So my endochronologist has me waking myself up at 2am and 5am every single night and says I have to do this until the baby is born. I’m only 7 weeks and I’m exhausted! I know that this is partially because it’s my first trimester but I think it’s even worse because of waking up twice a night. My endochronologist is one of the best pregnancy and diabetes dr. in the country so I won’t complain, but I’m just wondering if anyone else has had to do this and how they are managing? I need some encouragement!
Hi,
No, I don’t wake up to take finger sticks. I have a dexcom CMG (Continuous glucose meter) so it beeps when I go high or low (and wakes be up to correct). So some nights I do wind up waking up twice a night, but on nights when my bloodsugar is good, I don’t.
I really recommend a CGM. My A1c during pregnancy has been 5.5-5.7 throughout my pregnancy, and I’m now 36.5 weeks. If you don’t have or get one, then it probably is a good idea to wake up to check your bloodsugar to make sure you’re not skyrocketing or low.
Fyi, sometime in my 1st trimester, I realized that I couldn’t recognize, anymore, when I have low blood sugar, until it’s super-low (~<40), while pre-pregnancy I could (and on this site, I found out that it’s not uncommon for this to happen - it’s happened to others also).
Congratulations, and good luck with the rest of your pregnancy!
I think that your endo’s advice is good, even if it is exhausting.
I don’t have a CGMS. My endo told me to try to check some nights in order to check my night time basals, but I have been checking once or twice a night throughout the whole pregnancy (I’m 34 weeks now). Actually I don’t set any alarm. I just drink a glass of water before bed and I wake up needing to pee. During first trimester, I usually got up twice a night to pee. During second trimester, it was usually only once a night. Now I am back to twice a night. I always check my blood sugar when I wake up.
During first trimester, from week 10-15, I was having a lot of night time lows. When I noticed a pattern of night time lows, I would sometimes set an alarm to get up and check.
The good news is that you really should feel less tired during the second trimester. Around week 16, I felt like I suddenly had significantly more energy. During first trimester, I would just fall asleep after dinner. The best advice is to rest during the day if you can.
My endo has me on a fixed eating schedule with a 10pm snack (and I would stay up until 11pm to check my BG) and then a 7am breakfast (which I needed to be up by 6:30am to prepare). The 7.5 hours was just not cutting it. So I made a habit of sleeping either after lunch or dinner depending on my work schedule.
I did this on my own as well. I set an alarm and checked every 3 hours throughout the first trimester. This is really important because your baby is developing the most important organs during the first 8 weeks of pregnancy. This includes spine, heart, brain, etc. So, extremely tight control during the first weeks of pregnancy is so important.
Once halfway into the second trimester, I relaxed a little bit and didnt set the middle-of-the-night alarm anymore.
Now that I’m halfway through third trimester, I’m checking in the middle of the night again- but mostly because I’m up peeing every few hours anyway. I just check my BG every time I get up to pee at night. Especially with insulin resistance during third trimester, I’m finding that checking so often in the middle of the night is helping me to keep close eye on my BG.
You can do it.
I did this on my own as well. In my first trimester, I would set an alarm at 1am and 3am or 5am, depending on my situation. Also, my BG was very unstable during the early morning. Now, I’m in my second trimester, I set only one alarm at 3am just to ensure my BG are stable throughout the morning. Also, my endo recommends to check my BG at least once during the early morning.
I know how you feel about being exhausted coz’ I was on my first trimester especially waking up couple times a night /early morning to check. Thoughout my first trimester…I was so tired all the time. I get so sleepy after getting ready to go somewhere and after meals/snacks. When you hit your second trimester you will have more energy ;).
Congratulations!!!
Thanks for all your encouragement-good to know I’m not alone 
Getting my CGM next week. Maybe I can give myself a bit of a break during the second trimester with that
I am 7 weeks pregnant also and just received my Dexcom CGM one week ago, I have never checked my bg in the middle of the night but the CGM is awesome I can see what my bg was all night! My biggest problem so far is nausea and wanting to eat everything thats horrible for a diabetic which I still have not splurged but I’m dyin to and on top of that unable to take the vitamins because they make me vomit so that worries me. Going for my first ultrasound tomorrow morning and beyond excited! Whats your due date?
I’m due december 26th. Sorry to hear you’re vomiting 
I’m exhausted and nauseous but thankfully not vomiting or craving bad foods (apart from chips :). I did have a really strange dream last night though where I started eating lots of sweets and chocolates and justified it by giving myself loads of insulin-then I woke up with random high BG levels-very strange… About the pre-natals-talk to your ob/gyn- I think there are some pre-natal vitamins that are supposed to be easier to take when feeling sick.
I’m due September 17th. Talking about foods while pregnant. My friend who is Type 1 diabetic also craves anything sweets throughout her pregnancy. She gave birth about 3 weeks ago to a healthy & beautiful baby girl and she maintained her A1C between 5.8 - 6.0 throughout pregnancy. I was really amazed how much sweets (cakes, cookies, ice cream, etc) she can eat. As for me, I’m the opposite…I love to eat toast with peanut butter & soymik ( I can eat that all day), meat, veggies and potatoes. I don’t crave for anything sweet at all.
As far as getting sick during the 1st Trimester, I know how you feel. I had nausea, no appetite to eat, high & low BG’s (I had low BGs mostly in the early morning), and most of all I was extremely nervous about everything. I am getting better now. For taking prenatal vitamins, I had the same problem but what really helps me was eating before I had to take it. Try to walk around after. Don’t worry it will get better.