My husband and I are planning on trying for a baby later this year and are very nervous considering I have had type 1 diabetes since age 6 and did not take very good care of myself for 10+ years. I am doing tons better, with proper coaching from my hubby. My A1C has always been sky high and as of february it was a 9.7. I am working hard to lower it to 7 or lower per my endo's instructions. He said I am okay to have a baby but I'm still worried that my earlier actions will affect me or baby during pregnancy or even affect the ability to get pregnant. Any one been in the same position? Have any advice?
I have been T1 since I was 5. I took us along time to get pregnant. In fact we werent trying and I wasnt in good control and I ended up pregnant. I didnt always take good care of myself either. When I was diagnosed things were alot different then they are now. I hated my teen years and my A1c were never good then. Once I got older I took better care of myself but not completely until I found out I was pregnant. The second time I got pregnant it was a planned thing and happened right away. I just started using a pump in April and that totally changed my life for the better. After I had my son I let my blood sugars go up because I had some scary lows during and after pregnancy and I was scared I would be low home alone and no one to help me. My A1c during my second pregnancy was a 5.5. In March 2010 it was a 8.4. Once I got on the pump in two months I was a 7.2!! Both my pregnancies were good and I had no complications as a result of my actions earlier in life. Being pregnant and a T1 is hard work. You have more doctor appointments, have to get eyes checked once each trimester, and also see your endo more often. But all WORTH it. Dont know if you can get a pump or have thought about it. I didnt have one my first two times and they went okay. I am 18 weeks pregnant with my third and last baby.
Dont know if I helped you any here. But keep on working on the blood sugars and Good Luck!!
Thank you very much! That helps a lot. I have a OBGYN appointment in a couple weeks to check with him and see what we should plan on. I have been on the pump for 3 years now. I have been trying to perfect my blood sugars- getting those as needed and learning to correct the right amount at the right times. I'm pretty sure my A1C has dropped from my prior 9.7 in the beginning of February/ end of January. I too HATE my lows and feel helpless so I can only imagine how I will feel when I have them often in the pregnancy. Have you noticed any complications from your years of denial? My teen years were horrible as well, I went through a horrible depression and didn't care if I died, I didn't do what I was supposed to in spit of what they (parents & Doctors). I have moderate Diabetic retinopathy and my thyroid is enlarged as of my last check up, but other than that I haven't faced any more complications. I just pray they don't show up during pregnancy. And I really hope it doesn't take us long to get pregnant, doctor told me I need to be done having babies by 30...I only have 4.5 years to have 2 kids. We want to start trying in September.
I have been T1 for almost 26 years. I was 5 when I was diganosed . It was about 3 weeks before my six birthday. I dont hate being diabetic and never really have. I dont call it denial it was more being lazy and not wanting to get up and check. I only hated my teenyears because my sugars were never good no matter what I did or the doctors had me try. Back then we had Regular and NPH insulin. Not good insulins at all. If I had to do it over again I would have been diganosed later in life when they had all the new insulin and meters.
I used to work 60+ hours a week and made good money so money motiviated me and I put my health off for things. Now I stay at home with my kids and check 10+ times a day. I have had zero complications from being diabetic. I thank god everyday because as long as I have had it they say I will end up with something one day. I just had my last eye exam a week ago and good. I have thryoid problems but every female on my mothers side does and we all take the same pill everyday.
I am not to worried about lows with this pregnancy even though I have had them. I have a new doctor now that I like so much. She is a T1 herself and has had two kids. She calls me once a week and I email her my pump download everyweek. My last endo was not a very good doctor.
I hope your appointment goes good for you.
I'm in a similar boat as you, I was dx at age 6 and have never (even now) had a "perfect A1C" and although I'm trying to get down to 7 from 8.2-8.9 range safely (the only times I have been below 8, were due to having an extremely unhealthy rise in my number of low blood sugars), I often worry that it will effect my pregnancy. One thing I can tell you is, so far it hasn't prevented me from getting pregnant. I've already had one miscarriage (age 19) and one abortion (age 21, had just broken up with abusive boyfriend) despite having an A1C that floats between 8.2-8.9!
I've asked my endo stuff like this and I've talked to my mom (whose had a lot of female friends over the years with T1 who have had babies) and the consensus seems to be that as long as you are healthy leading up to, are doing your best to be in control and do your best during the pregnancy (no one expects you to be perfect!), you should have no problem. There's always a chance something will go wrong, but hell..there's a chance even with non-T1's that something will go wrong!
=)
I have had diabetes for 15 years and on a pump for 14 years. I too did not take good care of myself during those teen years and in college, but have no complications. During those teen years my A1C was always between 10 and 12, yuck! But when I started taking care of myself it came down into the 7's. I am currently 15 weeks pregnant and it didn't take us long to get pregnant at all. Just two months. We were trying so I got my A1c from 7.1 to 6.2 right before I got pregnant. Then it went up a little right before I knew I was pregnant to 6.9 and then now it is at 5.9 and my doctors have always been happy with my pregnancy numbers. I was scared of the lows too, but not enough to not make me want to have a baby. I think the key is when your pregnant is to have a CGM, I have a Dexcom and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! It really helps to catch those lows before they become too scary. I have had some (scary ones-just an amount I could count on my one hand) lows during my pregnancy, you just have to take them as they come and honestly it is not as scary as I thought it was going to be. And of course every woman's body reacts differently to pregnancy, but it is so cool and I am glad that I didn't let my diabetes get in the way of experiencing this. You should def talk to your doc about a CGM!
My A1c was 7.6 when we got pregnant ( I didn't know I was pregnant at the time, but I was) I got an insulin pump in November, still not knowing I was pregnant, took a pregnancy test in early December, and it was positive. I actually ended up in the emergency room for kidney stones/urinary tract infection, and we found out that I was 7 weeks pregnant, which was much more pregnant than I thought. I am 24 weeks now, and my last A1c was 6.2, and the baby is doing great! The heart has formed well, and there is nothing wrong, now we just have to wait for the little one to put on some weight :) and they are monitoring that closely also, so everything is good so far.
hello Nikki
i couldn't help but relate to what you have been talking about. Myself, being T1 for 4 years now, being diagnosed when I was 21 and until now being a flexpen user. I am just starting the pump (may 9th actually), while meeting with a new endo to discuss going on the pump, I found out that week I was pregnant, 5 weeks. I stopped birth control when my A1C was 6.9, and was given the okay to try. We were lucky to get pregnant quickly, however that didn't stop me from freaking out about all the possibilities of what can happen, how i was going to manage my diabetes the best while keeping my baby as healthy as can be. I am not about 10weeks and so far, it's been a ride. On that same appointment, i was changed from levemir to Humalin N, which has helped my numbers TREMENDOUSLY. I am really working on keeping my blood sugars down, and I will tell you, it's worth it. My doctors told me how hard it is to become pregnant when your numbers are higher, and after getting it into a healthy range, not only helps you, but it really makes me feel better knowing i'm doing the best I can, and baby will appreciate the low amount of sugar!!! There are a couple things I am experiencing which no one has told me about. With this tight control and i'm sure the baby growing, i hit LOWS, like i can't function lows, for me it's around lunch. Also, if i do not eat something, typically bland around 3-4 hours after eating, my numbers fall and fast, and then i get so nauseous and have like super low symptoms. It's terrible. We have our first ultrasound and hopefully see that little flutter. Keep working hard, don't give up. I know doctors give years, or say your young and should have kids before here, but really, it's when you, your husband and your body are ready. The most important thing is getting yourself healthy and TRUST ME, i know i feel better now, seeing what i'm giving the baby and it's scary but exciting to know, T1's can too have beautiful healthy babies.. Good Luck!!!
Hi Nikki,
I've been a type 1 diabetic since the age of 5 and I'm on my 13th week of pregnancy now. It was completely unplanned, I never dreamed it could happen from one minor condom mishap. I really thought the diabetes would somehow make me less fertile, but not so! My periods were not regular my entire life and would happen every 2, 3 or 4 weeks.
I did not take good care of myself either. My A1Cs have ranged from upper 9s to 7s my entire life. I didn't know there were so many rules about getting pregnant and so many risk factors. When I found out I was pregnant, my A1C was 7.2, the best it's ever been in my entire life because of a change in the types of insulin I'm taking. Of course that's still high for what they want pregnant diabetics to be at. (I was told you have to be in the 6s, not 7s.) Despite 20+ years of poor control, I have no complications. Just know that if you do have complications they can get worse and if you don't, you may start to get some. I'm starting to have some vision problems and am terrified of retinopathy.
So far everything the completely normal and healthy with my baby. It's a good size and has a good heart beat. It also has all its fingers and toes. I feel like I'm having a completely normal pregnancy symptom wise. My blood sugars are going a bit crazy, though and since I never worked to make them stable or good before, I'm finding it very difficult to do now that the hormones and flowing. My advice is before you get pregnant, find out how much different foods affect your sugars, like for example, if you're 50, exactly how much should you eat or drink of what to get only to 100 and not any higher. Also think about the work and exercise you do on a daily basis and try to figure out as much as possible how that affects your sugars. Also find a doctor you like and can stick with throughout the pregnancy (I was forced to change endos to get an ob to see me) and try to get an ob gyno who knows something about diabetes and will work with your endo.
Good luck!
Nikki,
I too had pretty bad actions in my teen years and a little bit beyond. I've been T1 since I was 11 and am now 27. I also went through Diabulmia from my junior year of high school up until I was 22 (I don't know if everyone knows what that is, but it's where you purposefully take less insulin to lose weight). I wound up with DKA about 5 or 6 times throughout those years. Since then, my A1c's haven't been above 8 and my blood work is usually great aside from having some highs. I have been having difficulties getting pregnant myself as my husband and I have been trying since October with no results yet, but I'm also a very easily stressed person, so I've blamed that because my hormonal blood work all came back normal.
The one thing I remember when I had my preconception visit 6 months ago is the OB/GYN telling me she'd seen diabetics with a1c's of 14 with normal pregnancy's and babies, though I never want to get my numbers that high, it made me feel a lot better.
Hi! This is my first post here, just kind of skimming through! I'm T1 for about 18 yrs now, since I was 10. We've been married for a year and are talking babies in the near future. I just want to make sure I do all I can pre-pregnancy to make this healthy and the best for me and future babies :) Thanks for all your info here, it's really great and been very helpful. Now to work on A1C and actually getting hubby to say yes to baby. Wish me luck :P
Good Luck!!! Me and my hubby are in the same boat! Wish us luck too!