Hello, there. First, I have never in my life joined one of these forums, but I recently found out I am pregnant with my first baby. The first few days after I found out, my blood sugars seemed to be working well for me. However, over the past three days, my sugars have been terrible with several readings between 180-280. I go to my first appointment in 5 days, but until then, I am terrified what harm these numbers are causing the baby. Can anyone with personal experience with sugar highs during early pregnancy offer some reassurance and encouragement? I just feel entirely alone, and everything you read makes you feel like you are harming your baby.
I wear a pump. My last A1C was 6.6. I just can't seem to win with my numbers the past few days and it's been absolutely maddening.
Thank you in advance for all your stories and experiences. I just want to know that it's not a lost cause. Thank you!
First, congratulations on your pregnancy. I am type 1 and had two kids while on MDI. It is a scary time, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. First trimester I remember my sugars being actually lower than normal. Second trimester sugars were getting higher and by the third trimester my insulin dose easily tripled.
Since you are on the pump I would suggest looking at your basals carefully and increase if needed. Do you have an endocrinologist specializing in pregnancy, or ob/gyn specializing in diabetes? It is a different ballgame managing sugars now because your body is going through so many changes.
Another thing you can do is seriously decrease your carbs since that will help with insulin resistance. In second/third trimester my sugars would rise while eating salad, forget about bread or pasta :) You will not harm the baby by limiting carbs, high sugars are worse for the baby.
Yet another one would be physical activity - walking will decrease your insulin resistance. That is, if you are feeling up to it.
Good luck and all the best. As final note, both my children were born healthy. First was born at 6lb and my sugars were well controlled, second at 10lb and sugars not so great. Insulin resistance hit much harder second time around.
Congratulations ! My A1C when I got pregnant with my son in 1990 was 15. I was hospitalized for the first few days after finding out so the nurse educators could re-teach me all the stuff I had ignored when I was diagnosed 15 years prior. I got on board pretty quickly and had a healthy 5 pound 1/2 ounce baby boy 37 weeks later. It was by far the most stressful 37 weeks of my life and I felt every single thing I ate would somehow affect the health of the baby growing within. But I had the highs and lows (twice I woke to paramedics in my bedroom) and somehow everything worked out. My son, Mark just turned 24 and is a joy. My A1C 6 weeks after delivery was 5.6 and that was with the older style insulin, no pump, no pens, no CGM and blood glucose meters that required a pint of blood to get a reading. Good luck it's most definitely NOT a lost cause.
You'll do great. I had a baby 3 years ago, she's an energetic preschooler now. Try not to beat yourself up about your sugars. My A1C was 7.7 when I got pregnant and was down to 6.4 by they end. I felt really accomplished by those numbers. It was a lot of hard work, but was totally worth it. I panicked every time I was above 250, but didn't need to stress myself out so much about it. I once hit 400 in the second trimester and cried for days, but in the end, everything was fine. No problems or complications.
As long as you have a supportive and understanding team of doctors, it will all be great. Try your best to keep control, constant testing and carb counting, but don't worry if you have some out of bounds numbers. My endo told me to treat anything above 150 with a set formula she gave me. Ask about your doctor about what goals they think are reasonable for you and how to stay within them. You will do it :)
Thank you so much, Clare, for taking the time to chime in with your experience. It is so helpful to know other women experienced the same worries and had a positive outcome. Thank you, thank you.
