Cue a dance of joy in my head. At that very moment, I was building a new tiny life inside of me despite doubtful thoughts and despite years of diabetes. THIS WAS HAPPENING and diabetes wasn't stopping me. Then I immediately became nervous. I AM TYPE 1 DIABETIC AND PREGNANT! How am I going to manage this so that my baby is healthy?
About a year before this I told myself I was going to get in shape and make my body a healthy environment for a possible little babe. We joined a gym and used it regularly. I switched to a lower carbohydrate diet. We bought lots of organic food. For months I had been wrangling in blood sugars that were higher than recommended for conception. Then I got a CGM. This is my holy grail of diabetes management. I wasn't afraid to run on the lower side anymore, because it would alert me if I was too low. I could go to bed without worrying that I would be hypoglycemic in the night and not wake up at all. I could track the trends of my blood sugar and concentrate on areas that needed improvement. My first A1C after starting the CGM was nearly a full point lower than the last test. Success!
I absolutely love my endo team. My doctor is a straight shooter and someone I can be real with. He also has an awesome CDE who not only makes suggestions at a pace with which I'm comfortable, but allows me to have input in the decisions about my health. A few more months of tweaking basals and boluses on my insulin pump settings and my A1C was nearly there. Then finally we got the green light.
We found out I was pregnant a week or so before my next regularly scheduled endo appointment. So after freaking out for a minute after seeing the plus sign, I took a breath and reminded myself that I would have a lot of guidance. At that first appointment I found out my A1C was 6.0 when we conceived which was right on target! My endo asked if I had noticed any changes in my management yet. The only thing I could tell so far was that I was getting low much more often. We scaled back on some of my basal rates which is par for the course of a diabetic pregnancy in the early stages. Your body is so busy trying to build every little cell of the baby so perfectly that it uses a lot of energy! I made an appointment for 2 weeks later and I was on my way! It was a great feeling knowing that I was in control of all I could be and our little baby was taking up residence.
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