So as of today my A1C is at 7.6 and I am trying to get it to a safe range to get pregnant. With all of the scares the doctors love to give me involved with having a child I know if I am extra careful I can do this. I’m giving myself a few years to prepare for a pregnancy. But honestly it’s discouraging to feel so far away from my goal range. Have any of you had higher A1C’s while bearing a child? Any helpful ideas to prep? I know not everyone is agrees with type 1 diabetics having children so please if it’s negative I ask you kindly not to comment. But for those of you who are mothers or even have friends/ family that have children being a type 1 diabetic please share. This is hard for me to even do… But I’m reaching out. I have no friends with type one and my family who did have type one have passed. I appreciate being able to reach out to fellow people who understand this way of life. Thanks for your input!
Hi,
I am certain you can get your sugars down to target within a few months, rather than a few years, if that is what you want to do.
First, what insulins are you on? The tested modern insulins suitable for pregnancy are Insulin Determir (levemir) and Insulin Lispro (Humalog).
Do you have a CGM? If you do it can be helpful. If you don’t and can get one would recommend it. If you can’t get one, the alternative is more frequent testing.
I would recommend rechecking and resetting your basal-bolus rates. If these are ideal, this will help.
I would also recommend eating low carb. Although some think he is extreme, the teachings of Dr. Richard Bernstein - his book is Diabetes Solutions, and he has a UTube Lecture Series - Berstein Diabetes University can be invaluable in lowering blood sugars. I used his teachings through 2 pregnancies. I still use his approach, though not as extreme…
Type1Grit are on facebook and some other social media, they have superb low carb recipes.
Absolutely you can do this. Many on here have done it. Ask all questions about anything… and I’m sure you’ll get good feedback.
Hello and good morning! So I am currently taking Lantus and Humalog. I have a GCM its a Dexcom G5 for about 4 months. I see my Endo on wed so I’ll ask about your recommended basal insulin. I just fell upon Dr. Berstein on my way home from work last night while I was researching online. I’m currently on a Paleo diet plan so I hope transitioning might not be too difficult. I’ll be going to the library soon because I really want to read it. My husband said he knows about the book because he used it a while back for a research project 
I am glad to hear you used his method for your pregnancies!! That’s great! Again thank you 
You might consider getting top-notch advice from the team over at Gary Scheiner’s Integrated Diabetes - he was Certified Diabetes Educator of the year (I think last year) and I only hear "WOW"s from those who’ve consulted with him.
ha. I was just browsing some videos in our Video Archive and found this one on Pregnancy & Diabetes from a woman who actually works with Gary Scheiner! I’m listening to it now, but as I remember she was very helpful
You got this!
I say it with great encouragement I am type 1 and have been for most of my life, was diagnosed at the age of 2 years old.
I have two beautiful girls they are my life, I had the worst fears of not being able to have children. So if I can do it so can you!
My a1c was 7.6 If I remember correct and then I went to a dafne course for a week, followed every advice they gave even went and brought a carb counting scale to help me.
Got my a1c down to 5.6! 
My team kept going on how it was great and all that even asked me to speak to other diabetic ladies. But I had a mission to give my babies the best start!
Plz feel free to message me if you want any advice? Or me to point you to other helpful groups. The most important bit is you have an awesome team behind you and then anything is possible. Forget the ‘retards’ that come at you with horror stories.
My first pregnancy was back in the early 90’s and things were much different. I was on a pump but no CGM’s. My A1C was in the low 7’s. And everyone was very happy with it and had a perfectly easy pregnancy. I do agree the lower you can get it, the better for both you and the future baby. You can do this. There are women everyday making it happen. Just please don’t beat yourself up if and when those sugars stray outside of the “norm”. That is called life and not only will it happen, it happens to people without diabetes. Good luck and I’m sure you will be great!
I got pregnant with a 7.3. By week 11 I was at 5.7 and more recently at 5.4! I never had A1Cs in the 5s prior to pregnancy- and I am not having many lows at all… For me a switch went off in my brain when I found out I was pregnant. Everything changed and suddenly it was easy to do all the right things all the time. Having Dexcom on 90-95% of the time helped me be more comfortable consistently running in the double digits… I am 25 weeks now. Good luck! I never thought I could have A1Cs like this. About 1.5 yrs ago I had an 8.6… If I can do it anyone can (I don’t even have an insulin pump, I am on Humalog and Levemir…) the best things I did was choosing meals very carefully, prebolusing, waiting to eat until I am in normal range, and optimizing the overnight numbers to be in the double-digit range as much as possible… You can do this!
Thank you & congrats!! You are super encouraging!! So I’m on Lantus do you find Levemir to be better? May I ask what is you goal #'s before eating & bedtime. I know we are all different but if it’s working for you I am curious 
I am currently on a Paleo plan which I like and it is helping with my food intake. Just got to layoff a few fruits… hope your morning is going well 
I was where you were two years ago. I got a new endo and I would send my data over every week and we would make changes to my settings and my basal. I was surprised on needing more basal and I had to get used to sitting at 80 to 90 all the time. But now I feel great there. Learn to do different tricks to not have after meal spikes. I would use a dual wave bolus and have my bolus spread over 30 minutes and that kept me level.
But tell them pregnancy is your goal and they should work with you, if not, get a new doctor. When I decided to try, my doctor was not supportive so I left.
Thank you for responding. May I ask what is dual bolus? I probably should know this already… Is that taking half the bolus for the carbs that break down faster in your blood and a second bolus for the slower acting carbs?
Sorry, that’s a setting on my pump, but yes, you take half your insulin and then 30 minutes later the other half. That way you spread the insulin out to cover the slower carbs.
I really do this a lot for breakfast because I naturally get high in the morning no matter what I eat. So I spread my insulin out over time so I can stay steady with no spikes. Are you on a pump? I really recommend being on a pump for pregnancy. I could never get below 7.5 on shots alone.
I’m currently on Lantus and Humolog. I have a pump but I am not currently using it. Tried it for a few months but I was having a hard time getting used to wearing it. Also being only on humolog while on the pump I ended up refilling it every 3 days. I was thinking about trying again but a little hesitant
I think I refill every two to three days too. I would refill my insulin but not change my site if I needed it more. I totally get it, it’s weird. But it really does allow you more options for management.
Sometimes I hit sites that are uncomfortable, so I change them. I started putting my sensors on my arms, then I just had the pump on my stomach. I need to try my legs but it’s weird.
Talk with the pump people and your doctors. They might have some ideas. But this was how I got my A1c lower.
Just a note that in my experience Novolog is clearly a better fit for my Minimed pump. If you decide to go on the pump (which I would also highly recommend for greater flexibility) and it somehow doesn’t go well, you might want to try both insulins (say, for a month each) and compare. Also, here is a suggestion how you might be able to use Humalog without having to change the reservoir so frequently.
As far as switching to a pump in the first place, I’d recommend this brief post by Kerri Sperling.
Good luck!
Thank you
Hi KattBB.
Thank you for posting this message. I’m also trying to conceive with my husband. I’ve been a T1 for 22 years and have had my share of bad AICs. I started working on lowering mine from 6.8 to 6.1 in the past year. I was successful by lowering the amount of carbs I ate, using CGM and switching pumps from Omnipod to MiniMed. I’m still working on lowering it below 6.0.
I used to be so scared of the idea of getting pregnant. I grew up in the south and the movie Steel Magnolias was like a required watching but so much has changed since 1988 and (to me) the move overdramatized the situation.
Please reach out to me if your successful. I’ll share when I am and ready to tell. I’d love to have someone to talk to about this who comes from my background.
I have a minimed but so hesitant to go back on it even though I only hear wonderful things about it helping manage blood sugars for pregnancy. Congrats on bringing your sugars down! That’s wonderful and yes I would love to reach out to you. So funny story I was unpacking about a month ago and was randomly watching the movie but it had already started… Yes I started watching a moving in the middle of the movie! I didn’t know the woman was diabetic so at the very end my step father walks in a tells me how the main character was diabetic! It ruined the movie for me. I finished it, then went to find my husband and cry in his arms. Awful movie!! Lol
I like Levemir. I split my dose 12 hours apart and adjust them as needed (for instance currently my pm dose is higher than the am dose as I have been struggling with some highs overnight). “They” say pregnancy goals are 60-90 fasting, less than 120 2 hrs after eating. I am happy if I can stay under 100 overnight. Sometimes I spike a bit before waking and I don’t beat myself up as long as most of the night was in range… I do correct anything over 130 two hours after eating, and I try not to start eating until I am in range (under 110 if I can, definitely under 120).
Ps. Currently blogging about my pregnancy at walkthedragon88.blogspot.com 
Thank you! I’ll be sure to check it out And best of luck with your pregnancy 