Expecting to Expect with Type 1 Diabetes
I was diagnosed a T1D while pregnant with my son Thor a little over a year ago. At that time, I had zero knowledge of what it was and what it would take to manage. Thanks to my amazing diabetic educators and my doctor for being patient during this transition and keeping us both safe. This time around I am more confident in managing my diabetes, but also scared shitless knowing all that I went through the first time... Never ending doctor appointments, constantly changing insulin requirements, preeclampsia, postpartum lows for mommy and baby and lets not forget the normal pregnancy symptoms and pushing out a 9lb baby! Having said all of that makes even me think, wow I cant believe i'm gonna do it all over again! As soon as I took my son Thor home, I immediately knew that I wasn't done having children.
So, this time will be different in the sense that I know that I'm diabetic going into it. What does that mean? Well I wasn't really sure so now that my husband Luke and I are ready to start trying for #2 I made an appointment to see what my endocrinologist had to say about it. These are the questions that I asked and her responses.
Q- What does my A1C need to be before making another baby? (A1C-a blood test that shows your average blood sugar for about 3 months)
A- 6.5
Q- What is my A1C?.... This was kind of funny because we chatted for a while about adjustments to my insulin and she kept referring to her laptop, but never mentioned what my A1C was... This was somewhat tortureous because thats the main reason T1D's go to their endocronologist every 3 months.
A- 6.5
Wow, that's pretty convenient!! I thought it would be higher because I was struggling through my first diabetic period and weaning my son from breastfeeding, which by the way, reeked havoc on my blood sugars. I've been upping my insulin steadily for the last couple of months.
Q- What can I expect to happen to my insulin levels?
A- In the beginning you will likely have lots of hypoglycemia.(low blood sugar)
Q- When will that likely start?
A- Around 6 weeks and then your insulin needs will steadily increase until delivery.
That pretty much sums up my appointment, I'm super excited that my A1C is baby ready because I was really nervous she would tell me to wait. She also said that I'm extremely well controlled considering how many carbs I eat!!! Was that a subtle way of telling me i'm a fatty?!
Next steps...
Make an appointment with my high risk OB and time to get busy!
***Please leave a comment if you have any questions that I should ask at my next appointment or about anything else! :)