Hi Everyone,
I have type one diabetes and i'm pregnant with my first baby, about 10 weeks. this made me so nervous after hearing all the complications for the baby and mom afterwards. that's why i just started a pumping with MM722+CGMS, hopefully my sugar with be better controled. i really like the CGMS, i just started yesterday, and now i know why i was feeling bad always. because my sugar fluctuates all the time. anyone else had the problem? sometimes i just felt so pissed with no reason. my husband said i change from before. but i know it's because of the diabetes. with the CGMS I realize that even my sugar is normal, i could feel bad with headache or bad mood if my sugar i changing too fast. with the insulin pump, now i can correct my sugar with insulin easily, but the problem is that it reacts still very slowly and later might go to the opposite direction very fast too. is this all because of the hormone changes during pregnancy, or it's just me? i was feeling bad before i was pregnant like this too, so don't really know the reason. and my A1c is always around 6.

The mood changes could be from the pregnancy, the BG levels or both. It would certainly behelpful if your husband is understanding about the mood swings but in the end there's only one thing you can change - your BG control. So do your best to keep BG within recommended limits. During pregnancy they're a little lower than when you're not pregnant.
I've read numerous things about complications. I've even seen babies of type 1 diabetics in NICU being born prematurely. However, I've had two successful pregnancies and I have two very healthy boys. The best thing you can do to prevent complications is keep tight control over your BGs. Also, make sure you don't miss an OB appointment and do all recommended tests. You can read the other thread on pregnancy and diabetes and I'm sure that will answer at least some of your questions. Please, post if there's anything else you want to know or you just want a place to rant about diabetes and pregnancy issues.

Mariya

thanks a lot Mariya, for all your suggestions and sorry for the delay of replying.
Very nice to hear that you have two healthy boys. this give me a lot of hope. how well your blood sugar needs to be controled during pregnancy? my ob and indo suggested from 70 to 120, but with the hormone changes, my sugar always swings a lot, especially now. oh, i also have graves disease, which make things worse. even though i'm not taking any medicine now, because my indo thinks now my t3 is normal but my adrenaline glands might be getting messed up too. i just can't believe why these all happen to me. does anyone else who have type one have all these hormone messed up together? with all the hormone changes in my body, sometimes my sugar would go high or low a lot in the mornings or afternoons depends on different time of the month. i don't know if anyone else notice the swings? even when i do the same insulin dose and same carb intake. i would find the huge swings of sugar depend on different days.
i want to control my sugar very well for my baby, that's why i have the pump with CGMS which helps a lot, but it freeks me out to see my sugar soaring up to 200 or more a lot now. any suggestions will be highly appreciated. thanks

gaoying

I have never been pregnant, but I can tell you that what has happened to you is VERY common.
There are lots of articles on how hormones affect diabetes. It is normal for insulin requirements to go higher the week before a period and then go back to normal when the period starts. It is necessary to increase the basal for the week before a period.

Thyroid disease is VERY common in type 1 diabetics. I was dx with diabetes in 1979 and with hypothyroid 10 years later. For many people it happens faster than that. They are both autoimmune diseases. Your endo should have explained this to you.

To keep your BG low during your pregnancy, you should be following a relatively low carbohydrate diet, with carbs that have a relatively low glycemic index. This means avoiding all white bread, white potatoes, white pasta. There are lots of books that explain the glycemic index.

Linda

Take a deep breath and relax. None of the things you do to control your diabetes and hyperthyroidism can be 100% guarantee that all will be fine. But I'm not sure anything in life is, so all you can do is do your best. My BG was not 70 to 120 all the time. I've had 30s and 300s during pregnancy no matter how much I tried to avoid it. Try to anticipate BG changes based on time of pregnancy (1st trimester - lows, 2nd and 3rd trimester - increased insulin needs and highs) and your own observation of your body. CGMS is your friend coz it can alarm you for the times you couldn't predict things. Don't panic when you get out of range because it's going to happen. Just correct BG as fast as you can back in range and adjust insulin dose accordingly. It truly is a game of catch up - BG changes and you catch up with it.
Other than that, Graves disease can be a problem during pregnancy (preterm birth, stillbirth, infant with hypo or hyperthyroidism). I'm not telling you this to scare you but to make you aware maybe to be more vigilant about signs/symptoms of preterm labor, do your kick counts when time comes and be on the lookout for something abnormal. That being said, it sounds like your doctor is on top of your hyperthyroidism. And the complications I've mentioned happen generally when hyperthyroidism is not controlled. So, your doctor will probably check T3, T4, TSH a couple of times during pregnancy. If you notice increased heat intolerance, fast heart rate - over 100 or you lose weight give him a call because perhaps you need to check your thyroid hormones again. But honestly, compared to diabetes, hyperthyroidism is a lot easier to manage and should not be a problem for you. Let me know if you have more questions.

Mariya

Speaking of 300s, i just had that thursday afternoon. my sugar wouldn't come down with me pumping about 20 units in half an hour. it was so wired, for a while i thought my pump stopped working. i injected another 7u with my novolog pen. anyway it finally come down. and later in the evening, i did a little test with pumping some insulin again, seemed the pump still give insulin to my body. i still couldn't figuar out why that happened. the only thing i can think of is my the hormones and high sugar combined to resist insulin. i never had that happen before.
even with my thyroid controled, i still feel bad sometimes. and now my thyroid seems acting a little over again, and my blood pressure can be very low too, 40-90 with heart beat around 95. which is opposit than before. coz before when my thyroid overacts, my blood pressure and heart beat both would be high. that's why my doctor thinks my adrenaline glands might acting abnormally now. i'm so exhaust with all these disorders. i am trying to not worrying about all these coz i know it's not good for the baby. but i just can't help always. i would feel bad and with intensive mood swings which i find really hard to control. i would realize later that all those blowouts towards my husband was my fault, but i really couldn't control. i'm so worried about our baby coming out, even healthy, into this mess i created.

There's really only so much you can do. And you're doing it. The rest is in the Lord's hands so let Him worry about it. I've had that same high BG episode you had happen to me once or twice during pregnancy. Just remember you did what had to be done and brought it down. You just control your bg and take care of your body and the baby (eating good, exercising, not stressing a lot). Let your doctor figure out the thyroid stuff. If you have troublesome symptoms, call him and let him know. Other than that, focus on BG and enjoying your pregnancy. That's not easy, I know, I've been there. But pregnancy is supposed to be a happy time. You're really missing a lot if you stress so much that you don't enjoy it.

HI Everyone,

it's been a long time since i last logged on this forum.
good to see all the old friends and new ones too, and as always reading all the valubale informations.
it's been a blessing that me and my baby both are doing fine.
i'm now 30 weeks pregnant. my due date is October 22rd.
we are going to have a baby girl--Emma
my last a1c is 5.3 after i used the pump and CGMS
Before that was 6.3.
the only problem i am a little concerned about is that i might have gained too much weight--so far 33 pounds.
after all everything is good.

talk soon