Hi everyone, I just found out I am finally pregnant (about 5 weeks) My A1c is 5.7 after months of getting it down, and I have been trying to conceive for about 6 months (had a chemical pregnancy a few months ago. But anyway, just been feeling so worried that something like that will happen again because it's impossible to keep it perfect all the time! It's so hard not to beat myself up over every high or low but I am literally scared to put a carb in my mouth because it never stays stable. I had it down a few weeks ago and now I think the hormones are throwing it all out of wack! I have a pump and cgm but it's still challenging. Just wanted to know how you dealt with all that. Also are lows bad for the baby too? I know highs are. Any advice for getting through this? Thanks!!
Hi,
I actually joined this site awhile ago when I found out I was pregnant, which was a surprise and unplanned. I felt the same way as you and was so scared everyday, but I had a beautiful little boy who is healthy. My sugars were crazy and I tried my best to keep them under control, but to be honest a lot of the times it is uncontrollable and you need to keep correcting them. My high risk doctor, which I had a few of them would make me more nervous then necessary and wanted me to change my Lantus to a totally different one and I tried it and made my sugars worse, so I told them I was changing it back since it would take awhile to correct, and I felt that would not be safe for the baby, sometimes you need to go with your own instincts. I actually ended up having him a month early. No need to stress just do the best you could!
Thanks so much! It is so nerve wracking but I am doing everything I can so I guess you're right- I just have to go with my instincts and do the best I can- thanks again :)
Congratulations! The first thing to say is that babies are remarkably resilient. You don't have to be perfect to have a healthy baby. And it seems like you're already doing very well. 5.7 is great! You are going to have highs and lows-- you're diabetic, and it comes with the territory. Don't beat yourself up when those happen; just correct them as best you can and move on.
I will say that I felt this way when I was first pregnant. I freaked out about everything. But a) my BG was really just weird the first month or so-- I think the hormone influx was responsible-- and then evened out and things got easier for the next few months, and b) I think I eventually just got used to being pregnant and calmed down a bit. It'll get better! As for your question: lows are not great for the baby, but you have to have lots of lows lots of the time for that to cause birth defects. Highs are worse. I ran pretty low the first few months, mostly because it seemed easier to correct a low than a high. Good luck!
Thanks so much!
Hi, congrats!
I liked this book (which I read when pregnant with my first baby and which was written by someone on here: Balancing diabetes with preexisting diabetes:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1932603328/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1406145279&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40
My doc was really concerned about highs and not lows. Some things I found useful to know were:
- My insulin needs more than doubled over the coarse of the pregnancy (some people said it decreased for them the last few weeks a little but for me it did not) (I knew it would increase but it still seemed strange to take so much!)
- Directly after having the baby(ies) (both times) my insulin requirement went immediately back down to pre- pregnancy doses.
- (unrelated but) if you happen to need to have a c-section, I remember that I was scared about going in the water for the first time to take a shower, but don’t worry - it doesn’t sting or hurt or anything
- making a conscience effort to wait longer before eating really helped my blood sugars from peaking after meals (which is always the case but I remember this was an extra nuisance for me while pregnant!)
- I had a dexcom but still my bsugar went to 400 a few times each pregnancy. Still, I managed to keep my a1cs in the high 5s the whole time and babies were healthy! (But it took a lot of work for me, setting dexcom hi alarm at 140 at night and waking up at nights to correct, etc)
Congrats again and have a happy, healthy pregnancy!
Hi! I'm 15 weeks into my second pregnancy. I can totally relate to the feeling and for me it never totally went away even with this pregnancy, but somehow I learned to cope with it better. I have never managed to get an A1c below 6, but hang out between 6 and 6.5.
One thing to know is that with both pregnancies for me the first weeks were totally unpredictable. Which meant that I had really high highs (like 400s), which never happened for me later in the pregnancy. Everyone is a bit different, but for me my insulin needs increase in the first weeks after we knew and then decreased dramatically (to about half of my pre-pregnancy needs) until about week 19 when they increased dramatically. Then around week 33 of the last pregnancy, they started to fall again until the birth.
My team really avoids both lows and highs. Highs are more dangerous for the baby, but lows can obviously be dangerous for you (and therefore the baby). Also my team always emphasized that lows can often lead to highs later (something called the Somogyi effect). I find though that if I treat my lows cautiously I can avoid highs later. I usually treat with a shot glass of fruit juice, two shots for a severe low. One change though is that we only treat numbers below 3,5 mmol/L (that is 63 mg/dl) as lows. That means that I am not treating mild lows as those numbers are normal for nondiabetic pregnant women too.
This group helped me SO much throughout my last pregnancy. So write any questions anytime :)
Thank you so much! I actually bought that book and it is really helpful! That is helpful to know about the c-section, I am pretty sure I will need one since I have had eye problems in the past and know they recommend that to prevent bleeds. How long did it take to recover? Did you keep your pump and cgm on during the birth and after? My RN who helps me more on a day to day basis with numbers and logs is big on trying to find patterns but I feel lately the numbers have a mind of there own and do better using temp basal rates. Did your basals and carb ratios change much in the first trimester? Thanks again!
Thank you so much and congrats on your pregnancy too! It can be so overwhelming but so far people have been super helpful. One thing I am not used to is feeling fine at 50...no symptoms whereas a sugar of 80 used to make me shake. I know it's prob because I am in much better control but it still unnerving. I agree, I have tried not to over treat the lows even though it can be challenging, or I fight the rebound with a temp basal but that can sometimes backfire. Never thought I'd see the day where my cgm would alarm "high" at 120 lol. Also just curious, how often did you send in your numbers to your doc? These days I am sending every day but wondering if that tapers off. Thanks!
Yes, there are so many changes to deal with.
I meet my endo once a week, but I am in Hungary not the USA and that is the standard here during pregnancy. Sometimes I send her my numbers mid-week, but mostly the once a week adjustments are enough except when I hit major insulin resistance around week 22.
Send your numbers as often as you feel you should, especially in the beginning!
I just recently found out I’m pregnant too but was diagnosed with type 2 along with it. We’ve been trying for sometime now and it’s a lot to take it. My sugars were high during the most crucial time. Quite terrified now but working hard to control them with diet, exercise and insulin. I’m really happy I found this thread because I’ve also been beating myself up and my doctors are really freaking me out too. Fingers crossed we both have healthy and happy pregnancies!
wow, 5.7 is great, good job!!!