First - hugs!  It will be ok!

I had GD and it was discovered close to the end, I think right around where you are.  My dr wasn't too stressed since like you mentioned it was so far into my pregnancy.  I followed the diet they gave me, they checked my sugars twice (they both were below what they needed to be) and that was it.  I didn't see my OB for any extra appointments.

They do have to monitor you more since GD babies can get quite large and they probably won't let you go passed your DD.  The u/s is actually fun!  They do all kinds of measurements so you get to see the baby for like 30 mins.  I had the u/s weekly and it helped ease my fear of something going wrong and plus I got to see my lil guy every week!  See him breath, watch him move all kinds of neat stuff! 

Oh and don't beat yourself up about GD...there is no way to prevent it.  It doesn't matter how little or much weight you gain, how active you are etc it has to do with how your body adjusts to pregnancy and sometimes it just can't handle it. 

That really sucks, Haleigh.  Sorry you are going through this - and that it was discovered so late!  Since you are small, they probably want to keep close tabs on how big baby gets b/c if the baby is larger than you could reasonably deliver, they'd probably want to plan a c-section in advance.  My sister (who did not have GD) is very narrow and needed c-sections for both her kids and it is way less taxing on the body if you don't go into labor beforehand.  My SIL (who did have GD with her 1st) also had c-sections. Her son was over 8lbs and was 2 weeks early.  Hopefully, they can check you minimally like Jennifer and you can just finish out these last two months smoothly!

Oh, Haleigh :-( I'm sorry! 

I totally agree with everything princess and murph said. You can't beat yourself up at all. Especially because there is nothing you could have done to prevent this. Just take one appointment at a time, and try not to get overwhelmed by it as a whole. I'm sure as long as you are meeting with the right people and following their plan(s), all will be just fine. And like princess said, seeing your LO on the u/s again will hopefully at least make it bearable! {Hugs}

I'm sorry you are having to deal with this. I know a mom who is having her second baby, in great health, didn't have GD with her first and has it now with her second. Hopefully you will be able to control it with food choices and it won't even be an issue at all.

But I did want to say that being small and having a large baby will in NO WAY impact your chances of having a vaginal delivery. I know so many women who were told that their pelvises were too small to deliver a large baby and ended up with a c-section and were able to successfully deliver a baby who was several pounds larger vaginally the second time around (one was told that her 8 pound baby was too big and just delivered an 11 pound baby two months ago). And a doctor cannot actually accurately measure the size of an unborn baby during the last couple of weeks - ultrasounds can be off like a pound in either direction and they also cannot look at your pelvis and tell what it will be like during childbirth. Your body produces hormones that cause your joints to separate so they will get larger regardless and then during birth both the babies head will mold to be able to fit (thats why their skull plates don't fuse before birth) and your pelvis will separate more. Plus fat squishes so delivering a chubby baby has more to do with their position coming out and their shoulder size then how much they weigh. So if an OB tells you that your baby is too big and you need a c-section you need to find a new OB because that is simply not true at all. So please do not worry about needing a c-section at this point in your pregnancy.... just focus on eating well and staying active and continuing to take care of yourself!

Oh give me a break kristinkay. I was obviously not trying to scare her or even mildly insinuate that she was going to need a c-section, just that it may be considered. I'll give you that my SIL's dr was a total hack, but I can assure you that after my sister spent 23 hours in labor with my nephew's heart rate dropping every time she had a contraction despite every type of medication or birthing position they tried with her that she was never going to deliver him vaginally. And frankly if it were me, I would think 31 weeks is the perfect time to think about what would happen if you couldn't deliver vaginally. Otherwise your that woman who goes in with a "birth plan" that comes out feeling like a failure when things don't go the way you had hoped. And of course I would get a 2nd opinion if anyone told me in advance that I would need to have one in advance. But I'm a lawyer, not a dr so I would trust that they are in a better position to tell me what needs to be done for both of our safety.

Oh and for the record, my mother is 5' and weighed under 100 lbs and gave birth vaginally to four babies all 9 lbs or heavier. Some people can do it, some people can't.

Murphnomore - I was simply responding to your comment:

Since you are small, they probably want to keep close tabs on how big baby gets b/c if the baby is larger than you could reasonably deliver, they'd probably want to plan a c-section in advance.

Under no circumstances would a doctor know how big a baby prior to delivery is (there just isn't the technology out there right now to accurately measure this) and they also wouldn't be able to tell a mom how big of a baby she could "reasonably deliver" since there is no way to measure your pelvis prior to when you are pushing the baby out. As someone that had a c-section I hear these comments all the time and I just feel like its sad so many women are told things like this and begin to believe that their bodies are not capable of birthing the babies they grew. I labored for 27 hours (of active labor, labor was much longer than that) and pushed for six and ended up with a c-section because of my daughter's position. I know that had she been in a different position and the medical interventions and care I received been different, I could have birth her vaginally no issue. And I know c-sections are life saving for many babies, but its also true that our culture has a fear based view of labor and birth that along with many OBs pushing c-sections because they are easier and quicker we have one of the highest rates of c-sections in the world. Its ridiculous. Every woman should walk into her labor fully informed of the risks and what can happen and with the possibility that she may need surgery but I don't think its really necessary to start talking about the possibility of needing a c-section for something like a GD diagnosis.

And even though you are not a doctor you should really be researching all these things because ultimately you are the one making the decisions about your care and the safety of you and your child. Either find a dr or midwife or whoever that you trust completely or do some research on your own when you have questions and talk it over it with your caregiver. I cannot tell you how many untruths I have heard from drs (I once had a dr tell me to wean my daughter at 14 months because there was no benefit to breastfeeding past a year which is simply NOT TRUE at all.) My current care providers practice what they call informed consent which is basically they give me ALL of the current research and information and risks and benefits about a certain topic or test or whatever an then I make the decision. I get their input but its my health and my body and my choice. I love this.

I also wanted to add that its not true (research based evidence at least says that it is not) that a c-section is less taxing with its not preceeded by labor. Like I said I had a fairly long labor beforehand and had a very easy recovery. As you labor the blood rushes to your uterus which can cause your recovery to be easier and quicker - and if you went into labor naturally your body is also primed with all of the hormones and chemicals that speed up naturally recovery and help with the PP contractions and to bring your milk in. It might be less stressful to not have an emergency c-section but its not easier on your body.

I just wanted to make sure that the information we have here is evidence based and that haleighb wasn't worrying about having a c-section when it shouldn't even be more on the table than for any other mom.

i'm so not at the labor and delivery part yet, hah.  i feel extremely underprepared in that aspect/  i know whichever way the doctors suggest birthing will be what's best for the baby, so i'm keep an open mind and going with what they say.  i would love to do vaginal birth, but i guess scheduled c-sections have their perks too (2 more weeks of leave, albeit, they may be more uncomfortable).

from what i've read, the biggest impact on the baby is larger birth weight and possible fluctuating blood sugar after birth.  i know women without GD as well that has 9lb babies and popped em out like it was nothing!  i hope i'm that lucky, but i hope for the best and prepare for the worst!  although from the last few appointments, it seems she's measuring small.  i'll know for sure after the next US what we're dealing with.

thanks for your help ladies, i appreciate all of the input and examples!

@Haleighb - my son was 2 weeks early and was 7 pounds, 14 ounce BUT he had been measuring big most of the time and I am not a tiny person (I'm 6ft tall) so that made sense.

They will check the babes blood sugar as soon as you give birth and a couple more times as well.  My son didn't have any issues - thank goodness :)

Oh and I was like you for L/D - for me (not to freak myself out) I went without a plan and completely trusted my dr to what was best for the baby and me.  My L/D did not go as planned and I think if I had a detailed birth plan like Murph I would have felt like a failure - I already had issues about being 2 weeks early (I was induced because my son failed his NST) so if I had that and a messed up birth plan I would have cried for weeks!