Just found out, and scared!!

[lilyrose24]

Hi Ladies!
I have been a T1 for almost 16 years now, and yesterday morning I found out I was pregnant. I was immediately excited, and then scared right after! My last 2 A1c's, which were from a home test were 7.8 and 7.7....so I'm a little scared! I am so worried about what this is going to do to my baby. I know that's not EXTREMELY high, but it's high enough for me to worry. I took another home test today and it said 7.8. I was freaking out. I am confused because I am a freak when it comes to testing my sugars. I test every 1-2 hours, when I feel crappy, etc. I rarely see numbers over 150....so I have no clue how my A1c is that high! Maybe my numbers during the night are running high and I'm not aware of it? Not sure. Anyway, my question is....what type of doctors did you see during your pregnancy? Would you recommend a high risk OBGYN? Also, I'm still really worried about my A1c....all I can do is try to make it better from here on out! Any advice would be very helpful! Thanks everyone!!

Oh, and I'm on an insulin pump....which I'm hoping will help a lot throughout my pregnancy!

[Kathryn10]

Congratulations on your pregnancy! My blood sugars were similar when I found out I was pregnant with my daughter. I decided to go to a high risk clinic because I wanted someone to help me get my blood sugars under control. I'm so glad I went with that clinic because I went in for checkups more often and had extra ultrasounds! Also, my a1c was in the mid 5's throughout my pregnancy because I had so much help. Talk to your gyno to see what he/she recommends.

[Steal]

Congratulations and I hope all goes well.

The best things that helped me lower my A1C:

1. Wait until my blood sugar is 70-80 before eating.
2. Test throughout the night to get accurate basal rate set.
3. Do some basal testing for particular times in the day.
4. For me, I avoided foods that cause me issues. Some people just overbolus for them, but I decided that waiting and treating myself to them after pregnancy was a reward. For me, these included: pasta, rice, peanut butter (it just prolongs stuff too much for me), and anything too starchy.
5. Adjust your thinking to what you consider high. This helped me A LOT! For me, I tried to just keep my blood sugars around 80 as my normal. 130 would be out of range and I would correct for it.
6. Try to stay calm. You will have your moments where sugars go up for no reason, it is probably hormonal, but if you are testing often, you will correct for it.
7. Test 30 minutes after food to see the trend. For me, I know if my blood sugar starts to move too quickly, that I didn't give enough.
8. Remember that getting yourself to an ideal range will be what is best for you and your little one.

I was diagnosed at the age of 6 and my A1Cs were the best in my life, while I was pregnant. It is a wonderful motivation and you can do it.

I hope this helps.

[LanaC]

Hi everyone:
I just joined the forum because I am very scared too! I found out two weeks ago that I am pregnant. I have been type 1 diabetic for 25 years, have 1 gr protein leakage, had total laser on both of my eyes and poor eyesight on one, hypertension etc..But my main worry is that my diabetes was not controlled at all for the first 9 weeks! I had a cupper IUD in place when I got pregnant! I am married and have a 4 year old healthy and happy child. My husband really wants another baby and his religion is prohibiting abortions. I am not a religious person but it would be impossibly hard for me to interrupt this pregnancy. I really want this baby despite the fact that it was not planned but are not prepared to care for a child with significant birth defects.
My nephrologist is saying that my kidney function will go down during this pregnancy as it did during the first pregnancy for sure.
Lirosie24, please forgive me . My situation is very different from yours in terms of the numbers and control. So the replies to this post might be very different than to yours.

[lilyrose24]

Thanks for the replies! Kathryn10 congrats on getting your A1c in the 5's! That is awesome! I hope I can be that successful too! And Steal, that is great advice, thank you! I took your advice and I did not treat any lows unless they were in the mid to low 70s. While I did feel symptoms of low blood sugar (which are very annoying), I didn't treat them and my sugar stayed pretty stable. The past few days my sugars have been so much better! I already stay away from high carb foods, and I have for a long time. I haven't eaten pasta, potatoes, rice, bread, etc for almost a year now. It has made a huge difference. I'm used to not eating them now, but I still miss them sometimes! I have my first appointment with the OB/GYN tomorrow to confirm my pregnancy, so I'm trying to stay calm! Thanks again for the advice

[MegsieWegsie]

Congratulations and I hope all goes well.

The best things that helped me lower my A1C:

1. Wait until my blood sugar is 70-80 before eating.
2. Test throughout the night to get accurate basal rate set.
3. Do some basal testing for particular times in the day.
4. For me, I avoided foods that cause me issues. Some people just overbolus for them, but I decided that waiting and treating myself to them after pregnancy was a reward. For me, these included: pasta, rice, peanut butter (it just prolongs stuff too much for me), and anything too starchy.
5. Adjust your thinking to what you consider high. This helped me A LOT! For me, I tried to just keep my blood sugars around 80 as my normal. 130 would be out of range and I would correct for it.
6. Try to stay calm. You will have your moments where sugars go up for no reason, it is probably hormonal, but if you are testing often, you will correct for it.
7. Test 30 minutes after food to see the trend. For me, I know if my blood sugar starts to move too quickly, that I didn't give enough.
8. Remember that getting yourself to an ideal range will be what is best for you and your little one.

I was diagnosed at the age of 6 and my A1Cs were the best in my life, while I was pregnant. It is a wonderful motivation and you can do it.

I hope this helps.

Steph, I have been reading your posts and I think that you are wise beyond your years! Just curious about what you considered to be too high of a blood sugar 30 mins after a meal. (This sounds like a great means of control versus waiting an hour or two to correct for a miscalculation.)

[Steal]

Thank you, you are so kind.

I tried to keep it to under 130. When I am not pregnant, maybe 140, but I really tried to keep it tight and if it was 120, I have the best chance of keeping it there and bringing it back down for my 2 hour post food. I really helped me to eat foods that don't make me spike so much and don't keep my sugars from coming back down.

Let me know if there is anything else I can help with.

My daughters just turned 2 and 1 and I can't believe they are growing up so fast.

[jenann1968]

hello, and congrats! now DON'T FREAK OUT! it will be okay...i hate to say this, because i'm sure i'll get some angry replies, but, here goes...when i got pregnant with my daughter (now 20), i had the worst b.g. EVER!! my aic were running 10 constantly...couldn't wear a pump, had no resources, etc., etc. thankfully, i was able to go to a high-risk unit at the local children's hospital (well, their affiliate) on a special program...they fixed my sugars initially, and i had a good pregnancy, and even though i gained alot of weight, she was born totally fine...i still to this day say that SHE took over for my pancreas while i was pregnant, because as soon as she was here, right back to the ridiculous highs again...now, she did have like 3 days of glucose i.v. for low blood sugars herself, but i've heard from a bunch of people that's par for the course. also, i found out while pregnant that it is totally possible for some people to go as low as 39 (yes 39) and not pass out from lows...my drs were not happy unless my post meal sugars were under 125 and it took like 6 to 8 shots a day to keep it that far down...now, i know that doesn't sound that positive, but the results were...oh, yeah, and going the high-risk route does get all kinds of extra tests to put your mind at ease...so, happy baby, and again, don't freak out, it'll be okay