Has anyone got pregnant without a pump?

[Fryertown2012]

Hi,

Im new to this site and looking for advice!

I have had diabetes for over 20 years and my husband and I would now like to start trying for a family. I am going to to the pre-conception clinic at my hospital but the waiting list to get a pump is not quick! I have been going for over 12 months and I am still a long way off.

In those 12 months I have improved my HB1AC and I am doing all the 'right' things but my sugars just wont behave! They will not stay in the ranges they need to to enable me to conceive safely. They jump too high after breakfast and then drop too low 2 hours later. I am following a low carb diet but I still cannot get my sugars to stay within the boundaries no matter what I do with my insulin.

I was wondering if anyone had got pregnant without a pump and if anyone out there had any advice?

Thanks!

 

[Grazer]

Don't mean to treat a serious subject lightly, so forgive me, but I love the heading of this thread. And no, me and my wife did it in the normal way - no pumps involved! :lol:

 

[sugar2]

Don't mean to treat a serious subject lightly, so forgive me, but I love the heading of this thread. And no, me and my wife did it in the normal way - no pumps involved! :lol:

Us too, but I was using MDI at the time. A pump would certianly help though! I got my pump after I had given birth to my 2 kids, as the whole pregnancy thing sems t ohave left me with a greater sensitivity to exercise.

Have you tried tweaking when you do your injections...could it be that you are injecting too close tothe time you eat? Possibly inject a little earlier, and then could the carbs you are eating and the peak of teh insulin action be better aligned? May not help, but thought I would mention it?

 

[the_anticarb]

I got pregnant without a pump, without anything at all apart from my regular medicine as it was unplanned. During my pregnancy I thought about getting a pump but decided it would be too much of a learning curve by the time this became an issue (7 months) so by then just saw it throuh on MDI.

When I say MDI i mean M, MDI. I ended up injecting novorapid any time I ate anything at all which unfortunately lead to MDH - multiple daily hypos. I was also doing small correction doses, but be careful as these can easily lead to hypos. Also you really gotta reduce the basal when you up the boluses, don't just assume as i did that you increase both as your insulin resistance progresses. So I basically just ended up testing, injecting and correcting lows and highs all day long, every day, towards the end. Even in the middle of the night! At my worst i was going through a tub of 50 bayer test strips every 2-3 days! This got me through my pregnancy with a hba1c under 6 and a healthy baby at the end but it was hard work.

Next time around I plan to half-carb(ie not low carb but reduced carbs) and stay off the insulin-hypo roller coaster!

Good luck - it can be done without a pump.

 

[Tracey167]

Hi

All my 3 kids were concieved normally without a pump and they were all healthy, all that is needed is more scans and check ups at the hospital, and obviously regular sugar tests and blood tests. I never went full term with none of them 1st 35 weeks 2nd 37 weeks and 3rd 37 weeks and all delivered by C-Section and they were all healthy weights to theres no problems at all. Let nature take its course.

Tracey167

 

[Fryertown2012]

Thank you for all your responses its good to know there are people out there who have had healthy children the natural way!

When you say MDI - do you mean carb counting and using short and long acting insulin to control your sugars?

Also did you have times when your sugars went over 7.9 - after eating when sometimes you then had to just try and let it drop naturally rather then correcting as you know correcting will send you hypo?

I know from all the research I have done your insulin requirements change in pregnancy....does this happen straight away? The reason I ask is if I finally find a balance and the it changes straight away when pregnant then I think I am educated enough already to start trying.

Sorry for the bombarding of questions but it is nice to speak to real diabetics who have gone through what I want too as it can get very frustrating talking to doctors who just talk numbers because we all know it is not that simple!

x

 

[weeezer]

hi fryertown

i've done it twice with MDI (multiple daily injections) - this usually consists of 2 basals & 3 boluses for me but like anticarb it turned into MULTIPLE multiple haha, because i too was popping insulin in lots - to correct high levels, to cover any snacks that weren't during normal mealtimes etc. i wasn't taught how to balance insulin with carbs, just to inject & eat a meal including starchy carbs & hope for the best! i kinda worked it out but can get it wrong frequently.

my last pregnancy was in 2009 and i was never told to keep sugars under 7.9 1 hour after. if my levels were double figs (actually over 9 i recall) would correct with insulin.

it's most important to be vigilant during the first 6 weeks, so 4 of those you may not even know you are pg...the organs develop early on, and they start to develop before you've even missed a period (so mid-cycle when you ovulate, from that point on you need to be on top of your levels...this was hell for me because we couldn't conceive so every month was 'trying' and 'waiting' in those 2 weeks, then period came so would let myself off the hook then would be v careful after next ovulation etc...)

i would love a pump and intend to enquire about it. my hbA1c was in the 6s before last time, and quickly dropped to 5s but this was aided by a whole lotta hypos. also, you need to take a higher dose of folic acid than non diabetics, before conception (5mg not the 400 something or other in normal folic acid) and this has to be prescribed by a doc - presumably you're on this if you're attending pre-conception clinic? from what i gather, if you become pregnant, the NICE guidelines advise that if you can't obtain good levels on MDI you should be offered a pump. this includes levels that are too low because your hypo awareness can drop significantly ( i had 1 unconscious hypo last pregnancy & 1 where i was unaware, and several near misses after that! not v nice and quite dangerous if you're on your own)

as you can lose hypo awareness in pregnancy, you need to become a frequent frequent tester, you become used to running lower so don't always notice when you're in the 2s!

well i seem to recall the increases in insulin came later, but having just found myself pregnant (v early 6 weeks ish, was a complete shock! thank god last A1c was 6.8 & levels have been relatively good) i am seeing my needs go up quite significantly, at least by a third. this is early but it is what it is! i am testing almost hourly.

good luck! armed with all the info i wouldn't necessarily wait for a pump, if you think you can keep on top with MDIs then go for it! i did it twice and looks like i'm about to do it all again (all being well...it's early days). i'm not sure i'd even take a pump if offered right now, what if i had teething troubles with it...not the best time to be experimenting!

hope this helps not puts you off! in the quest for that baby we can go thru anything! good luck!!!!!

 

[Tracey167]

Hi

Yes i also also went onto MDI when i was pregnant, before i became pregnant i was on two injections a day but as your body changes during pregnancy i had to go onto 4 injections a day. After my 3rd baby i asked if i could return to 2 injections a day they said i could so i went back to two injections a day BUT my sugar levels went mental i had no choice but to return to the 4 injections a day and found even though its a pain at first my sugars were alot easier to control.

tracey167

 

[the_anticarb]

Hi - I did correction doses when my sugars went above 9 or so, unfortunately I would often over correct and then go hypo a while later so it was a bit hit and miss. Looking back, I could probably have got away with just letting my bloods come down by themselves, but the problem was that i developed the psychological mindset that i was harming the baby if it went high, so I'd feel compelled to correct it. This wasn't helped by the fact that every week i would have to ring in my blood tests and be 'told off' (or what felt like it) for any which were out of the very strict range of below 5 before a meal and above 7 after.

Next time i really will try to avoid having too many carbs, problem is in the first trimester i had morning sickness and the only foods which didn't make me feel sick were plain things like bread and crackers, all your starchy carbs, low carb fare like cheese and meat just turned my stomach! So it isn't easy!

Anyway I must have done something right as my boy came out fine, he was actually on the small side (5.5 lbs) which suprised the doctors, so this must have been because i woudlnt' let myself go above 9 all pregnancy.

one word of warning though, if you go hypo a lot you may well lose your hypo awareness. I had a very scary incident on the motorway at 8.5 months pregnant, I dropped from 5.something to 2.something during a twenty minute drive, I didn't even feel hypo but began to feel a little sick and weird whilst driving, so pulled off and found myself in the 2's. I shudder to think how that could have turned out, so please if you do get pregnant and lose your hypo awareness, test before you drive and don't drive unless you have to.

 

[weeezer]

exactly the same as anticarb, have a psychological need to correct higher sugars because i'm not sure if it's damaging baby. then it bounces into hypo later on, but i'd rather cope with that than heart defects etc.

and they expect diabetic's baby's to be larger, my first (harvey, now 9) was induced @38wks, 7lb 1oz. second (daisy, now 2) was growing lovely...all scans 'normal' then all of a sudden at 36wks they said she'd had a huge growth spurt, her tummy was alot bigger and loads of amniotic fluid. they said she had to come out quick and by c-section because there were added risks. they reckoned she was at least 8lb7oz at 36 so thought she could gain another 2lbs per week (!!really???) so made me stay on hosp that night for steroid injections to develop lungs (forgot to tell me this would make my BS shoot up WAY HI like 20's plus... :evil: ) whipped her out just before 37 weeks, she was a tiny weeny 6lb 15oz :roll: all ok in the end.

and yes, watch the hypo's very carefully, this last week my insulin requirements have increased already and i'm not even 7 wks, and i've tested in the 2s a couple of times and haven't realised. saying that have been low for much of the time, and have felt low. but i know that awareness is dropping fast :crazy:

reading what you said about driving anticarb...don't want to not drive...hate giving up stuff i shouldn't have to...but it is a valid point :cry:

 

[the_anticarb]

Funny what you say about how they thought youre babies would be big Weezer, before my caesarian the consultant felt my stomach and said it'd be a big 'un, then when Zac came out he was absolutely tiny, do they just assume all diabetics will have big babies do you think?
I like to think it was due to my paranoia about going above 9 that kept him small, alhtough at 5 and a half pounds he was a little too small.
Its a fine line to tread, between ok and too high, during my pregnancy i was very aware of the fact that I was sharing my blood with my baby, and felt the need to only give him 'good' blood. I'd rather have gone hypo 1000 times over than have one really high reading that could harm him. Looking back, I did get a bit obsessive about it and could probably have loosened my control a little/let the odd high come down on its own.

 

[Fryertown2012]

Thank you for all your replies and kind advice once again.

Apologises for the delay in coming back ive not been able to reply as I have had a friend in hospital so that has taken up my time!!

It is good to hear from what you guys have all done I seem to heading along the right lines... My biggest problem remains the morning as I spike as soon as I eat and then drop again afterwards.

I seem to be doing around 15 - 20 tests a day just to understand what is happening....goodness knows how many I will do if I do get pregnant.

Thanks to you all ive stopped panicing when my sugars go slightly above the required range ive just dealt with it!

Any other advice/thoughts on pregnancy will be always be appreciated! x

 

[Julie1471]

I've had 2 children, both born by c section, one at 36 weeks weighing 6lb 13oz's my other born at 32 weeks weighing 3lb 12ozs, but not due to diabetes due to a heart problem. They are both fine healthy kids I was mdi, but seen by diabetic team and obsteric guy at the same time, the clinics run alonside at my NHS clinic. So it can be done without a pump. Just try your best and keep an eye on the bs.