Question from Atlanta, Georgia, USA:

I am in my third pregnancy with gestational diabetes. When I am not pregnant, I do have some insulin resistance. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 18 weeks pregnant (barely passed my 12 week screening) and started insulin injections in my 20th week.

Last week, at 35 weeks pregnant, I was taking 22 units of NPH in the morning and 18 units of NPH at bedtime. I was also using a 2:1 carbohydrate to Humalog ratio at breakfast, 10:1 at lunch and 15:1 at dinner. I was taking nearly 100 units of insulin a day.

In the past week, I have gone from needing a lot of insulin just to keep my blood sugar under 150 mg/dl [8.3 mmol/L] postprandial and under 100 mg/dl [5.6 mmol/L] fasting, to having to stop taking ALL INSULIN. I kept having hypoglycemic reactions and I was constantly having to eat to keep my sugars up above 70 mg/dl [3.9 mmol/L]. Even now, with no insulin, I have gone to the low 60s mg/dl [3.3 to 3.5 mmol/L] with snacks and my fastings are between 60 and 70 mg/dl [3.3 and 3.9 mmol/L[ in the mornings. While I was on insulin, they were usually 90 to 115 mg/dl [5.0 to 6.4 mmol/L].

The doctors seem concerned that my placenta is starting to deteriorate but, so far, have decided that as long as the baby is active and the tests are reactive, I can and should remain pregnant. I have had every other day non-stress tests and a biophysical profile this week. All the tests were good.

I am very worried that if we continue to wait, something bad will happen. I was looking for some advice on this type of situation. Is it common? Does it usually have a good outcome?