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?

Hadn't noticed the change to 37 weeks! Will check that out. My hosp have just said no later than 38 weeks. With DS they started induction at 37+5 and he arrived 37+7. I'd previously had the steroid injection for the lungs the week before as I'd had a random high blood pressure test and they thought they might have to get him out even earlier.

Have to say I'll be gutted if it's 37 weeks on the dot - that means a measly one week off work first!!! I need that me time before all hell breaks loose again.

Just checked NICE and it says elective induction or section between 37+0 and 38+6 so no change. That's assuming a healthy pregnancy and no complications / indicators. So no change I don't think.

Ahh, ok. It's probably because of my preeclampsia woes with my daughter, she said I'd come in for steroids at 36 weeks and section at 37. To be honest I'm happy with that as with my daughter my insulin requirements dropped massively the last two or three weeks (before 36 weeks) and I ended up on less insulin than before I was pregnant and I know that's an indicator of placenta issues, so I'd only worry if going longer.

Zyla - that probably explains it. Good they are being mindful of the issues you had the last time, and 37 weeks seems like a 'safe' compromise!

My ratios are bonkers still and going up almost daily. Churning through insulin like you wouldn't believe. Thank god for the NHS!

I'm sure my Consultant said 39 weeks when I asked but I'm in Scotland so not really strictly led by NICE guidelines. In practice as I also had pre-eclampsia I was induced before 37 weeks. Wonder how far I'll get this time!

Just a quickie ladies. I text Esker yesterday to check all is ok with them. Little Francis is doing well, they are able to give him lots of cuddles, change his nappies etc. He's still ventilated but they're hoping for that to be over soon.

Anyway, don't want to steal her good news but just reassure that they are doing a-ok!!

Brilliant Esker & Francis! Thank you for the update mrsN x

How are you doing Ripley? Mammoth commute to hospital ok?

Our pre Christmas meet slightly went out of the window but I'd be up for something midweek in early March once I'm on mat leave if any other London ladies fancy it??

Otherwise we'll all have to meet up with babes in the spring / early summer!!

Excellent news about little Frank, thanks for letting us know.

So just been to clinic and 32 week growth scan.

Basically, baby is holding the line, but instead of being just below 97th for stomach, she is now just above! Fluid levels have gone back down to 'normal' as they were slightly high the last time, so that's better.

DSN and nutritionist were lovely as usual.

Obstetrician was an underling instead of the consultant. He was nice enough but very casually mentioned 'oh, I see you've been having trouble controlling your BGs'. Eh, NO!! I've been having problems with ONE SODDING READING per day - the fasting one. I bend over backwards, have ridiculous hypos, wake up in the middle of the night to test and feel guilty every sodding day about it. The way he talked about it so casually was just like I couldn't be arsed all day every day. It is so upsetting.

MW was just as bad as I had one '+' glucose in my urine this morning. So she frowned and asked if I have that 'most of the time'. Well, no, if you looked at my chart you'd see I usually don't. And I'm sodding type 1, so I'd challenge you to find any type 1 who doesn't have a single + in their urine from time to time. It's the sheer lack of understanding, like I'm just being delinquent in my control.

Tell you, the sooner this baby is out and safe the better and then I never have to see this shower of muppets again!!

Shower of muppets ! Heh. Sorry you had one of those visits. They are painful. Towards the end we have so many appointments, it's so annoying when after all the work and effort you put in they are simply ignorant and unhelpful. I've felt like slapping a hcp a number of times (only once been openly 'ffs, fo' mind), but then it'd be bloody amazing if a few moronic specimens didn't crop up every now and then...
Grin and bare it, and rant to us .

Good thing about the fluid levels, and the stomach measurement too - under or above the line sounds like an ok variation, at least it hasn't jumped way off, right? Your hba1c has been amazing and you don't get post food spikes, all in all you are doing superbly well.

Mammoth journey, not a problem - very glad I swapped back. 32-week growth scan & endo/obs appointments tomorrow, quite nervous but will be good to know what's going on.

Thumbs up for a London midweek meet-up in early March. I've drastically reduced my hours already...

First appointment and scan tomorrow, everything crossed things are all in the right place and we see a heartbeat.

Ha! I was the shower of muppets once. I always have sympathy for the 'underlings' it was crap feeling out of your depth and thrown in at the deep end! But yes pretty rubbish as a patient too. Can't say I've felt that with my hospital they seem quite receptive and on top of things.

Good news Zyla.

Zyla - good luck for tomorrow, and report back to let us know what happens!! There are 3 of us left on this thread with due dates very close together (me, Ripley and Sugar) then Tea is not very far behind us! But we can still remember well those early nervous days, so please do update us!

Ripley - am very jealous you have already cut your hours. I am so very tired this time around. Not like first pregnancy at all when I took regular cat naps and had lie ins at the weekend!!

Well ladies, that's me almost 8 weeks. Had a scan 2 weeks ago which measured me at 5+3 or 5+4 and baby had a heartbeat. That's keeping me going!

Blood sugars have been much better controlled. I still get the odd high reading every few days and wonder why as I don't do anything different (or is it just me?!)

I've been feeling sick, but not actually been sick. Get kind of cramps/pinching feelings now and again in my lower tummy area - hope this is normal!

Had a hypo during the night last night, but apart from that seems to be good on the whole. Loving being pregnant and it feels like a miracle to this there is a tiny life growing inside me!

Just worrying about my diabetes and what it holds for the future few months of pregnancy. X

Scan all good! Little heartbeat :). They've put me at 5+6 today and I thought I was 6+3, this puts me at due date of 28th Sept now, but I'm expecting to get a couple of days back when I go for another scan in 3 weeks, which the lovely obstetrician booked me in for just to reassure me because of mc last time :)

The diabetes consultant has put me on a cgm for 6 days to see if my dawn phenomenon is consistent, if it is then a pump can help with those highs in the morning by ramping up the dose in the early hours of the morning. If it's not consistent then there's no need for a pump as he's really pleased with my control generally. I'm back next tues to return it, then appointment on wed to see the results :)

Hello everyone! Sorry to have been a no show for the past little while. I've just caught up with the thread- so nice to head how you are all doing Nucky, Ripley and Sugar, the time is really drawing nigh!!

And hello to new joiners- congrats on seeing the heartbeat Zyla, that must have been lovely!

All is well with me and Francis. We are still in ICU though as unfortunately he is still ventilated... but it's only a matter of time before he will be off. I am trying my best to be patient. On the good news front, he is gaining weight really well. Every time we have a nurse who hasn't seen him for a few days they are startled by how big he is getting. Now 1.7kg (was 1.05kg at birth).

I'm just in the 'Parents Lounge' having lunch after having a lovely cuddle with Francis for two hours. It's amazing how beneficial skin to skin is for him- honestly the second he went in my chest today, his oxygen saturation went up to 100 and they were able to turn down the amount of oxygen he needed from the ventilator.

Here at the ward they provide free lunch and dinner to all the mums. Is actually really helpful as you dong waste time and money going out for food, especially good for the mums who are at feeding stage and need to be with their baby basically the whole time. As ever... hospital food not fantastic for T1s, however there are some ok choices and obviously ok far more relaxed about what I eat now anyway.

Nucky I would most definitely be up for a meet up in March. My only constraint is that I need to be near-ish to UCLH (Euston), as I have to express every 3 hrs so can't stay too far from my pump! However if that doesn't suit everyone else, no problem!

Glad to hear you got some cuddle time today *Esker

MrsNucky I'd also be up for a March meet-up! Can do pretty much anywhere central or North London so Euston is no problem. Also, I noticed you talking about your experience on the expressing colostrum thread and wanted to ask how many weeks you were when you started? I just bought some syringes off Amazon and have contacted a lactation consultant. I know it takes some time to get going with it.

Am also totally knackered at the moment - and feet and hands are so puffy. And I'm properly waddling. A man with a walking stick let me get on the bus in front of him today!! Oh dear...

Congrats to those who just had their scans :) And Zyla I'm on a pump - went on it at about 7 weeks pregnant - so happy to offer any advice if I can. It definitely helped with my dawn phenomenon but it is a total pain having it attached all the time.

sugar that's my concern, I toss and turn a lot at night and my daughter is always climbing all over me, I don't want to get it knocked... We will see if it's needed next week :)

Morning. Great update Esker. Hope things continue to go in the right direction.

Also a bit puffy in the feet, have dug out support tights and socks. Joint clinic and growth scan this week.

Ran the gauntlet with pancakes, bacon and maple syrup this morning but pleased to say it was 6.5 after! Probably means I'll go low in the next hour.

Hope everyone is doing ok.

Esker - thanks for the update. So good to hear. Happy to meet near Euston while on mat leave - plenty of time!

Sugar - last time I expressed colostrum from 36 weeks. I think that is realistically the best time to start as it gives you a week or two to get up a good stash but if you try to start earlier you won't get much. I found the lactation consultant very useful - she literally man handled me and showed me what to do. It is quite weird but frankly you're about to lose all dignity you ever had so don't fret Got a drop or two the first time I tried but it soon ramped up after that. I quickly tried a few days ago but think it is too early. Nothing came out but I'm only 33 weeks.

Zyla - DP is my big issue too. They didn't really believe me when I said how bad it was until I was about 26 weeks (because hba1c is good and other readings all tight) and by then I thought it was just too late to get up and running with a pump. I also can't get my head around being attached the whole time nor how it would work with a 3 year old or new born!!

Wonder what got deleted?

I have erratic sugars in the morning but I'm guessing not 'bad'. But I can't understand how they jump about so much!

Practically speaking what happened after with the frozen colostrum? Did your DH bring it to hospital after you'd delivered? Did you warm it/syringe/bottle?

This is the info sheet on colostrum I got given last time - tho it mentions starting at 37 weeks am sure they gave the syringes etc at 34. It goes into the storage etc practicalities at the end.
www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/resources/our-services/maternity/hand-expressing-leaflet.doc

tea - we got spammed! I reported and they seem to have deleted.

Yup I think we took a few syringes in with us when I was having the section then each day DH would bring more from home when he visited. Just brought a cool bag and they should have a fridge for breastmilk anyway.

The genius thing is you just squirt it straight from the syringe into the baby's mouth so no need to further decant.