Hi All! I’m bringing up an OLD topic, but I’m really starting to wonder.
Many of us wanting to get pregnant are told to get our A1c under 6. How many of the Mom’s out there were able to do this? It seems that I hear everyone talking about how it SHOULD be under 6, but most diabetic women that I heard from had their A1c’s between 6 and 7. What was your A1c prior to and during pregnancy???
I recently listened to this podcast on DiabetesPowerShow.com and I was amazed that I didn’t hear anyone say that they had an A1c under 6.
I did with my first 2 pregnancies. My A1c was 5.5 before I got pregnant with Lily in 1997, and a 6 when I got pregnant with Caroline in 2000. I kept it low with both those pregnancies, It was 5 after Lily’s birth (which I will admit was painful), but with my 3rd pregnancy, I wasn’t as careful, and I was at a 7 pretty much through the entire pregnancy. My kids are all healthy and thriving.
I got diagnosed with diabetes during my first pregnancy, my a1c was 5,5 then… my second pregnancy (now) 4,6% and 4,7% last time i got it tested. Im extremely scared of having a huge baby so Im doing everything i can to have as normal bloodsugar levels as possible
I don’t want to say what my hba was at the time of conception, but I got it down as soon as I could. It was by no means under 6%, but for your own peace of mind try to get it down. I was tormented throughout the pregnancy with worry. The doc told me that normal women’s blood glucose levels dropped during pregnancy, so I tried to hold my blds at about 4mmols. This is quite diffucult due to hypos, I was lucky cause I took a lot of time off. Both of my babies weighed 6lbs and a few ounces. Normal deliveries.
My A1c was 6.3 when my Endo gave me the thumbs up to start trying. Once I was pregnant, I got it down to 5.8 and kept it under 6 for the remainder of the pregnancy.
My doctor was really anal about my numbers. I had to write everything down and fax it to him once a week.
He wasn’t happy with 5.8, he wanted 5.5!!! I had to giggle inside because I knew 5.8 was awesome, but I appreciated his encouragement that it could be lower.I exercised throughout most of my pregnancy and just watched what I ate, and I also wear a pump.
I had my DD 2 years ago, and now trying to keep a baby, I miscarried twice with A1c’s of 6.0, I am now making myself test all day, maybe 10 times and write down what I eat so I will be under 6, when I try again.
When if found out I was pregnant, luckily my A1c was 5.9. I say luckily because my pregnancy wasn’t planned. Throughout my pregnancy I kept my A1c at 5.7. I don’t think it would have been as easy if I didn’t have my pump because it allowed me to make adjustments quickly. My son was born early at 35 weeks and weighed 5 lbs 11 oz. I had to have a c-section because he was breech. You can read more about my pregnancy here.
I just wanted to comment on the A1C’s under 6 when planning for pregnancy…
I saw my Endo yesterday, my A1C was 6.8…he was very happy with it while I was a little bummed hoping it would come in a little closer to 6 since we are allowed to start TTC in a few months. I’m pretty sure it had a lot to with my steroid shots in March
He explained that it is very difficult for us to get to 6 or below BEFORE pregnancy but that having a 6.__ now is great bc when I do get pregnant and the baby starts taking what he/she needs from my body my BG’s will naturally run lower so I’m very likely to have A1C’s 6 and below when the time does come
I think my A1C’s were about 6.5 during my 2 post insulin pregnancies - I suffered from ‘terminal’ morning sickness - so serious lows were a real problem - both girls were fine - though they did weigh 7 1/2 & 8 1/2 lbs at delivery 2 weeks early (they are now 21 & 23 - having an A1C under 7 during pregnancy then was considered great). It was probably about 7 when I was became pregnant since neither of them was planned.
I was a 6.9 around conception and then 6 weeks later I got it down to 6.0, when I was 11 weeks. I just saw my endo today and am 15 weeks, so I am anxious to know what it is now… but I can tell you that my blood sugars have been wonderful! For whatever reason in early pregnancy, you have to be more concerned with LOWS than running high, so those low A1Cs are easier to maintain, for most people. I had always heard that insulin needs greatly increase and thought that was true for all of pregnancy, but that is apparently just the end… It is much easier to stay stable when your body enjoys keeping everything fine and dandy
I was told by my endo that as soon as I am below 7.0, even if it’s 6.9, I can start ttc! I go on Monday and find out…a month ago I was 7.3, I’m keeping my fingers crossed
My D was caught when I was five months pregnant with my second son. My a1c at the time was 6.7. The endo told me it’s obviously not normal but not too high to cause birth defects. In pregnancy, targets were lower than 96 for fasting and between 90 and 126 two hours after a meal.
I’ve had 4 a1cs and I’ve never been under 6.
Just to save some of you the worry, I had D during my pregnancy with my son three years ago. I had midwives and they only relied on urine tests and a few random blood readings. My sugars were very high and they just kept telling me to stop eating carbs. Long story short, I had all the complications – high, high blood pressure, extra aminotic fluid, large baby, and everything was fine in the end. My son is almost three now and he’s perfectly fine and I’m fine. Obviously I wouldn’t recommend letting your D get out of control, but don’t sweat the small stuff when you’re doing everything you can.
Thank you Kelly.
I appreciate you sharing your ‘not so good complications’ - high, high blood pressure, large baby, etc. and that you still had a healthy son!
I’m newly preggers (6 weeks) - and my A1C was just about 7 last November. I was suppose to get it done again in January but let time slip away - then I found my sugars out of whack and did not want to get blood work done (was too afraid that the Dr. would tell me NOT to try). I went and did my blood work last Friday - and should hear soon my numbers. The past 2 weeks that I’ve known that I am pregnant, my sugars have been amazing. I’m hoping that because I’m on track now, that everything during this process will go pretty smoothly as well. *Fingers crossed.
