Hello! I am adding a baby to my life plans! However, we are thinking of trying to get pregnant in over a year - so AWHILE. I am wondering if anyone has advice on how to prepare. I don’t have friends with babies, have almost no experience, diabetic or otherwise. Just keep A1c down? Any other tips? Thank you!
My CDE started way in advance getting me used to more frequent testing, tighter BG targets, a lower threshold for lows, and had me go ahead and start taking pre-natal vitamins. The theory my medical team had was that you get all of the habits in place and then you just add a baby.
It also helps to have great reading material about baby prep. I suggest Balancing Pregnancy with Pre-Existing Diabetes and Baby Bargains (you’ll swear by that one, eventually).
yes, do connect with your endo now-it’s a good idea to be in a pre-pregnancy clinic for a while before pregnancy because there’s a lot of changes to be made and A LOT to learn-otherwise one can get frustrated if you start too late and are being told not to get pregnant when you’re really ready to get pregnant!
My D was found in pregnancy, so I don’t have advice on that side of things.
On becoming a mom - I found that reading books about baby care was more important than reading books about pregnancy. It’s nice to have a book or two around about pregnancy to refer to when you’re wondering what’s going on. But spend more of your time reading about infant and baby care because let me tell you, you’ll be too tired to read it after the baby’s born.
Learn new ways of handling worry and stress because there are lots of highs and lows in pregnancy. I have a friend who held a mirror to her sleeping baby’s mouth to double-check that she’s still breathing. Don’t be that kind of mother! Having children will teach you about patience, self-sacrifice and unconditional love!
It took us over a year to conceive. I actually thought it would be instant, but a year or so later we are finally pregnant. Just keep that in mind that it might not be exactly a year…could be longer.
My doctor put me on 5mg of folic acid a day and stated that it should be in your system for minimum a year before conceiving. She also suggested my husband take the folic acid too. I don’t know how much truth is in that, but it’s worth asking your doctor too.
A1C levels are crucial. Trust me, you want great control before conceiving. I was able to get mine down to 6.0% before conceiving and I found that very tricky to do. Being pregnant, it’s a roller coaster ride every few days with the amount of basal/bolus changes.
Best of luck!