Anemic, failed 1 hr blood sugar test - help!

[DebBKNY]

Hello Ladies,

I am currently 25.5 weeks pregnant w twin girls and recently went in for bloodwork and discovered that Im anemic and that I failed the 1 hour blood sugar test! Ive been taking an iron supplement religiously and despite that Im still anemic - how can that be? Since I failed the 1 hour blood sugar test I am scheduled to take the 2-3 hr test on 10/24 - Im scared Im going to fail that one too Anyone end up passing the 2-3 hour test after failing the first one? Also, how much iron is too much? My OB told me to double my intake from 65mg/day to 130mg / day...

[AriRedEagle]

This advice may be too late, but here it goes anyway...

I would guess that diet changes may be in order. Our bodies have a hard time absorbing iron in supplement form, so I would ask for a complete list of foods high in iron or you can google it to help keep you healthy. Here's a list I have for myself from the internet for iron... beef, pork, lamp, spinach, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, salmon, dried beans, nuts, eggs, apricots, figs, grapes, bran, oatmeal, soy.
With my second pregnancy, I had borderline gestational diabetes. So they gave me the full run-down of how to eat properly for having diabetes. Basically, you may need to cut out refined sugars, cut down on simplex carbs / starches and make sure you are eating 5 - 6 small, balanced meals a day. I'm sure you will be referred to a nutritionist for this and you may need to keep tabs at home of your blood sugar if it is considered gestational diabetes. I know I may face this with twins and being 12 years older than I was during my last pregnancy, so I am doing my best to get my mindset in that direction now and eat accordingly.

Good luck!!!

[IWantToBeAMommy]

Hi ladies!

I also am anemic and have GD. I found out at 28 weeks for the GD and I always been anemic (prior to pregnancy).

I take my iron 2x since I been pregnant and when they retested me after finding out my GD, I wasn't surprised my levels were still low because they have always been low. I think the doctor said since it's always been low and common for my race (Asian) to be on the low side.

My 1 hour test was so hour (low 200s) that I did not have to take the 3 hour test. They said it was a high postive already.

They followed me doing the testing at home (with the little blood sugar machine) and it was still high so I just started doing insulin the last 2 weeks. It's not too bad but in the beginning it made me nervous because I was afraid I might hit and hurt one of the twins. The doctor, diabetes educator and diabetes nurse all told me that the needle was really tiny and would not hit them.

It helps to have someone help you pinch your skin up to do the insulin shot. When I did it myself (one hand pinching), the other injecting I ended up bruising the spot. So now with someone else helping me pinch it up and I doing the injecting, it a lot easier.

Good luck and keep us posted.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me here or PM me.