Hi,
Yes, I had G.D. with both pregnancies, the first I ended up on insulin, the second pregnancy I got by with the diet and exercise and pills (which they constantly had to adjust the amount of medicine--the same thing happens with insulin--adjusting almost weekly). My blood sugars went right back to normal after delivery--both times.
First of all, they should have told you, that this has to do with hormones and NOT what you have eaten while pg--it's not your "fault." As the placenta gets larger, it can interfere with the absorption and production of your own insulin.
The diet that you'll be following is healthy--it's the way we should be eating anyway. I learned a lot. In fact, when I went in for diet counseling with my second pg, I told them that I always had trouble with my morning numbers. They were always elevated. With that history, she modified my diet to eliminate fruit and milk until lunch, since those foods are processed so quickly, raising the blood sugars. That was just the trick! Because I didn't start off the day high, I was more consistent and my sugars didn't get all out of whack. I'm convinced that the simple modification allowed me to avoid the insulin injections.
From my own experience, the worst part of insulin was it was inconvenient. Going out to dinner? What if it is more than 30 minutes before you get to eat, but you want to do the insulin shot at home? I ended up taking it with me.
So here's the deal, if you have too much sugar in your blood and not enough insulin, that blood is transferred to the baby, and the baby must then make insulin to lower the blood sugar. Insulin is a growth hormone, so then your baby gets very large, making delivery more risky. That's why managing your sugars is so important.
You can do anything for 12 weeks. Bring M&Ms or your favorite sweet treat to the hospital with you and promise yourself you can have something after you have held that sweet little baby.
Hang in there! Best wishes.