Lows in the 3rd Trimester

Hi all. I am currently 34wks 5days and have been noticing a few unexplained lows and have had to back off a bit with both my mealtime bolus and basal insulin levels. This is pretty opposite to what I have been doing, which is maintaining great control, but taking lots and lots of insulin (175-200 U/day over the past 2-3 weeks, 50-60U/day pre-pregnancy). My perinatologist told me this increase in lows was expected around week 36 or so.

I was wondering when you all experienced this, if at all.

I am not sure what it means (I will be asking at my next appointment). So far, everything throughout my pregnancy has been going well. Through some of my research, I've found that it might mean the placenta isn't working as well (the hormones it releases are what leads to insulin resistance in the first place). That freaks me out a bit since I'd rather have her in there cooking for another 2-3 weeks at least.

Thank you!

I had this happen from about 32 wks and my consultant was not worried. I was admitted at 36 wks for other reasons and at my request they checked the blood flow through the placenta via ultrasound and all was absolutely fine. my 2nd daughter is now 3 months old :smiley:

Hi, I was also worried about this during my pregnancies...In one book I found(I think Pumping Insulin), it says that lows are expected during the last month or so of pregnancy due to the baby making its own insulin. I think the baby can also make enough to affect the mother's bg. So, I wouldn't worry about it unless you have a sudden, large decrease in insulin needs. Good luck!

Mine started in week 33. My doctors were worried about placenta deterioration, but from the women that I heard from here and on another forum, MANY, MANY of us experience decreased insulin resistance this early, even when the placenta is fine. It seems many doctors think the lows should start in week 36, but our bodies think differently :) I carried my son to full term and the placenta looked healthy when they did the c-section after completing the 38th week.

As Maismommy said, the good news is that they can check the blood flow through the placenta via ultrasound. So ask them to check it at your next ultrasound, just to be sure. I was going for weekly ultrasounds at that point (because my son was measuring big and I guess they wanted to track his growth and status). So I had them check the placenta each week.

I posted a discussion on this topic here during my pregnancy.

Good luck!!

My maternal fetal doctor explained to me this isn't necessarily a problem unless other things are going on as well like blood pressure fluctuations or unless there is a significant decrease in the amount of insulin needed, etc. He said that they will want to monitor the placenta through biophysical profiles each week until time of delivery to make sure there is nothing going on with the placenta. I had this happen with the lower insulin and blood sugars in week 37 so they just monitored things more closely.