So you passed the gestational diabetes test? Doesn't mean you're in the clear

When I got the results back from my gestational diabetes test, I was overjoyed to learn I'd passed.

... But then I discovered that I'd just BARELY passed -- the cut-off was 78, and I scored 75.

Suddenly I didn't feel so great. Especially since I'd spent the week before the test scrupulously avoiding all refined wheat and sugar, and kept my overall carb intake to a bare minimum.
If I hadn't been eating such a carb-restricted diet, I would have failed the test for SURE.

Still... since I'd officially passed the gestational diabetes test, that meant I was free to resume my gummy-bear-munching, cereal-crunching ways, didn't it?

Um, nope.

Acting on my midwife's advice, I kept on avoiding refined wheat and sugar for the rest of my pregnancy. (And whaddya know, the horrible swelling I'd been experiencing in my hands and feet went away.)

Turns out that was a good thing -- a recent international study on gestational diabetes has discovered that babies born to women with even slightly higher-than-normal blood sugar levels are at increased risk for a range of pregnancy-related complications.

The study looked at more than 25,000 pregnant women from nine countries around the world, and focused on women who had blood sugar levels that were elevated, but not high enough to qualify as actual gestational diabetes. Here's what it discovered: even slightly elevated blood sugar levels led to greater risk of experiencing complications such as high birth weight, c-section deliveries, and pre-eclampsia.

You can read more about the study and its findings by clicking here: Gestational diabetes test might not tell the whole story.

SO... If you're like me and manage to just squeak beneath the cut-off point on your gestational diabetes test, that doesn't mean you're in the clear! Make sure your carb choices are wise ones. Choose healthy whole-grains over refined wheat or sugar, and eat lots of healthy veggies protein. Your body will thank you -- and so will your baby.