'm going to do a little #flashbackfriday post relating to Type 1 Diabetes and pregnancy. Basically I am just sharing my pregnancy and the complications I experienced. I'm interested in hearing other T1D's experiences with pregnancy, if you would like to share your story with me please email info@gotinsulin.org
**All views in this post are my own, I am not a medical professional.
In 2008 I miraculously fell pregnant with Indiana Danger.
I was petrified. I was not in great control of my Diabetes and I knew there were lots of risks associated with Type 1 and pregnancy.
Off to the doctors and all the specialists I'd been avoiding..
At 8 weeks pregnant my HbA1c was 9.6 and I'd put on 10 kilos..
I was made aware of the potential risks with child birth.. Specifically Type 1 Diabetic babies can be larger than the average with broader shoulders which can be risky with a natural birth.
We aimed to get my HbA1c down to about 7.0.. Booked in a c-section for November 27.
In the next month I experienced 2 of the worst Hypos I've ever had. One ended with me wandering the streets while we were moving house, that ended with me walking in to a glass door and many other hilarious moments.
The second was a few weeks later. I've told this story before and it never gets easier. My dog woke up my husband by barking and running into our door.. I was comatose, choking on my own saliva with a BGL of 1.1.. My husband did all the right things and I was ok and so was Indie. (obviously) I have no memory of this Hypo..
Back to all the doctors and specialists again.. I am told Indiana is making enough insulin for both of us so I should halve my insulin.
At 5 months pregnant my HbA1c was 5.5 with no further weight gain.. Everything looking great for unborn Indiana. Then the strangest thing happened.. I got told my blood sugars were too low. TOO LOW? What? Never in my life have I been told my levels are too low. I was told i needed to cut back on my insulin AGAIN.
I had gone from something like 40 units to 15 in the space of 3 months.
6 month mark comes along.. I'm pretty much hospitalised from this point on with kidney infections.. Strict bed rest and wearing one of those super attractive body stocking things.. Those who know me know how small my hips are. I struggled to stand in the end. "Your baby is too big for your body because he is making so much insulin". By this time I was having no fast acting insulin and something ridiculous like 2 units of Lantus per 24 hours.
HbA1c is now 5.0.. Still too low. Not much I can actually do about it at this stage.
32 weeks pregnant and I am told Indiana has stopped growing as my placenta isn't feeding him. GREAT.
We bring forward the c-section date, I have steroid injections to help Indianas lungs mature. I am told he will be in hospital for 5 weeks once he is born.
This is the most confusing part of my pregnancy because I'm now recording blood sugars of 14.5 etc and I have nurses being rude to me about it.. FYI 2 nurses were banned from my room for their attitude towards me and my Diabetes.
5 days later and apparently I am in labour.. I think I had 2 real contractions.. Yeah, 2 was enough for me. OUCH. Rushed off for an emergency c-section at midnight.. Sunday 12:15am October 19, 2008 Indiana Danger enters the world, and he is PURPLE. What? No one told me babies are purple. I had a little melt down, but was assured it was normal.
6.5 weeks premature.. He weighed 6 pound 8. He was in the NICU for 24 hours then in the regular nursery. He was discharged at 48 hours. His lungs were perfect, which he thoroughly enjoyed showing off with his little pig squeal/cry. Still does actually.
I was really worried about my diabetes control once I found out I was pregnant but for some reason it took care of itself. I call Indiana my little miracle baby because for 5ish months he was making enough insulin to keep me alive without injections. It was one thing off the list I didn't need to stress about. I don't know about everyone else but to me that's pretty amazing.
I gained 10 kilos in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. At 30 weeks I had gained 13 kilos total. When Indiana was born my total weight gain was 9 kilos. I walked out of hospital (walked/hunched/the awkward c-section hobble) at my pre-pregnancy weight but it was spread out completely differently.
Getting back to normal with my Diabetes control was much easier than I had anticipated.. There was lots of pressure on me to switch to a pump (still is, still wont) but I managed just fine with pens.. Pens, that I had finally started using instead of syringes at 30 weeks pregnant, haha.
Having Indiana was probably the biggest wake up call for me with my Diabetes. I am now responsible for another life. How can I look after him if I am not looking after myself?
x o
**All views in this post are my own, I am not a medical professional.
In 2008 I miraculously fell pregnant with Indiana Danger.
I was petrified. I was not in great control of my Diabetes and I knew there were lots of risks associated with Type 1 and pregnancy.
Off to the doctors and all the specialists I'd been avoiding..
At 8 weeks pregnant my HbA1c was 9.6 and I'd put on 10 kilos..
I was made aware of the potential risks with child birth.. Specifically Type 1 Diabetic babies can be larger than the average with broader shoulders which can be risky with a natural birth.
We aimed to get my HbA1c down to about 7.0.. Booked in a c-section for November 27.
In the next month I experienced 2 of the worst Hypos I've ever had. One ended with me wandering the streets while we were moving house, that ended with me walking in to a glass door and many other hilarious moments.
The second was a few weeks later. I've told this story before and it never gets easier. My dog woke up my husband by barking and running into our door.. I was comatose, choking on my own saliva with a BGL of 1.1.. My husband did all the right things and I was ok and so was Indie. (obviously) I have no memory of this Hypo..
Back to all the doctors and specialists again.. I am told Indiana is making enough insulin for both of us so I should halve my insulin.
At 5 months pregnant my HbA1c was 5.5 with no further weight gain.. Everything looking great for unborn Indiana. Then the strangest thing happened.. I got told my blood sugars were too low. TOO LOW? What? Never in my life have I been told my levels are too low. I was told i needed to cut back on my insulin AGAIN.
I had gone from something like 40 units to 15 in the space of 3 months.
6 month mark comes along.. I'm pretty much hospitalised from this point on with kidney infections.. Strict bed rest and wearing one of those super attractive body stocking things.. Those who know me know how small my hips are. I struggled to stand in the end. "Your baby is too big for your body because he is making so much insulin". By this time I was having no fast acting insulin and something ridiculous like 2 units of Lantus per 24 hours.
HbA1c is now 5.0.. Still too low. Not much I can actually do about it at this stage.
32 weeks pregnant and I am told Indiana has stopped growing as my placenta isn't feeding him. GREAT.
We bring forward the c-section date, I have steroid injections to help Indianas lungs mature. I am told he will be in hospital for 5 weeks once he is born.
This is the most confusing part of my pregnancy because I'm now recording blood sugars of 14.5 etc and I have nurses being rude to me about it.. FYI 2 nurses were banned from my room for their attitude towards me and my Diabetes.
5 days later and apparently I am in labour.. I think I had 2 real contractions.. Yeah, 2 was enough for me. OUCH. Rushed off for an emergency c-section at midnight.. Sunday 12:15am October 19, 2008 Indiana Danger enters the world, and he is PURPLE. What? No one told me babies are purple. I had a little melt down, but was assured it was normal.
6.5 weeks premature.. He weighed 6 pound 8. He was in the NICU for 24 hours then in the regular nursery. He was discharged at 48 hours. His lungs were perfect, which he thoroughly enjoyed showing off with his little pig squeal/cry. Still does actually.
I was really worried about my diabetes control once I found out I was pregnant but for some reason it took care of itself. I call Indiana my little miracle baby because for 5ish months he was making enough insulin to keep me alive without injections. It was one thing off the list I didn't need to stress about. I don't know about everyone else but to me that's pretty amazing.
I gained 10 kilos in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. At 30 weeks I had gained 13 kilos total. When Indiana was born my total weight gain was 9 kilos. I walked out of hospital (walked/hunched/the awkward c-section hobble) at my pre-pregnancy weight but it was spread out completely differently.
Getting back to normal with my Diabetes control was much easier than I had anticipated.. There was lots of pressure on me to switch to a pump (still is, still wont) but I managed just fine with pens.. Pens, that I had finally started using instead of syringes at 30 weeks pregnant, haha.
Having Indiana was probably the biggest wake up call for me with my Diabetes. I am now responsible for another life. How can I look after him if I am not looking after myself?
x o
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