Keeping Your Blood Sugar Stable

The glucose tolerance test, or glucose challenge, is the test to screen for gestational diabetes.

Gestational diabetes is something you want to be noticed because it can lead to high birth weight, more intervention during birth, and a greater chance of developing type 2 diabetes later.  For the baby, he can have difficulty regulating his own blood sugar after birth.

For the glucose tolerance test you consume a sugary beverage, usually Glucola, and have you blood sugar tested about 1 hour later.

There can be false positives.  The best way to avoid inaccurate results is not to take the test on an empty stomach and to slightly increase your carbohydrate intake the day or 2 before the test. This is especially important for women who eat very clean or low carbohydrate diets. Your body is not accustomed to processing a lot of sugar and is more likely to over respond in the release of insulin.

To avoid gestational diabetes, exercise moderately each day (see your walking calendar), eat lots of vegetables, and reduce sugar in your daily diet - let your sweet be fruit and whole grains.