Type 1 diabetic mums & mums to be damn that dawn phenomenon!

[SpottyTeacakes]

New thread ladies

[Hopingforno2]

Hmm i know it shouldnt but it does make me wonder if bf is going to be right for me thats if baby takes to it anyway, as selfish as this thought is bottle has done my ds no harm and i want my eyes to be ok any thoughts rue and diec? Also did u have background 2 years ago then diec?

[Hopingforno2]

Sorry we must have been posting at the same time rue well i was officially diagnosed around 13 years ago but looking back think i may have been diabetic most of my life but with no treatment it got worse if that makes sense? My mum says i used to cry for 8 hours solid as a baby and was always drinking then got food posioning at around 7 or 8 and my metabolism totally changed i put alot of weight on, when i decided to loose it as a teenager i lost lots fell below 8 stone and almost fell off a horse while jumping at around 17 when i was finally diagnosed but as ive said i was a crappy patient forgot to take my insulin, ate lots and spent weekends drinking how stupid was i!! Guess im just feeling a but down about it all i cope with having to fo mdi and test bg etc but this just makes it seem like it rules my life

[SpottyTeacakes]

Hoping I was hospitalised for a week after drinking too much and not taking my insulin. We all do it try not to beat yourself up

[Hopingforno2]

Thanks spotty looking back i see how stupid i was but im not sure id have listened if any1 has tried to tell then i was in denial i think. Had really poor control postnatal with ds but suffered pnd for a few months following his birth not that it excuses me its just the reason i was so lax then in 2011 at xmas time my mum had a heart attack n my control once again suffered it was like 11% truly awful but was 7.5 by the time i fell pregnant and was in the 5s within 3 months which is the probable cause for whats happening i just hope i dont need treatment and it settles after this baby is born! Got an appt for trace at 2pm and have to take my 4yo ds should be fun lol

[RueDeWakening]

My HbA1c was rarely below double figures for over 10 years - I had an eating disorder specific to diabetics, where you use (lack of) insulin to control weight. Not that that has ever been recognised by any of my consultants/nurses (I've never really told anyone) - it's only by joining some online support groups that I realised it even existed and with hindsight could see actually what my behaviour was IYSWIM. That and my DH was incredibly supportive and I found someone who would look at the issues I had fairly analytically and suggest ideas that had some chance of working (eg applying for pump funding) so here we are. I honestly don't know what would have happened by now if I hadn't been funded for a pump.

The feelings I had a few months ago about this pregnancy (which I posted a bit about at the time re not testing etc) scared me because they were similar to how I felt as a teenager when this eating disorder thing kicked off - I got very skilled at saying the right things to HCPs, not testing for weeks/months on end and making up fairly realistic BG readings :( To my shame I'm still very good at bullshitting HCPs and have to consciously decide not to...the leftovers of what went before, I suppose.

Eventually I came to the opinion that I couldn't change what I'd done in the past, only how I deal(t) with it now, and my control has been much more stable and I've been much more open/involved in treatment etc than ever before. Long hard road to travel though.

[Mylittlepuds]

Hi ladies. I'm going to be really rude here and post without reading back through what's been happening. Just after some advice. I've hit 35 weeks today and for the last two days I've been having unexpected lows - one was 1.7 - and insulin requirements definitely dropping. DSN said reduction in insulin normal at 36 weeks but 35? I'm concerned but DSN doesn't seem to be. I know it can be the sign of a failing placenta...anyone else had this what did it mean?

[SpottyTeacakes]

Puds I had it and they got me in that day for steroids, ds was born four days later. I've only ever heard that blood sugars raise towards the end but I'm no expert....

[Mylittlepuds]

So frustrating that it's not being taken seriously! Can you remember how many weeks Spotty that you started having lows? How much you dropped insulin by?

[SpottyTeacakes]

With dd I was about 35 with ds I was 34+6 and my insulin requirements for breakfast halved in two days. I don't know much about it though only my experience

[Mylittlepuds]

My insulin requirements have halved for lunch and dinner. I've just spoken to a diabetes consultant and he said to lower my insulin!!!!!!!! To say I'm fd off is an understatement. I honestly don't know what to do as noone is taking it seriously.

[RueDeWakening]

I'd turn up at your assessment unit and ask for a trace/monitoring tbh. Phone the labour ward maybe and see what they say?

[SpottyTeacakes]

I don't know puds I'm sorry I can't help. If my nurse had said it was fine I would have believed her but I really trusted her and my consultant. I just really thought insulin requirements kept going up...

[Hopingforno2]

rue like i said bad bad patient and yes ive done it too after ds was born i used my diabetes to shift some of the weight to my great shame now i was old enough to know better, perhaps the change in my eyes will actually put all things ie weight and feeling down afterwards in to perspective this time and is the kick up the a**e ive been needing as prev everyone and everything was put before me looking after me. Im not perfect now but instead if just sticking to a dose and eating carby foods/choc i increase my insulin and test again 2-3 hours later to see if correction is needed and i never eat choc/sweet things outside meal times im hoping the cravings will go with delivery of baby and my bg has been more stable including them weirdly enough.i cant thank tou enough for your support, thinking i may need it for a while yet no1 quite undertands like sum1 who has been there

puds yes me, i dropped a bit but only like 2-3u from 34 weeks and my dsn didnt seem concered either but my consultant then had me scanned the following week to check fluid/bloodflow and all was well tho baby is huge. They now check my twice a week clinic on mondays trace today. When are u at clinic? Are going in at 37 or 38 weeks? Mine have went back up a bit well the levemir has anyway

[Mylittlepuds]

I've simply turned up at the maternity assessment unit - great minds Rue! I've just read your post. Any idiot can tell me I need to reduce my insulin - no shit Sherlock!!! Surely common sense would tell you that if insulin requirements drop by 50% it needs investigating. I have no faith at all. I'm in a T1 pregnancy support group and a few ladies to who it's happened to have been whipped straight in, and a couple given emergency c sections at 35/36 weeks. It makes me so annoyed that I have to force the issue. Yes I could understand a few units here or there but such a drop - and still going low??

I could scream.

[Hopingforno2]

Ive had similar issues but not such huge drops in requirements and it is a worry though they are keeping a close eye on me so just doing what they say for now and my trace today was fine, lets us know how u get on.

[Mylittlepuds]

Another consultant has just said 'well as long as you're dealing with the hypos I'd recommend cutting your insulin.'

I'm on CGM and know the way my body reacts to food and insulin so well and he wanted to know what the lowest i'd gone today was. I was trying to get across to him that I'm not concerned about the bastard hypos, it's the sudden dramatic drop in insulin. Anyway they're not concerned at all and I don't know what to do. I'm on a trace now and all fine but that's not the point!

What can I do other than trust them? Not a lot really. He was going on about me having a 1.7 yesterday and 'we need to avoid hypos.' WTF! Am I not making myself bloody clear?!

[Hopingforno2]

Its so frustrating isnt it my dsn actually didnt have a clue i dont think! It was only at the clinic i felt heard are u there soon? Can you get in touch with them i had to wait it out till the monday from the thus but luckily all was well and they r watching me and telling me to just call and come in if concerned anytime.

[SpottyTeacakes]

Argh puds I don't know what you can do they must know what they're talking about though

[Mylittlepuds]

Hi hoping. I can contact them tomorrow do hopefully I'll get more sense out them then. It inspires NO confidence at all when two t1 diabetic consultants can't understand the point you're trying to get across. All they're bothered about are the bloody hypos! Do they not think I can deal with a hypo?! Ahhh rant over.

It's looking like 38 weeks at mo Hoping but given what's going on I have a real feeling it's going to be earlier...

[Hopingforno2]

im 38 weeks too so far despite the fact baby was 8lbs 1oz on monday and my back is starting to really feel it so im 4th april but i dunno this lil scamp has done everything her own way so far so im taking bets on going in to labour on like 1st of april and no1 thinking im serious lol

[RueDeWakening]

Problem is puds that often the diabetic consultants don't know much about pregnancy ime, you need to see the obs/gynae consultant really I think.

I would come right out and say that you've read (via diabetes uk or whatever) that sudden dramatic drops in insulin requirements are a sign that the placenta is failing, is this the case with you and how do they intend to manage the risk?

[Mylittlepuds]

Rue thanks for that - that's really helpful advice. I will def say that to my DSN tomorrow and ask her if I can speak to the obs/gyn.

It was very hard to not lose it given I was speaking to an 'expert'. It shocks me sometimes what a waste of time it is going into hospital.

[Hopingforno2]

My consultant is an obs/ gynae doctor who looks after diabetic pregnancy for my hospital and was the same doc i had for ds so i trust her judgement completley which is why i accepted being booked in for an elcs by her. When mine had dropped slightly she said right belts n braces i want you seen twice weekly and scanned me again the following monday to check blood flow and fluid levels . Id see if you can speak to your own consultant tommorow if thats even possible?

[Mylittlepuds]

I'll ask - thanks Hoping. Ooh she's not called Sarah is she? I had a Sarah last time who used the phrase 'belts and braces'?!

[Hopingforno2]

lol no im way up in lanarkshire scotland her name is dina mclellan i found her intimadating first time with ds but she can see how hard i try and has been very understanding.