Just have a few questions for type 1 diabetics who are either trying for a baby or have been blessed with children. How difficult was conceiving? And the whole pregnancy?
Pregnancy questions
- Thread starter m786xxx
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I've no experience myself but I would also be interested to hear of others experiences as it is something that plays on your mind as a type 1 young female! X
Providing you get a tighter control on your a1c I see no reason why you shouldn't go on to have a healthy pregnancy
I'm 25 this year and two people I went to school with have type 1 and have both had healthy children and I know they have both struggled with their control so gives us hope!x@dani96xx I also once met a girl at the airport who was a diabetic since age 8 & had two girls, they were healthy but she did go through one tough pregnancy..and yes it’s defiantly hopefull just to hear that others in the same position as us were able to have children. what medications are you on at the moment? x
That is definitely a positive. I am not TTC so am not taking any extra medication other than my insulin which is novorapid and tresiba. My last a1c was 57 however that was in May last year so hoping it has come down slightly more
what medication are you on? XThat is definitely a positive. I am not TTC so am not taking any extra medication other than my insulin which is novorapid and tresiba. My last a1c was 57 however that was in May last year so hoping it has come down slightly morewhat medication are you on? X
57 is really good and I know it will improve further
, I’m also on novorapid/lantus but I also take metformin due to insulin resistance 5 years ago. It does have stomach related side effects( bloating) but made my hb1ca drop from 120 to 73, so I’m not grateful.. did you ever attend carb course by dietician? Or work out? x57 is really good and I know it will improve further, I’m also on novorapid/lantus but I also take metformin due to insulin resistance 5 years ago. It does have stomach related side effects( bloating) but made my hb1ca drop from 120 to 73, so I’m not grateful.. did you ever attend carb course by dietician? Or work out? x
I’m grateful*
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OK, so my kids are 25 and 29 but as I've been T1 since 8 that was two successful T1 pregnancies, both post glucometer but pre cgms. I did tighten my control before both pregnancies and "asked permission" from my clinic, though for my 25 year old I'd decided my control was OK just before the clinic appointment and found out I was pregnant a week after getting permission (Pretty sure conception was before the clinic 
).
Plenty (most?) T1s can have successful pregnancies if they try to keep bgs under control. If you watch your levels (a lot easier with the advent of cgms) then you aren't at much higher risk than a non diabetic (remember a surprising number of non diabetic pregnancies end in miscarriage - there's a reason why people tend not to announce a pregnancy tlll they are 3 months in.)
So
1) conception - not aware of it being any more difficult for T1 women (though some T1 men can get ED). But if you don't watch your levels before and during the conception period you are significantly more likely to have a non viable foetus aka early miscarriage. (Don't blame yourself if this happens, as it is common in non diabetics as well).
2) during the pregnancy, Yes, watching those sugars is difficult, specially if (like me) you start to lose hypo awareness when exhausted and keeping you levels relatively normal. I had friends watching me throughout my second pregnancy in case I got hypo in charge of a toddler. If cgms had been available 20 years ago I probably would have tried for a third child. But they are available now, and you young T1 women can benefit. Please take advantage of modern technology, it really does help.
And to put it in perspective, I'm the T1 daughter of a T1 mother who had 3 pregnancies pre glucometers. The first resulted in a still birth (imagine going under anaesthetic to wake up to be told your baby was born dead with a malformed spine), probably because she conceived very soon after a T1 diagnosis via DKA. My brother and I were both fine, but I had an anxious couple of weeks in intensive care while my parents waited to see if I'd survive. So you can see that in the days before blood sugar testing, pregnancy for T1 women was genuinely risky.
But now, T1 pregnancies are pretty routine. Yes, it's worth making your blood sugars as normal as possible before conception, but you don't have to be perfect. (I certainly wasn't). Good luck to you all.
).Plenty (most?) T1s can have successful pregnancies if they try to keep bgs under control. If you watch your levels (a lot easier with the advent of cgms) then you aren't at much higher risk than a non diabetic (remember a surprising number of non diabetic pregnancies end in miscarriage - there's a reason why people tend not to announce a pregnancy tlll they are 3 months in.)
So
1) conception - not aware of it being any more difficult for T1 women (though some T1 men can get ED). But if you don't watch your levels before and during the conception period you are significantly more likely to have a non viable foetus aka early miscarriage. (Don't blame yourself if this happens, as it is common in non diabetics as well).
2) during the pregnancy, Yes, watching those sugars is difficult, specially if (like me) you start to lose hypo awareness when exhausted and keeping you levels relatively normal. I had friends watching me throughout my second pregnancy in case I got hypo in charge of a toddler. If cgms had been available 20 years ago I probably would have tried for a third child. But they are available now, and you young T1 women can benefit. Please take advantage of modern technology, it really does help.
And to put it in perspective, I'm the T1 daughter of a T1 mother who had 3 pregnancies pre glucometers. The first resulted in a still birth (imagine going under anaesthetic to wake up to be told your baby was born dead with a malformed spine), probably because she conceived very soon after a T1 diagnosis via DKA. My brother and I were both fine, but I had an anxious couple of weeks in intensive care while my parents waited to see if I'd survive. So you can see that in the days before blood sugar testing, pregnancy for T1 women was genuinely risky.
But now, T1 pregnancies are pretty routine. Yes, it's worth making your blood sugars as normal as possible before conception, but you don't have to be perfect. (I certainly wasn't). Good luck to you all.
Wow well done on the drop in your a1c!. I was diagnosed at 17 and had always been naturally slim all my life so never worried about what I ate. When diagnosed my diet wasn't the best but I always counted my carbs so my a1c has always been good. At the beginning of last year my consultant put forward the libre to me and asked if I'd be interested. I said yes, however part of the requirement was to go on a four week stile course(diabetes management course) this course massively educated me and taught me things I never knew so would definitely recommend every diabetic tries a course! I was furloughed for 4.5 months last year so decided to take up cycling and managed to cycle 300 miles in 30 days and raised £400 for Alzheimers Society, I am now a keen skipper and cyclist. I like to exercise for fun however it does have a massive positive on my blood sugar levels and my health in general. Have you been on any courses or work out? X57 is really good and I know it will improve further
That’s amazing
!! Are you back to work now than? I have been off since March & went back twice in between but for a short period... I have never been on a course but I have been educating myself through this forum & researching online, I would like to go for one for sure. It’s through this forum that I figured out about my insulin resistance & asked for metformin. I have also put a request in for libre which should be authorised soon, I think that’s a game changer for sure. They offered pump but I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle that... been a few months that I have started working out 3-4 days a week and fibre intake is better too.. I guess we have the time now to look after ourselves properly.. have you heard anything about the vaccine? xI have 2 grown-up "children" (in their forties). I had no problems conceiving. It was not easy controlling my diabetes (type 1) during the pregnancy. I spent 4 weeks in hospital before the births and had caesareans both times, three weeks before the due date. Both babies were over 4 kg. I'm sure in the meantime treatments have improved anyway so I'm probably not typical. It was a long time ago!!
Thank you! I returned to work in August and have been back full time since then. I worked in the events industry though so have recently started a new job working in HR however for the same companyThat’s amazing!! Are you back to work now than? I have been off since March & went back twice in between but for a short period... I have never been on a course but I have been educating myself through this forum & researching online, I would like to go for one for sure. It’s through this forum that I figured out about my insulin resistance & asked for metformin. I have also put a request in for libre which should be authorised soon, I think that’s a game changer for sure. They offered pump but I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle that... been a few months that I have started working out 3-4 days a week and fibre intake is better too.. I guess we have the time now to look after ourselves properly.. have you heard anything about the vaccine? x
. Are you happy being off work? This forum is definitely educational and real life experience and knowledge. They may be doing online courses through your diabetes team? Crazy how you had to push for the extra medication! Where abouts in the UK are you? I'm in west mids and health care seems pretty good.
The libre is definitely a game changer. I always used to inject after id eaten as I never knew how much I wanted to eat. As I was only testing before my next meal I didn't realise how high my blood sugar was going in between due to the delay in my body processing the insulin. That alone made my a1c go from 67 to 57 in 4months. It is also interesting to see what happens during your sleep!
I like the flexibility of the pens, although I've heard the pump can be good for people who are quite active so may be something id look into but atm I seem to be doing okay.
Well done on the exercise. I agree we definitely have more time to focus on our diabetes. I can't say I have, I got a text from my doctors saying they will be in contact once it becomes available but haven't heard anything. Have you?x
Thank you! I returned to work in August and have been back full time since then. I worked in the events industry though so have recently started a new job working in HR however for the same company. Are you happy being off work?
This forum is definitely educational and real life experience and knowledge. They may be doing online courses through your diabetes team? Crazy how you had to push for the extra medication! Where abouts in the UK are you? I'm in west mids and health care seems pretty good.
The libre is definitely a game changer. I always used to inject after id eaten as I never knew how much I wanted to eat. As I was only testing before my next meal I didn't realise how high my blood sugar was going in between due to the delay in my body processing the insulin. That alone made my a1c go from 67 to 57 in 4months. It is also interesting to see what happens during your sleep!
I like the flexibility of the pens, although I've heard the pump can be good for people who are quite active so may be something id look into but atm I seem to be doing okay.
Well done on the exercise. I agree we definitely have more time to focus on our diabetes. I can't say I have, I got a text from my doctors saying they will be in contact once it becomes available but haven't heard anything. Have you?x
I was working full time until March when things went all over the place, for sure I wasn’t as careful as I am now due to not having much time in the day to focus on health. I do miss work but I’m also happy for this break because it made me change my habits for the better. Staying in doors most of the time motivated me to start working out & checking blood sugars regularly also kind of meal prepping.
I’m from London & to be honest when I was diagnosed the first hospital used to send me appointment letters & I never received them so for good 3-4 years I was just doing my own thing, it scares me that no one bothered looking deep to see why this person had never attended. My health care team at the general practitioner is much more nicer, they contacted me run some tests & changed my diabetes clinic. New clinic is good but there’s still so much I found out myself, metformin & libre. I don’t know if it’s to cut costs or they have so many patients to see within a day.
You are right about the blood sugars going high during sleep, I have been noticing that lately, and waking up to highs. The clinic has decided to give me the slow releasing metformin because the side effects are bad, I’m always bloated.
I have also heard of food being broken down slower than usual can cause high blood sugars. So I’m going to be testing out a few different things and hopefully something will work for the better .
There is a delay in processing the libre but I think they are working on it so it shouldn’t be long for us and I am due for a review with the dietician and will be put on the course too.
Do you feel lethargic? I often feel so lazy & aches/pains in my body.
Also have you heard anything about the vaccine? x
