Hello -
I was curious what is typcial regarding blood sugars for newly pregnant women.....with the hormonal changes etc. Is there a pattern that most women experience? Highs during weeks 1 through 6? Lows during weeks ? through ?. Is there a good book out there for Type 1's and pregnancy? That would be great!
As far as I’ve read in Think Like A Pancreas, insulin needs are lower after conception to about 8 weeks, dip in weeks 8 to 12, then slowly climb as the pregnancy progresses.
Are you already a parent? The Sneetches on the Beaches is my son’s favourite book!
Thanks for the info - I recently got the “think like a pancreas” book and will start reading it soon. We are still in the TTC stage and do not have any kids yet. I love Dr. Seuss and Sneetches are so much fun - and we live 3 blocks from the beach. Have a great weekend.
I ran fairly “normal” numbers throughout the first 20 weeks and did not experience the expected first trimester lows. I did hit a bit of a spike in weeks 6 and 7 (running near 160 regularly), but we think that might have been to site placement with my insulin pump (I was using an area with a lot of scar tissue).
By about week 23, the placental lactogen hormone that is anti-insulin sent my insulin needs skyrocketing by about 300%. Whereas I had previously had a total daily dosage of between 30-40 units, I was finding myself taking 30-40 unit boluses for meals! My TDD was up to between 120-150 units per day by the last 8 weeks. I had to switch to a pump with a larger reservoir. My insulin needs dropped the day of delivery to about 80% of my pre-pregnancy rates and have stayed low this first month of my baby’s life.
Order this book on Amazon when it finally comes out: Balancing Pregnancy with Pre-Existing Diabetes. Cheryl’s a member here and kept a fabulous blog about her pregnancy issues.
Thank you for the information and congrats on your new baby! Have a great day 
Melissa, thanks again for recommending my book and blog!
As an aside, if you order the book through the publisher, rather than Amazon, you’ll receive the book earlier. (They start shipping out mid-March from the publisher, and mid-April from Amazon, I believe). Plus, if you use the discount code SWEET for the publisher’s site, you’ll get a 15 percent discount.
The publisher’s site is here:
http://www.demosmedpub.com/prod.aspx?prod_id=9781932603323
Looking forward to hearing what people think of it!
–Cheryl
For the first four and a half months, I ran low all the live long day. At about the 5 month mark, my insulin resistance started to kick in (thanks to those anti-insulin hormones produced by the placenta that Melissa mentioned), and my numbers have been increasingly harder to predict and control ever since. Seven more weeks to go!!!
As far as books, I’d also recommend Cheryl’s book. Great read for someone managing pre-existing diabetes and pregnancy.