I am 6 weeks pregnant and could really use some advice/support. Pre-pregnancy A1c was 6.3 (lowest I’ve ever had) and I am on a pump and dexcom. However, I cannot seem to stop this rollercoaster ride, mostly of stubborn highs that won’t budge. I’ve always had some stubborn highs right before my period and the increase in progesterone seems to have made them a million times worse. They stay elevated and wont come down. When they finally do they crash to the 40s and of course swing up again. I am using 2-3 times the amount of insulin I normally do and I still can’t seem to get sugars to stabilize. All day today I have been on and off the treadmill, a serious emotional wreck, crying angry, quite insane.
We haven’t told anyone yet so I am desperate for some support. I can’t imagine doing this for the next 8 months. Please, has anyone experienced this before? What has helped? Why am I not getting those early pregnancy lows that everyone seems to talk about? Nothing I am doing seems to work.
Crazy blood sugars is how I realized I was pregnant. My first pregnancy with my son my sugars were pretty much okay in the beginning. However with this second pregnancy - a girl - my sugars were crazy in the beginning. High during the day 30 and 40 in the middle of the night. I really relied on my Endo for advice. I would recommend decreasing your basal levels and raising your bolus’s. I have a couple different rates for bolus depending on the day/ meal. I need more during breakfast, less at lunch, and even less at dinner. But right now at 36 weeks I’m at 2.0 units of insulin from 7am to 12am and then .975 at night. It’s definitely a crazy ride and I’ve made several adjustments. I think you’ll find once you make an adjustment and you are feeling great 2 weeks go by and you need to change it again.
First of all, congratulation on your pregnancy! This is such an exciting, yet crazy time, isn’t it?! A couple questions:
Do you wear a pump?
Do you have a CGM?
Are you communicating with your endo?
How long do you wait between correction boluses?
I’d say the most important thing right now is good communication with your endo. I email my logs every week and they make adjustments if necessary. I have so many basal rates and bolus ratios, but it works (most days) for me. I still have terrible days and nights when I’m out-of-control high or persistently low, but adjusting every week or two helps. Just take a breath, do your best, and everything will be ok.
I am experiencing early pregnancy highs as well. I am five weeks along, I found out I was pregnant last Thursday and have an appointment with my endo this Friday. I ate over an hour ago, and my blood sugar is at 215. I read that your one hour post prandials aren’t supposed to be higher than 140. I am trying to avoid a panic attack right now. I have all ready had to increase my basal rates by nearly fifty percent and my bolus rates by about 30%.
I have had two other spikes like this. One three weeks ago and one last week. Could this cause problems in my pregnancy? Has any one else experienced this but given birth to a healthy baby?
I am currently 16 weeks with my first pregnancy (so I can’t say I’ve had a healthy baby as of yet), but please try not to freak out at every blood sugar over 140. Personally my mantra is “correct and move on”. Your BGs are never going to be perfect (you do have diabetes, after all!). I know mine are not perfect, but so far every test and exam I’ve had during this pregnancy has had great results–no problems for me or the baby.
Also, my Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist told me something that made me feel a LOT better about this diabetic pregnancy thing at my first appointment. At the time of conception, my A1c was 7.8–not great, but certainly better than I had been doing (I had hoped to be in the 6’s for pregnancy). She said that with diabetic moms the two things they watch for are spine and heart defects in the baby. Any non-diabetic mom has a 2-5% chance of having a baby with such defects. With an A1c of 7.8, she said I was looking at more like a 5-8% chance. She said that’s pretty good, as she often has to counsel patients that their risk is more like 25%.
While I want to do anything I can to keep my baby healthy, that’s hardly much of an increased risk and it’s one I’m willing to live with. At the end of my first trimester my A1c was down to 7.1 (better, but still not in that magical 6 range). I’m not saying to not take things seriously and try your best, but go a little easier on yourselves ladies. A few highs here and there are fine.
