First Timer with Anxiety!

Pregnancy
1

Hi!

I have been a casual reader of this forum for several months.  I was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes on my 18th birthday... I'm 25 now.  I am a planner! I began seeing my family practice doctor (also my diabetes manager...long story) and my OBGYN starting in February, began taking prescribed prenatal vitamins and began planning my attack on having babies! After 1 month of "trying" I am pregnant (about 5 weeks along)!!I  tested yesterday and could not be more thrilled to take the next step in my life with my hubby!

With that being said... I do struggle with anxiety! I am freaking out about managing my diabetes and my pregnancy.... I test my blood sugar often and my blood  My A1C's have typically been around 7.5 to 8.  I am anxious because of the highs I've been experiencing! My insulin seems to be working slowly if at all! I am getting worried about the damage that I am doing to myself and my little peanut.  I would never forgive myself if some birth defect or worse happened to my baby and it was my fault.  I know I probably seem like a drama queen, but I am very scared and need any encouragement you can offer! 

I KNOW I'm not alone! I KNOW that many healthy babies are born to Type 1 mommies everyday, but I'm reading the information online and trying my best to stay calm, but these highs are killing me! 

Any diet suggestions would be helpful as well... What foods seemed to not cause blood sugar spikes?

Thank you for listening! 

SG

2

I also should mention... I am on a Mini Med pump and have been since July of 2005.  I do not know any other diabetics who are pregnant or who have had children.  My younger sister is diabetic as well, but she has no children.

3

With your pump you will be okay.  Just be ready to adjust your basal rate if you have highs at the same time for a couple days in a row.  Stuff that helped me:

Stop stressing.  It inhibits insulin's effectiveness.  No mom is perfect and in pregnancy and motherhood you quickly learn you can't control everything.  Just do your best and it will be okay.  

Read Cheryl Alkon's book "Balancing Pregnancy with Pre-existing Diabetes"

Take the time to carb count.  Get the Calorie King book or app.

Eat the same breakfast every day.  It will help you identify when your insulin resistance is increasing.  Most moms with diabetes don't have insulin resistance until the 3rd trimester.  

Work with your doctor to set a safe target blood sugar.  I wanted my body to be like a non-diabetic's and aimed for a target sugar of 80.  That meant I had to test all the time to make sure I didn't have lows because they can be more harmful to a fetus than highs.  

Bolus a couple minutes before eating so insulin hits your blood stream when the food does.  I also would bolus, eat, test and hour later, and use the Bolus Wizard on the pump to see if a correction was needed.

Get lots of sleep the first trimester.  Even though you look the same or just feel a little bloated, your body is doing amazing things preparing for your baby.

Once you start feeling better try to find an expectant mom's exercise class, usually offered through hospitals.  It will help you feel good and meet other moms-to-be.  

You conceived quickly which means your body is healthy.  You're using a pump and basically know what to do.  Just try to enjoy this very special time in your life.  A year from now you'll be encouraging other moms with diabetes and posting pictures of your beautiful baby.     Take care. -Jenna

4

SG,

I know exactly how you feel because I am just like you. A planner. But, not everything during pregnancy goes as planned. Take it one day at a time.

I am currently going into my 31st week of my first pregnancy and in the beginning like you I was stressing out about any highs I was having. I actually had an a1c of 8.9 at the time of conception. Not the recommended 6.5 or lower!!

What I can tell you is that you should check more often it helped me tremendously. I check every two hours and correct anything higher than 120. Especially after eating.

Now, I would say you probably should ask your doctor about adjusting your insulin doses. Probably because you are stressing out like crazy you are getting stubborn highs. Just as if you weren't pregnant. Many people that I know who were pregnant with D, told me they had a lot of lows in the first trimester but for me that was not the case. I had some lows but, nothing like what they said. I ran in the 100's most of the time and my first three month a1c was 6.1. Not too shabby from an 8.9.

I also had a bad couple of months with morning sickness. It started in the 8th week and went until about week 19. The put me on something called Zofran which was like a miracle drug for me.

Once I was able to hold food and water down. I just kept to eating the same kind of things based on what my nutritionist told me to eat as well.

Breakfast: Whole wheat toast with peanut butter 36 carbs

Lunch: Salad with chickpeas, carrots, cucumbers, chicken or some other kind of salad type items. low fat dressing 45 carbs

Chicken salad on whole wheat 36 carbs

Soup 24 carbs

Rice cakes for snack

Dinner: Chicken or meat, veggies, counted rice 45 carbs or some kind of starch that would add up to 45 carbs

Snack: popcorn, snack mix type thing, low fat string cheese 15-30 carbs

I also buy ensure drinks when I am on the go, the ones I get are either 40 or 50 carbs. Strawberry and Vanilla flavor and they give you added nutrients.

I just try to stick to low fat, and a similar type of diet and my a1c's have been in the low to mid 6's the entire time.

I would definitely suggest going to a dietician or nutritionist they can help you with foods that won't spike your blood sugars. Because I write it all down, I know which foods that don't spike me so I just stay away from them. Keep a food log it definitely helps you and your diabetes team to see patterns. But, if you are noticing foods that are tending to spike your blood sugar at the two hour mark those are the foods I would stay away from.

It's all trial and error. If you see a high try not to freak out (I know that is really hard to do), just correct it and move on. It really is all you can do at this point. The more stressed out you get, the worse it is. No good for you or baby!

Also, try to exercise if your doctor gives you the thumbs up. Light walking or there are some pregnancy dvds you can purchase also. It will help you with your blood sugars as well as keep you calm too!

STAY CALM, listen to some music, take a walk! It helps!!

If you need anything you can email me anytime at gina@juvenation.org

5

THANK YOU! You guys are so great and encouraging! I called my OBGYN yesterday afternoon and the nurse I spoke with was very helpful! She was so encouraging and reminded me that clearly I'm healthy (FERTILE) and manage pretty well or I would have never gotten pregnant.  She told me to just take care of my self as I normally would, and I would be fine.  

The bad part is that I have recently relocated and have to find a new OBGYN here... luckily I live in the suburbs of a city with a major medical university that will put me in more than capable hands!  I am hesitant to tell people about being pregnant because it's so early, but I feel that some people need to know, like my mommy (but not my dad... he's what some would call "the mouth of the South").  I am a little less anxious today.

Jenna--Thank you for your encouragement! I will definitely check out that book!

Gina--Thank you for the nutrition advice! That is going to be VERY helpful!  

6

I was also diagnosed at 18. I had my daughter when I was 20. That was last October so she is now almost 1 yr old! I remember being in the exact same situation as you. I was so excited about pregnancy, but also nervous. My A1c was a 6.7 when I got pregnant and I worked it down to a 6.5 I had minor complications through out the pregnancy but overall I was very fortunate and I now have a healthy, beautiful little girl. I have my hands full with her now, but I still plan on having another one down the road. It was an exciting and scary time of my life, but definitely worth it. She is the best thing that ever happened to me. Try not to stress (although I know that's hard!). Just be positive and enjoy this experience. Check your blood often and eat healthy. As long as you take care of yourself there is no reason you can't have an ordinary pregnancy just like a non-diabetic. I also had several highs in the early stages of pregnancy. The lows did not hit me until the very beginning of my 2nd trimester. And then of course you will experience insulin resistance in the 3rd trimester. It's a little difficult, but you just gotta deal with it. Healthy mom, healthy baby! :) If you want to email me you can at Rachel.Emily25@yahoo.com

7

SG,

8

I can't speak much to diabetic pregnancy, but my sugars spike like crazy and have random patterns EVERY MONTH due to hormone fluctuation with my cycle. So, I wanted to share some things that have helped me flatten out sugars tremendously:

1) the book mentioned above to help carb count is awesome

2) when it's safe (ie, NOT DRIVING), I bolus way ahead 20-30 minutes and it prevents an after meal spike. PLEASE NOTE ... you should start in smaller increments, like 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, etc. until you find what works for you

3) I avoid fat and carbs together (like fries). They spike my sugar NO MATTER WHAT I do.

4) plenty of water

5) munch on protein with some fat frequently (cheese, nuts, peanut butter, meat, etc)

6) with the unexplained and unexpected spikes that hit randomly, I will try to use the temp. basal feature on my pump for a test drive first. (For example, try 120% first. Still high? Try 130%, etc until I get it right. Then, I can go in and actually adjust the basal for good.

Of course, check with your doctor before doing anything you're unsure of.

(Also, my endo said that all diabetics are different, so don't be shocked if you start experiencing insulin resistance early on.)

Congratulations! Don't worry! And good luck! :)