Ep. 1: Introducing Gestie

Welcome to the very first episode of the Gestie Podcast 💛 I’m Celia, your host, and I’m so glad you’re here. In this introductory episode, I’m sharing my personal experience of being diagnosed with gestational diabetes - the overwhelm that came with it, and the moments that quietly changed me along the way.

This episode is also where I share why Gestie came to life. Not as a solution or a system to follow, but as a steady companion for women navigating a season that can feel confusing, heavy, and unexpectedly lonely.

My hope is that this podcast becomes a place where you feel seen, supported, and gently reminded that you’re not doing this wrong - and you’re not doing it alone.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• A bit about my personal journey with gestational diabetes
• The moment I realised something was missing in the GD space, and why I started Gestie
• The heart behind this podcast and what I hope it offers you
• What’s coming up in future episodes, including expert conversations, honest mama-to-mama chats, and support for every stage of the GD journey
  
  

Resources & links mentioned:

• 📲 Follow Gestie on Instagram → @heygestie 
  

About the host

Celia is the founder of Gestie and the voice behind the Gestie Podcast. After experiencing gestational diabetes during her own pregnancy, she became deeply aware of the emotional load, information gaps, and quiet isolation so many women face after diagnosis. Gestie was created to meet women in the thick of it - with empathy, honesty, and practical support - and to help make the GD journey feel less overwhelming and far less lonely.

Transcript

This transcript was auto-generated and lightly edited for clarity.

Celia: If you’ve just found out that you have gestational diabetes, or you suspect that news might be coming, I’m so glad you’ve found your way here because this podcast was literally made for you.

My name’s Celia, and I had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant with my daughter back in 2022. And it might have been the combination of first-time mum nerves and everything else going on in life at the time, but I found the experience really overwhelming.

I could manage the diet changes okay, but my fasting levels were a runaway train. I did eventually need insulin to get them under control, but in those weeks between being diagnosed and starting insulin, I was trying everything I possibly could. Anything anyone suggested, I gave it a go.

And to not see results from that - while carrying this constant background worry of how is this affecting my baby? - was really stressful and deflating at the same time.

That was the part no one really gave me a heads-up on.
The mental toll of having to very suddenly manage diabetes in the middle of an already massive life change.

And it’s not just your life that feels affected - it’s this little baby who’s completely dependent on you.

Once I was on insulin and finally started seeing my numbers in range, I felt so relieved. But then I was caught off guard by what that meant for birth. And honestly, I had no idea what I was meant to do postpartum.

It always felt like I was one step behind - piecing things together after the fact - or the information I was given was so dense that it just never really landed.

For a long time, I assumed this might have just been a me thing. I was never great at science in school, and I genuinely wondered how much baby brain played a part. Maybe things had been explained and I just hadn’t retained them. And honestly… that’s a very real possibility.

But as I’ve met more mums who’ve also had gestational diabetes, I’ve realised so many of us have had really similar experiences.

I was 33 when I had our daughter, and I’m 36 now and pregnant with our second child - waiting to see if I have gestational diabetes this time around too.

In the years between those pregnancies, it sparked a real curiosity in me about food and how our bodies work. I tried to fill the knowledge gaps I felt I had last time, and in doing that, I realised that what I was slowly piecing together for myself would probably be incredibly helpful to someone standing right at the beginning of this journey.

Someone who’s just found out they have it for the first time.

That’s how Gestie was born.

My hope is that it makes this journey feel a lot less confusing - and a lot less lonely.

I kept hearing this statistic about how common gestational diabetes is - around one in five pregnant women now will have it. That’s really common. But the chances of having a close friend going through it at the exact same time as you are actually pretty slim.

So even though lots of women experience gestational diabetes, it can still feel incredibly isolating.

If that’s how you’re feeling right now, I really hope Gestie can help fill that void for you - to be the friend who’s been there before, who gets it, who can point you to helpful resources, and tell you when it's okay to sneak in a choccy.

On this podcast, I’ll be chatting with a range of different experts, breaking things down one piece at a time. We’ll also be hearing from other mums who’ve had gestational diabetes, or who are right in the middle of managing it now.

And while I’m based in Australia, we’ll be including international references too - so wherever you are in the world, you’re part of this community.

Thanks so much for listening to this little intro. I can’t wait to share these conversations with you. Let’s jump into the first one.