Does anyone have experience with gestational diabetes?

I'm 24 weeks pregnant with my third child. I was tested for gestational diabetes in my other two pregnancies but never had it. Last night I started feeling really strange. I got weak and my finger tips and lips started tingling. Then I got really confused. I was at my mom's house and my step-dad is a diabetic so we used some of his supplies to check my glucose level and it was really low. I drank some juice and ate some crackers and started to feel better. Then i rechecked and it was back up to normal. I have NEVER had a problem with this...pregnant or not. I thought with gestational diabetes that it is always high and not low. Is that always the case or can it be low as well? I have an appointment tomorrow and this is the one where they do the screening for it. I just want some opinions if any of you have had an experience with this. Thanks in advance!

I've had gestational and it was just that my sugars were off the chain. 250 or so. I got put on insulin for it, and when on it, my sugar did tend to dip. I got all the symptoms you did. If your blood sugar is not high, and just low, you're hypoglycemic. You may have had this happen because you are pregnant and you can't skip a meal or a snack... you have to eat like toddler. All the time, just small amounts and low sugar items like a peanut butter sandwich on one wedge of bread.

Best of luck to you. I really hope you don't have gestational. After the baby is born it goes away, but it's a precursor to full on set diabetes.

Gestational diabetes (or gestational diabetes mellitus, GDM) is a condition in which women without previously diagnosed diabetes exhibit high blood glucose levels during pregnancy.
Gestational diabetes
Gestational diabetes generally has few symptoms and it is most commonly diagnosed by screening during pregnancy. Diagnostic tests detect inappropriately high levels of glucose in blood samples. Gestational diabetes affects 3-10% of pregnancies, depending on the population studied.[1] No specific cause has been identified, but it is believed that the hormones produced during pregnancy increase a woman's resistance to insulin, resulting in impaired glucose tolerance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestational...

You are correct -- diabetes is HIGH blood sugar.

What you had was a hypoglycemic attack -- blood sugar too low. This is the OPPOSITE of diabetes.

Hypoglycemia is common in diabetics who do not match their medication and meals, and especially of they are taking insulin. In normally healthy people.

The cause is usually very simple -- you didn't eat enough of the right food, and you blood sugar went too low.

And you did the right thing -- when this happens you need to EAT SOMETHING!

What you need to be doing is asking your doctor for a referral to a Nutritionist who can help you plan better meals. Remember, you ARE "eating for two" now. You need to pay CLOSE attention to your diet -- both eating the right things and eating ENOUGH of them!