Type 1 and pregnancy - advice pls!

[jellybean]

Hi there,

first time here, didn't know something like this existed!

I would love to hear from those who have Type 1 and have had babies or are currently pregnant.

i have read all the net info which quite frankly scared me to death. My husband and i want to start a family and i'm petrified of the stats i have read and that my body could cause an unborn child harm. if someone who has actually gone thru it give me some more real life detail to help me have a clearer picture. :nurse:

have an appt with an OB next week to find out what i need to do, any pre tests that should be done etc. Diabetes has never bothered me before, but as a woman, knowing that i may not be capable of successfully doing what all woman should be able to do is scary. :ahhhhh:

I'm interested in all sides and tips you found, if there are generally problems conceiving naturally as well.

thank you, i look forward to chatting.

[am1977]

I don't have children, but I know there are plenty of women on this forum who have them. From what I've heard, their children are healthy and normal.

I think what has to happen first, though, is really taking care of yourself and controlling you blood sugar the best you can. Then once you become pregnant, you have to be even more strict with yourself and maintain strict control. But if you can do that, chances are very, very good that you will have healthy children.

Good luck! :top:

[camjen1]

I have had my experiences with pregnancy and each time was different from the others. One thing that was routine with my pregnancies were the numerous DR visits. I would see a DR 3 times a week for non-stress tests and biophysicals/ultrasounds. I never went the full 40 weeks and the latest I delivered was at 37 weeks and it was planned. I was sick through one pregnancy and maintained my sugars fairly well. Aside from having big babies they really didn't suffer from complications. Although, my first baby suffered traumatic birth injuries and I have a feeling this has to do with not detecting diabetes until he was 1.

[Georgia]

Hi jellybean

My husband and I are in the same boat as you are & I know just how you feel. We really want to start trying for a family asap & are seeing the doctor at the end of this month to discuss the way forward. If you use the search option on the site you'll find previous posts about pregnancy etc which are very interesting to read. I hope your OB appointment next week goes well - let us know!

Welcome to the forum & Good Luck.

Georgia

[ksa01]

Hi Jellybean

I'm currently in my 29th week (early 3rd trimester) of my first pregnancy. Everything has been going really well and the doctors tell me that my pregnancy is progressing like any non-diabetic women's pregnancy--my baby isn't even bigger than to average baby so far. I see the doctor every 4 weeks which is what most women do. They are starting to do ultrasounds at every visit now to measure the size of the baby-most women have an early ultrasound and a detailed ultrasound at 20wks. I also had a fetel echocardiogram done at 20 weeks to check the development of the baby's heart-this is another test that was only done because I'm diabetic.

As the others have said, the most important thing you can do to have a healthy pregnancy and baby is to have good bs control before you start trying to conceive. For 1 year before trying to get pregnant, I worked on tightening my control to achieve consistent A1c at or slightly below 6.0.

Once you are pregnant, keeping you bs in range becomes very important, especially during the first trimester. During the 2nd and 3rd trimesters, high bs doesn't affect the physical development of the baby, but can have a significant impact on the size of the baby. Higher bs makes it more likely to have a bigger baby. Having a big baby increases the liklihood of having to deliver earlier and having a c-section. Anyway, your doctors should explain all of this to you at your appointment.

When you become pregnant, your doctors will most likely have you keep you bs lower than you normally would if you weren't pregnant. For me, my target range is now 60-80 before meals and less than 120 1 hour after eating. To be honest, I haven't had too hard of a time meeting these goals.

I use an insulin pump and had to increase the amount of insulin I take with meals very early in my pregnancy. I test my bs 15-20 times a day and make adjustments in my bolus ratios and basal rates according to the patterns I see. Before being pregnant, I used 15-20 units of insulin per day. Now, I need between 40-45 units per day, but I am also eating more than I used to and have gained 20lbs so far. The only issue that I have started to experience is an increased resistance to insulin in the mornings with breakfast. I used to be able to eat 60g of carbs for breakfast, now if I eat more than 45g my bs is alway over 200 within an hour of eating. If I eat less than 45g and avoid bread for breakfast, I do great.

If you check you can achieve good control before getting pregnant and maintain it during pregnancy, there is no reason why you couldn't have a normal pregnancy and a very healthy baby.

[Cinnabon]

Im a T1 mother of a girl with NO diabetes. I am on a pump now, but back then I was on MDI. Like most have said, the most importanct fact is having great control before, DURING, and after. If you keep this as priority, Your baby will be GREAT!

Keep us posted....... Good luck;)

[jellybean]

thanks for the feedback people. i am glad to hear of the different experiences and am relieved to a degree.

so what are everyone's thoughts on the pump?? better option?

[Cinnabon]

Most definite!!! There are some members that will kill if threatened to have theirs taken away!! LOL:whistling

[palefacegirl03]

I have had two successful pregancies. One before I became diabetic and another after I had been diabetic for 10 years.

My beautiful daughter will turn 5 in Jan. She was born healthy , no problems and I had a pretty easy pregnancy. Lots of doctor visits , test and ultrasounds though. I went to 38 weeks, with a planed, induction. But my water broke that morning before I left the house to go to hospital, so I guess she was ready either way,LOL. She was bigger than they thought though and Dr would have done a c-section if he had known.

It can be done, frequent blood testing (8-10 or more aday), good control.
I did this all, but she was an unplaned pregancy, so I was not in the best control at the time of conception. I already had a son who was 14, I was not planning on more children.

Here is a great site on ,pregnacy and diabetes, http://www.diabeticmommy.com/ , lots of good info there.

[christie]

i am t1 for 22 years,i have 2 kids,my son is 6,my daughter is 2 1/2,it was'nt what i'd call easy to be diabetic and pregnant,you have to really work for a good outcome.around 8 mths along with my daughter i had low fluid so i was on bedrest for awhile. but thankfully everything turned out great. my 2 kids at birth(both c-section) were my son 7'lbs 7 ozs,my daughter was 8'lbs 3ozs.my suggestion is find a dr you like because you will see them alot,and alot of tests towards the end. good luck.