Question for mums and mums to be

[Emzi]

Hi all,

Me and partner have decided we'd like to start trying to have a baby next year and i was just wondering if i could ask you all a question... i know how important it is to make sure your hba1c and bloods are tightly controlled before having a baby and i have an appointment in january to see a diabetic specialist nurse at the baby clinic but im finding it hard to ever see myself getting there, im trying hard and i know i have a way to go and my partner is fully supportive.

My question is how did you all get your hba1c's to 6.1 or near as is accepted and keep your blood sugars between 5-6 before and 2hrs after meals??

i know control has to be tight and this is what i have been told is expected before being allowed off the pill and onto foilc acid prescriptions so im just looking for some food and menu tips or any other bits of advice you can share with me?

Thanks everyone

 

[rachelha]

Emzi, my hba1c was 7.4 when we were given the go ahead to start trying to conceive. Throughout my pregnancy it was between 6.4 and 6.9. Hardly any of my 2 hour post eating readings were in the correct range. This was despite being incredibly strict with my carb counting, I pretty much stopped eating out or in the staff canteen so I could work out exactly what I was eating. The high readings worried me stupid, but the consultants told me to stop testing so I did not know, not good advice IMHO.

I now have a healthy 3 month old baby boy. He was a large baby 9lb11oz, but his blood sugars were fine at birth, so he did not need any supplementary feeding at all.

Diabetes and pregnancy is difficult, but it is so worth the effort. Feel free to pm me any questions you have.

Rx

 

[Cate]

Hi Emzi,

We were given the go ahead so long as my Hba1c was below 7.0 - it just snuck in at 6.9, but then it took us 18 months to fall with Hannah (now 3 1/2). It's stayed at 7 or below since I got PG and I've since had another baby, earlier this year.

My target levels were always below 6 mmol before meals, and below 8 mmol
2 hours after meals. My Hba1cs dropped the whole way through PG, the final one was 5.5 and I got told it was too low, and to ease up a bit (I can never win lol). Despite this, Hannah weighed 9lbs 8oz at birth.

My best find was the Weight Loss Resources website, I signed up for an account and used their food diary to log EVERYTHING I ate - it worked out the total carbs for me and I found it to be really accurate so was incredibly useful for the pump, I think it would work for MDI too so long as you know your ratios etc. There's now a free alternative that does the same thing, at myfitnesspal.com, well worth a look.

Testing wise I was doing anything from 8 to 20 tests a day - normally around 10.

Finally, this is YOUR decision - OK so you have to take it with advice from your DSN etc, but it's not a case of being "allowed" off the pill...and your GP should prescribe folic acid if you ask for it, mine did, you should be taking it for 3 months before starting to try for a baby so try and get hold of it asap!

Good luck!

 

[beckyp]

It's really important that you take the numbers quoted at you from your DSN as a 'guideline'. My HBA1C was normally in the 8's (it took a lot of time to get that good...for years I was awful!) and when I told them that I'd like to start trying they said that I'd have to get it to 7% or below. The first time it was 7.4 and then I got it to 6.7 (with a lot of willpower!). I kept in mind that it was for a good cause and put the biscuit barrel back! I went to the pre-conception clinic in January, got my 6.7 result in the March and started trying in the April (and fell pregnant in June). At my appointment in January they said that they'd write to my GP to get the higher dose of folic acid put on prescription.

As for keeping your results within the 'guideline' 1 hour after meals...it's really hard. The information I provided was that I should be 6.5 or below before meals and then 1 hour after meals no more than 7.8 (it seems that everyone has different targets!)...I've found that if I hit the guideline after meals then I hypo 2-3 hours later so the hospital have now told me to not hit the target after meals and if I do, then to monitor really closely and to eat lots of fruit to keep me going. If I hypo, there's a possibility of rebounding and ending up with sugars in the teens which take much longer to get down than go up!

All in all, I've not changed my diet too much. The doctor has told me to have a supper before bed to prevent the hypos in the night (I've been setting an alarm every night since finding out I'm pregnant to monitor my levels and sort out highs/lows) so I'm having a cuppa and a few biccies. My breakfast is generally a couple of bits of toast or cereal and then lunch is a standard s/wich, crisps & fruit and then the usual sort of evening meal. I have put a ban on takeaways until B day in March/April because it gives me something to look forward to!

The other thing that I'd like to highlight is that people do have mistakes and it shouldn't be that you're 'allowed' to come off the pill - it was always put like that to me too. The hospital like to have an input as early as possible to try and help get your levels under control and give you as much information as you feel you need. For years I would go for my appointments and would be asked about children and would always go on about how I'm high-risk and that I should see a doctor as soon as finding out I'm pregnant. The GP couldn't care less and I didn't see anyone at the hospital until I was 9 weeks gone!

 

[Lizzzie]

Good luck Emzi!

My Ha1bCs have always been around 5.5. This is hard to maintain: always check my sugar 2 hours after eating and if it's too high (i.e. over 9), correct. Even then, get caught out sometimes. I got a 17 the other day (yikes!) - pregnancy's like that.

The flip-side of my way of doing it is it leaves you prone to hypos. I have a job where you can't really hypo because of the responsibility etc so I just test ALL the time, esp. before I do anything important, like talk to a client (even if I tested 10 minutes ago). I keep ginger biscuits on the side at work and start munching when I catch myself dropping below 4.5.

This makes life very frustrating for me (and I'll never eat a ginger biscuit again afterwards), it's very time and energy consuming. Had a few probs with colleagues not understanding. It's not best healthy: being on the low side makes you sicker (I used to know my sugar had gone below 4.5 because I'd want to vom). my DSNs would rather my HA1bC was above 6. But I have a very erratic, active lifestyle and still manage to follow it (looking fwd to not being pregnant any more and relaxing control, though).