I just found out I’m pregnant. I was diagnosed with Type 1 a year and a half ago - I’m on a pump and Dexcom.
I’m hoping for some diet advice. I have been eating relatively low-carb because it helps me manage my blood sugar. How many carbs should a pregnant woman eat a day, though? I’m so scared of high blood sugar…I will make an appointment with a nutritionist, but I’m afraid they’re going to tell me to eat, like, 50-75 carbs at each meal (which is just not realistic for me because low blood sugar is my top priority). Help! Any advice? My mind is reeling, thinking about every cup of coffee, glass of wine and blood sugar spike and drop I’ve had in the past 2 weeks. I don’t want to beat myself up for 9 more months.
Gratz on the pregnancy news! Beyond that, I have no advice I can give being a man and not a doctor/OBGYN. Definitely good questions to field in their direction though when you are able. Until then, I would say eat as healthy as you can for the baby and try not to stress (not good for baby).
as a type 1, you are not limited by what you can eat… you just have to balance your insulin intake in such a way that your BG levels are close to normalized and you dont run them too high or too low.
agreed but only by tools that are limited in their potential if you happen to splurge a bit and not restrict yourself.
Saw some thanksgiving tweets of cgm’s lines over the weekend and I couldnt come up any other reason other than the current insulins are no good… even worse…and I Though I am not on Afrezza yet , I hope to .in the next few week…
When I found out I was pregnant, I was also eating relatively low carb to control my sugars and afraid to eat anything. And when I went to the Maternal Fetal Medicine clinic, they had the nutritionist meet with me and she wanted me to eat 45-60g carb meals and 2 15-30g snacks daily, she insisted. I was in tears. I mean literally tears when I left.
That being said, i started increasing my carbs… and increasing my insulin. And am now eating that many carbs believe it or not and controlling my blood sugars. What it boiled down to is the baby needs the carbs to grow. So, I gave her the carbs. My insulin demands skyrocketed just an FYI. I am 33 weeks and they are 3x what they were pre pregnancy. It is scary, and hard, and at times seems impossible but it is possible.
This also seems weird to me. When my OB found out I was pregnant, she had me in to see the high risk docs 3 days later. I would call back and see if maybe you can take a cancelation if one comes up? Especially because you have questions.
When I met with the MFM doctor, her eyes bugged out when I told her I was eating between 30-45 carbs/day. At the time, I wasn’t pregnant yet and she seemed not exactly comfortable with letting me continue as is but warned that it would be monitored and if the baby wasn’t growing appropriately I would need to increase the carbs. She was worried that my bg would run too low, but confirmed that the low bg concern was for my own health and safety, but not a risk for the baby.
I had first checked with my endo and she was ok with the low carb and had treated pregnant T1Ds who were low carb, so I felt a little more confident being assertive later with the MFM.
Good luck, @Olivia7 Olivia7, and congratulations!!
p.s. I’m still enjoying my cup of coffee per day. Also, there’s a pregnancy book written by an economist who looked up all the studies that set the standard “thou shalt nots” and found that the study that showed women who drank during pregnancy and had problems…were also more likely to have taken cocaine during their pregnancy. She also pointed to women in France who routinely drink a little wine throughout their pregnancy. Not popular information here in the states, but all this to say, you’re probably fine. Now that you know, you can refocus your energies.
Thanks. Were the high risk docs you saw focused on diabetes and pregnancy? Did you see your regular endo or a special one while you were pregnant? I’m afraid I’m not in touch with the right people…
I’m at 8 weeks right now. My team includes the MFM, endo, OB, and a CDE. The OB is used to high risk pregnancies, but the MFM is the high risk specialist who is there to ensure the baby is ok during the pregnancy. I’m still so early that I’m not certain who will prevail in having say over my diabetes management, but I’m hoping the endo will win, with occasional input from the others.
I’m seeing my endo each month, the OB monthly, the MFM for the various scans for now, and also the CDE monthly. My endo is used to T1D pregnancies and she’s known me for years, so I feel very comfortable having her manage my diabetes.
Make sure your team consists of people you feel comfortable with (or at least who you feel are very competent at their jobs - the MFM is super intimidating, but I know she knows her stuff and is just being over-cautious). If you’re not certain, shop around.
Thank you so much for saying that…it helps a lot to know you were able to increase your carbs and still manage your numbers. I’m definitely not against more carbs or insulin, I’m just so worried I won’t be able to stay in range if I’m eating so many carbs. Would you mind sharing some ideas of what you eat? It would be so helpful.
Congratulations! How early did you see someone? My OB didn’t schedule my ultrasound until 9 weeks. I’m beginning to think I need to look into seeing a MFM instead.
I did the blood test right away after the positive at-home test. I happened to have an endo appointment not long after that. My OB appointment happened last week, at 7 weeks. My next step is to schedule the first trimester screening, which I think we’re going to do; that will be with the MFM. I had a consultation with the MFM before I got pregnant. Actually, I did a lot of consultations and blood work before I got pregnant.
You may be able to do a consult with the MFM now while you wait, if they can get you in. They will want the results of your dating scan before they schedule much with you, if they’re anything like mine.
Your ‘baby’ doesn’t know how much carbs you eat. What will affect your baby is your blood sugar levels. There are essential fatty acids (from fats) that must be eaten in the diet. there are essential amino acids (from proteins) that must be eaten in the diet. of course you should also be getting plenty of vitamins and minerals that come from plant foods.
When I was pregnant I was told to eat 240 g per day. Actually, I didn’t eat nearly that much before the pregnancy. I found I couldn’t control my blood sugar with eating that much carbs. So I ignored that advice and focused on eating nutritious foods (vegetables, eggs, meats, healthy fats). My blood sugar was well controlled (4.8 at the end of my first pregnancy, 5.6 at the end of my second pregnancy). Absolutely no diabetes complications despite very high doses of insulin.
I suggest reading the writings of Lois Jovanovich, who is an expert in diabetic pregnancy.
