Hi everyone!
Let me preface by stating that I am not currently pregnant that I’m aware of.
My concern is rather or not I should stop trying for a baby and hold off for now. I was super excited when I got an a1c of 6.4 in February of this year. However it jumped up to 6.9 in May because I started focusing a little more on weight loss than tight control. At the time of my appointment when I was at 6.4 my dr neither discouraged me nor encouraged me on getting pregnant. He just stressed he would like to see my a1c as close to 6 as possible. I have not met with him since my 6.9 result. I did manage to lose around 20 lbs in the meantime but also raised my a1c. Needless to say I got over excited about the weight loss and so my husband and I started trying this month after I did an at home a1c test and it showed 6.5…not sure how accurate they are (also because weve had this month in our heads all year because of timing of delivery with me being a teacher). Now I’m panic stricken! I don’t know if I’m pregnant yet because we tried very recently but now I’m scared if I do end up pregnant because my a1c was probably not ideal and I’m worried of causing complications to a possible baby. I’m afraid I was overzealous. So my question is two part. If I am pregnant, is 6.9 (or possibly even higher because that was may) too terrible and can I reverse the risks if stay really focused to bringing it down even though I may already be pregnant (at this point I’m checking around the clock but freak out when I see anything around 200)? And, if I did not get pregnant this time should I back off for now and wait for better control or continue trying (I go for my next dr app Thursday but I just couldn’t wait until then with my ovulation). I know I probably babbled but as you can tell I’m SCARED now that I actually tried because I knew better about needing a low a1c…feeling guilty and irresponsible!!! 
I would love any advice/words of encouragement (honest ones too)!
I started my pregnancy at 6.9. I delivered a healthy baby 11 days ago. During pregnancy, I brought my A1c down to 6.2%, thinking it’s closer to 6.0% at this point based on my glucose readings.
It’s impossible to be perfect. The most important thing is to keep your glucose stable during the early weeks.
My baby at 7 days. She is just perfect and I has no diabetic complications whatsoever.
I was 7.0 when I got pregnant and just worked hard on stabalising them when I found out. Often, when you conceive your BG levels go kind of high anyway. I didn’t realise I was pregnant and was puzzled by the sudden hike in my BG levels when I first conceived. I’m 19 weeks now and everything has gone fine so far.
Love that picture btw Marps 
Take a deep breath, and try to relax. Stress won’t help your BGs!
I am only going to share my personal experience, I’m not saying what happened in my situation is ideal or that you should follow any “advice” I am giving (except to stop stressing).
Ok, disclaimer out of the way.
No, you’re not irresponsible.
I got pregnant accidently and when I found out my first a1c (at around week 5 of pregnancy) was 7.3. I had been working on getting it down for awhile but had not come into the 6’s at all yet. From that time to the next month I went down to 6.8 and then kept going down until I was at 5.7 and have stayed between 6.1 and the upper 5’s since. I go monthly to my endo who is very supportive and realistic about everything and my high-risk OB is also very happy with my numbers. Most importantly, I’m 32 weeks now and have a healthy little boy growing right on schedule with no negative side-effects to either of us. (knock on wood!) I won’t say it wasn’t hard work, or that I did’t freak out with every high - especially in that first month - but it is doable, and with what you’ve told us of how you’ve gotten your a1c down and you’ve very aware of why it went back up again, it seems you’re in a good position should you get, or already be, pregnant. Which is why I say you’re not irresponsible, you sound very aware of what good control can do for a healthy pregnancy, and you’re already taking the possibilities into consideration. Keep doing what you’re doing until you know one way or the other, and most likely everythign will be fine. At least, everything you can possibly control at this time will be.
One more suggestion, if I was you I would consider how comfortable you are with your Endo and/or if you have a high-risk OB or Maternal Fetal Medicine group you’re comfortable with. In my case, I was not afraid to talk openly to any of my Dr’s about my fears, the realities of what was going on diabetes-wise and have felt full support all along. I know I’m lucky in this, and not everyone has a choice as to who their Dr(s) will be, but I do feel that with all the other stresses pregnancy can bring, and when you add diabetes on top of it, having a fully supportive team behind you makes a lot of difference.
I hope this is helpful. Good luck to you, and I’m excited to hear how it all goes!
Thanks for the encouragement everyone. It does make me feel much better to know you are all out there for support. I guess I was feeling guilty that I was actively trying with that a1c. Most others were surprised by their pregnancy when they had an elevated a1c so I felt selfish. Another concern of mine, now or later, is that my unit to carb ratio is 1:7 with roughly 60 units daily total and I continue to hear of how great your insulin requirements increase during pregnancy. What happens if you need more than just 1:1?.. could that possibly happen since I’m already at a 7? I don’t know how drastic it really changes.
I got pregnant 2 weeks after my Endo told me that I would have difficulty conceiving b/c my A1C was 8.6. I wasn’t trying to get pregnant but I miscalculated my ovulation and got pregnant. I started testing more frequently, got my diet under control and was constantly making my adjustments and got my A1C to 6. I delivered a healthy girl who is now almost 3yrs old and is the picture of a healthy, active and smart little girl. I’m pregnant with my second (23 wks) and currently have an A1C of 6.5. From my personal experience, I think that the day to day numbers are more important than your A1C. Are you keeping your pre + post meal BG within a healthy range? Are you eating well? Getting enough sleep? Do you know what foods spike your BGs to high hell or what activities send you crashing? Keep a good logbook of your BG, carb intake and insulin doses and learn to see your trends…but most importantly, take a deep breath and enjoy the experience of being pregnant.
First off congrats on the amazing progress you have made with lowering your A1C and weight loss, that is fantastic. Diabetes is an imperfect disease but we are all always struggling to get it perfect. I don’t think you are irresponsible at all, just the fact that you are taking so many steps to ensure you are doing the right thing and thinking about all the factors at play make you very RESPONSIBLE. Give yourself some credit girl! The whole process is scary, but rest assured that you are doing everything in your power for the best possible outcome. Keep us posted on the docs advice and how things go. Sending lots of love and support your way!
- Crystal
My A1c was 7.0% when we started TTC #2 (currently 11wks pregnant). And I just got my most recent A1c result back from yesterday - 6.3%. So that means I dropped it like a rock once I found out we were successful.
I felt a little irresponsible, too. I mean, we were actively trying. But it took us 9 mos and a fertility doc and clomid and ovidrel to conceive #1 (all the while, me holding my perfect 6.1% A1c as steady as I could), so I was convinced I’d have plenty of time to get my numbers under controlled while we started trying.
As soon as I got that positive pregnancy test though, I snapped into high gear. There is no greater motivator for good control.
Don’t beat yourself up. You will not have perfect blood sugars. You WILL do the very best you can for your child.
My a1c was 6.7 when I found out and I’m now 6 months pregnant and have had an a1c of 5.2 - 5.1 for the past 3 months
Idk how ur dr works but after he found out I was pregnant I had to start seeing him every 2 weeks
and seeing that often to have him adjust my insulin and stuff obviously has really made a big difference
never since I’ve been diabetic have I had a1c’s lower than 6 until after pregnancy. Once your pregnant you’ll focus on it more than you thought possible and I think you’ll do just find.
I conceived at an A1C of 6.9 and am currently 5 months pregnant and my baby girl is right on track and very healthy! I was told an A1C under 7 is perfectly fine. I was also very upset and afraid of the high blood sugars during pregnancy and whether or not they would harm my baby and my ob and my endo have both stressed to me that it takes blood sugars that are way out of range for a significant amount of time for it to even do any harm to the baby. This eased my mind a LOT! I have a friend with type 1 whose A1C during pregnancy was as high as 9! And her lowest during pregnancy was 7 and her little boy came out perfect!
I had an insulin to carb ratio of 1:8 before pregnancy and it has remained the same even through all of the highs. I am now 5 months pregnant. I have literally quadrupled my basal insulin though. And my mealtime ratios have stayed the same. Whenever I see highs I increase my basal by one unit every other day until I no longer see them.
AWWW!!!
Thanks to all you girls! I wish you all lived in my neighborhood because you make me feel SO much better. I thought I would give you all an update. I did go to my dr and he did a new A1C it was 6.7 which was better than the previous 6.9!!! He even gave me the green light. I can’t explain to you the relief I felt. So, needless to say continued with our plan to try and now I’m dealing with the dreadful 2 week wait driving myself crazy looking up anything and everything that pretains to ovulation signs, implantation signs, miscarriage statistics…you name it. I probably need to stop all that! Well…I will keep all of you posted here shortly. WIsh us luck!
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BEAUTIFUL!!!..such a blessing!!!
I did the same as Lil Mama. I increased my basals every other day until the last few weeks when the insulin resistance naturally goes down. In the end, I was taking over 100 units of basal twice per day. Before pregnancy, my carb ratio was 1:5. At the end of pregnancy, it was 1:1. I wasn’t afraid of taking too much insulin to cover meals because it was much easier for me to correct a low than to correct a high. The insulin doesnt cross the placenta to the baby, so I felt better doing it that way. You’re trying. That’s the best that you can do.
Agreeing with Lil Mama again. My high risk team told me anything under 8 was good. It’s the day to day numbers that you need to focus on. Keep them steady as possible. I had a few 300s while pregnant that I brought down as fast as I could. I was testing my BG ever 1-2 hours so they were never high or low for very long because I was right on top of them. My baby is now 3 weeks old and came out perfect. Even through type 1 and pre-eclempsia. You’ll do just fine.
Goes to show how we can be so different!
My insulin to carb was 1:5 before pregnancy. From day one of pregnancy until now it’s been 1:2.5. On bad mornings it can be as bad as 6:0. Yes really. But I’ve had to progressively reduce my basal as I was having a lot of overnight lows. I’m now on 15 units of Lantus, compared to 30 units at dx 1 year ago, and 22 units pre-pregnancy.
I highly recommend the book “Taking Charge of Your Fertility” by Toni Weschler. It’s full of great info on how to read your body’s natural signs that you are ovulating. Everyone I know who’s read the book has gotten pregnant…lol. You can also check out her website. http://www.tcoyf.com/