Hi everybody! Just a warning that this is partially a complain session for me…
I am currently 15 weeks pregnant, and thankful beyond words. I’d never trade this time in my life for the world. However, I also have that lovely thing called type 1 diabetes, and it’s really started to be a pain in the pancreas lately. My A1C has been great, and for the most part, my BG’s have been predictable. I fear that that may be changing soon though. I just get so scared about every number. While 140 used to be an acceptable number, it just isn’t anymore, and when that number doesn’t seem do go down no matter how much insulin I take, I tend to go a little crazy. It just feels like a constant battle between food and blood sugar, and I feel guilty about everything I eat, whether it’s healthy food or junk food. It’s getting difficult already, and I know I have a long way to go. Does anyone else feel this way?
Also, when did insulin resistance start to kick in for you?
Thank you in advance for listening/reading. You girls are awesome.
I am in the same boat as you, perhaps we could exchange emails or just talk on here! I belong to other chat forums but not for diabetes/pregnancy and it would be refreshing to talk with someone going through the same thing. I am 14 weeks tomorrow and boy has it been a journey! The worst part is when you get those unexpected highs (had one today–no rhyme or reason just high and took hours to come down, I hate it!). I feel sooooo guilty! And sometimes I don’t even tell my husband because I feel like he doesn’t understand or thinks it’s easy. I can understand when I eat something bad but today I was just eating my normal routine and then bamm–270 no reason. I don’t get it. Anyways, are you on the pump or anything? That has helped me a lot. And I have a CGM which sometimes I love and sometimes I hate (inaccuracy).
Did you battle lows at all in your 1st tri? I was told I would require less insulin at 10 weeks and yup they were right! And I am still battling them. I can get in the 30’s all the time. But my Dr has helped me a lot with adjusting my insulin. I went to see him yesterday and asked about the insulin resistance. He said around 20 weeks to expect it.
Another thing I have been worried about is weight. Did you battle morning sickness? I didn’t (at all). Sometimes my stomach felt uneasy but never nauseous (thank God). So they have me eating 6 times a day (!) and so far I have put on 10 lbs according to my appt yesterday. My doctor said 4 lbs should be what I aim for in 1st tri so that worries me. How many have you put on? I feel so bloated and fat. Sorry to vent so much, but I hope I can help you if only a little! Best of luck to you and I hope that the insulin resistance doesn’t throw too much of a wrench in your pregnancy!
I would love to be email/message buddies! It’s so helpful and comforting to talk to someone going through the same thing! Those sneaky highs do suck now more than ever, and I also avoid talking about my blood sugars with my husband as much as possible. He does an unbelievable job with supporting me, but even the best supporter still just doesn’t know what it’s like. I also don’t want to worry him with my sometimes out of range numbers. I use the Omnipod system and the Dexcom, and I can’t imagine life without either of them. They are both amazing tools that make life so much easier. I use the Dexcom 24/7, and it is about 90% accurate for me. In my opinion, the tough part about using it is the constant reminder of my failures or poor decisions. There is no ignorance or bliss when you’re wearing that thing! However, my A1C would be so much higher without it, so I know that I need it, especially now. It seemed like I was constantly low in the first trimester. I think my lowest was 28, and I felt (almost) perfectly fine. It’s funny how before I was pregnant, I would hurry to correct a number in the 60’s or 70’s, but now correcting doesn’t happen until I’m in the 40’s or 50’s. I’ve gotten used to being low, within reason. Hopefully today was just a bad food and BG day, and not the start of insulin resistance. According to your doctor, I should have about 4-5 more weeks until that starts, but I know everybody is different. As far as morning sickness goes, it sounds like I was just like you. I would get nauseous and queasy, but never sick sick. I wish I could stick to eating small meals six times a day. Honestly, I’ve been so bad with food the last couple weeks. I snack all the time and forget to pre bolus. Confessing makes me feel a bit better. lol. According to my scale, I’ve gained around 5 pounds since I was 6 weeks pregnant, but it feels like so much more than that. I feel bloated and gross too. I gave in to maternity pants like 2-3 weeks ago. Girl’s gotta be comfortable!
During my pregnancy I gained 50 pounds. I ate VERY WELL. No added sugars, and no white carbs. I did experience morning sickness really bad in the beginning. I literally was forcing myself to eat crackers it was so bad. But, I still gained.
I didn’t keep anything from my husband, he was very helpful to me the entire pregnancy. He even checked me during the night and morning hours to give me a break and only wake me if I had to correct or if I was low. Having highs is just a part of the entire diabetes thing. You can’t beat yourself up about it. You have to just test, correct and move on. Feeling guilty isn’t going to get you anywhere but keeping your blood sugars up from anxiety and stress. Try to keep yourself as calm as possible.
Thank for the pep talk girl! I ended up telling my husband about my frustrating day, and he reassured me that it’s ok, that you can’t win 'em all, and that today is a new day. He’s the best.
It’s nice to know that one can’t completely control how much weight is gained. Everybody’s bodies are different, and I just need to accept that!
You will have slight insulin resistance as you go along. But in the 3rd trimester it gets CRAZY and you’ll take obscene amounts of insulin. Just trust your meter and be prepared to take extra shots in addition to changing your pump a lot. My 150 unit reservoir, which is more than enough for 3 days normally couldn’t keep up with the 100+ units a day I was taking at the end.
Look up your carb counts and test an hour after you eat to see if you need a correction bolus. That should kill some of the post meal spikes. Don’t stress about 140. Just do your best, correct, and go on with life. Keep your target rate as low as you and your doctor are comfortable with while avoiding lows. Lows are worse for your baby’s development than highs.
And most important, get a book like “The Girlfriend’s Guide to Pregnancy.” It’s a little raunchy, but takes a lighter look at pregnancy. After all of the obsessiveness everyone else brings to it, you need a break. The truth is, once your baby is born you realize that the pregnancy was nothing. Parenthood is the real deal. =) You will be fine. Just be reasonable and you and your little son or daughter will be okay.
Once you accept that truly and fully you will feel much better about it all. I am a pretty anxious person by nature… Big time worrywort but, I was honestly so very calm during my pregnancy. I tell everyone I must have had an outer body experience LOL. I really think because I was so calm it helped me during the entire 9 months. Stay positive and trust your team. If they aren’t worried you shouldn’t be. I am grateful to my entire team both OB and Endo office because they really helped me as well as family support.
I started having early morning resistance at 12w. Now 16w and I’m still adjusting my PM levemir as well as upping my breakfast ratio from 15:2 to 12:3 which matches my lunch and dinner ratios.
I am taking so much long acting already that a levemir pen vial (tho I use syringes) only lasts me three shots now!
I have somehow managed to not gain much weight…I was 175-177 pre-pregnancy and weigh in at 177 at my endos but range from 175-180 at home! But I’ve been told I should only gain 15-25lbs because I am technically “overweight” so I’m hoping that just means I’ll be gaining baby weight only? Haha We’ll see how that goes!
You are so great about giving reasonable advice on here, plus you’ve been through it, survived, and can live to tell your story! Thank you for talking some sense into my crazy number-obsessed pregnant brain! I’m sure I’ll need help again at some point(s)!
I am also very blessed to have a great medical team watching over me, lots of family support, and of course everyone on here!
@natrie,
Good for you for adjusting and going with the blood sugar flow! That’s also great that you haven’t gained any weight yet! I was around 160 pre-pregnancy, which I think was considered on the verge of overweight for my height. The BMI scale is total BS though, since it doesn’t take into consideration your muscle mass or body type.
I’m so glad I found this forum (I think that’s what it’s called-I’m not very tech savvy)!!! I am 17 weeks pregnant and type 1 and FREAK over any high numbers I get. Although I have an amazingly supportive husband and family, I feel like they just don’t quite get what I’m going through. Reading your posts make me feel much better. I have been doing great keeping my levels within range since I found out I was pregnant, but for some reason I had three numbers that read in the upper 200’s this weekend and now I feel like there is something wrong with the baby. I’m a worry wart I guess. I just feel guilty, like it’s my fault if something happens to the baby because of my blood sugar. It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one fighting this battle.
@jilly7790 - It’s hard not to freak out. I still do when I see highs, especially when it’s just a “high kinda day”. I don’t think any of us will ever get over that, but all you can do is your best!
My OB told me during my first appointment that later in my pregnancy I’ll be chasing the highs and I might feel like I’m a bad mom but not to believe that, no one is perfect and no one expects me to be perfect only that I try to do my best.
It made me feel a lot better because I have this fear from growing up and always being told “you can’t get pregnant until your A1C is perfect, you need your endo’s approval to get pregnant, if you aren’t perfect when you get pregnant you’re going to have a horrible pregnancy and birth, blah blah” that when I do go high both my OB team and endo team will flip out at me. haha.
@Erica1710 - I agree that the whole BMI scale is bullsh*t. Even when I was at 150/155 (which is my goal weight, I gained about 30lbs following a car accident) I was still considered “overweight” but if I had been any less I would’ve looked sick because of my broad shoulders and “birthing hips” (“from our mixed European heritage” as my mom describes my body type haha). My mom only gained about 25lbs during her pregnancies so I’m hoping I’m the same since that’s the top of my “target” but we’ll see; I won’t freak out if I get bigger than that unless it affects the baby of course.
I’m 18 weeks tomorrow, so we’re almost the same! No matter how supportive our husbands and families are, unless they have T1D, they will never know what it’s really like. I thank God that they don’t know, but it’s still hard to accept. I had a couple 200’s numbers over the last few days too, and I can’t say that they came out of nowhere. It’s just so hard to count carbs exactly all the time.
@natrie
I’m trying to just eat healthily most of the time, eat reasonable portions, and exercise regularly. Whatever happens with my weight from there happens.