Unplanned Pregnancy, Type 1

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1

I am writing this on here and not on my personal blog, because people who actually know me read my blog, and I really don’t want anyone I know to know about this. And there was a lot of ‘knowing’ in that last sentence. lol.

I am pregnant. Pregnant and scared shitless.

First let me say that the little girl in my profile picture with me is my step-daughter, so this is my first pregnancy. My husband were planning on waiting another year before trying to have a child, so this pregnancy comes as a shock, though we think of it also as a blessing. We’re very happy about the pregnancy, but as I said, I am scared.

The past couple of months, I have been losing weight. I managed to lose 9lbs before I found out I am pregnant last tuesday (March 10th). I was starting to really get my blood sugar under control. But the past two of three weeks, I have been off. Badly off.

I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow afternoon, but in the meantime, I have been looking online, trying to find out information about the risks of an unplanned pregnancy with T1D, and here’s what I’m mostly finding:

  • You should avoid unplanned pregnancy at all costs
  • The fact that I got pregnant is totally my fault and I am clearly uneducated and stupid (not true, by the way)
  • My baby’s chances of developing abnormalities, and chances of a miscarriage are heightened

Um…helpful? No.

I already knew the risks. I was using birth control. I want to have a healthy baby. My god, who writes those articles anyway? They are so condescending (not all, but most). I wonder if the people who write them are diabetic, or know anyone who is diabetic? Clearly, they have never had to deal with an unplanned diabetic pregnancy themselves. I understand that they want to emphasize how important it is to be healthy and plan the pregnancy, bla bla bla…but is there no help out there at all for women who are in my situation? Because surely I am not the only woman who has ever gone through this. Tell me the risks, tell me the statistics, tell me what the hell I can do about it, and for god’s sake, tell me something positive to keep me from having a panic attack about the fact that I may have put my unborn child at risk!

Okay, I’m done venting…

Please keep my baby in your prayers…

2

Congratulations!! I almost cried for you, because I can empathize. Do you have a good Endo, at a Diabetes Center at a major university hospital, or somewhere like Jocelyn? You will be fine, and your baby too! =) Just plan on lots of doc visits with lots of specialists, and make sure every one of them has worked with type 1 diabetics on an every day basis! =) People do it all the time!

3

You and your baby will be in my prayers. Do all you need to do for the two of you and Congratulations! It is a beautiful time!!

4

Kristen,
First of all congratulations! As scary as everything is now, there is still reason to be excited!

You can do this.

My endo told me about a woman who came to her pregnant with an A1c of 14. They started to intensively manage her blood sugar and got her A1cs under 6 as soon as possible.

No pregnancies are without risks. Ours are indeed risker. But in this world, we cannot control everything. You cannot control yesterday, but you can do your best tomorrow. So do the best you can to get your blood sugars in control. And turn to us for help in getting there-- we struggle with the same thing everyday!!

Do you have a good medical team to help you?

A few resources that I can recommend:
Oh Baby group here in TuD-- you can join the group and start a discussion or send a message to all members of the group asing for advice. There are many type 1 moms in the group
Yahoo email list for “Positive Diabetic Pregnancies”– this is a great group of women who have been there and will help!
Diabetes Sisters– they have a pregnancy blog and forum

You are in my prayers!

5

Ditto what everyone said above. You can have a successful pregnancy, but I do recommend you find a ob/gyn who specializes in diabetes. I had one and it was very helpful. And don’t panic and beat yourself up about every high blood sugar that happens. I know I would tend to do that, which the stress doesn’t help bring down the blood sugars! Congratulations, and enjoy your pregnancy:)

6

Kristen,
I also had an unplanned pregnancy. In fact my little girl is a week old yesterday. I didn’t find out until I was 7 months pregnant that I was pregnant and then she was born a month later and born early. Due to my water breaking early and the fact I am a diabetic she was in the nicu for 6 days but she is HEALTHY. What they told me could happen as far as complications with her did not happen. Just because they say it could happen doesn’t mean it will happen. Eat healthy, as you know watch your sugar, if you aren’t on a pump I would start to seriously check into getting one, the pump makes a HUGE difference. Keep all you OB appointments for follow ups and do what they say. Even a diabetic with an unplanned pregnancy can have a healthy baby. It isn’t to late to work on tighter control just because you are pregnant. If you have any questions feel free to email me at cturner0684@gmail.com. They told me my daughter could have immature lungs, need blood transfusions etc and none of that happened with her. She was in NICU as a precaution where she could get closer attention to see if she was going to have any problems so if they tell you she will be in NICU do not get upset over it, it is just a precaution to make sure she has the best care.

7

I have had to unplanned pregnancy. Both my kids are doing pretty well none of the scary things that they told me or i had read really happened my daughter made it full term and was 8lbs 8 oz, and she was a breeze. my son what very challenging and was born at 32 weeks and was 9lbs 12 oz and 22inch long he spent almost 2 months in the hospital mainly cause he could not intake the amount of fluid they needed him to. they wanted him to have 4 oz every 2 hours what newborn can due that. so he was on a feeding tube. till he could suckle better. I did not get my pump till a month before he was born. It is a lot of work but worth it in the end

Feel free to email me with any question I have prob. been down every road you can think of with the not so good side of the whole thing but I can sure tell you that what they say dose not alway happen.

I have a lot of information if you would like it.

8

Thank you everyone for all your encouragement and support. I just got my results back from my blood tests and my A1C is 8.4. Not so good, but better than I had expected in all honesty. I am really excited about this baby, and I am trying not to let worries cloud over my excitement and happiness. I want to enjoy this time to the fullest. I really appreciate your encouragement and advice, because it is really hard to find other people who have experienced what I’m going through right now. Like I mentioned in the blog, it seems like the only information on unplanned pregnancy with type 1 is to just not let it happen. It’s good to know that there are people who understand, and have gone through similar experiences with good outcomes :smiley:

Thanks again!
Kristen

9

I, too, had an unplanned pregnancy at 38 years old. So…I had many strikes against me. My blood sugars were horrible during conception. How funny, though, I ended up having A!C’s of 5 during my pregnancy. It was the best contol I had ever been in. All of this is in God’s hands. Fortunately, in today’s world they have high tech equipment. Even moreso than when I had my child 7 years ago. My little girl was 9.9% perfect. They told my mom that they did not give 10’s to a child. They left that .1 percent open. All I can tell you is …from this day on, take care of yourself. I was on shots at the time. I do start having hypoglycemia unawareness and that was the only draw back. I had to have someone with me constantly. You lost weight because your blood sugars were out of control. You will have to see a high risk dr, as well as, your obgyn. This is normal because of your diabetes. I also had to go to a heart dr so they could monitor the babies heart. The dr told me that the high blood sugars were bad during diabetes because it would make the baby larger. Most diabetics tend to have large babies anyway. They were going to take Alexis early because they said she was 11 pounds. Well…three days before they took her, she wanted to come early. She was 6lbs 12 ounces. That is funny. Nearly 1/2 the size they said she would be. Anyway…I am telling you that it can be okay for you. I understand you are worried, as I felt those same fears. I think you would have those fears even if you were not a diabetic. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me.