First few weeks

Diabetes and Pregnancy Trying to Get Pregnant
1

Hi everyone,

My husband and I just found out I'm pregnant! And although I am ridiculously excited, I'm also ridiculously nervous!! I have decent sugars with an A1C of 6.7, but my bs always spikes after I eat anything. I've started limited my carbs to try and help, but I am not even close to the control that some of you talk about! I was on symlin for a while, but it made me very nasueous and I was concerned about whether or not I should be on it if I got pregnant. Plus I won't be seeing any of my doctors until next week and my stomach has been all over the place! I feel like once I see a doctor I'll feel better, but until then I'm kind of freaking out despite my best intentions! Any advice or words of wisdom for a T1 who is so newly preggers??

2

Hi there,

Seems like we are in the SAME boat! My last a1c was also 6.7 (in October) and I just found out I’m pregnant too. We go next Wednesday for a dating sonogram to find out how far along. I just came from my endo this morning. She told me the “goal” for pregnant women is 60-90 (fasting), below 109 pre meals, 140 ONE hour after meals and 120 two hours after meals. So… I sat there thinking… what?! HOW is that possible?? I’m on the OmniPod (not sure what you’re using to manage, but she definitely pushes a pump with pregnancy) so she basically told me I’ll have to bolus about 30 minutes prior to eating so that by the time my food is being processed, my insulin will be peaking at the same time. Makes perfect sense… we’ll see how it goes.

I definitely feel like I’m going to be crashing all the time with this tight control… I mean, really? 60-90? 60? I feel sick at 60. BUT… I guess I just have to accept that its not about mommy for the next 9 months. This is how I have to do it for my baby (who won’t have diabetes in my belly) to be ok.

How far along are you? Do you know yet?

3

Oh, thank you! I was really starting to think that I was the odd one out! I think I’m around four weeks pregnant. I’m on the minimed pump and CGM… Someone else mentioned bolusing 30 minutes before eating, which I haven’t actually tried. I guess that is the next step. Are you feeling sick or anything yet? I have had some crazy lows already and have lost my appetite.

4

Hi Megan,

CONGRATS!!!

I just found out I’m pregnant, too! I’m absolutely thrilled and can’t wipe the ridiculous grin off my face. But, I’m also incredibly nervous… It has felt like I’ve only had something to gain (better control, conception) and now it feels like I also have something to lose. I’m not sure I’ll ever see a high reading and not have some sort of scary thought enter my head (but maybe that’s OK). My control has been good since we started TTC, but over the last week I’ve started completely eating like a rabbit out of fear of highs. At some point, I’ve got to move beyond salad, beans and nuts… I’m with you, though - I think I’ll feel better once I see the ob and endo, and once I’m further along and the chance of miscarriage decreases (I’m only about 4.5 weeks along).

So I could also use advice from you seasoned T1 moms!

5

I feel the exact same way when my BG is higher than I’d like. I almost feel like when I eat, its as bad as having a beer or something. :frowning:

CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU BOTH!! :slight_smile:

6

Hi girls! Well I’m by no means a pro, but I’m 12 weeks along.

I have been able to keep pretty tight control on my blood sugars. I am living in Hungary and the doctor’s approach is a bit different than what most people in the USA have told me about. But it has worked well for me. I started the pregnancy at 6.5 and brought my A1c down to 6.2 after one month.

I’m on a fixed and scheduled diet with 6 meals a day. These smaller meals help me to avoid craving things that I shouldn’t eat. Even when I feel hungry, then next meal or snack is not far away.

They divide carbs up into two categories: (mostly) complex carbs, which includes brown rice, potatoes, whole grain bread, beans/legumes, etc. and fast-acting carbs, which includes milk, yogurt, and fruit. I do not eat any other form of “fast acting” carbs.

My carbs are distributed in the following way:

  • Breakfast (7am): 25g carbs ONLY complex – I do whole grain toast, eggs, and fresh veggies every morning
  • Snack (10am): 20g carbs of which 10g are fast acting
  • Lunch (1pm): 50g carbs of which 10g are fast acting
  • Snack (4pm): 20g carbs ALL fast acting
    -Dinner (7pm): 50g carbs of which 10g are fast acting
  • Snack (10pm): 20g carbs of which 10g are fast acting

This has helped me a lot. One hour after eating, I’m able to be under 140 almost always (there HAVE been exceptions – and I feel the same way as you do about them!!!). If I am over 120 when I would start eating, I wait 20-30 minutes. If I am under 120, then I don’t wait and I can still stay under 140.

I know that most people don’t follow such a regimented schedule, but my endo asks for it because it helps her to make accurate basal and bolus adjustments. Since I see that it is working, I’m sticking to it.

I know that we are all different, but I saw my insulin needs mostly increase (but not drastically) in weeks 4-9. Since week 10, I started have A LOT of lows (5 a day). My basals are now at about 50% of their pre-pregnancy levels. Who knows what the next weeks will bring!

One thing that is hard for me is to accept when I cannot find patterns! I’m logging my blood sugars carefully, but day to day seems to be TOTALLY different! My doctor assures me that this is totally normal and we just do the best we can at interpreting and responding to my numbers.

7

Thanks for all the info, Kristin (and big CONGRATS to you!)! I think the most frustrating thing for me - ever since diagnosis! - is the difficulty finding patterns. It took me until TTC and charting to figure out that my basal requirements changed depending on time in my cycle.

I’m not on a fixed diet, but I have started regulating aspects of my diet - which I think has helped. I can’t seem to handle any more than a few carbs in the morning, so I’m now eating an almost carb-free breakfast (eggs and turkey sausage, or eggs and veggies). It makes a lot of sense to build in snacks - I tend to reach for the same things anyway (I need to buy stock in peanut butter balance bars), and I think it would be helpful allowing myself those snack times. As I said before, I’m still sort of (ok, really) freaked out about getting high… So I tend to over-bolus and be prepared to possibly get low (I don’t go anywhere without several juice boxes in my bag). I’ve had at least 4-5 lows a day in the last few weeks.

8

Congrats to you as well!

Yes, I should have added that although my insulin needs have decreased (in basals and most of the boluses), my insulin to carb ratio for breakfast is ridiculously high! So it is like I am experiencing insulin sensitivity and MAJOR DAWN phenomenon.

For breakfast, my insulin to carb ratio is 1:5. For afternoon snack it is 1:20. Before pregnancy I was using 1:9 or 1:13.

I am also TERRIFIED by highs. Anything above 140 makes me pretty grumpy, but it does happen and I heard from veterans to accept that it WILL happen and try to minimize the time that you spend above 140. I never eat without waiting if I an above 140. I check every 15-20 minutes until I see a number under 140.

9

This is all really helpful! I think the idea of not eating unless I’m 120 or lower sounds like a very smart idea. I am going to start doing that as well as bolusing 30 minutes before eating and see where that gets me (at least until I see the docs)! I really appreciate being able to talk to you all about all of this- you are all a big lifesaver!

10

http://www.tudiabetes.org/group/ohbaby/forum/topics/has-anyone-been-in-the

11

Just stopping by and saying congratulations!
When I found out I was pregnant my last A1C was 8.2 and now the latest A1C is 7.2
Not perfect, but my doctor said she’d take that A1C any day, so she wants me to work getting under 7.
I am currently 11 weeks, and 4 days according to my last missed period.
I go in the 20th for a long day of tests and meeting with doctors and dieticians and an ultrasound and such.
My sugars have been AMAZING since I found out I was pregnant. I am watching my grams of carbs closely.
Also, my basal rate during the day is at 1.7 and at night from 10pm to 5 am is at 1.4 because I was waking up with terrible lows! I can deffinetly tell now that when my sugars get above 150 I start to get a little moody.

Good luck and again congratulations!! :smiley:

12

I CANT STRESS IT ENOUGH FIND A SWEET SUCCESS PROGRAM!

13

Congrats! The first few weeks most diabetics find out they're pregnant are tough, because things go high and low. a few things that really helped me where limiting my carbs (40 at breakfast, 60 at lunch and dinner), and not over correcting, which was making me go low and then rebound really high. as for food, i wait to eat 15 minutes after bolusing (i know 30 works for others, but that always makes me drop really low), and eat complex, low GI carbs with enough fat and protein. in my first trimester i also found that fruit and dairy in the morning were making me spike too much and i just had to stay away from them until later in the day. i also found that when my meal was mainly comprised of things like soup and milk, regardless of the amount of fiber and protein in it, i always spiked and just needed something that digested slower. if you can get a CGM it's really helpful in seeing how certain foods react, and really helped me catch both highs and lows. finally, be careful about lows - around week 7 or 8, my sugars went from running high to always running low and i had to cut how much insulin i needed to keep from hitting the 40s all the time. good luck!