Just found out today and feeling all scared and excited at the same time. I was diagnosed last time at 28 weeks so have had some experience of being type 1 and pregnant but this time it is from day 1.(about 4 weeksish) Called my DSN this morning and by this evening I had a DSN/Midwife call me and organise for me to go in next tuesday for a meeting with the diabetes consultant and the paediatrician. So good response so far. Can anyone who has advice on being type 1 and pregnant post some advice to ease my panics.
pregnant and type 1
- Thread starter willogs
- Start Date
What kinds of things do you want advice on? I have type 1 permanently so not just in pregnancy and am on my second pregnancy. I can help a bit if you want?
Hi there,
I am pregnant and although not type 1 or type 2 (long story) I'm on insulin and struggling. Would be good to exchange experiences. My pregnancy was not planned but i found out early on, as soon as I'd missed my period, (I'm now 7 weeks) and started trying to get really tight control since then. It's difficult though as I have been given extra insulin injections of novorapid to get the tight control and it seems very difficult not to take too much, I've been experiencing a few hypos in my effots to get within the tight range they want of below 6 before meals/ below 7.8 one hour after.
I'm also really worried that as I was not brilliantly well controled at conception that it will affect the baby.
At least I am getting good ante natal care. It's a very worrying time though. They have asked me to change my low carb diet to a more carb based one and i'm finding my blood sugars zigzaging all over the place.
How are you finding it all?
I am pregnant and although not type 1 or type 2 (long story) I'm on insulin and struggling. Would be good to exchange experiences. My pregnancy was not planned but i found out early on, as soon as I'd missed my period, (I'm now 7 weeks) and started trying to get really tight control since then. It's difficult though as I have been given extra insulin injections of novorapid to get the tight control and it seems very difficult not to take too much, I've been experiencing a few hypos in my effots to get within the tight range they want of below 6 before meals/ below 7.8 one hour after.
I'm also really worried that as I was not brilliantly well controled at conception that it will affect the baby.
At least I am getting good ante natal care. It's a very worrying time though. They have asked me to change my low carb diet to a more carb based one and i'm finding my blood sugars zigzaging all over the place.
How are you finding it all?
Don't panic or worry! I think I was spiking around conception, and have been plagued with guilt about this, but now I figure there's nothing I can do except do the best for me NOW (5 weeks in) and hope for the best. Worry only makes things worse, and stress doesn't make for good control, so relax!
just to update u i had my 20 week scan and the baby seems fine, despite high hba1c at conception.
I know there is a link between hba1c at conception and birth defects but I don't think it is as strong as they make out, I read some research where there was no significant difference between the hba1c score and the birth defects/stillbirth rate, so whilst there were some mums with terrible hba1cs with perfectly healthy babies there were also some with hba1cs in the 5s who had problems.
There must be a million factors which affect the baby's health hba1c an important one to be sure but loads of other things can affect it.
My friend;s baby was born with cleft lip and she's not even diabetic or anything
I won't be taking chances with my contraception again after this time though!
I know there is a link between hba1c at conception and birth defects but I don't think it is as strong as they make out, I read some research where there was no significant difference between the hba1c score and the birth defects/stillbirth rate, so whilst there were some mums with terrible hba1cs with perfectly healthy babies there were also some with hba1cs in the 5s who had problems.
There must be a million factors which affect the baby's health hba1c an important one to be sure but loads of other things can affect it.
My friend;s baby was born with cleft lip and she's not even diabetic or anything
I won't be taking chances with my contraception again after this time though!
Hi all. I too have just fond out I am pregnant! It wasn't planned really so I havent had chance to speak to my GP yet but I have an appointment early next week.
I've been reading around "professional" advice online and actually most of it's scaring me more than helping me lol.
SO I'll be reading here avidly and popping up with questions (most of which might sound silly!) from time to time.
I've been reading around "professional" advice online and actually most of it's scaring me more than helping me lol.
SO I'll be reading here avidly and popping up with questions (most of which might sound silly!) from time to time.
hi amelia
be careful u don't drive yourself potty reading about all the scary things that can happen to pregnant diabetics, I did this when I first found out I was pregnant and whilst it's good to be aware I ended up convincing myself I was going to give birth to some sort of mutant, if I even got as far as giving birth at all.
I think diabetes care for pregnant ladies is very good now, it gets a lot harder as you get into the third trimester though, my insulin resistance has gone crazy so I'm now on apx 5 times as much short acting as before and double long acting.
I've been having a lot of hypos but they don't harm the baby, the highs do, so I kind of can live with that I think better too low than too high which although obviously is not ideal I've come to the conclusion that it's impossible to get it spot on, so i err on the side of injecting a bit too much rather than not enough.
Some advice - go and see your GP straight away get them to make an immediate referral to antenatal you should be seen by a specialist within days not weeks of finding out you are expecting.
Do all you can to get your blood sugars down NOW
Test 8 times per day, every day - before and after every meal and before bed. They will tell you to aim for below 6 before meals and below 8 one hour after.
(this worked for me) - inject for your snacks not just your meals unless you are having lowish carb snacks.
learn to correct your post prandial highs (above 10) with a correction dose of bolus
don't overtreat any hypos, if you do you'll need to inject for the excess
Basically you need to learn to become a very good feedback mechanism which requires that you test, and correct, on a pretty much continual basis.
I got my hba1c down from 9.6 when I first realised I was pregnant to 5.6 three months later
baby seems to be fine so far
hope that helps
be careful u don't drive yourself potty reading about all the scary things that can happen to pregnant diabetics, I did this when I first found out I was pregnant and whilst it's good to be aware I ended up convincing myself I was going to give birth to some sort of mutant, if I even got as far as giving birth at all.
I think diabetes care for pregnant ladies is very good now, it gets a lot harder as you get into the third trimester though, my insulin resistance has gone crazy so I'm now on apx 5 times as much short acting as before and double long acting.
I've been having a lot of hypos but they don't harm the baby, the highs do, so I kind of can live with that I think better too low than too high which although obviously is not ideal I've come to the conclusion that it's impossible to get it spot on, so i err on the side of injecting a bit too much rather than not enough.
Some advice - go and see your GP straight away get them to make an immediate referral to antenatal you should be seen by a specialist within days not weeks of finding out you are expecting.
Do all you can to get your blood sugars down NOW
Test 8 times per day, every day - before and after every meal and before bed. They will tell you to aim for below 6 before meals and below 8 one hour after.
(this worked for me) - inject for your snacks not just your meals unless you are having lowish carb snacks.
learn to correct your post prandial highs (above 10) with a correction dose of bolus
don't overtreat any hypos, if you do you'll need to inject for the excess
Basically you need to learn to become a very good feedback mechanism which requires that you test, and correct, on a pretty much continual basis.
I got my hba1c down from 9.6 when I first realised I was pregnant to 5.6 three months later
baby seems to be fine so far
hope that helps
Hi Anticarb!
Thank you so much for that response. It was great!
I've got an appointment on Monday which will hopefully put my mind more at rest too. I know what you mean about reading - I spent about an hour yesterday reading stuff online from "professionals" and by the end of it I became convinced that the apocalypse was about to happen!!
Thanks again. This is really helpful!
Thank you so much for that response. It was great!
I've got an appointment on Monday which will hopefully put my mind more at rest too. I know what you mean about reading - I spent about an hour yesterday reading stuff online from "professionals" and by the end of it I became convinced that the apocalypse was about to happen!!
Thanks again. This is really helpful!
