I'm T1, 33 years old, 6 weeks pregnant and very ignorant in the world of pregnancy. I want to be as proactive and self educated as possible and i know that my fellow Tu women will have special insight that no medical doctor could teach me. I need you! Any tips would be great and any heads up on ditches to avoid would be greatly appreciated.
My immediate questions are regarding choosing a high risk dr.I've not had a good experience at my OB, need to find a Perinatologist (sp?), and love my endo.
Any input on any subject would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you all!
Heather
The book “Balancing Pregnancy with Pre-existing diabetes” By Cheryl Alkon has been a great help for me. It gives tips and testimonies by many T1 just like us. I’m not an expert, I’m also a T1 and I’m 5 weeks pregnant;but I can tell you the book has given me the confidence to believe that I can do this. If you are in the NY area I can recommend you the Maternal Fetal Medicine Associates. They are experts with T1 diabetics. Good Luck!!
Congrats Heather! The Balancing Pregnancy book is a must, and the women here are also great with questions/concerns/panics. It can be hard to know if you've found the right doctor, so do your best, follow your gut, and just be sure to be a pro-active patient. The book also gives you enough info to better judge if your doctor's know what they are doing. Best of luck!
It seems that there are many different ways to manage women with type 1 during pregnancy (i.e. some high-risk OBs want to have complete control over the pregnancy and diabetes management, some only consult and you also still work with a normal OB, some let you still see your endo, some don't, etc...) So that can be really confusing to figure out.
I would say that whatever setup you find, make sure that you have one professional (either your endo, a nurse practitioner, a CDE, or your high-risk OB) with whom you will discuss your diabetes management, and make sure ahead of time that you are comfortable with the approach that person takes. For example, do you fax in your blood sugar results once a week? Do you speak on the phone or via email? Is the person comfortable with your making adjustments on your own, etc?
Ask your endo for recommendations for a perinatologist, although that may or may not help.
I also recommend getting a CGM ASAP if you can. I love my Dexcom G4!
thanks very much! I'll get the book
You nailed it Megan- i definitely want to be as proactive as possible. I'll get the book
Thanks i really like my endo and have been uploading my pump info once a week. I see the high risk dr tuesday so i should be covered. thanks!
If you are a pumper and you want to be super diligent about adjusting your pump settings as you go, I would also recommend "Pumping Insulin" by John Walsh and Ruth Roberts. I'm 20 weeks pregnant right now, and I use a Ping pump and Dexcom G4 CGM. My endocrinologist is young and new, and sometimes some of the suggestions she makes for adjusting my basals/boluses/correction factors are actually not correct, based on what I've read in that book (and noticed from nearly 20 years of experience with T1). I wish I could give her a copy of "Pumping Insulin" before she tries to mess up my pump settings again! It's a lot of work to be pregnant and diabetic, but it's totally doable with diligence, frequent testing, and careful carb counting!! Good luck!
Use Maternity support pillows to get support and special care for your tummy and get better sleep with these. Many ladies during pregnancy get back pain issues for them pregnancy support pillows is the best option.