My husband joked that he didn’t realize having a baby required so much planning and waiting!
I had already decided last January to improve my focus on my diabetes, so I got a Dexcom and started paying attention to it, troubleshooting along the way. Just that focus helped me drop my A1C in 3 months from an 8.2 to a 6.6. Then, my husband and I started talking about wanting to get pregnant so I did research and opted to try a LCHF diet to help level out my bgs. My next A1C was 6.1.
The first pre-conception meeting I had was with my endo. Once I had her blessing, I checked with my OB/GYN, who advised me to switch from birth control to condoms for at least 3 months. She also referred me to an MFM who I had a consult with. Around the same time, I started prenatals (if you’re feeling nauseous, try out a different brand). I don’t recall when I started trying to cut back on caffeine, but I went from 2-3 cups per day to 1 cup of caffeinated per day (I just switched to half caffeine, and it’s so nice to be able to enjoy two cups per day).
At that point, they were happy with my A1C, so I had to wait out the birth control withdrawal and a series of blood tests and screenings. We were fortunate and got pregnant right away.
It can be overwhelming, but it’s part of the process. Take deep breaths and take it one day at a time. It seems like healthy pregnancies require smart choices (eg eating healthier than most people do, doing your best to prebolus and keep bgs as much within the ideal ranges as possible, etc.) so getting accustomed to making some sacrifices seems to be good practice (especially if you consider what life will be like after the baby arrives).
Anyways, I’m 5 months pregnant now, so this is what I’ve been telling myself all along. If you want pure validation and “feel good” reinforcement of any decisions, join the FB type 1 and pregnancy group. I have concerns about the permissive attitude the general group seems to have (eg some people intentionally getting pregnant despite high A1Cs, encouraging others not to limit their lives/food by diabetes, not expressing any concern about high bgs, and bashing doctors who express concern about patient behavior, etc.), but in general, they have a point that many diabetics have very healthy babies despite less than perfect control. I prefer to take a cautious approach and try to make as many good decisions as possible to increase the likelihood of a happy and healthy baby.
Again, hang in there and good luck! Try to get into a groove so that making a baby becomes a manageable and enjoyable process.