Type 1 Diabetes Pregnancy Support Thread

[MrsNuckyThompson]

Wow - with a catchy title like that, who could resist? I was part of a lovely supportive thread like this one during my last pregnancy which was nearly 4 years ago now. I'm currently around 6 weeks pregnant with my 2nd DC. DS is 3.4

Anyone want to join me?

Nucky I think that sounds fine. I've looked into the risks before in great detail and made similar decisions myself based on what I feel is a really risky thing to do or what really isn't. Very personal choice but sounds sensible to me.

Sugar glad you've changed hospitals. Extraordinary that they wouldn't do it despite it being gold standard these days. Good luck with your new team. Have your numbers been ok or do you just find yourself obsessing anyway?

I have my 18 week scan this week which I'm looking forward to but going alone again as DH is away. I've had a bug this weekend and found it hard to eat resulting in lots of lows but hopefully coming out of the other side of it. And started on omeprazole which is just wonderful!

sugar - I am just amazed and appalled by the treatment you have received to this point. It is completely horrifying. What is worse is that if you weren't the type of person to go out and take advice independently (from hardcore medical sources like mumsnet) you might have just accepted what they said and never thought any more about it!

If it helps, I didn't have heart scan til 22 weeks this time and the Fetal Medicine website at St George's says optimum time is something like 19-23 weeks, so think you're fine!

What I would say to you is..... Do you think you might need to seek some help around the anxiety you are suffering? It really doesn't sound good if you are feeling overwhelmed by diabetes or obsessing about levels when at home alone. Although I'm sure we all go through phases like this, it sounds as though this is becoming a really big issue for you. It might help to talk to your GP or investigate some counselling or whatever. I hope you don't take offence to my saying this: it's just that it is hard enough without feeling so down about it and isolated, especially as you are working from home.

Tea - great you are having a scan! I didn't get one at 18 weeks, so they are clearly starting you early! Last pregnancy I went to all the routine growth scans alone - DH only came to the 12, 20 and fatal scans, and I think by then had lost interest! The scans also become less interesting over time because as the baby grows you can't see the whole thing at once so you get a lot less sense of what you're looking at. It's not like anyone ever said - oooooh, a close up stomach or femur!

Ugh, fever and throwing up. Had minor temperature last week and didn't take it easy enough to fully recover from it so now it's back with a vengeance. Basal rates 150% seem to be the way forward, otherwise going high despite hardly eating anything. Sick day rules are weird.

Cabin Pressure and online xmas gift searching are keeping me busy, along with the toddler who so far seems to have luckily avoided this.

Very glad to hear RF is working out for you sugar, hopefully the new & improved support will help to make you feel less anxious about it all.
The 3 doc meeting at St M sounds really bizarre!

Thanks all. And am seriously grateful for MN medical advice otherwise I would have had absolutely no idea that the care I was receiving was so patchy! (Although it definitely felt like something wasn't right this whole time).

Sorry to hear tea and Ripley have both had bugs - my worst nightmare would be trying to deal with blood sugars, pregnancy and a bug so really hope you both feel better soon!

MrsNucky Fortunately my husband shoulders a lot of my diabetes anxiety and is very good at reassuring me. It's more that I feel like I'm high a lot but none of the consultants, nurses, dieticians etc I've seen have seemed too alarmed - it's just that I tend to sit between about 7-11 for a few hours after I've eaten which is obviously well about the guidelines.

And sorry to ask about delivery again, but I'm still unclear as to what happens if you choose not to have the sliding scale and you have a hypo once you're in active labour and nil by mouth? Would they inject you with some glucose?

PS tea I'm permanently on omeprazole because of chronic acid reflux and it is an absolute lifesaver! Nothing else works for me!

labour bg management... with me I was fine to drink all the way through so altough I never went proper hypo (no chance as was testing every 20-30 min), I had lucozade, glucojuice, orange juice and coconut water... so if I was dropping & approaching 3.5 or so I would have had something to raise it up a bit.
Probably possible to just be on the glucose drip as well (as a back-up, so no continuous dose)? Seems to be quite common with the T1 labours in Finland.

I think it would be good to see a copy of the protocol they use in labour, I'm going to ask nearer the time. If you have a cannula in (but not the sliding scale) they can bolus some glucose straight in if you hypo but I don't know exactly what they'd do. I don't know if you're officially nil by mouth in labour are you? But it would be hard to get the right volume of juice or glucose tablets down if you're actively labouring.

Sugar it's so hard because on the one hand they're hammering home the importance of tight control but like you say, seem relaxed if it's not perfect!

Hi all.

(TL;DR here :) )
Just thought I'd pop a wee intro here as I'm so happy to have found this thread!

(Essay)

After 9 years with no luck we are finally expecting our first child. I'm currently only 8w+2 so will probably (hopefully) be on this thread a lot over the next 7 months.

I wasn't a very "good" diabetic before we conceived and I am now trying my hardest to be as good as I can be but am struggling with daily hypos and the fear that I'm gonna do something to damage the baby. Is there any advice you can give as to what to expect? I have been abandoned before and have been self managing for years now and I feel very on my own. (I'm in touch with the diabetic team at my hospital but have only seen them once so far)

When we got help years ago when we started TTC I was always told I'd get regular scans and they'd make sure everything was ok but so far I've had a "viability" scan at 6 weeks and now I don't have another until the 10th of January.

Sorry for the long essay - I'll shut up now haha. I'm just a bit nervous right now and kinda needed to reach out to someone. After 9 years I don't know how I'd cope if something happened now. and breeeeeathe

Hello Bird and welcome! I'm absolutely not the expert here as only been T1 for a year but when you have time read through the whole thread, I learnt so much just reading it! Especially about what you should be getting in terms of care. Have you been to the antenatal clinic yet?

Hi Tea :)

Yeah I've been to the clinic. I freaked out as soon as I got a + and ended up seeing the midwife that day at 4pm!

Met most of the team at the antenatal clinic and will be back again in January - I think I'm just apprehensive due to the long wait before I go back! I'll deffo have a look through the thread - I'm still at the stage of complete disbelief and fear...

Hi bird and welcome. Congrats on the pregnancy.

If you can stand it I would really recommend that you read the NICE guidelines on what you should expect in terms of care. In particular, you should be offered to be seen by a specialist ante natal team every 1-2 weeks.

I think what you've described in terms of scans is about right. I think most of us have had an early scan and then the regular 12 weeks scan. However you SHOULD be seen by the team much more regularly between now and January to help you with controlling bloody glucose levels etc.

Anyway if you have any questions, ask away!

And here's the link to NICE: www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng3/chapter/1-Recommendations#antenatal-care-for-women-with-diabetes-2

Hi MrsNT

Thank you so much for that information. It will help a great deal (especially knowing what to expect).

My main issue is that prior to this we had "given up" on becoming parents and I kind of stopped caring as much about my control (sounds silly when I actually put that in writing but it's what has happened and there's a long backstory involving treatment and 2 MC that I won't bore you with). My HbA1c was in the 80s when I had it checked when I found out (thankfully I found out early and hopefully won't have done any damage to the child). Since then I am doing everything in my power to get on top of it and usually sit around the 5.5mmol mark now.

I haven't heard from the team at the hospital since my scan at 6+1 and they asked me to do a couple of readings which I haven't been able to provide properly due to things like nausea and going off my food or having several hypos and having to "fix" them. The want me to fast during the day to check my long-acting but I'm finding this impossible right now. I don't know how to get round this and feel under pressure (as I said in a prev post I got "lost in the system" with my last care team and I'm terrible at facing this stuff and I'm stressing out about people watching me all the time.

I know I sound silly and don't want to drown the forum in long posts so I just need reassurance on a couple of things.

Will hypos hurt the baby? I get out of them very quickly but as I'm getting the control back I'm struggling a bit with my hypo awareness and can hit some real lows now.

How do I fast when I vomit when I don't eat?

What can I be doing to make sure I get this done right?

Sorry for writing so much. I just feel like I need to talk to someone who understands (my DH tries but he's very practical and I kinda bottle things)

Hypos can't hurt the baby but they can hurt you! But getting things under control at this early stage is really crucial as all the major organs are forming. Have you got any secondary complications like retinopathy?

Re nausea see your GP for some anti-sickness tablets if you're struggling.

There's no 'right' way that I know of! I think everyone finds their own way somehow.

Hello, i am lucky enough to be able to join your thread!

I am 28 and have had type 1 since i was 12.

After an early miscarriage in September i find myself pregnant again. I had a 7 week scan yesterday and saw an obvious heartbeat, which was great. Little one is only measuring 7.7mm though which for 7+2 i believe is quite small - so i will find myself worrying about that over christmas now!

Congrats Cosmo and CheekyBird! As MrsNucky said above, it's well worth reading the NICE guidelines (and this thread) to see what kind of care you should be receiving from your team.

I had nausea/loss of appetite and aversions from about 6-16 weeks but anti-sickness tablets definitely helped - no need to struggle through. Hypos are not believed to hurt baby (although there hasn't actually been a lot of research done into this, one doctor told me) but obviously are very unpleasant for you and even the occasional high BG readings aren't terrible either, it's prolonged exposure to high blood sugar that can be damaging.

My control wasn't great when I conceived either but I was taking folic acid for a few months and then after I thought there was a possibility I might be pregnant (before it was confirmed) I started tightening up control.

Are you guys on a pump or injections? And have you looked into continuous glucose monitoring at all? I am always raving about my Freestyle Libre flash monitoring system, which unfortunately I have to self fund (not currently available on the NHS) but has been a gdsend because it tells me whether my blood glucose is trending up or down without me having to prick my finger (it;s not always 100% accurate though so I still do plenty of finger checks too).

Hi Tea. I've been really really lucky and so far have no complications.

Thanks Sugar. I'm on injections (can't seem to get much info on pumps in my area - I live very remote on a Scottish island so we don't have a lot of funding here). I check my levels umpteen times a day (my poor fingers). Don't know much about the CGM's but will check the criteria the next time I'm at an app :)

Congrats Cosmo. I feel you on this one - that wait til the next scan is feeling like a lifetime! I was told that if you see the heartbeat before or around 8 weeks that's a really good sign and it's more likely that it will be ok. :)

Ooh Bird that's interesting! I'm Scotland too but not an island. Have you got a hospital or doctor have to go to the mainland for appointments?

Welcome Cosmo great news on the scan.

Tea yeah I have to go to the mainland but thankfully I'm not way out hehe - It's a well known island (that isn't Arran ;) ) Just gotta go to 3 different hospitals, the local one for the MW, one on the mainland for Scans and Diabetic team and then one I will eventually give birth in!

Tis a bit of a pain in the arse

Afternoon. How is everyone doing? My numbers are ok, the odd very slight higher reading after meals but no drastic changes yet.

It's funny thinking about food and Christmas and stuff, somebody at work said 'oh you can eat what you like now you're pregnant' er no! This is the lightest I've ever been pregnant as no grazing or nibbling on stuff all the time!

I don't often get anxious about diabetes but I've realised I do get anxious when things like needles and test strips are running low! I'd love to have a massive cupboard full of stuff that would last for months and months! My GPs are very good about prescriptions, as are the chemist and I've never truly run out but it's funny what does press your anxiety buttons sometimes.

Right random musings over, hope everyone is well.

Hello all,
Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Have been catching up on the thread regularly but usually on my phone and I'm too lazy to type messages on that so have to wait until I get to the computer!

Congratulations on your pregnancies WeeCheekyBird and Cosmo. It's great to have new people joining!

I've been back at work for about a week and a half now and really glad to be there. Everyone has been great and I'm doing a lot less than I was before.

I'm just SO relieved to have made it to 24 weeks today. It's a milestone I always had my eye on, but a million times more since the bleed. The evening I was admitted my husband and I were talking to the bump and telling him that he absolutely HAD to stay put until 24 weeks, and thank god he has!! Of course I want to continue for many more weeks and make it until safe delivery time, but I'm just so relieved to have got to this point. [Raises glass of Badoit]

In terms of diabetes things are ticking along fine. I've found a great breakfast solution: mini veggie frittatas from M&S. have finally managed to put a stop to annoying post breakfast highs (for the time being until insulin requirements shift again!) My main battle at the moment is to stop myself from eating everything in sight. I put on weight quite rapidly during the time I was resting up at home - I was totally sedentary and also eating quite a lot , but its a bit easier to have routine now I'm back at work so being a bit more moderate.

Got clinic coming up on Thursday and I totally have not bothered to record any results for aaaaages so I guess I should be working on that now...

Hope you are all well and feeling good!

That's great news Esker, 24 weeks is a big milestone! As is getting back to work.

Ooft, correcting a hypo and the baby is going crazy!

Must be a timing thing because I was 8.0 2 hours after breakfast but then less than an hour later was at 3.0.

tea I get the same thing with dips several hours post meal. Basically if I manage to get within range for 1 hour post meal, I know that I'll need to eat some sort of top up snack to avoid a hypo. Annoying! At least the baby kicking like crazy shows that he/she is getting plenty of energy either way