Pregnant and worried

[Heatherlou18]

I have just found out that I am pregnant. I have had poor control over the last 10 years however currently feel the healthiest I ever have. I exercise daily and eat a healthy whole food diet. Despite this its been a while since I have had my HBA1C checked and my sugars still fluctuate I have days when they are between 5 -8 and other days when they spike to 21 (usually after a large tea and exercise). How do I know if damage has been caused? Does anyone have experience with high sugars at the start of pregnancy and was everything ok? I couldn't deal with the guilt if problems occurred later down the line and it was due to high sugars. BG currently 11 due to stress!

 

[Jaylee]

Hi,

Baby stuff? Best tag @azure

Congratulations on the pregnancy..!

 

[Heatherlou18]

Hi,

Baby stuff? Best tag @azure

Congratulations on the pregnancy..!

Thank you!

 

[Juicyj]

@Heatherlou18 Congratulations !

Firstly have you contacted your DSN to let them know ? To be honest I was diagnosed at 22 weeks so not sure how long i'd been experiencing high BG levels for, they were late in testing me, however I went on to deliver a very healthy 9.6lb girl at 37 weeks.

Try not to stress, take a walk, lots of deep breaths

 

[azure]

Hi @Heatherlou18 and congratulations

Don't panic - there are ladies here who had highs early on and gave birth to healthy babies

First thing to do is take a deep breath and relax, then phone your DSN or local diabetes centre. Many diabetes centres have a 'pregnancy DSN'. I was given the name of mine while I was trying to conceive with instructions to phone them asap after a posti e pregnancy test.

You should then be booked into a diabetic pregnancy clinic and get all the advice and support you need

You'll need a high dose folic acid tablet - this is NOT the same as the ones you can buy in Boots, etc. You can only get it on prescription, so if you're not taking that, mention that to your DSN.

If you're having highs, the simplest thing to do is test lots and correct if you're confident doing so. Also, stick to safe meals - meals where you know your BS tends to be ok.

A diabetic pregnancy is hard work but perfectly do-able

 

[Mrsass]

Hi don't panic, as you say at the end of your post bg currently 11 due to stress, stress is a nightmare for raising bg so try your best to relax.

I had a reading of 22 early one morning a few days before i found out I was pregnant, no idea why it happened, as @azure said if you're confident to correct then do, if not maybe speak to your DSN about corrections. Are you on a pump? I'm being induced with my first baby in a few days and I honestly could not have done it all without my pump, I've had to constantly adjust dosages, carb ratios etc and it would have been much harder for me on injections, but many do it on injections so don't worry as already advised make sure you phone your DSN and they should get you an appointment pretty quickly, if the don't, push for one! Xx


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[Heatherlou18]

Hi all,

Thank you for your posts. I have contacted my DSN to get an appointment just waiting to hear something. I'm not on a pump but doing DAFNE in September. I'm in so many minds right now, I don't know if they are stable enough to grow a baby and would be heartbroken if something went wrong. How do you make this decision?

 

[Mrsass]

Many ladies on here have not had perfect control when they found out they were pregnant and have went on to have a good pregnancy & healthy baby, obviously it's better to have had great control and planned it all but it doesn't always work that way.

Wait and see what your hba1c is this time, you said you currently feel the healthiest you ever have, you may be surprised September is still a few months away, they may move your course forward but in the mean time try doing a bit of research about carb counting to help yourself X


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[Heatherlou18]

Thank you! I have an appointment tomorrow so will see what she says. I'm quite good at carb counting, can get it more or less bang on when I'm careful. It's tricky because I'm not sure me and my boyfriend are ready for this. We are both very young and I am much more settled than he is. I worry that if I make the wrong decision I will regret it

 

[azure]

Thank you! I have an appointment tomorrow so will see what she says. I'm quite good at carb counting, can get it more or less bang on when I'm careful. It's tricky because I'm not sure me and my boyfriend are ready for this. We are both very young and I am much more settled than he is. I worry that if I make the wrong decision I will regret it

Then you need to think very, very carefully {hug} You don't want to have regrets. There are a number of options so keep calm and don't let yourself be rushed or panicked into anything.

Can you speak to someone who can help you talk things through?

 

[Heatherlou18]

I don't know who to speak to. I've talked about it at length with my boyfriend and he is ok with whatever I decide. I want to speak to other people but once I open up I know I will become even more emotionally involved and it may affect my judgement. Also, even though he says he is ok with what I decide, I can't help but feel he would struggle. He still lives at home and relies on his family a lot. I am more independent but if I choose to not have a baby I can't help but feel it would haunt me. I wish this would have been a few years later

 

[Finley02]

Hey sweetie, please don't panic!! When I found out I was pregnant my HB was 8.8! I am now 6 months pregnant and my hb is 6.6! Got my next one this week! As long as you taking control now, there should be no problems xx


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[azure]

I don't know who to speak to. I've talked about it at length with my boyfriend and he is ok with whatever I decide. I want to speak to other people but once I open up I know I will become even more emotionally involved and it may affect my judgement. Also, even though he says he is ok with what I decide, I can't help but feel he would struggle. He still lives at home and relies on his family a lot. I am more independent but if I choose to not have a baby I can't help but feel it would haunt me. I wish this would have been a few years later

The huge emotions and importance of the decision are why it's so hard, and why no one here can give you the answer.

Reading through what you've said there, the thing that leaps out was you saying that if you choose not to have the baby it would "haunt" you....

I'm older than you, but when I was younger I used to really worry about what the 'right' answer was. I didn't trust my own judgement very much so I tended to try to look for answers outside myself because I felt they'd be more likely to be 'the right thing to do' than what I felt and thought. But now I know that's not true.

The answer to what you need to do is in your heart. I mean that genuinely not in any poetic way or anything. Examine your heart and your feelings, imagine how you'd feel if you chose not to have the baby. No one knows what the future will hold, so you can only rely on yourself and your own feelings. Don't ever do something 'for someone else' if it's not what you want.

I hope all of that is ok to say. Decide what's right for YOU.

 

[Heatherlou18]

So I had my A1c tested and its now at 86mmol it was 112mmol last month so I think this is why this has happened. With my control getting better my body was ready for it I guess. I'm still worried with all the risks, how common are cases not going to plan? My sugars are between 5 and 9 the highest they have been is 13 since I found out. I have no idea how much is ok for them to fluctuate. The tighter I try to control it the more hypos I have. Are hypos just as risky? x

 

[azure]

So I had my A1c tested and its now at 86mmol it was 112mmol last month so I think this is why this has happened. With my control getting better my body was ready for it I guess. I'm still worried with all the risks, how common are cases not going to plan? My sugars are between 5 and 9 the highest they have been is 13 since I found out. I have no idea how much is ok for them to fluctuate. The tighter I try to control it the more hypos I have. Are hypos just as risky? x

@Heatherlou18 Well done on that big improvement in your HbA1C Fantastic!

Things not going to plan can happen to any woman, diabetic or not. With diabetes, we do have slightly increased risks but remember most ladies have perfectly normal babies Care has improved enormously in the last decade or two. Your diabetes pregnancy team will give you amazing support and special treatment - extra scans, extra appointments - all to keep you and baby well I really appreciated seeing all the professionals on my team and I felt extremely well cared for.

Yes, tighter control can mean more hypos, but also early pregnancy can cause extra hypos too. Be prepared - test lots and keep hypo treatments near (Lucozade is great). Test during the night too if you're prone to go low then. I often ate a little snack then if I was low.

Your sugars sound like very common pregnancy sugars I had a few 13s in the first weeks. I was told to aim to be 7.8 or less two hours after a meal, but your targets may vary slightly. I didn't always achieve that, especially late on when insulin resistance increases. But I just corrected and moved on

I hope you have yoyr high dose folic acid now? Many ladies are also advised to take a very low dose aspirin too. I did. Your team will tell you if they advise that.

You're doing ok

 

[Heatherlou18]

Hell

@Heatherlou18 Well done on that big improvement in your HbA1C Fantastic!

Things not going to plan can happen to any woman, diabetic or not. With diabetes, we do have slightly increased risks but remember most ladies have perfectly normal babies Care has improved enormously in the last decade or two. Your diabetes pregnancy team will give you amazing support and special treatment - extra scans, extra appointments - all to keep you and baby well I really appreciated seeing all the professionals on my team and I felt extremely well cared for.

Yes, tighter control can mean more hypos, but also early pregnancy can cause extra hypos too. Be prepared - test lots and keep hypo treatments near (Lucozade is great). Test during the night too if you're prone to go low then. I often ate a little snack then if I was low.

Your sugars sound like very common pregnancy sugars I had a few 13s in the first weeks. I was told to aim to be 7.8 or less two hours after a meal, but your targets may vary slightly. I didn't always achieve that, especially late on when insulin resistance increases. But I just corrected and moved on

I hope you have yoyr high dose folic acid now? Many ladies are also advised to take a very low dose aspirin too. I did. Your team will tell you if they advise that.

You're doing ok

Hello yes I am on folic acid. The lows are driving me nuts. 2.1 last night but panicked and woke up at 2am with 18. Woke up this am with a 9 so brought them down ok, but so scared this will continue! I am still unsure on whether it is right for me to proceed with the pregnancy, but I am making sure my body is ok if I do. It goes against everything I believe in to terminate a pregnancy. the guilt I feel because of my sugars in the first 5 weeks is overwhelming. I don't think my partner is ready and I can't do this on my own, but I feel such loss when I think about it going away. Thank you for your advice x

 

[MH2010]

@Heatherlou18

When I found out I was pregnant, my sugars were unbelievanly high and it seemed like mission impossible to get them down.

1st of all, congratulations. On both pregnancy and getting your HbA1C down!!

2nd, I know it is easier said than done but try not to stress too much. As long as you can get your bloods under control then just try to take each day as it comes.

I only did my Lantus injection for quite a few years and didnt really care about it but falling pregnant made me see how important it was to look after myself and I had a healthy little one.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do. X

 

[azure]

I don't know you but I know you're a strong person @Heatherlou18 You must be because you deal with diabetes every single day

Never underestimate your own strength. We are strong {{hug}}

With the hypos. What I did was correct and then test again to see how my BS was going. It's a delicate balance and believe me, you are not the only lady to see swings like that in pregnancy. No woman can have perfect sugars all the time. Hormones can make things harder, and tight control isn't easy. So you're doing well

As for your decision.....all I can say is to try to think about how you'd feel after each possible option. Nobody knows what the future will bring so we can't rely on anybody else but ourselves. Listen to your heart and trust your insincts. Practical things are important but what your heart feels is more important, in my opinion. Also, bear in mind there is support out there - support of all kinds whatever you choose.

Please, please don't feel guilty about your high sugars early on. That wasn't deliberate and see how quickly you've turned things around. You should be proud not guilty. XX