Pregnancy..... so confused

[sugarfreeprincess]

Hiya, I have been diabetic for about three years now and at 23 my partner and I would love to start a family. I have just been diagnosed with PCOS and my HBA1c is awful after a year of abusing my diabetes. I am now in a really good place and have finally taken control of my diabetes.
I have been reading up on pregnancy and diabetes and I am so confused. I want to make sure I have a healthy pregnancy but there is so much information out there and scare stories I would appreciate some advice on the subject and how to go about preparing for pregnancy.

Thanks

 

[Copepod]

Welcome sugarfreeprincess.

Hope someone with personal exprience of pregnancy will see this soon and reply to you. Getting control of your diabetes is a key step towards a successful pregnancy, so good luck 🙂

For me, type 1 diabetes diagnosis at age of 30, when I didn't have a partner, meant I decided not to have children. Met partner aged 35 years, so that would have meant a late age for first pregnancy - not impossible, of course, and diabetes isn't the only factor when partner spent several months each year working in Antarctica or Arctic.

 

[trophywench]

Well - most diabetic clinics have a pre-conception clinic these days!

To give the baby the really best chance, you should have your HbA1c in a good place, for a good while, before even TTC. I'm not sure if PCOS makes conception more difficult or not, so you will want to take medical advice on that too. BG control during preg is no walk in the park with all those hormones sticking their oars in to your BG control, and of course the parameters they want you to stick to are a lot stricter than normal. That's why you need expert advice upfront!

Loads of ladies in here have told their own tales about their pregs and of all the people I know who've been preg whilst I've been diabetic, 40+ years - for all the ladies diabetic or not - there's only been one baby born to any of them who had unsurmountable problems - it just isn't common at all any more.

But anyway, ring your regular diabetes clinic and ASK what's available and for an appointment!

 

[Cleo]

Hello sugar free princess,
I don't have PCOS but I've been a type one for 20 years and I've just had a beautiful baby boy who's now 4 weeks old (yes I know I'm being biased !).

the bottom line is that type 1 women can have perfectly healthy pregnancies and perfectly healthy babies provided that the BGs before conception and throughout the pregnancy are tightly controlled. This is not easy and with pregnancy hormones thrown into the mix it doesn't make it any easier however it is possible, so please don't despair !!! And I'd personally stay away from the horror stories as they won't do you any good !

I'd start by talking to your consultant and seeing if you can go on a. Carb counting course (eg Dafne) - is that possible ? I was told I needed to maintain a hba1c of less than 7. (Ideally between 6-7, as 5 is considered too low) for about 6 months. So that's what I did - I was really determined to have a baby and more importantly to give him / her the best start in life so i knuckled down and got on with it. Once I had achieved my target I was given Folic acid (5mg) which I took for 2 months before going off the contraception. Pregnancy was not easy but as I said - it can be done so I just kept n reminding myself of that. It's not impossible for a type 1 to have a healthy pregnncy and a good outcome so don't let anyone try to tell you otherwise !!

You'll need to go,to lots of appointments -so be prepared for that ! From week 6 to week 38 I had appointments every 2 weeks and then there were the scans as well. But every hospital is different.

I also got a book by Cheryl Alkon "managing the sweetness within - healthy mom healthy baby" - she is an American type 1 who had a boy. The book is based on anecdotal information and takes you from pre conception care to delivery. It's an easy read and reinforces the truth that lots of type 1 women have had healthy pregnancies, so why shouldn't you be one of them?

Its not easy but I can guarantee you that it's SO worth it ! And do - able ! Just stay away from the horror stories ! 🙂
Hope thats helpful and Good luck x

 

[chattygirl197811]

Hi there

Cleo has summed up things pretty well. All I can add is that I had a healthy baby boy last year and it is perfectly achievable so long as you are up for the hard work. Controlling BG tightly during pregnancy is not easy as insulin requirements usually increase as baby grows. Its quite common in pregnancy to also loose hypo awareness so test frequently, exspecially before driving and always carry jelly beans or something with you. I had a few severe hypos thanks to the raging hormones. Its tough but definately worth it🙂 You should be able to access pre-pregnancy conception support at your hospital where they will help you to improve your BG before becoming pregnant. Once pregnant you'll be monitored closely by the hospital throughout, usually fortnightly checks, and usually inductions are offered 2 weeks before babies due date. Theres lots of extra scans so you'll get to see baby more then most women which is lovely 🙂. Good luck x

 

[Cleo]

Good point chatty girl - your point re hypo awareness is so true !

 

[Vix]

Hi sugarfreeprincess,

I have been a diabetic for 20 years and am 24 weeks pregnant at the moment, admittedly it feels like it has been a long journey and lots of sacrifices to get here but so far all is going well with my pregnancy... every medical (and non medical) person says 'oh you're going to have a massive baby' when they put the words pregnancy and diabetes together and that does annoy me, but we had our 24 weeks scan today to measure our little one and he/she is exactly on the 50th percentile 🙂 Admittedly there is still a long way to go but as Cleo says there is no reason why diabetic women cannot have a healthy baby. Yes, we are considered higher risk but to be honest it can be quite reassuring to have more hospital appointments etc and if you are told the statistics like I was at my first pre-conception clinic then you have to also appreciate that there are hospitals like the one I am at where 80% of the women get pregnant unplanned or with high hba1c's so they are increasing the risks before they even start. I'm not going to lie, I feel like it has been a tough journey to get to this point, and I don't have PCOS but I have got osteopenia, problems with my blood clotting and recovering from 3 lots of major surgery on my hip in recent years which teamed with the diabetes has felt like an endless battle to get pregnant but I think you should mention at your next diabetes appointment that you are wanting to start a family, and then they will usually refer you to the pre-conception/diabetes clinic... each hospital seems to have their own rules but we were told I needed to get my hba1c below 7 for my team to give us the 'green light' and I think the national guidance is below 6.2 but my DSN was quite frank when I was in tears on several appointments because no matter how hard I tried (and it felt like a full time job) I couldn't get it below 7.3 and she said it has to be a balance between having a life and hitting the target so they gave us the green light, and 3 months of not spending every second of the day worrying about getting my hba1c below 7 actually allowed me to get it to 6.8 🙂 and we conceived 2 months later with a hba1c of 6.5 🙂 There is plenty of support out there, and as Cleo said there are plenty of horror stories but there are also lots of happy endings like Cleo! Folic acid seems to be a really important thing, and my hospital put me on it as soon as we wanted to start trying even before I'd got my hba1c down as they say you should be on it 3 months before conception.

Ok, I'll stop rambling now, what I'm trying to say is speak to your diabetes team and they will give you guidance and support and there are plenty of us on here who do have happy stories to counteract the horrors! I went to my first NCT class last night and met a lady who has PCOS and has gestational diabetes and she is doing really well so don't worry

Vix
Xx