It's been great to follow this forum as an observer for the last year. It really helped me as I considered pregnancy, and now I'm 6 weeks pregnant and need your help!
First, overnight highs: The last couple nights I've woken up in the 200's, and I can find no reason for it. I'd correct, and test again in half an hour and I'd still be high. I made some dramatic changes to my overnight basal rates, and last night that seemed to help, but is this normal? It's hard not to stress out when you see high readings, when you're working so hard to have tight control!
Second, breakfast has become challenging too - my normal breakfast of vanilla yogurt is shooting me high, so I'm considering an alternative. What breakfast foods have you found to be healthy, helpful and predicable?
Finally, what snacks have you found to be helpful that didn't skyrocket your blood sugars?
I had read that in the first trimester, often you experience more low blood sugars, so it's been strange to me to have the opposite problem. I know we're all different, but it's hard not being concerned. I'm getting an ultrasound in a couple days to hear baby's heartbeat which is exciting, but it's hard not being anxious about it. Positive thoughts appreciated!
First off, congrats on your pregnancy! Around week 8-16 I had a lot of lows, especially over night, so you may have that yet to come! As for breakfast, I've tried to mix things up a little bit, but unfortunately the only thing that works for me is a Thomas bagel thin with a table spoon of peanut butter and 2 tsp of low sugar preserve (Smuckers makes it, and the strawberry tastes pretty good). This will keep my morning numbers below 130. Scrambled or hard boiled eggs work for me too, but i don't always have time to make that before work. For snacks, I like Greek yogurt or cottage cheese with almonds and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Honestly, my diet is pretty boring! Luckily i haven't had too many bad cravings. Eating the same foods EVERY DAY gets boring fast, but when I find something that works I'd rather just keeping instead of trying out new foods! Hope this was helpful :)
Jessica gave good advice. Don't stress about your insulin changes. It's just a part of type 1 pregnancy that you will constantly be making adjustments.
My dietician recommended I eat the same breakfast every morning during my pregnancy. I chose an english muffin with peanut butter. Like Jessica said, it got a little old towards the end but it was priceless to identify quickly the days when I was starting to have insulin resistance so I could adjust my dose. Pick something you can live with. You may need to avoid yogurt and cereal, since they're kind of notorious for raising blood sugar in the morning when you have insulin resistance.
Just once at the very beginning. She basically said my diet was okay and had good variety. They also put me on a machine for a couple days that was basically a more accurate CGM to assess my basal rates.
You've probably seen my other posts with this advice, but what helped me have tight control during pregnancy is that I'd test an hour after eating and use the pump bolus wizard to take a correction dose if needed.
I also aimed for a target blood sugar of 80, since I wanted my baby to have as close to a non-diabetic environment as I could create. ONLY DO THIS WITH YOUR DOCTORS PERMISSION AND IF YOU CAN DO SO WITH NO LOWS BELOW 65. Low blood sugar can affect a baby's neurological development.
No pregnancy is perfect. I had a few highs and lows during mine. But overall everything was fine and both my son and I were healthy. I think the most important factor in having a healthy baby is for the mom to be happy and stress-free and to enjoy this awesome time. Before you know it you will be meeting your new son or daughter.
I've actually been meeting with my nutritionist and diabetic nurse about twice a month since around week 14. We go over my diet and the foods that I'm eating. This could however be b/c I was a fairly new diagnosis before becoming pregnant (this month made a yr since I was diagnosed type 1). I was told by them that lows don't affect the baby, they just affect me, making me more susceptible to fainting or falling and hurting myself, and that being the only consequent time the baby would be in danger because of them. Since I had a lot of lows at the end of my 1st trimester and the beginning of the 2nd, was really worried that they would harm the baby! It's a constant worry, the whole numbers game. I remember in the beginning of the pregnancy I had a lot of highs too. But after I had my level II sonogram at 20 weeks and was told that baby looks great, and got my test screenings back for downs syndrome and trisomy, I've been a lot more calmer during this pregnancy! I think the best thing you can do for yourself and baby is just take things one day at a time, and treat a high or a low with a correction, and move on.
Im so glad you posted this! I’m also 6 weeks and have my first appointment today. I saw a dietician but didn’t find it very helpful. Every woman is so different and I’m still doing trial and error to figure what works and what doesn’t make me sick at just the thought of eating it! Please keep in touch. I’d love to hear about your progress and what you are learning. Thank you to everyone for sharing their experiences! It’s so helpful to know we’re not alone in this. Stephanie
Hi Stephanie, nice to meet someone else at 6 weeks! Let me know how your first appointment goes and keep me posted too on your progress.
I will say that my favorite snacks right now are lightly salted nuts, small oatmeal packets (I usually go on a 5-10 minute walk immediately after eating this one), vegetable juice, wheat saltines, prunes and Kashi's honey almond flax chewy granola bars). Do you have a favorite snack yet? What are you eating for breakfast?
Ive been having some nausea throughout the day so eating has net been easy this past week. All the healthy non-processed foods I used to eat don’t sound good anymore. If I can make an eat eggs without feeling yucky I make an omlette with kale, spinach, onions, tomatoes and avocados. If not, then I eat Bear Naked Fit oats with Almond Milk. For snack I’ve only found that apples and almond butter, or whole wheat saltines taste good. A friend of mine made me some chicken tortilla soup that has been perfect for lunch or dinner!
We were able to measure the baby yesterday and hear the heartbeat. It was very emotional for me because I felt such relief that everything was normal. My A1c went down also from 6.7 at conception to 6.2. My goal for the next test is to get in the 5s. It’s a lot of work but we all know our bodies so well that I’m confident we can do it!
I was in the mid to high 6's my entire pregnancy last year. I think striving for 5 is extreme but, if you feel you want to try... go for it! But, don't beat yourself up if you can't achieve that number!!
Thanks, Gina! That is really helpful! I have been really hard on myself because everything to be as normal as possible. Even though the doctors and nurses say how good I’m doing, I feel I can do better. I’m going to aim for the 5s but not stress out if it doesn’t happen. One day at a time!!!
Lows will happen occasionally to any mom with diabetes, but they should still be prevented as much as possible.
There are animal studies that show brain development is affected when the mom's blood sugar is made hypoglycemic. Human mom's with hypoglycemia are also more likely to develop preeclampsia.
Just like when blood sugar is high a fetus is impacted, when blood sugar is low a fetus is impacted too. I don't think you should stress about every low blood sugar you've had in your pregnancy, but a dietician isn't correct in telling you that a low blood sugar doesn't affect your baby.
