Hey Jamie! Congrats on your pregnancy… I had my baby 6 weeks ago and was able to keep my pump on the entire time, I was also able to check my sugars my nurse came in every 2 hours to get my results… Of course you know you are not able to eat anything while in labor besides ice chips :-(, so to prevent or treat any lows you may have the nurses will start a IV drip that contains sugar and you will be connected to this until you deliver your baby. After delivery my sugar was 132 which was perfect! Although a couple days after deliever i didn’t much insulin at all, My doc decreased my basal rate to almost nothing. Good Luck!!!
Just saw you asked about being induced ALL diabetics are induced, my plan was to be induced at 39 weeks but my little angel decided to show up at 35 weeks, Thank God she was VERY healthy
Sharray, congrats on a healthy baby who arrived when she was apparently ready! 
Just FYI for Jaime, a lot of this stuff depends on your doctor and the hospital. Like the hospital where I’m going won’t treat my lows with a drip, but rather with juice or popsicles. And some hospitals let women eat food. Mine won’t, but the local university hospital does. (They have a reputation for being less medically minded in their obstetrics department though, and they even have certified nurse midwives.) And my doctor doesn’t induce her diabetic patients unless there’s evidence that induction is necessary (like evidence that the placenta is breaking down, rather than assuming it must be if you have diabetes, no matter how well controlled). It’s really common for OBs to have some magical week in mind for induction, but you can find ones who don’t do that, and you can also refuse induction if it doesn’t seem like a sound decision to you.
My OB also does NOT induce her diabetic patients unless necessary. I even had to ask my midwife about it, they did not even bring up the subject of induction until I asked at 35 weeks, and she said that if everything is going well (I’ve had a great pregnancy) in a week or two, they will give me the option of induction if I want but they want me to go naturally if possible. Now, if I get to 40 weeks and still no labor, they will probably induce me. But not all OB’s insist on induction just because you are diabetic, thank goodness!
I was on MDI when I had my daughter a few years back so I had the IV thing happening. The most important thing is to make sure your sugars are as close to normal as possible when the cut the cord so baby doesn’t have a sugar drop.
I went 40wks 3 dys and had my cervix ripened with Cervidril because my Ob knew I did not want a C-Section unless it was absolutely necessary. She would have let me go 41 weeks but I was starting to show signs of pre-eclampsia so she ripened my cervix and stripped the membrane. My daughter was 10lbs 11oz and was delivered vaginally.
I’m now 17 weeks along and I’m a bit concerned that my experience this time may not be the same. My Ob’s eyes bulged out of her head when I told her how big my daughter was. I told her that I would only agree to a C-Section IF the baby was over 10 lbs and that I do not want to be induced unless it’s absolutely necessary. I’m hoping I have a good OB that won’t get skiddish on me when the time comes.
I’m 17 weeks now also. Congradulations !
10lbs is kinda big but lots of women have 10lb babys just because you know? So I realllly hope you’ll be able to go vaginally just like before I hope I get to as well :))
My non-diabetic sister delivered a 12 lbs 1 oz son vaginally after having a C-section a few years earlier…apparently we make them big in my family…lol!
I hear about that happening a lot thats why just bc a diabetic has a big baby it’s not always related to her diabetes but it’s what everyone is going to think of course
That’s ignorance for ya! It’s like everyone assuming that just because you are diabetic you need to be induced early or need a C-Section.
Hi ladies! Congrats on your pregnancies, and recent or soon-to-be deliveries! I feel like an old lady now… our babe is 8 months old. But I delivered at 39w1d and ended up in a c-section for failure to progress; my water broke and I was in labor for 36 hours, only got to 6.5cm and minus 2 station (ie. baby wasn’t coming down) so they decided to just zip in and get her. Also had pitocin (which was tricky to manage vis-a-vis the intensity of the contractions and the baby’s heart rate…took several hours to get them in a good rhythm). ALSO had magnesium sulfate because of pre-e. ALSO had penicillin for GBS. So I had plenty of stuff on board via IV.
They told me in triage that I’d have to give up my pump; they had me on insulin drip plus the 5% dextrose solution in addition to all the other “lines in”. They had the nurse come by with what looked like my Accucheck from 1983 (some HUGE plastic thingy in a box) every hour to check; I checked with my meter and CGM just as often to try to tell them “hey, I got this” but also to gauge myself. Turns out they learned from me and my monitors that theirs needed to be calibrated. LOL.
All was steady diabetes-wise throughout labor, and post-delivery I was right back on my pump at maybe 60-70% of my pre-pregnancy basals. Had a lot of lows the first day, met with endo and got into a good rhythm. Was between 80 and 120 all the rest of the time I was there (5 days total, 4 post c-section). Heads up: if/when you start nursing, your BGs may be lower. Mine tanked whenever I nursed for a good long while, but eventually it evened out.
Good luck!
