Well, I’ve been given the okay to start TTC…problem is, I have made a commitment to one of my best friends to be her maid of honor at her wedding next August 2010. We can start trying to conceive within the week and if it just so happens to happen, then my due date will be August 16, 2010, and her wedding is August 6, 2010. Are there any of you ladies out there who have had to deal with this kind of thing before? My husband says for us not to worry and to just deal with it as it comes, but as the Libra that I am, I like to think things through first. I know I have to put myself first and it’s taken about 6 months to get my A1C where it needs to be in order to start TTC, so if my endo is giving me the okay, then I feel that we should try now, in order to avoid high sugars again…but I also don’t want to miss her wedding, especially when I committed to her over a year ago to be her maid of honor…
I’m from the USA, but live in Europe. So any big family or friend event involves a trip across the ocean. Given that it might be difficult to travel that far when I am pregnant (especially 3rd trimester) and that I don’t have insurance in the USA, we have to think through similar things. Next year, my brother and two best friends are getting married (all in different months). So we decided to wait until a certain point, but I agree with your husband that you can wait forever. But maybe waiting 1 month is not too much?
Just have to be sure that there won’t be a reason to wait every month!
I think we have a pretty raw deal with all the pre-conception prep, all the hard work, all the worries when pregnant so I think you should just go for it. Looking at stats it is unlikely you will conceive straight away anyway and if you do, your friend should understand! This is more important x
you may want to talk to your doctor, but from what i’ve been told by a obbyn that specializes in type 1/high risk pregnancies is that they typically induce before 9 months because of the higher risks in the last month and because of the size of the baby, so maybe the timing can still work?
Hard one. As someone who has had two babies, I would say don’t plan on traveling between the time you are 7 months and before the newborn is 3 months. Most docs don’t approve travel after 8 months, and if you are Type 1, you almost certainly will be induced early. I was 36 weeks, some docs go until 38, but not usually later. And the post-partum period is much harder than I thought it would be. Good luck!
I am an ObGYN doc with diabetes on a pump… Does your friend live locally? I don’t recommend that my patients travel after 36 weeks when things are NORMAL! When you are diabetic, even more precautions. You need frequent testing of the baby with heart monitor strips and sometimes ultrasound tests in the third trimester, sometimes as often as 3x/week. And for diabetics (except gestational), we typically do an amnio around 36 weeks to see if the baby’s lungs are ready - if so, we induce! The risk of stillbirth is greater in diabetics, so you want to get the baby out as soon as it’s ready! But the wedding is not until August, and not everyone gets pregnant right away. If you do conceive and it conflicts with the wedding, you’ll have enough time to tell your friend so she can make other plans. If she is truly a friend, she will understand if you are pregnant, and will be thrilled for you! If your last period was December 1 and you get pregnant this month, you’d be due September 7. But if you don’t conceive this month, you should be fine for the wedding. So if wedding is very important to you, maybe wait 4 more weeks and then try…
It took my husband and I 9 months of TTC after we got the green light - those who say it might not happen right away have a good point. Still…I would wait a few weeks. If you’ve been given the green light, it means that your control is good and you’re watching your numbers. A few extra weeks of that can do nothing but good before you get pregnant.
I just wanted to give you all an update and let you know that I’m pregnant!!! It just so happened that it only took one try. I am just over 7 weeks and hoping that everything will work out for us as it’s been quite the journey to get to this point. Besides feeling exhausted and slightly nauseous, I feel wonderful!!! If there is anyone out there who is going through a pregnancy and would like to chat, please message me. The more people I can talk to the better I feel, especially when we’re all dealing with this chronic condition! As for my girlfriend who is getting married, I broke the news to her the other day and she seems to be understanding. We are just going to take it day by day, and see what happens! I am hoping to be there on her big day, but I’ll just have to wait and see what happens!
Happy New Year to all of you and all the best for 2010!
Congratulations! I have a one year old and a four year old, and wish I would have had somewhere like this to turn for support during that time. It felt lonely to be the only Type 1 going through a pregnancy, as we face different issues than my non-diabetic friends did.
Just so you know, both my babies were born healthy in the high 6 pound range. No problems in pregnancy, although by the end I was taking 6x as much insulin as I was in the beginning (from 20 something units a day to over 120/day). The need for more insulin does not tend to come until later though, around 5 months if I recall.
The only problem we ever had was breastfeeding, because both babes were a little early and were poor suckers (the suck is the last thing to develop) so both needed some bottles initially. I would definitely recommend planning to see a lactation specialist in the hospital in you want to breastfeed. They really helped me.
Happy 2010!
Congrats! Enjoy the journey, to say its life changing is an understatement. I’ve had 3 diabetic pregnancies, 3 beautiful and active kiddos, 5, 8 and 11 and I wouldn’t change a thing.
Thanks for the message! I’m very excited about the process, but at the same time very scared. I have been having a lot of lo sugars lately (approx. 2 a day) and my endocrinologist is having a hard time trying to figure me out. There seems to be no pattern and it happens at any time of the day. I just hope that these lo’s aren’t harming the fetus in anyway…did you have this problem with any of your three pregnancies? Also, just out of curiosity, what was your HbA1C at when you first got pregnant with your children?
I am looking for as much information as possible, so as long as you don’t mind, I would love to hear your experience!
Pregnancy is challenging indeed. I had lots of lows in the first trimester with both pregnancies. The explanation I got from my dr at the time was that insulin needs actually decrease initially, then later increase. Do you have a pump and CGM? I had the pump for both, and a CGM with my second baby and it helped me catch myself going down before I got too low. Before I got the CGM, I tested 10-13x/day while pregnant. I had readings in the 40’s and 50’s, but never lower than that.
My A1C was in the high 5’s-low 6’s before my pregnancy. I worried a lot during my pregnancies, but all was fine, really it was just a lot more work for me. The fun part is as a diabetic (if you live in the US at least) you get lots of ultrasounds, I had 8 with both kids, so there is much reassurance provided that development is going well.
A T1 friend who is about five months along was also concerned about lows and how they affect the baby. Her endo told her that the baby gets first dibbs on the sugar in your blood, and mom comes second. So the baby gets what he wants and takes the sugar, you go low. Just have to snacks handy!
I had issues with lows throughout all 3 pregnancies. The hormones react with the insulin, so after my 1st baby, I didn’t even try to figure out what was going on, I just treated the lows. The lows really don’t bother the fetus at all, its the highs. My A1C on my first 2 pregnancies was around a 6 or so, with my 3rd it was higher. I wasn’t very dedicated during my 3rd pregnancy, unfortunately. I was overwhelmed, tired and old (36). Luckily he’s a healthy guy, but I still feel guilty and terrible for not being as regimented as I was with his sisters.
I’ll be happy to give you whatever info you’d like, just ask!
Thank you so much Cara, it’s nice to know that I’m not the only one. I have been to my dr. weekly and she keeps changing my pump settings but the minute I walk out of her office, my sugars are dropping drastically. I have pretty much given up and just make sure to have my glucose tablets handy
If I have any more questions, I will definately be asking you, as long as you don’t mind.
Oh, I know one question for you, were all 3 of your pregnanciesw delivered by C-section, or did you manage to deliver naturally?
I am nearly 18 weeks pregnant (2nd trimester) and still struggling with crazy lows. We were also surprised by how soon we became pregnant – just two months of trying!
I have found the temp basal rate on my pump to be a life saver. As I’m typing this, I am using a 45% temp basal rate. I probably treat 3-4 lows per day, even with the temp basals. If you’re interested, feel free to follow my “journey” on my blog, where I talk about just about everything that is happening in this, my first, pregnancy.
Thank you so much for your message…I just took what I thought would be a quick look at your blog, and ended up reading the whole thing. Thank you so much for taking the time out to do that. It’s something I have always wanted to do, but of course, never got around to doing it. I can really relate to a lot of what you’ve gone through, and it’s so neat to hear it from someone else other than myself.
I am still suffering with low’s but there not as bad as they were. My endo has put me on medical leave from work, which is a lot earlier than I was hoping, but at the same time, not having that stress in my life is exactly what I need right now. How are you coping with work, and all of your appts/exhaustion/morning sickness that you’ve experienced?
I am just over 11 weeks along, and filled with worries, which by the sounds of your blog is something your very familiar with. I am on a waiting list to get into see an obgyn, and my appt. is not until Feb 17th but they told me that it’s not too late for a first appointment…I will be almost 16 weeks along by the time I have my appt. I have however, had two ultrasounds done, which was very re-assuring
Feel free to message me anytime, as it’s always nice to relate to someone, especially when we are both expecting. I wish you all the luck on your journey!
