Not the perfect diabetic

[sarahleslie]

 

[Lolli24]

My HB1AC was 8.4 at conception (unplanned pregnancy) and it is now 6.3 at 20 weeks so I feel much better now I was so worried I have damaged my baby and still am worried now but I know I'm doing all I can do and hoping for the best outcome. Good luck xx

 

[sarahleslie]

 

[Madelinelowery]

Hi lollie24,

I was the exact same as you, 8.4 at conception now I'm 6.2! How did your 20 week scan go? I'm at 16 weeks and so worried Iv caused some damage!

️Xxx

 

[Lolli24]

Hi lollie24,

I was the exact same as you, 8.4 at conception now I'm 6.2! How did your 20 week scan go? I'm at 16 weeks and so worried Iv caused some damage!

️Xxx

My 20 week scan was ok they said she looks healthy and everything looks normal. But she does have a cleft lip which is common and very low down on the scale of things that can go wrong so I am relieved it's only cosmetic! I was shocked at first but I'm getting used to the idea now! The midwife told me my diabetes hasn't caused it but when I saw specialist consultant she told me it was the diabetes so not sure what to think about that. But the main thing is its nothing serious! Good luck with your 20 week scan everything will be fine xx

 

[Madelinelowery]

Thanks for sharing that, I would Rather go into it prepared! Atleast I only have to wait 4 weeks for the scan, it's the worst wait ever!! Just want to no everything's all healthy
Xxx

 

[donnellysdogs]

Any baby can have a cleft lip.. It is not related directly to diabetes.

Wishing you all well..

 

[spikyonyx]

I experienced a DKA weeklong coma two years ago and have suffered from peripheral nerve damage in my feet and legs since.
Along with job/housing and other personal issues, I've since struggled to manage my condition and general health and I'd given up hope of having a family after 8 years with my partner.

So understandably I was shocked and terrified to find I was nearly three months pregnant after receiving my latest HbA1c results of 99% especially after repeatedly having heard how important it was it have tightly controlled levels during and prior to pregnancy.
I immediately made a Dr.s appt. to get the ball rolling, only to have to wait over a month for the general midwife appt. at the surgery and a further 2 more weeks before a referral to the diabetic clinic at the hospital maternity dept. Not reassuring. I searched online for any advice I could, but most sites pregnancy sites refer to gestational diabetes and really don't offer much help. I should have come straight here!
By the time I was in the clinics, I was already past the first scans and what not, getting me more frantic I called the hospital to confirm my first appointments, only it be told the scans hadn't been booked...

The next HbA1c was under 60% might even have been as low as 40... So I've been relieved that my efforts have made a difference and my baby is growing and kicking healthly away
My levels after meals are still shooting up, frequently to 15, and sporadically as high as 20 which has really been freaking me out. I'm terrified that I ill poison my little boy for life or loose him. Fortunately I had a scan just after the last one and a chat with the midwife to calm me down.

I'm on a 1:3 ratio now of humalog and after a few meetings with the diabetic consultant I've reduced the evening Lantus to 24 units, stoping my morning hypos. With a morning Lantus of 36 which I'll shall increase, clearly one of the two is out, but 30g carbs per meal just doesn't seem manageable at the moment and taking more than 15units of humalog at a time just makes me more hungry...

Trial and error, it's an on-going process and fortunately my son seems to be doing fine, so that's a relief at least. Now to see if I can improve the nerve damage pain and mobility. At least reading on here has provided some avenues of thought/research. I'll have questions for the consultant in two weeks -feeling hopeful

 

[Laura Aries]

Hello all
I hope that someone will be able to offer me some reassurance regarding pre conception / pregnancy sugar levels. I've been stuck at a hba1c of 8 for several months now and have had my insulin changed around numerous times by my Diabetic clinic team. I am beginning to become upset with the whole situation as each time I think that my overall control is improving I am told otherwise or what I have been advised to do to improve my situation is contradicted with each visit.
I am beginning to debate taking the folic acid which has been prescribed to me in preparation and try to conceive with my current sugar levels; however another part of me has been scared stiff with all the horror stories of complications for a diabetic pregnancy
Am I the only one to feel like this????

 

[RPa]

Hi Laura

I totally feel your pain. I really want to start trying. My doctor has advised me to bring my HBA1c down. So I'm giving myself 3 months (fingers crossed) to bring the levels down. I'm trying so hard-gone on to a low carb diet, monitoring my basal and bolus rates. I'm testing my blood more frequently-but I feel like I'm failing and loosing motivation.
Woken up the past three days at 6am with blood readings that are 11 and the readings have dropped to 7.0 by 1.30pm, that has required me to test twice and give correction between those hours.

Have you tried a low carb diet?
What are your daily readings like?

My highs are in he morning after breakfast-I eat a boiled egg and one wholemeal bread. I think from tomorrow I'll be having an omelet and cutting out the carb completely. I'll see if that makes a difference.

Thanks.

 

[sleepyheadzzz]

First post! I'm in Canada but I haven't seen many active forums locally so I've been lurking here for a few weeks.

Just found out yesterday that I'm pregnant via 3 different tests - only 2 weeks along (since conception - happen to know the date, so I think that's 4 weeks officially?) so very very early days - we were planning on trying soon but this was a little earlier than we expected. My dr gave me the okay a few months ago when my A1C was 7.4%. In late February it rose to 7.9% after I took a trip to Cuba and ended up sick most of the time - I don't think I've ever had so much trouble controlling my bloodsugars as during that week. My appointment was 3 weeks later but my dr said it appears that the higher A1C is attributable to the trouble during and after the trip. She advised me to bring my averages down a bit but otherwise had no concerns. Already been taking Rx Folic acid for 6 months since we originally planned to try in Jan.

I've been a T1 for 19 years, pumping for 15, but have gotten a little lazy in the past couple of years. My A1C hasn't been above 7.9% since I was diagnosed and I've been very lucky to have no complications, and I've been between 7.0-7.9 over the past 2 years - never had DKA (since diagnosis), and only one low I couldn't treat myself 18 years ago. Unfortunately I haven't been able to successfully use my CGM despite trying every few months for the last year - the site is always extremely painful and the one time I was able to wear it for more than 24 hours it was no longer able to get an accurate reading. Checking into my husbands insurance this week to see if I might be able to get the Enlite from minimed (which is compatible with my paradigm). Most of my swinging numbers come from site issues, so I've been working on figuring out the best alternatives from my stomach, which has been overused. When I was 15 I could wear an infusion set for 7 days no problem, now 3 is the absolute max, and more often 2.

My dr said one of the early signs is often low bloodsugar but this past week has been the opposite - every 2nd day I've been increasing my basals and I've still been spiking. Planning to do some basal testing tomorrow, since I have the day off and will be working on regularizing my daily routines this week a well.

I'll be calling my dr on Monday to set up an appointment and touch base, and I'm lucky that I really like her - she has realistic expectations and is really good at making sure I don't get too stressed out. I've been seeing her for 10 years so it's nice to work with someone who has my history.

Sorry for the wall of text, but so nice to have a place to chat with others who can relate. I know I'm extremely early and things can change quickly but hoping everything sticks!

 

[JessP]

Congratulations on your pregnancy! Is this your first pregnancy? It sounds like you're trying hard to get your sugars under control which is great.
I use the enlite sensors and found them much easier than other cgms for the reasons you mentioned about site irritation etc. so I hope you manage to give them a go.
Good luck with everything.
Xxx

 

[sleepyheadzzz]

Yes, forgot to mention that - first pregnancy (29 years old)! Glad to hear you've had success with the enlite sensors - gives me some hope. Even if insurance doesn't cover it, I'm hoping we can still afford to get it. Thanks for the encouragement - roller coaster of emotions!

 

[RuthW]

Yes, me, because my son was born thirty years ago and in those days we didn't really have blood sugar meters. There was one available but it was huge, not portable and the strips were expensive and not on prescription so my HB was terrible all the way through. Around about 11, as I remember. My son was born healthy at 7lb 6oz at 37 weeks. The hospital almost killed us both in labour by reducing my blood sugar so much that I was hypo, and he went into the ICU for three days, but I breastfed him anyway. That was made a little more difficult by the fact the gynae (a woman) stuck me with Depo Provera without asking for consent in the moments after the birth ( this was in a major teaching hospital in London in 1985).

The "good" things I did were to eat a very green leafy diet, fish twice a week, an avocado every day, blah, blah, blah. Plus I went swimming every day throughout my pregnancy until eight and a half months - twenty lengths every day. I weighed 57 kilos before the pregnancy and 57 kilos ten days after. 50 kilos after six months breastfeeding - I was stick thin!

He was born fine, was a great and healthy child, except for a period of repeated tonsillitis when he was small and was a very calm and pleasant adolescent, and is now a very pleasant young man.

I was Type 1 for 18 years before I got pregnant. I would say focus as much on healthy eating habits and exercise as in your blood sugars. And DO take the folic acid.