Any pregnant Type 1 diabetics?

[dieciocho]

Hi,
I'm looking for other pregnant Type 1 diabetics in London, just to have someone to keep in contact with and share advice/horror stories/support each other etc.
I don't actually know anyone at all with Type 1, despite having had it myself since 1989

Hi there - I am, and also based in London. I posted a similar thread a few weeks ago and got no response on here, so am glad you came along!

I am also a member of another fantastic diabetes forum which has a section on pregnancy where (obviously) everyone has diabetes, predominantly type 1. The link is here diabetes-support.org.uk/

Thanks for that link; I've never heard of Diabetes Support Forum. I'll have a browse.

So, how is your pregnancy going? Which hospital are you attending and how has it been so far? : )

So far so good. I'm 9+5 and so far have got along without a hitch - no morning sickness or anything. Had an early scan which is standard for us T1s I believe, and have had my booking appointment. I am already seeing the diabetes team plus midwife every two weeks. Have my 12 week scan (at 11+3) on the 18th of September. I'm at Kingston hospital and based in west wimbledon.

I've been set very tight control targets and am just about managing them with a combination of not too many carbs, injecting some time before meals (to avoid a spike afterwards) and also by over-shooting for a particular meal and factoring in a snack later so that I'm not getting too many highs and lows.

How about you?

p.s. the DSF is very good for general advice on keeping tight control and general issues around diabetes as well as pregnancy advice! I post under a different name there but will say hi if I see you!

Oh lucky you, no sickness! Urgh, I had it from week 5 to week 15 (I'm ...19 weeks today). It meant that I lived on toast, cereal and plain yoghurt; hypos were a pain as chocolate, sweets, honey all just made me feel even sicker.

I've got my 20 week scan at about the same time that you have your 12 week scan; good luck with it. Two of my (non-diabetic) friends have had babies at Kingston Hospital in the past couple of years and they've been very satisfied.

I'm being seen at Queen Charlotte's Hospital and live in Ealing. No-one there has suggested injecting a while before meals to avoid spikes, but I've read about it. I think I'll try it as my insulin requirements have increased massively since the 12 week point and I'm struggling to avoid post-food highs (not major, but 10ish).
Pre-pregnancy I was injecting around 1u per 10g of carbohydrate. Now it's more like 3u or 4u per 10g, but only at breakfast time.
I've been told it goes up by an average of 7u per week right until the end.

There's so much to think about and balance, I'm not sure I'll be able to go through it all again.

Know what you mean. At a time when I just want to eat bread and cakes I just can't eat them because of trying to maintain tight control.

And my poor fingers are in shreds as I'm testing about 10 times a day at the moment!

I've got up from 2u per 10g for breakfast to about double that, and double for other meals as well, although the mornings are definietly worse! Are you also being seen very regularly by the maternity / diabetes team at Queen Charlotte's?

Yep, my fingers are the same and I've been testing 10 times a day since we first mooted the idea of getting to the GP - that was February! I've started using my palms, but might've heard that the readings aren't as accurate...or something.

I think the morning issue is the Dawn Phenomenon, which I have to admit I don't fully understand.

Yes, I'm going to Queen Charlotte's every two weeks, which is tedious and has made things hard at work.
What do you do, by the way?

There are a couple of things that go on in the morning. Dawn Phenomenon is definitely one of them. DP is as a result of hormonal changes in your body around dawn - it is basically to do with your juices starting to flow more as you move from being asleep to waking up and getting on with your day. That can commonly cause a rise in blood glucose which you can stop with insulin. However, I am also, separately, just much more insulin resistant during the morning than I am the rest of the day, so it just takes more insulin to do the same job. It is pretty tiring though!

Going every two weeks is tedious at this stage, I think. But I do feel fortunate to have had an early scan (can't imagine having to wait until 12 weeks to even see if there is anything in there) and I also think the extra checks will become reassuring later in the pregnancy. I think they start doing extra growth scans ever two weeks from 28 weeks or something, rising to every week later on. Quite exciting, really, to be able to see LO so often, when most people don't get the chance!

My work has been fine (they don't know I'm pregnant yet!), I've just been sloping off to appointments and making up the time elsewhere. I'm a lawyer, but work in house so can be really flexible.

How about you?

Hello

Can I join your thread? I'm type 1 diabetic too, am 36 and been diabetic since I was 13. I am 20 + 6 and so far been okay. Like you guys, I am testing my blood sugar about 10 times a day and my fingers are sore also.

I've noticed in the last 4-5 weeks that my sugars have gone up so am increasing my insulin now. I am on Novorapid 3 times a day and Lantus at night and up until about 16weeks, didn't need to change my doses at all. My HbA1C is at 6.2% so hoping that it stays around this level. What is yours?

Its so worrying isn't it, I am normally well controlled but I am so blooming paranoid now that if my sugars go about 10 ish level that I might harm the baby and sometimes they seem to go up after a meal for no obvious reason so hard to predict...the joys!

I agree though re the extra scans, one of the perks I guess of having diabetes. I get scanned every 4 weeks but think they move me to fortnightly at some point? I love seeing my baby so often and think it must be awful for other women who sometimes only get one or two scans throughout so maybe for once having diabetes does have some benefits!

Anyway - great to see a thread from other Type 1's as I can never find any other Type 1 diabetics on here!

x

Yay, more people!
Hi newbie6.

I haven't had my HbA1C done since I got pregnant, but it was 6.6 two weeks before I conceived.

Yeah, 10s stress me out, but my obstetric team doesn't seem phased by them.

At Queen Charlotte's I get a 12-week scan and a 20-week scan, then at 30 weeks I'll get scans every fortnight. I had to have an emergency early scan at 10 weeks as I had a bleed, so I have now seen it twice. I couldn't believe how much it had changed in just two weeks!

I agree BonaDea, I'm sure the extra support and attention will feel very reassuring as we more into the 3rd trimester.

I haven't told my work either, but I'm finding it hard to hide my bump now, so I will have to very, very soon.
I'm a teacher (Adult Education) and I've basically just said that I need to reduce my hours as I can't work Wednesdays anymore. A lot of people in my dept. are part-time anyway, so it hasn't attracted much attention.
Of course I know the law re: attending ante-natal appointments, but somehow I don't think the people who devised that law had women like us in mind - no boss is going to willingly agree to fortnightly time off!

Hi there newbie6!

I'm getting my next A1c in a few weeks, but it was 6.4% just around conception which was good. It MUST have come down in the meantime, though, because I've been super careful (in the past when I was a lot stricter with myself I got it down to 5.4% with very few hypos but that was seriously hard work!).

I haven't been able to find any good books about pregnancy or breastfeeding in Type 1 diabetics, so I will be interested to share my experiences with you two (and am glad you are both ahead of me!).

I'm a bit concerned about the whole induction thing, particularly since at my booking in the midwife said that when they induce they won't leave it very long before going down the CS route. Would have been so nice to have the luxury of a normal birth.

That has then worried me because I wonder about the impact on breastfeeding. And also, they have mentioned that if baby's blood glucose drops after birth which may well happen they might have to give formula to get sugar levels up, which I would really rather avoid.

Have either of you discussed this with your MW in detail?

It sounds like your team is ahead of mine; not much has been said about labour/birth yet. It's mainly been about the pregnancy.

What I've read on Type 1 births has made it very clear that a "normal", albeit induced, labour is very, very possible ie. a C-section is not the only outcome.
If it is a C-section, breastfeeding is still an option; I've got friends who had emergency C-sections, but went on to breastfeed afterwards.

I won't be forced into anything when my time comes; of course if it becomes a life-or-death situation, I'll follow medical advice, but otherwise I will make up my own mind with my partner's support.

Quite right, too and I'm definitely planning on being as difficult as I have to be to get what I want!

Hi

I agree with the others, if you are well controlled I don't see why you cannot ask for what you want as surely natural is best unless as you say there is a medical emergency. I've not really been told about birth options yet other than they will induce me at 38 weeks but I guess the scans nearer our due dates will determine what happens? All a bit scary but I reckon if we keep our control good you are giving yourself and baby the best chance of a positive birthing experience :)

X

newbie6 where are you based? And which hospital are you attending?

I think the "induce at 38" weeks thing is pretty standard, and exactly what I wanted to avoid. Would rather go natural...

Apparently it is to do with early deterioration of the placenta in diabetics, although again I'm sure there must be a correlation with poor control...

Ah well. Have been hypo tastic today which the MW told me could be a sign of a growth spurt in the baby. Quite nice to think about really!

Hi

I'm based in Ayrshire in Scotland so attending Crosshouse.

X

newbie6 wow that's quite a long way away! BonaDea and I are both in London.
How are you finding your diabetes/obstetric care at Crosshouse?

Yes BonaDea I've heard 38-week induction is to do with the placenta packing up, which is more common in diabetic women apparently. I hate the one-size-fits-all policies- if my placenta's fine, why can't I do things more naturally?

My news is that I have now felt the baby move! It was like a flicking behind my tummy button - a strange sensation, nothing I'd ever felt in my life before, so I'm fairly certain it was the baby.

20-week scan tomorrow; wish me luck. Good luck for yur 12-week scan too BonaDea.

Hi

Care has been okay but do feel like you are not looked at as an individual, i.e they will induce me at 38 weeks no matter what.

Good luck with your scans!

X

Hello, sorry to crash your thread but its interesting to read your experiences as there seem to be no threads for type 2's on here (only gestational diabetics).

I am on number 5 and had GD for 1st 4 pg's (eldest is now 20!) and got left with type 2 probably after number 3 who is 15 now. I didn't get called back for a check up after i had her and when i got pg with DS 4 years ago the consultant seemed to think i had had type 2 for a while.

This is by far the worst i have had diabetes in all of my pgs. I am 26 weeks today and already on 70 units of Novarapid 3 times a day and 65 of Lantus at night - it's a bit scary as that seems loads to be injecting and my levels are still all over the place and i seem to be needing to increase by a couple of units every 3 days or so.

Someone mentioned upthread about placentas deteriorating and even though i had fairly good control in DS's pg 4 years ago i still had the horrible hypos from 33 weeks onwards and my insulin requirements dropped dramatically - i had a very calcified placenta after my elcs at 38 weeks and am terrified of something happening to my DS2 that i am pg with now because of this.

I know you have to manage highs and lows on a daily basis as type 1's and feel really :( about that because it's been tough whilst i am pg - i was told because my control was so rubbish on metformin before i became pg this time that i will probably have to stay on insulin now, i dont mind as this is better than having high bg levels all the time (could never seem to get below 11 on hba1c's) I just had one done a couple of weeks ago and i was 6.1 which is great - like i said just worried at the amount of insulin i am taking with another 12 weeks to go.

Its really interesting to read what you do in terms of eating and taking care to make sure your bg's stay stable - type 2's arent given half of that info and i suppose its because its not as serious or as full on as being a type 1. I have seen an endo a couple of times already this pregnancy and feel much safer and better about my diabetes.

Are any of you on really high doses of insulin as yet? Sorry if that seems like a silly question as you probably are (maybe twice what i am taking) how do you handle those really nasty middle of the night hypos? I am guilty of way overdoing it to bring my bg's back up - too much lucozade and chocolate sends me rebounding the other way but i have no idea how much to take - i have had one really nasty 1.8 mmol reading and could barely drink.

Ok well as i said - hope you don't mind me asking your advice and just reading about what you do in general - this is definately my last DC and i just want to make sure i am doing the right things.

Hi

Sorry to hear you have had such a difficult time. I sometimes think GD must be worse as you won't have ha d the info and care that T1's hopefully get. I am on novo rapid 3 times a day and lantus at night but my dosage is just a little higher than what I was on pre pregnancy but I have read that you sometimes need to change it, I guess everyone is different? I am on around 6 in the morning, 10 at lunch and 12 at tea and take 22 lantus at night but suspect that may need altered as my pregnancy goes on. Am 21 plus 5 at the moment.

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy. I have found the diabetic support forum site really good.

X

I suppose its because it isn't GD anymore - it was in my 1st 3 pgs but now i have type 2 they put me on insulin as soon as i found out i was pg.

Thanks for the reply anyway - i was hoping i wasn't going to be the only one on such huge amounts, especially as i am only 5 weeks ahead of you. i just hope i go down to fairly normal levels after DS is born.

I'm sure you will and I'm sure there are others that are on higher doses. The important thing is that your HBA1c is fab!

X

:) Ok thank you - that makes me feel a bit better. I think it was good because my control has been good since the beginning of this pg its only in the last three weeks that my bg's have been much higher and tbh at the joint clinic appt i attended two weeks ago the endo said to be prepared for my insulin needs to go up very shortly because of the baby's growth so i suppose i am just panicking a bit for nothing - thanks again for the reasurrance x