Early Pregnancy type1

welcome here JSmith1986

first of all congratulations , I am not type 1 so I can´t answer your worries..
if you were type 2 I would think it was the liver spitting a bit more glucose out due to hormons..

by the way most are on Holidays right now, usually there are lot more people to answer your questions... so be patient please...

JSmith1986 said:

Hi, wondering if anyone can help or has had any similar experiences?

I am 5 weeks pregnant today and I am a type 1 diabetic, diagnosed 12 years ago. I suffered a missed miscarriage about 5 months ago at 9 weeks after trying to concieve for 18 months. At the time my hba1c was 48. Since then I have been meticulous with my blood sugars and my last hba1c reading, taken in November, was 28. Since I became aware of being pregnant just over a week ago I've upped my sugar testing to as much as ten times a day. However, I've had several days over Christmas where my blood sugars have been less than 6 1 hr and 2 hrs after eating my evening meal, but by 3 hrs they have gone up as high as 9, despite me not eating anything.

I'm soooo stressed out, firstly because I'm not sure why this is happening and because it could have happened more times than I've noticed when ive assumed my bloods will stop going up 2 hrs after I've eaten and haven't checked again before bed. More importantly, I'm extremelyworried about the impact this is having on the baby - both the high sugars and the spikes. My head is preparing me to expect a miscarriage again as a result of dodgy blood sugar.

My doctor just says I'm doing all I can and what will be will be....

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but a little too high blood glucose and a little too low blood glucose is not the reason to a miscarrige , I´m rather sure of that, when I was pregnant I lived from pure glucose and saltwater into my veins the 6-7 last month of my pregnancy, as I did wommit all my food up all the time and even did wommit when I didn´t eat either.... and my daughter came out totally normal even with no nutrition and healthy foods in almost all my pregnancy.... I think you should relax your worries, and of cause do your best to control your blood glucose even though it can be difficult.. the best is all you can do..

2 hours isn't a straight line cut off point when food can stop raising your blood sugar, some food takes longer for to be digested, for glucose to be broken down and released to have an effect on blood sugar, for gluconogenesis to take place on protein turning that into glucose impacting on blood sugar.

If you were eating something particularly high in fat or high in protein , that can have a delayed rise and you might need to look at splitting your meal time bolus to combat the delayed rise - so you'd take a second shot as you notice the rise happening. You can figure out when the rise is happening by continuing to test at 20 minute intervals after your two hour test. Or you could invest in a libre to get full coverage of what your blood sugar is doing. If your under care of the hospital diabetic team (you should be) they might be able to help with a continuous glucose monitor, pregnant ladies are a bit more likely to get NHS funding for them.

It really does sound like your doing all you can. Try to take a breath and be proud of yourself for that, stress can raise blood sugar too.

Nice says that pregnant diabetic women should test 1 hr after eating and be under 7.8 and 2 hours after be under 6.4. https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng3/ifp/chapter/your-blood-glucose-levels-during-pregnancy

They are super tight targets and the 7.8 at 1 hour post prandial will incorporate an immediate spike a bit higher that that. If you are raising to 9 and coming straight back down again don't get too het up that this means youre doing any damage to bump, youre just a tiny bit outside target and you can do things to tackle that with splitting bolus, or just correction doses. Be cautious about hypos tho, all the hormones in the first trimester make you more vulnerable to hypos.

I'm sorry to hear about your previous pregnancy, but with a hba1c of 48 there's nothing to suggest the loss with anything to do with blood sugar or diabetes. It could just have been one of those things. And a hba1c of 28 now is amazing and putting you in a great postition to manage for this pregnancy.

Congratulations X

@JSmith1986 I had some high sugars in very early pregnancy, and other ladies here have too. My son is fine

Your HbA1C is excellent. Don't let these few highs stress you out. I know the feeling of panic and fear, but keeping calm is important too, so correct any highs and try to relax. Your control is very good

I had to increase my basal in early pregnancy (then drop it). You could ask your DSN if you feel you need this.

I tested around 12 times a day. If you've identified a time you're prone to going high, test lots and be ready to correct if necessary. Pregnancy is a time of many corrections and frequent testing. Be careful as you're coming up to the time hypis often start, so even if you need slightly more insulin now, that might change very quickly.

{{hug}} I understand your stress - but there's no reason why you should have another miscarriage. You're doing really well. Keep your nerve, keep calm, and keep going. X

@JSmith1986 I went through IVF start of last year and became pregnant after our first cycle. Unfortunately I had a missed miscarriage slightly earlier than you but I had to have medical management as well and was absolutely devastated. My sugars were totally fine and I can assure you that some high and some low sugars don't cause miscarriages.
Your hba1c is perfect!!! Just carry on testing and correct if needed, that's all you can do and try and relax a bit. I got pregnant (via IVF) again in November last year and had a little boy in August. He was and still is 100% healthy even though I had some higher and some lower sugars during pregnancy. My last pregnancy hba1c was 6.2 in old money.
I am sure you will be totally fine and your baby too! Christmas is a tricky time for blood sugars anyway but you're doing so well! xx

JSmith1986 said:

Thank you so much everyone for your replies, I appreciate it and it has really helped calm my nerves. I have a scan in 2 weeks, I'll let you know how it goes. Keep your fingers crossed for me ☺

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yes we´ll keep our fingers crossed... <3

Great news @JSmith1986

Keeping my fingers crossed for you too. You're doing everything right.