Any Type 1 Diabetics out there also TTC....?

[confusedforever]

Hello, I am diabetic this type and am on the first month of TTC. I have good blood sugar control etc but, and this is also apparently due to my age, been told that being diabetic can be a bit of a hindrance. Is there anyone else out there in the same boat? (I know there are lots of type 2's or people with gestational diabetes but not so many type one's) If there is, I'd like to hear how you are all going about things while having a fairly normal / relaxed life at the same time...

Ooh, we cross posted! You seem to be very much a woman after my own heart with these things!

Maybe best not to get me started either....!

Oh, and I was my consultant's 'star patient'. He saw many badly contolled pregnant diabetics and their babies were fine,so try not too worry too much

He told me it was sod's law that I had such tight control and still had quite a big baby. Meh.

I did see The Hospital. There was a pregnant lady on there, wasn't there? Or was that another programme? I remember I was pissed off that she was so poorly controlled and had a small baby at the end, lol.

Yep, that was the one with the diabetic pregnant girl / lady. She had to have boils lanced or something hideous and rarely tested.

How big was your baby?

Yes, remember the boils. Bletch.

He was 8lbs 6oz at 38.5 weeks, so big but not extraordinary. He was long so was in proportion, if that makes sense. I am very petite, but DH is over six foot, so the jury is out on whether that was genentics or diabetes. My consultant said genetics, the general public said diabetes, of course

Why, of course. And it's your own fault you have that, you greedy girl, as you ate too many sweets. (Incidently, my mother has been asked, on more than one occassion, 'what on earth did you feed her for her to get it so young?' )

That seems big but not overly so. How did you find the induction?

Don't get me started on gestational diabetics.... Far far worse than type 2

"oh no, I can't have this grape life is so unfair"

yes dear you're not on insulin and it will go once the baby comes out.

The hospital did send me a letter after ds saying that my blood sugar should have returned to normal after the birth and inviting me for an hba1c to confirm this. I found this a little amusing and called up the consultant to ask him what response he wanted given the bad levels I was managing post birth.

Confused my doula was wonderful as she just had this great calming influence on me and made me feel like I had time to make decisions and wasn't being forced into anything. She was a very comforting person and had this whole bag of tricks e.g. socks, extra pillows, water spray produced when needed which improved the whole experience.

I wasn't induced, I had a planned section at my request. I didn't want to be induced, but that's my issue so don't let me put you off. I did find the cs to be a very positive experience though.

Morning! Can you tell me why you opted for a c-sec rather than induction? Tbh I find both quite scary, actually I think I find childbirth as a whole scary, so am interested in your views.
Can be test day for the first time on Friday. As its a First Response I can probably do it now but think that the later the better is the best option. Also have no symptoms or anything (to the extent where we went to the pub last nighty so very much doubt we'll be first time lucky! Have decided to make a concerted effort re super healthy food, hardly any booze and so on for next month. The house selling situation close to drove us to drink but that's not really a valid excuse any more... (Shame!)

However, it must be on my mind more than I care to admit as had very vivid dreams about being unable to breastfeed last night!

Hello again confused and tigger and hello to strand. I can't believe how many of us there are. As you say I don't really talk about it in real life. Considering most GPs seem to get muddled up between the two types there is not much hope for Joe Public.

strand I am interested in your elective. Did you have to fight for it or were they happy to let you have one on diabetic grounds?

confused how funny i used to live in Herne Hill. Now I live in Forest Hill!

The section...at the start of the pregnancy I was all for as natural a birth as possible. I come from a family of (non diabetic) women who have four hour home births and had assumed that would be my future, til diabetes reared it's ugly head at age 21.

As the pregnancy progressed, all any one wanted to talk to me about was induction, being on a drip and how I would almost certainly need an epidural. I left my OB appointment in tears several times. This was all complicated by the fact that DS was getting bigger than anyone had expected and had a HUGE head circumfrance. Random strangers who had no idea I was diabetic would tell me that my bump was huge and I'd never get the baby out (I am five foot and a size 6/8) I began to have visions of failed forceps deliveries, etc.

By 30 weeks or so, I began to beg for a section - a complete u-turn from where I had started. I was told an emphatic NO. At my 36 week scan the OB was 'pleasantly suprised' that my baby's huge head had engaged into my tiny pelvis and told me she would be booking me for induction at 38 weeks. I burst into tears (damn hormones!) and she took pity on me and said that if I was so frightened, induction might not go well and booked me for a cs.

When DS was born, at 8lbs 6oz and with a big head as expected, both my midwife and the OB said they still thought I would have got him out. Who knows though?

Sorry that was long, hope I didn't put anyone off...you did ask!

Oh good luck with your pregnancy test Confused!

All this talking about getting pregnant with a bunch of diabetics is starting to make TTC later this year a bit real - eek!

Hi Ladies

Glad to find this thread is still going. I have been fighting the NHS to get discharged from consultant led care this week (Im type 1 also).

I have excellent control (HbA1C

ps i hope my first paragraph didnt sound arrogant and boastful, i just wanted to lay out the facts because they are important for the context of my post. other than where the diabetes police are concerned im honestly quite an ok person, they just make me MAD!!!!!

I wonder if the pump makes it easier to get good control without hypos. Did you find that Kittyelise (lovely name btw)? I'm on Levemir and Humalog at the moment but could go onto a pump if I asked I suppose. I just don;t really like the idea of it!

Hi Sparrow (lol!)

To be honest the main reason I started pumping was because i need SO much more insulin at night/in the small hours and do a lot of sport (well i did anyway, open water swimming comps are now more like a plod up and down my local pool a few times a week, thats pregnancy for you!). I keep my control about the same as it is now on injections; however, in order to do that I woke myself twice during the night to take novorapid to supplement the lantus, and obviously had to take a shot every time i snacked meaning up to 10 or 12 injections a day sometimes (now its the press of a button!); I never really had hypos, as i set my basals to take care of the lower insulin requiring parts of the day and supplemented at other times (for example i took 12 units of lantus and then about 4 or 5 of novorapid to cover the night/early hours, whereas if i used the lantus to hold steady overnight i would have haad to take 24 units or so, eat all afternoon and my swim training would have been a mess).

pump is what you put into it; you can work as hard as you like but it pays off; i LOVE it. i have about 8 different basal settings over the day and night (from about 0.6u/hr to about 2.0u/hr at moment) and can turn down a couple of hours before exercise and avoid sugary drinks etc, it is absolutely brilliant and totally liberating. the 'attachment' thing is a non issue when you realise how easy life can be; like standing on a train platform thinking 'hmmmm i fancy a mars bar but where am i going to inject' becomes a thing of the past!

did i mention i love my pump?

LOL at mars bar on a station platform! I know exactly what you mean though.

No wonder you want to be released from the tedium of all those appointments when you have been successfully managing such a complex exercise/insulin regime for so long. Good for you! My exercise regime is considerably less energetic . I feel happy on injections but sometimes wonder if I am missing out by not being on the pump.

Congratulations on your pregnancy btw

Am replying on my phone but will post properly later too.
My nurse at the GP's gave me the impression that a pump is for people who cannot cope with injecting, or organise themselves sufficiently with their food / injections. She said "don't worry about that, you're waaaay off needing one of those!' However, I presume from your post that this is not the case at all...?!
Will write later re Ilovekitty's pregnancy post - I am envisaging very similar scenarios and am not even pg yet!

the standard thing in the UK is to reward people for poor control with a pump; totally ridiculous waste of resources, if they cant be bothered to get half decent control on injections god help them on a pump.

im lucky enough to have a consultant who thinks the NICE guidelines are a pile of crap and allocates pumps to people that put the effort in and will use it to fine tune things and because they are really into sport.

typical ignorant attitude from your nurse, they are a wonderful tool for the highly motivated to achieve normality.

Just to add, that like kitty, i didn't like the attachment thing of the pump. having something attached 24/7, i didn't like the idea of. but once I got one, I got over that SOOO quickly. and now its liberating. I have a huge dawn phenomenen, apparently and a pump is one of the best things for that.

oblomov i was the same - i was so worried about attachment and it was such a non issue! my DP is mega too! i increase my rate incrementally from midnight to about 6 am from about 1.2 to 2.0 (and during the day its mostly 1 or less!)

similar. mine goes from 0.5 to 1.1, and then to 0.7.

I may look into it. Am hoping I get a half decent doc when I move and will discuss options. I currently know nothing about pumps other than what the crap nurse told me so these recent posts have been a bit of a revelation! You both seem very clued up, which gives me confidence as well as curiosity to explore into it more.
I use fast acting insulin before every meal - do you pump in the appropriate amount instead? What about background insulins? Why are they offered to people with crap control rather than good? What is the attachment like - this makes me a bit squeamish but, from what I can gather, you did two and realise its all fine.
Will google answers too but sometimes its better to ask someone who uses one (bit like the diabetic birth stuff!)
The crap nurse is ALWAYS trying to push me onto one of those DAFNE courses. I have said no repeatedly as I have been adjusting my doses to my food since I asked to go onto Humalog in 1997,and have the blood sugar readings to prove I know what I am doing. Would I have to go on one of these courses if I asked for a pump?
Sorry about all the questions! Am typing again on my phone so hope its not too disjointed! Bit weird hearing your viewpoints on pumps as it is a total contrast to what I have been told, as well as assumed (due to what I've been told!)

Hi confused,

Pump works using novorapid (or other rapid acting insulin) only; so you set it to pump x amount per hour, either evenly spread or according to your body's needs. on the bolus side yup you just press the button instead of take your shot. there are functions whereby you can have carb ratios in the memory as well as correction factors so that you can test, input the number and it will tell you how much to bolus, but to be honest i never use those features, carb ratio is more the starting point with everything else that goes on in life that affects my doses!

i got a couple of books from amazon (recommended by people in the US where they actually do diabetes properly...) which are honestly the best purchases i ever made and of far more use in my diabetes career than anything anyone in the NHS has ever said; at about a tenner each 'think like a pancreas' by gary scheiner and 'pumping insulin' by john walsh. both of these were invaluable pumping or not, even when you are experienced and know what you are doing.

re the NICE guidelines they are basically a bit stupid (and i believe my consultant is getting involved in whatever committee is involved to get these changed). you can look them up on google they basically talk about suitability being based on failure to achieve good control on injections. seeing as you still have to do all the work yourself (and much more if you want to really have the most from a pump) i dont see how someone who is incapable of testing and taking the right amount of insulin is suddenly going to be any better on a pump, other than a child who might have injection phobia or whatever. you have got me started on the rules LOL. i actually have a friend who is a dietician who works with pumpers and despairs at these types of pump patients, they fail with the pump just as they did with injections and yet the NHS keeps throwing money at it (pumps cost about 3k then a about 1k a year for supplies).

in our area its standard practice to make someone go on a carb counting course before pump (for which there is a year waiting listing or something - ridiculous). like you i thought what a waste of time and said so. the response was 'but you need to count carbs for the pump' and my response was 'how do you think i have the control i have now without counting carbs'; response 'how do you know how to count carbs' i was glazed over by then; if you are interested in pump i would address that issue now about the course and prepare your argument as to why its un-necessary and a waste of resources (it may seem like common sense to you and i but apparently the number of people who have had type 1 for years and are baffled by the concept of carb counting is quite surprising)do you ever get the feeling they assume that diabetes means brain dead as well?! so ridiculous.

Good old rant. can you tell how frustrating i find the whole thing?!