Does a low sugar level damage my baby?

[Katrina Stovold 10]

Ok, so since I AM so strict in controlling my sugar levels for my growing baby

(24 weeks pregnant now)......I do have low sugar readings like every second/third day! I catch these lows straight away and they never get lower than say 3.0! I eat my jelly beans straight away then my sugar reading goes back to normal within 10 minutes but sometimes it takes up to half an hour for my sugars to go back to normal again! Just wondering if this is dangerous for the baby? and if so, how???? I cannot help getting a low reading (hypo) just like I cannot control the highs!! are the occassional hypos (3.0 readings) that bad for bub?I really hope not!! xx Help!

[e||ement 10]

my endo said the lows will not harm the baby. i have them a lot too, in the 2s (usually around 2.4 to 2.7) when i catch them. she said that the baby can easily dump glucose from its liver if they can't extract enough from us.

 

that said, if the low is so bad that we pass out or need medical intervention, then there may be cause for concern, but low blood sugar is unlikely to harm the baby.

 

non-diabetics' blood sugar is typically lower than normal during pregnancy, and they are often in the mid-3s without even realizing

 

it's the highs that can be more harmful.

[Steal 16]

Hey Katrina,

 

I got the same info from my Dr. and in different reports. I have tried so hard to keep my numbers in great control and it has meant a lot more lows. My most recent A1C was 5.5! It has meant that I don't start to feel low until my blood sugar is in the 40s and sometimes 30s. I used to feel low in the 60s, but now that feels quite normal.

 

I have continued to be told that the baby will always get what it needs and the main risk with lows is for the mom. They just want us not to fall or do anything crazy that could harm the baby. I figure, as long as you take care of it quickly, everything is just fine and it is all we can do.

 

Good luck and if you need to write to anyone, I am around.

 

-Steph

13 weeks

5.5! A1C

[Katrina Stovold 10]

Thanks lovely people!! Very helpful indeed. Another thing that tends to happen with me sometimes and this is normal the doc says is that what follows a low is a high, the body has a low and in order to prevent the body from going into a hypo state again our livers pump out sugar to protect it from another low which means I sometimes/always get a high reading a few hours after my low.....and its not because I ate too many jelly beans to bring my sugars up !! So, then to fix the high I end up topping up my insulin but its still not enough to bring it down! scary for me........hate it! I guess its important to prevent the lows from occuring in the first place in order to prevent the highs that usually follow

! Thanks girls. xx