Newly pregnant, with Type one, Am I doing this right?

[Kor33va]

Hi guys, I'm really new to this website and happened upon it searching for good information about being pregnant with type one diabetes.

I'm 4 to 6 weeks pregnant with my husband and I's first child. I've never been pregnant before, so this is a new feeling for me. I've noticed that my blood sugars like to go a little high at night, but I'm checking about 14 times a day, recording every one of them along with how much novolog I'm taking and how many carbs I'm eating throughout the day. I'm trying to eat better foods for me and the jelly bean (as my husband calls it), but some things just don't sound good in the least. All I want to eat is chicken and veggis- is this normal?

I go in for my nurse OB on march 1st, and again on the 19th to hear the heartbeat. I'm just wanting to know if there is anybody else out there newly pregnant that has weird food cravings and gets morning sickness the whole day? My friend told me I'm not far along enough to be getting morning sickness or strange food cravings so I'm trying to figure out if I'm just weird, or if my body just wants to do all of these things on it's own. I'm also worried about the chances of my little baby being born with diabetes. The father isn't diabetic, though his father and uncle are both type 2. My mother, younger sister and I are all type one- the only ones in our entire genetic family.

I feel like I'm rambling on and on about this, but I really have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing. I've been diabetic since I was 14 (originally dx'd as type 2, two years later they dx'd me as type 1) and I'm two months away from my 21st birthday. I've been using a minimed insulin pump for the past 4 years, and it seems to work great for me. My last A1c was 6.3, which I'm pretty happy about.

Well, I think thats it, I'll probably keep this updated along with the jelly beans progress. I'm open to having any suggestions you guys know Thank you!

[Steal]

For me, I felt sick my entire first trimester, but never threw up. I never developed weird cravings, but certainly had foods that sounded better than others. Some people are more sensitive than others and I would say that what you seem to want to eat doesn't sound like it would be bad for you or your little jelly bean. Typically we follow the same pattern as our mothers. My mom felt sick all of her first trimester with me and both of us felt totally fine the minute we were in the second trimester. I just didn't want food and lost weight during that trimester, but was so happy to have an appetite again when I was 12 weeks.

There isn't much to do at this point, other than keep your blood sugars in tight control. I started in a similar place to you and then got in even tighter control- bringing my A1C down to 5.3-5.5. I found this felt really good and made me feel like I was doing everything possible to help my little one. I am on the same insulin pump and that helped so, so much. Just be prepared to see some major hormone surges that affect your insulin. There are more and more changes as you move along in the pregnancy. I guess I would say enjoy this time when you aren't having to take as much insulin and rest as much as you can. Make sure you are taking prenatals.

Good luck with your little jelly bean. My girls are 18 months and 5 months and it is so wonderful. Hope your first appointment goes well.

[Kor33va]

Thank you so much for your imput! My mom never had morning sickness in her last two pregnancys, but while pregnant with me ( second of four children) she'd wake up in the middle of the night only to throw up and fall back asleep. This has yet to happen to me, as i only feel sick during the daytime.
My blood sugars have been creeping up slowly, so i've been adjusting my basal and sensitivity rates almost daily. i'm going high more often than low, as i've had two lows and three highs in the past four days. working on getting better control over this as i don't want jelly bean to be harmed.

My mom said that with me i was a hyper-sensitive baby and pregnancy. This might be the case with jelly bean.

[lilym]

Steph, how did you get your A1c to 5.3-5.5 range without having so many lows? I am trying to lower my A1c but I'm having so many lows as a result. With my first pregnancy I was in the 5s but was low all the time and was always eating to treat the low so I gained so much weight.

[Steal]

Steph, how did you get your A1c to 5.3-5.5 range without having so many lows? I am trying to lower my A1c but I'm having so many lows as a result. With my first pregnancy I was in the 5s but was low all the time and was always eating to treat the low so I gained so much weight.

Lilym,

The biggest thing I had to learn was patience. I had to learn to give insulin and wait and not eat when I was at all out of range. So for me, I was super strict, I wouldn't eat if I was 130-140. I would give insulin and wait until I was 70-80 and then eat. This helped a lot. I also tested during and after a meal and quickly could see how my body was reacting to the food. I didn't intend to lower my A1C, but was so worried about my little buns in the oven, that it just happened. With my first pregnancy, I had more lows and actually had my A1C down to 5.1, but learned to let myself stay in the 80 range more than 60-70 range, like my first pregnancy. I would also just eat a little at a time and give insulin and wait to see the reaction. I never thought I would have an A1C in the 5's, but I know that testing post eating and in the night helped to get me there and helped me to prevent more lows. They will happen when you are on the border, but I had to learn that I didn't need much to bring me up while pregnant and not overreact.

I gained 29 pounds with my first pregnancy and closer to 40 with my second. The second time around, my body just grew and fast. My children are 13 months apart, so I was pregnant when my first daughter was 4 months and the body had just moved back and then, BAM! My second is now close to 6 months old and I have lost all the weight from her pregnancy and have 5 pounds left to get to where I was before my first one was born.

Good luck with everything and I am happy to help if I can.