5 weeks pregnant and BG's spiking!

[Babysaurus]

Hi, This is my first post on this forum and I was wondering if anyone else could share their experiences with me.

I have just found out I am pregnant and I normally have excellent control, (last Hca1c was 6.4mmol) but am finding I need a LOT more insulin already. This in itself is fine, and I can up my doses easily enough, but am slightly concerned about how this may affect the baby. I was also wondering if many other Type 1's have had this, especially in the first few weeks, and how things calmed down further along the line - and also, of course, how they and their babies are now!

I have an apt at the hospital next Wednesday but know from experience that they tend to assume that a) you are eating Mars bars for breakfast and b) don't know what you're doing in the first place until quite a few appointments in so tend to get very frustrated! This is my second pregnancy after a rather traumatic missed miscarriage in July so am a bit more neurotic than normal!
Thanks!

 

[Steff]

Hi there baby and a warm welcome to the forum,firstly congratulations on your pregnancy, but sorry to hear about what happened in July total tragedy,Sorry i cant directly help with your queary but they will be someone along soon who is more clued up on this x

 

[am64]

hello and welcome to the forum ..i cant help you directly but there are many who are either pregnant or have recently become mums who will be able to help you im sure xx
good luck xAm🙂

 

[Babysaurus]

Thanks ladies! My midwife said that almost all Type 1's have weird blood sugars when they first find out they are pregnant, even if they are normally fine, but it always helps to hear about other people's experiences!

 

[Northerner]

Thanks ladies! My midwife said that almost all Type 1's have weird blood sugars when they first find out they are pregnant, even if they are normally fine, but it always helps to hear about other people's experiences!

Hi Babysaurus, welcome to the forum 🙂 If you have a browse around the pregnancy section I think you'll find quite a few stories about the ups and downs of insulin levels! Hopefully some of our mums and mums-to-be will be along to share their experiences soon 🙂 Congratulations!

 

[am64]

aww good luck ..x

 

[clashann]

Hi and congratulations 🙂

I am not type 1 but the exact same thing happened to me on both this pregnancy and my last. Insulin requirements needed to go up as soon as I found out I was pregnant and did so every week. There was no such thing as 1st trimester lows for me so you are certainly not alone.
On both pregnancies, once I got to 21-22 weeks pregnant blood sugar levels went crazy and insulin needs to go up alot from this point on. By the time I was 37 weeks pregnant, my insulin requirements were 50-42-48 units of humulin s which is an insane amount but it immediately drops once little one is born.

 

[Monkey]

Hello, and congratulations!

Quite normal, in my experience. My insulin requirements increased pretty much the whole way thro my pregnancy, only really levelling in the last couple of weeks. Even then, I was on many times my usual doses - I got thro insulin at an incredible rate!

Saying that, I know some people find that in early pregnancy their requirements drop, I'm guessing because the growing baby takes so much of the energy that you're consuming. I don't think taking more insulin should affect baby - I know the risk to the baby from hypos is far less acute than hypers.

You sound very clued up tho, and I really hope this pregnancy is much less traumatic than your last one.

 

[sugarfreerach]

Hi and welcome to the forum. I gave birth 7 weeks ago, type 1 diabetic for 7 years and have been on a pump for 3 years.

i found they were all over the place until around 8 weeks, then my insulin req really dipped until about 16- 17 weeks when they insulin req gradually went higher and higher. Around 35 weeks they dropped dramatically but thats another thread! He was born using forceps at 36+2 after successful induction. Not all diabetic pregnancies end in c section!

Congratulations and enjoy!

 

[elliebug]

hello,
congratulations 🙂 i'm 9 weeks and my requirements have dropped at night and increased during the day! so i guess anything goes! hope it goes well on wed

 

[Babysaurus]

Thanks ladies for you replies! It is massively reassuring to know I am not the only one whose good control has started to go a bit all over the shop a few weeks into pregnancy! I am guessing that this must happen, to varying degree's and ways, to almost every diabetic so I must try and not to stress too much!

I did call the diabetic nurse today but she didn't get back to me so will have to try and call again on Monday. I am writing down the readings I am getting and seeing if I can spot a pattern; so far I can't but it's only been two days of writing it down (I normally don't need to) so maybe I need to give it a week or so.

SugarFreeRach I found my way onto here due to you - you PM'd me on Mumsnet when I was posting about Type 1 and pregnancy early on in my last pregnancy (hmm, sounds like it's a monthly event!) Thanks - it is good talking to people with direct experience and also proper knowledge (most people, in my experience, get muddled between types 1 and 2.)

Lastly, am asking this as my husband seems to think the consultant said this in our apt last time, is it prolonged high blood sugars which are terrible or are the occassional spike, which is then brought down my extra insulin, just as bad (potentially)? I am guessing a bit of both, but worse if it is prolonged.

 

[MrsCLH]

Hi there, congratulations and welcome to the forum. I gave birth to baby Harry almost 4 weeks ago. I was exactly the same as you at the start of my pregnancy. Lots of people will tell u to expect hypos in the first trimester but that was not my experience at all. Like you my bloods kept spiking and its the most horrible feeling every time it does because its so scary worrying about how its affecting your baby. But you're right, its prolonged high bloods that are the problem for your baby. I had spikes throughout my pregnancy and got through it by testing testing testing up to 15 times a day most days and correcting when I needed to. Despite some highs my hba1c was never above 6 throughout the whole pregnancy and thats the important thing. Harry is perfectly healthy, his blood sugar was fine at birth and he weighed in at a fairly average 7lb 13oz, born at 39 weeks. I pretty much spent my whole pregnancy obsessed with my blood sugar and constantly feeling guilty about what my body was doing to my baby and you'll probably be the same but it sounds like you know what you're doing and are confident managing your diabetes so you'll be fine. Its bloody hard work, as if being pregnant isnt hard enough in itself, but its so worth it and you can do it!! I found this forum such a huge reassurance during pregnancy, whatever happens someone on here will have experienced it too so keep posting and good luck!!

 

[sugarfreerach]

Oooh brill! I'm glad you joined, you'll get loads of support on here.

 

[Babysaurus]

MrsCLH it sounds like you had exactly the same experience as I am having now!

I am generally around 6 after meals (but am injecting far more insulin than I would normally to be on the safe side) but today, after having a TINY (about half an inch, for flavour) bit of apple juice in some fizzy water my BG shot up to 16.9! Needless to say, I rapidly injected another 10 units of fast acting and hopefully it wasn't high for long (shouldn't have been, as it was 6.8 a few hours before and the apple juice is the only thing I had consumed.)

I think I too am going to get a bit obsessive - normally I have good control but it's not the end of the world if it goes up a bit, now it feels like a totally different ball game! I am doing upwards of ten tests a day too so hopefully any spikes won't be high for long, and its reassuring to know that that's when the spikes are particularly bad news (although realise they are not great under any situation.)

SugarFreeRach hello! And a massive congratulations! How's it all going..?

 

[PhoebeC]

hello,
congratulations 🙂 i'm 9 weeks and my requirements have dropped at night and increased during the day! so i guess anything goes! hope it goes well on wed

Yeah anything goes!!!

Mine went all over the place at the start. And at the end in stead of needing more insulin mine went the other way, hardly any insulin at all.

All i can say is test test test.

xx

 

[tabbicles]

Hi ya,
My blood sugars were high for no reason in the first couple of weeks (its ones of the things that made me suspect I was pregnant) but they went low practically daily. The hospital were so good and saw me every 2 weeks throughout pregnancy so help was always at hand.