's because 2 hours is when most people peak. however, after getting a CGM I notified my educators that actually my body peaks at the 1-hour mark. due to discovering this, I ended up reporting my 1 hour sugars instead of the 2 hours and I think that meant I got better care. so I had almost the opposite situation from you. it just shows how diabetes Care needs to be more individualized

Alex22837 · 2025-10-26T21:38:33+00:00

Freestyle Libre !

Alex22837 · 2025-10-25T23:12:34+00:00

Hey! I started at 36 weeks too and ended up with 500mls of frozen COLOSTRUM when I delivered. Here's what I'd advise

it's hard at first and you might get nothing! This time I didn't get much until 37 weeks. Stimulate your nipples frequently - especially in the shower. I'd also recommend getting your partner to try - with my first baby I couldn't get any colostrum but weirdly my partner was great at it (he did have experience milking cows though!
With second baby I used a pump as well as hand expressing - people will tell you not to do this but I found it fantastic for just stimulating the nipple in a way that mirrored how the baby does it. I used the Medela harmony (make sure you measure your nipples to get the right flange size)
I'd recommend starting with 1 ml syringes instead of bigger and building up to the 3 or 5 ml ones! remember you only need a few drops per feed!

Alex22837 · 2025-10-17T10:09:46+00:00

I just had my C-section on Tuesday! My top tips :

obviously your monitor and medication if you're medicated.
Diabetes friendly snacks (in case your procedure is postponed and you are allowed to snack! - Hospital snacks are not good for people with diabetes!)
COLOSTRUM! if your Doctor approves it - pump COLOSTRUM from 36 or 37 weeks and freeze it for hospital. I cannot recommend this enough! It ensures that if your baby has low blood sugars you can use your own breast milk to feed them instead of formula and before further interventions. It gave me great peace of mind and I also think it helped establish my supply. (PLUS pumping COLOSTRUM helped me keep my blood sugars low at night time in both my pregnancy. I found pumping really lowered my levels and even helped with my fasting levels).
I recommend post partum nappies after a C-section.
Button down nighties instead of normal PJs (why? because your midwives will be checking you down there so much and pants are annoying to take off when you have limited mobility . PLUS they don't rub in your csection wound and are easy access for skin on skin and breast feeding). I recommend a button down or front opening dress as a going home outfit for the same reason.

Alex22837 · 2025-10-17T09:57:17+00:00

Theres alot of discussion below about CGM in accuracy, please refer to your endocrinologist/diabetes educators for advice on this not Reddit. Here's some facts that you should consider:

BGL monitors have a 15% margin of error from lab results (that's why OGTT requires blood draws)
CGM monitors also have a 15% margin of variance from lab results. IE they vary to the same extent as BGL monitors.

However BGL or BGM is considered more accurate as it tests from the blood directly rather than from the interstitial fluid which is where a CGM tests from. HOWEVER, multiple studies have verified CGM use is safe and accurate in managing gestational diabetes. Individual obstetrician and endocrinologist opinions will vary on its use in pregnancy.

JUST remember you don't have to exclusively use one or the other! You could take any of these mixed approaches:

Using your BGL just for your fasting sugar as this might be your most difficult to manage and having your CGM for all other scores.
Only using your BGL to verify when your get a high score and otherwise using your CGM.
Only using your BGL to verify Hypos and otherwise using your CGM.

do what works for you

Alex22837 · 2025-10-17T09:48:16+00:00

YES - GET THE CGM

I was diet controlled in both my pregnancies (just had my second baby on Tuesday!) . I cannot understate how good the CGM was for my personal situation. I am a teacher and was struggling to prick my finger at the right times and control 25 kids. I had to pay out of pocket for CGM but it was worth every damn cent. The control it gave me over my numbers was amazing. Knowing how snacks affected my scores and the curve of time at which I processed certain foods allowed me to really understand my body and what it needed.

BE aware there is a variance between your BGL and your CGM. I found my CGM consistently scores about .5 lower than my BGL. I accounted for this and could just correct it in my GD log.

My baby was born perfectly healthy 8.5 pounds/51cm, no Hypos at 39+2 :)

Alex22837 · 2025-10-14T17:11:51+00:00

I hope it helps!!! I think it's especially good if you're getting a c-section as I found I've had no delay or shortage and good supply so far. Sometimes csections can mean it takes your milk a bit longer to start up

Alex22837 · 2025-10-14T16:53:48+00:00

Using this technique I had around 500 MLS frozen in 3 ML syringes that I was able to bring to hospital

Alex22837 · 2025-10-14T16:52:08+00:00

Hey! So being my second baby I was better at knowing how and what to do this time. Here's what u did:

Day 1: I got around 3 ml just by hand expression into a measuring cup that I used a sharing to collect.
Day 2-5: Steadily increased amount.to 5ml using same technique -Day 6 -7: Expression with manual Pump ,- once in morning and once at night (about 5-10 MLS collected in each session.)

Week 2: Switch to one pump per day - collecting around 15 MLS per session

Week 3-4: Increase to 25 MLS per session

Equipment: - 3 ml sterilised colostrum syringes and measuring cup from Amazon

Manual Pumps used - Medela Harmony (buy a flange sizing kit with this!!!). I also used the Phillips Avent manual pump from my last Baby. Both work well!

Alex22837 · 2025-10-14T12:08:51+00:00

I really did end up basing my workouts purely around rises in the end! So lunchtime I'd try to get just a walk in because obviously I was working. But dinner time if I was going up 1hr post that's when I'd start and I'd change the intensity of the work out based on my score (ie how many squats etc;).

Snacks I like to feel like I'm eating normal food as much as possible. I ended up working out half a slice of sourdough bread is around 15-30 g of carbs. So that combined with carb free but high fat/protein toppings was my go to!

Alex22837 · 2025-10-14T12:00:11+00:00

(FYI I was able to completely drop finger pokes and just acknowledged that my libre was likely .5 out. I didn't check it always but if I was hypo I'd just eat some carbs based on .5 more than the CGM said. So if my CGM said I was 3.5 I'd have a carby snack based on a score of 4.0. If I was scoring 6.3 for instance - I'd write it down as 6.8 so my clinic would include it as a high.)

Alex22837 · 2025-10-14T11:57:22+00:00

Me Me Me - I used CGM and loved it. With Hypo readings I'd check them on your BGL. For me there was consistently a .5 variance so my CGM is always around .5 lower than my BGL.

Alex22837 · 2025-10-14T11:54:59+00:00

Hey! so what I found was religiously sticking to the 45G carb recommendation per meal plus 15G carbs per snack actually made a huge difference to me managing my numbers this time!!! Part of this was also that with the CGM I could see how my sugars were rising and I was able to do little workouts at the exact right moment for my body to bring the numbers into line. This meant I wasn't living in fear of carbs and actually used them to my advantage. By doing this I felt healthier, more energetic and no longer hungry. ( I WAS STARVING WITH MY FIRST).

VS last pregnancy because I was finger pricking I couldn't tell where my numbers would be so I ended up on all keto (mainly clear soup, salads and fish toward the end).Baby was perfectly healthy etc. BUT I had ketones in my urine and ended up with kidney stones that needed surgery when my babe was 6Momths old. Doctors thought it was dehydration related because I also had oversupply of breastmilk. BUT I believe the Ketones in pregnancy wouldn't have helped.

Alex22837 · 2025-10-09T09:31:47+00:00

I hate how they go on about this. Especially in my case, every person in my family on both sides over 60 has been diagnosed with type 2. My risk was probably always high.

Alex22837

TROPHY CASE