The Day I Got Diagnosed With Gestational Diabetes (and What I Wish Someone Told Me)

I remember exactly where I was when my doctor called.

I was sitting at my mom’s dining table. I felt safe. I felt pregnant. And then, in one phone call, I suddenly felt uncertain.

“My fasting glucose came back a little elevated,” he said.

Okay… what does that mean?

My brain immediately went to the place so many of us go to first: Was this my fault?

Because I genuinely thought I was doing “the right things.” I ate plenty of veggies. I walked a lot (8,000 steps a day, often more). I didn’t live on fast food. Sure, I had a sweet tooth… but I also felt like I was trying.

And then my doctor added something that, in hindsight, made everything feel even more confusing:

“So, just limit all sweet stuff for now.”

He didn’t mention carbs. Not once. Just… sweet stuff.

I remember asking, “What about fruit?” Because this girl loves fruit.

“Limit that too,” he said, “until we retest.”

And that was that.

It wasn’t even an official gestational diabetes test yet. I was only 10 weeks along, but because I had gone through IVF, my doctor was keeping a close eye on everything.

The call ended.

And then came the part I wish someone had warned me about: the frantic Googling. The spiraling. The mental checklist of everything you’ve eaten in the last week. The sudden urge to eliminate anything that could possibly be a risk.

Because this wasn’t just any pregnancy.

This was my second IVF attempt. The first one had been positive too, but… my little one never developed a heartbeat. That’s another story... a sad one. But it meant one thing for me in that moment: I had to get this right.

I wanted this baby more than anything in the world.

And then there was the chocolate kringel.

A braided sweet bread (kringel is the Estonian word) from Saialill  my favorite bakery in Tartu, the city that had been my home since high school.

It was sitting on the counter that same day.

I stared at it. I craved it. And then I thought: I guess I won’t be having a piece for a while now.

Actually, I had no idea if I could ever have it again.

Because when you hear the word “diabetes,” you don’t know what to think.

No family history. No experience with this. I felt completely lost like I had just been dropped into a brand-new city, trying to navigate roads I’d never driven before.

If you’re newly diagnosed, start here.

What I wish someone told me that day

If you’re reading this right after a scary call or a confusing test result, here’s what I wish I could have reached through the phone and told my 10-weeks-pregnant self.

1) Elevated fasting isn’t a character flaw

Fasting numbers are often the most frustrating part of gestational diabetes — and also the most emotionally loaded. Because it’s the one number you can’t “explain” with a meal you just ate. You wake up, you test, and it can feel like your body is grading you before you’ve even had breakfast.

But fasting is influenced by so much more than willpower.

It can shift with:

• pregnancy hormones (and yes, they can change week to week)

• sleep (even one rough night)

• stress (mental load counts too)

• how long you fasted overnight (too long or too short can both mess with it for some mamas)

• what you ate the evening before (and whether you paired carbs with protein/fat)

• movement after dinner

• hydration

• and sometimes… honestly, it can still feel random even when you do “everything right”

So if fasting is the thing that triggered your diagnosis (or your worry), please hear me: it doesn’t mean you did something wrong. It doesn’t mean you “caused” this. And it definitely doesn’t mean you’re failing.

If you’re staring at your fasting number and feeling stuck, I wrote a practical post with ideas that might help lower fasting numbers (things to try, one by one, without spiraling): How to lower fasting blood sugar in gestational diabetes (ideas that might help).

And just a gentle reminder: fasting is also the number that many mamas end up needing extra support with (including medication). If that’s you, it’s not because you didn’t try hard enough — it’s because fasting is heavily hormone-driven in pregnancy.

2) “Just cut sweets” is not the full picture

This is where so many of us get thrown off.

Gestational diabetes isn’t only about candy and cake. It’s about how your body handles carbohydrates in general including things that look “healthy” on paper, like fruit, oats, bread, rice, and even some yogurts.

That doesn’t mean you can never eat those foods again. It means you’ll learn how your body responds and what combinations work best for you.

3) Googling will make you feel worse before it makes you feel better

I’m not saying “don’t research.” I’m saying: be careful with the rabbit holes.

A lot of GD content online is:

• overly strict

• fear-based

• or written like you can control everything if you just try hard enough

You can’t. And you shouldn’t have to.

4) You don’t have to earn a healthy pregnancy

This one is emotional, but it matters.

When something in pregnancy feels uncertain — a scary test result, a diagnosis, a number that won’t behave — it’s so easy to slip into this mindset of: If I just do everything perfectly, then nothing bad will happen.

And that pressure can come from so many places, not only infertility or loss (like it was for me).

It can come from:

• being a “rule follower” who’s used to doing things the right way

• being the kind of person who carries everyone else (and expects a lot from herself)

• having anxiety, or a brain that immediately jumps to worst-case scenarios

• feeling judged by diet culture, family comments, or the internet

• having a provider who explains things quickly (or in a way that feels blame-y)

• or simply loving your baby so much that you’d do anything to protect them

But here’s what I wish someone had said to me clearly:

You don’t have to earn a healthy pregnancy.

Gestational diabetes is not a punishment. It’s not a sign you failed. It’s not proof you ate the “wrong” thing or didn’t exercise enough. It’s a medical condition that happens in pregnancy — often because of hormones and how the placenta affects insulin resistance — and it can happen to people who eat well, move their bodies, and do everything “right.”

And you are allowed to be human while you manage it.

You’re allowed to have days where you’re tired. Days where you’re overwhelmed. Days where your numbers don’t make sense. None of that means you don’t care. It means you’re pregnant, you’re doing a lot, and you’re learning something new under pressure.

Your job isn’t perfection. Your job is support + adjustment — one day at a time.

5) You can still have joy (and yes, even sweet things)

That chocolate kringel on the counter felt like the end of something.

But the truth is: gestational diabetes doesn’t have to steal all joy from food.

What happens (slowly, and then all at once) is that you start learning your patterns. Not “the internet’s rules.” Yours.

You learn that portion size matters.
You learn that pairing matters (carbs hit differently when they’re eaten with protein/fat/fiber).
You learn that the order you eat can matter too (some mamas do better when they start with veggies/protein and leave the carbs for last).
You learn that time of day matters (hello, breakfast being weirdly hard for so many of us).
And you learn that even the week of pregnancy can matter — because hormones don’t stay the same from one trimester (or even one week) to the next.

And yes… it’s a lot.

I know this kind of talk can sound like it makes everything more complicated. But here’s the part I wish someone had said out loud to me:

You don’t have to get everything right from the start.
Your first day — and honestly, even your first weeks — are not an exam you either pass or fail. They’re a learning phase. You’re collecting clues. You’re adjusting. Day by day.

Also: what works for one mama doesn’t always work for you. That’s normal.
And even what works for you doesn’t always give you perfect numbers every single day — because it’s not just food. It’s also sleep, hydration, stress, movement, and pregnancy hormones that can shift daily.

That’s why I try to see the blood glucose meter as something different than a judgment tool.

It’s not a score. It’s information — for you — so you can see what’s happening in your body in that moment and make the next decision with more confidence (and less fear).

And if you need medication? That’s not failure either. That’s support.

From me to you

If you’re newly diagnosed, I want you to know this:

You’re not behind.

You’re not doing it wrong.

You’re not alone.

You’re just learning a new “city”  and the first day is the hardest because you don’t have a map yet.

But you will get a map. One step at a time.

And if you want a safe place to ask questions, vent, share your wins (and your hard days), that’s exactly why I built HIgedi.

Always follow your care team’s advice and remember: what works for one mama may not work for another.