Pregnant type 1 diabetics, step over here...

[RueDeWakening]

I seem to have filled up the old thread and thought I better start a new one! Still got ages to go, don't leave me now...

Am currently sat waiting for my 16 week antenatal appt, been here an hour so far and just had BP done and that's it.

newbie - congratulations! that is wonderful news and glad you are both safe and sound

hoping - my a1c was 5.2% and nothing was said about trying to get it up because they could see that I wasn't having too many hypos. Of course if you are frequent and hard-to-deal-with lows, you should try to avoid those, but if your A1c is just 5.1% because you have super-good control, ignore the doctor. I've had that in the past where a DSN has said that an A1c that is too low MUST be bad for me. Sorry, but unless I am having hypos, I don't pay too much attention to that!

Glad all seems to be on track and that the scan went well!

Yes I agree with Bona - only if you are having hypos regularly then it might be an issue. Otherwise I'd be bloody singing it from the rooftops!

Mylittlepuds, feeling okay just a bit tired and sore but diabetes wise am fine. Am back on my pre preg levels of novo rapid and lantus and so far so good. It was hard letting the doctors control my insulin during labour and c section but in the end they realised I actually knew myself inside out and pretty much started to let me tell them what to do dep on what my sugars were. Throughout the labour, I never went above 5 or below 3.6 so they soon realised I did actually know what I was talking about ;)

X

Oh I'm glad to hear it newbie! And I'm especially glad to hear that they ended up letting you just get on with it. I hate not being in control of my own diabetes.

Talking of lack of control...I'm going to fess up and say my motivation has been flagging. My control since about 20 weeks hasn't been poor but in all honesty it's not been great. Not by a long shot. I've not been as obsessive or on the ball as I usually am. I'm certainly not hitting the 7.5 target within an hour and a half with any regularity - and more often or not been drifting around 8/9 a couple of hours after eating. Evening snacking has also made sure that I'm often hovering high too. I always correct of course but it takes a while for that insulin to kick in doesn't it...

So there. I've come clean and I feel like a terrible mum. I can see from my CGM that my next HBA1C will probably be around 6.5 at best.

And to top it all off I've just had a reading of 14.8 after an hour and a half; arrggghhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel so guilty.

Is it just me? Am I risking the baby? I had to pop into the assessment unit earlier as the movements felt a bit muffled - heartbeat fine but I'm in for a scan tomorrow just to make sure, so we'll see what damage I've done. Please God let it be okay.

Is it just me with who has gone off the boil a bit towards the end? Or not...

puds dont beat urself up too much im sure ur hba1c is fine my average on my meter is always higher than it. Also soo glad ur baby is fine and im sure scan will show the same. I said today that some days baby is quieter or feels different from others but then baby flips round so i think when in right position i feel a bit less due to my placenta but when breech (which was at babybond but not at hops) then i get strong kicks at the bottom.

I do have lows but not or at least to me they dont feel like bad ones it has to fall below 3.3 now for me to feel bad, i asked if they were harming the baby and was told no we just dont want u feeling ill i dont but have on his advice reduced my levemir tonight tho only by 1u im rising by 1mmol an hour just now will test at 11pm n see if i need a small correction

Great news newbie, aren't caesareans the scariest thing?
I'm trying to forget mine and just focus on Violet. Zachary is a very cute name. What a good weight.

x

Congratulations newbie hope you're both doing well

After going back to my original unsplit low-dose Levemir, I spent last night hovering at around 10 and getting up to wee like I was still pregnant! Feel yucky this morning.
Why can't I strike the balance?!

Oh and those of you looking forward to cake-munching - breaking news: I have gone off sweet food!
Yes, it's true, having had hypos/lows regularly every day for about 4 days, I've eaten more cake/biscuits/leftover mince pies than I want to count and now feel a bit sick when I think about them!
Seriously.
And my teeth hurt.

Ha Diec! I know that feeling!

I'm still splitting my levemir but have been been for over three years

puds - don't feel guilty. I definitely took my foot off the pedal a little bit after the 20 week scan. I think it was just relief that there were no abnormalities spotted - the heart and spine were fine which is of course is what you're worried about in diabetic pregnancies.

If it helps, I definitely got my diabetes mojo back a couple of weeks after the 20 week scan as I was starting to think about growth scans and not wanting to be told the baby was giant. I think it is natural just to need a bit of a break from it. The odd 8, 9 or even 14 is not going to do any harm at this stage - the really important formative stage is now done. Give yourself a bit of a rest, then start to focus on keeping baby's size in check and protecting your plancenta. You'll be fine.

diec - sounds a nightmare. Can you switch to something like buttered toast instead of sweet things?

Updates on Violet, Zachary and Felix please!

Thanks Bona :-) You really have made me feel better. I do always appreciate it when one of you comes in to support me!!

So...I had an early growth scan today due to change in movement patterns (all fine in that regards) and the news was a bit worrying. I'm trying hard not to freak out. I'll be 26 weeks on Thursday and the baby's stomach has gone from the 57th centile to the 94th...the other measurements have crept up a bit too but nothing like that and all much more in range.

My DSN has said not to worry too much. She said that every scan person measures differently and that as me and my DH are essentially giants that we are never going to have small babies. Also I got the MW to look at my notes from my first pregnancy and at around this point DS was very similar in terms of stomach measurement. A positive is that at this stage I don't have as much fluid as I did last time as I developed polyhydromnisis (sp?).

What does everyone make of this? Trying not to panic!

Yes please - updates on the babies!

Definitely don't panic. Although it's 94th percentile it is still in the bounds of what is normal. It is not like you are off the scale! Good news that your MW was calm about it and also that DS was about the same.

To be honest, I was suprised mine measured what it did as we're both also big (puds - I think we've discussed this before!) and I expected that our baby would be on the big side too even without diabetes.

Stay calm and see what happens at the next scan - what you want at this stage is for it to stay pretty consistent from scan scan (I'm terrified of suddenly leaping from 59th to 99th percentile!)

Hey everyone

Me and Zach are doing well thanks, he is being very good to his mummy and sleeping well and feeding well too. My diabetes seems to be good too so can't complain.

If it helps mylittlepuds I measured 97th percentile throughout and Zach was 7lb 11oz, my control was good, hba1c of 6.2 to 5.8 so not hugely different to you so please don't beat yourself up. I think you sound as though you are on top of things and the main thing is that you and baby are being checked and the docs are happy :)

I know we all stress till they are born and safe but sounds like you are being a good mummy and baby is doing well.

Xxx

Great news, Newbie!

My hba1c was good yet ds was massive I wonder if I would have had big babies even if I wasn't diabetic? 9lb babies aren't rare these days are they.

Well Felix is being devil baby. He has been asleep for about two hours since 4am and when awake has either been crying or feeding so I'm having a bad day. I thought we'd cracked the breastfeeding yesterday but today it's really painful again and I'm tired and grumpy. Sorry for the moan got his 6-8 week check tomorrow so will see if he's putting on weight as he should be!

Lasagne for dinner

Felix We have great taste in names on this thread!

Spotty I'm so not looking forward to the breastfeeding. It worked so well with DS but I'm thinking with a toddler and a baby (and my requirement for sleep to function with a very cheeky DS) it mightn't go so well. You moan all you like! Oooh I love lasagne sooo much! And I find it's great for levels.

Thanks Newbie - that really does help. Do you mean 97th centile for stomach? I'm worried it's so our of kilter with the rest of the measurements and has leapt up from 57th centile in six weeks! But then again I've done this before and should be so much more confident. Turns out mums worry however many kids they have

Towards the end (month 8) Violet's tummy increased massively in size from something like 60th to 90th percentile. However, she looks fine to us! Not fat at all, all in proportion.

Oh dear, naughty Felix; your poor mummy

So, a little update on Violet: she still can't suck enough to feed directly from me, but she's doing well on expressed milk. I am leaking like a very leaky person - it's almost not worth getting washed and dressed .
She had her first wipe-wash today, which made her extra hungry and she guzzled two "feeds" worth in one go! Oh, and her stump fell of last night during one of her many nocturnal activities - she's practically a grown-up .

Diec you could get some breast shells to save any leaked milk? Also the nurses in SCBU all recommended breast shields for the babies who couldn't latch the medela ones are good (sorry if I'm repeating it contradicting any advice you've already had!)

Puds they say their tummy is the first thing to grow before a growth spurt maybe the measurements will even out again?

Oh the leaking! I keep forgetting all of these things I have to look forward to! Thanks for the reassurance Diec. And that's really interesting Spotty. hope that's the case! I do feel like the baby has 'spurted' as I've been so hungry all of the time - and just fancying high calorie stuff...Anyway I'm being good now. I'm ashamed at myself really as DH cooked me a healthy tea and levels are perfect. Could have been doing that every night

Hey everyone glad the babies are doing well

puds did they tell u what weight baby is? They didnt tell me what percentile my baby was in just that slightly above average but within normal limits at 2.5lbs at 26wks 4days gestation is this ok??

Hi

Zach measured above 95th percentile for stomach all pregnancy until very end when he dropped into 65th percentile. Given I was told he would be big and he was 7lb 11oz I really do think scans can cause you unnecessary worry. Every new mum I have spoken to, diabetic or not have pretty much been told something about their baby size which has all proven wrong to try and not worry and be reassured they can hear a healthy heartbeat and you and baby are being carefully monitored, you're doing great!

X

I got told DD would be "average size" at birth according to the last growth scan, she was 9lbs 8oz :o Her stomach measurements wavered from 60% to 95% of average IIRC.

The doctors were surprised, not quite sure why since I'd told them I was well over 8lbs at birth and my mum isn't remotely diabetic (even now, many years later!). I don't think my family are built to grow small babies.

The sonographer did tell me that scan measurements have a minimum of 10% margin for error and that's if it's the same person doing the measurements every time. If it's different then the margin of error is higher.

I got told dd was 7lb she was born the next day weighing 8lb

Ahh that's good to know! Thanks ladies.

Hoping - did you say you've been having a problem with rising sugars on a night? I hit target tonight after dinner, had a BIT of pineapple and took insulin with it, but still crept up to 10 just now. I'm having to correct before bed every night so I don't stay there. Did you find out what the problem was?

Also I'm on 14.5u long acting now. I know we're all different, so it's a bit like asking how long is a piece of string, but is that loads? To me it is yet I reckon I'm going to have to knock it up again.