Any type 1 diabetics?

[Pinkhan135]

Hey
I'm currently 9 weeks. First pregnancy. Just wondered if there's any type 1 diabetics currently pregnant or had a baby and able to offer any advice/ support.
I'm already under the diabetes antenatal team and had my first appointment. My consultant is keep a close eye on my blood sugars.

Hi @Pinkhan135, I am :)

Currently 33 weeks pregnant so the end is very much in sight! Not sure I have any advice that you wouldn't get from your antenatal team but if I could reassure you, everything has gone text book for me. The baby is growing absolutely average and there have been no problems.

Your requirements for insulin will sky rocket but don't panic if you have a few high or low blood sugars, while you want to avoid it, it is very much not the end of the world and 9 months is a long time to live in constant worry (I wish someone had said this to me at the beginning!)

Good luck :)

Ahh thank you!
It's so lovely to hear from a fellow diabetic!
I keep hypoing so much atm! My insulin requirement has lowered dramatically!
I then over treat a hypo and bang it shoots up to 15! Scares me though as you hear about type 1 diabetic mums carrying bigger babies if there's control is poor. I have a good hba1c though so not panicking too much atm. And the freestyle libre is a god send!
Are you being induced at 38 weeks?

I know it’s terrifying! But honestly, while my control has been generally very good, there has been loads of lows followed by highs.

The consultants haven’t confirmed the exact date yet, but it should be between 37 and 38. I cannot wait! I found constantly worrying about blood sugars very stressful. But I suppose we should always be aiming for such good control :)

Oh yey! Fellow pregnant t1's 😊 I've literally just phoned my diabetes team and GP today to let them know I got a BFP yesterday, so Im in very early stages - 3/4 weeks. This is my first so Im very much like a deer in headlights and I've only been a diabetic for a a couple of years, so lots of new things happening 😕 But yes, the Libre is amazing! Luckily my hbA1c is in the pre diabetic range and my control is "excellent" according to my nurse (smug face lol) I've had no symptoms yet and my levels are still consistent at the moment. However, doesn't stop me from crapping myself 😬

Congrats @sabtom

Thanks @LH1987 😊 just a question: even if the pregnancy goes smoothly and there's no problems, are will still induced to give birth at 37/38 weeks? Have diabetes ever been allowed to go the full 40 weeks?

So the guidance that doctors follow is for any type of diabetic to be induced between 37 - 38+6 but I get the impression for type 1 its generally around the 38 week mark. For me everything has gone smoothly, no problems etc and the consultant still wants to induce at around 38 weeks. I think there is not only a chance of a larger baby but also of the placenta failing in later pregnancy.

So that will be what the doctors want to do, but obviously they cant force you to do an induction! I am sure there are diabetics who have gone full term successfully :)

@LH1987 ahh I see. The reason I ask is my due date is 04/05 Jan 2021, but being induced earlier would make it very likely a Christmas baby which I would've liked to avoid. But then again, as long as everything goes smoothly with no problems I wouldn't care which date it would be born 😊

That makes sense, generally i think hospitals try to avoid keeping people in over Christmas, so they will probably avoid a Christmas time induction anyway :)

Hi @LH1987 @Pinkhan135 ! Just a question, if you're already on good control of your sugar at what point did it start get difficult to control. I'm only 4+2 and my levels are pretty much perfect. When do things start to change?

I think change is the right word, it wont necessarily get badly controlled but your insulin requirements will change and you just need to keep on top of it.

For me, my requirements started to go up about mid way through the second trimester and now, I take over double what I used to. I also found in the third trimester that the speed at which the insulin was working got really got slow. I timed it and my quick acting insulin which I take before meals now takes about 30 - 45 to absorb whereas it might have taken 15 before.

At least we all have free style libres which is very very helpful :)

Congratulations everyone. I am a T1 and have 2 children. I am not having any more, but just popped on to say good luck. Don't worry if your blood sugars don't always do the right thing - I have good control and was vigilant and still had some bizarre readings. Things started to get a bit weird from about 6 or 7 weeks in my case. The libre will definitely help!

DD1 was induced at 38w, DD2 at 36w. DD2 was induced due to placental failure as I started having tons of hypos, suggesting my placenta wasn't using all the masses of insulin usually needed at that stage. She was fine after delivery, a little time under the jaundice lamp but didn't need special care. Now a very robust and adorable toddler!

Having experienced the start of placental failure I'd really encourage delivering as soon as your obstetrician advises. We could easily have lost DD2 - I was putting the hypos down to hot weather but fortunately had a clinic appointment the day after they came on.

Thanks @SylvanianFrenemies. that's so good to hear about your two healthy children :)

Thank you for all your advice everyone. I'm just feeling very anxious as this is my first and I'm 40 years old, I've only been diabetic for 2 years so fairly new to me and this is my first BFP after a year and a half of trying. Not to mention the whole covid situation happening at the same time.

Another pregnant T1 here, hi! I’ve got a 12 year old son and am currently 10+4 with (hopefully) my second baby. Have had quite a long journey to get here, didn’t mean to have such a large gap! When I was pregnant with my son I was so so worried about diabetes and the risks in pregnancy, and didn’t really have any sense of perspective - I was convinced that I would have a stillborn baby with undiagnosed spina bifida basically! This is despite having pretty good control and excellent antenatal care. It was a while ago now, but I got induced at 39weeks and my son was a very normal 7lb11oz and is healthy and lovely. By the end of that pregnancy I was on 3-4 times as much insulin than pre-pregnancy. Am finding diabetes so much easier to manage so far during this pregnancy as I now have a pump and the libre. My HbA1c a couple of weeks ago was 52, so not perfect but I am happy because my levels are much more stable than they have been in the past and I’m managing to avoid ‘yo-yoing’ too much by avoiding over treating my hypos.
Will be good to chat and support each other as we go through our pregnancies

Welcome @MysteriousSheep glad all went well with your first pregnancy. I would love to get a pump but the covid situation has put that on hold for now. Hopefully I'll still keep well controlled throughout this pregnancy with my libre and pens.

I am type 1. I have had 2 pregnancies. The only piece of advice I would give is to make sure that your 20 week anomaly scan is done in a professional manner by a competant person.

@sabtom I do love the pump as it means I always bolus, even for, say, one biscuit, as the pump is attached to me all the time and Is easier than getting a pen and injecting 1unit! This is good if you are a snacker like me. However, I think that the libre has had more impact on getting good control than the pump - I self funded it for a while before it became available on NHS and it made such a difference. I love the arrow that tells you if your going up or down, this has given me more confidence to run lower at work, for example.

Great to hear from more people who have had successful pregnancies! I have been struggling a bit with the yoyoing and over compensating with insulin or sugar, it's so hard not to panic!

Hi @Peanutsandraisins, great to hear of your two successful pregnancies. Is there something we should be looking out for a scans, I'm not I would know if a sonographer is competent or not!

Hi! Just wanted to check in with you all and see how things are going? I'm about 8 weeks now, first private scan next week. It's been strange as I've had no big symptoms, nausea or sickness and my insulin levels are still the same. Also not been having many hypos really. Are the hypos caused by first trimester sickness? If I (luckily) have no sickness does that mean I can only expect my insulin needs to go up instead of down?

Hi @sabtom, all is going well with me. I am booked in for induction on Wednesday (37 weeks). The baby is measuring very big which came as a big surprise as my blood sugars have been really good but maybe its just a big baby!

For me, I never had any morning sickness either. I think your insulin requirements just go up and not down. The reason people have hypos (I think) is because the rate that insulin is absorbed is slowed down which leads to high blood sugars and then over correction and then hypos. For me anyway, the change in insulin requirements just led to some hypos.

Hope all is going well for you.

Hiya, I'm t1d, had my first last year. I really struggled to find other women in the same position, so if you have any questions fire away

Hi @Wolfgirrl, great to hear about you had yours last year! And thank you for offering to answer questions. :)

Can I ask:

• How long did you and your baby spend in hospital after birth?
• How quickly did your insulin requirements reduce after birth?

No problem, it is hard to find real life stories outside of the generalised information the NHS gives you!

We spent 10 days in hospital in total. I was induced at 36 weeks as I was having lots of hypos and they suspected placental failure. The induction took 5 days - 2 lots of 24 hour pessaries, a 24 hour balloon and then a little wait for a labour room. The birth was 12 hours from the drip being put in, it was a forceps delivery as I was exhausted at the end but it wasnt at all bad or panicked. After that we spent another 4 nights in hospital, just for helping bfing and she needed some time under UV for jaundice.

From what I remember my insulin needs dropped after a week or so and kept dropping. If you breastfeed your insulin requirements are probably about half of your normal pre-pregnancy requirements as it uses up so much energy! So that's a plus.

Just as a side note, I would ask for an epidural when you have the drip put in - it will mean you can nap and keep your energy levels up for the pushing stage at the end

Thanks @Wolfgirrl, sounds like you had quite an experience! TBH, I have spent the last 37 weeks so worried about blood sugar reading etc that I am really excited to get going on the next stage.

Interesting about the hypos potentially indicating placental failure so a good tip for the other ladies on this thread to watch out for.