Pregnant or TTC

[jennat]

Thats a fantastic result Ali :-)

[Carlz]

Congratulations Ali that's great!

[JuleS]

So is anyone going to the TYPE 1 DIABETES AND PREGNANCY – EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW session on the weekend here in Brissy? I hope to meet some of you there if so.

Take care all
Yasmahne

I am ! See you there

Hey,

I was suppose to be going to this, but as I live 3 hours away it makes it a bit difficult, can you fill me in after you go.

Also, can any of you ladies tell me in your opinion, I went privately with my first child at Nambour, and I had terrible birth complications (as outlined in previous posts) due to pre-eclampsia. I have been debating about planning to have second baby in Brisbane, what do you think???? Also do any of you know any obstretricians in brisbane that specialise in high risk pregnancy?

I have been advised by my prev obst, that they will be monitor very closely with next pregnancy, but I am still very anxious about it all.

People tell me to, its not the hospital you go to, its how good your obstretrician is......

Thanks
JS

[Ali G]

hi Jules

Where are you located?

I'm on the coast and have spent hours researching obs and think we have some very good ones here on the coast!

I thought the answer was in Brisbane but I have changed my mind and staying on the coast which is a huge relief cause that drive is a bitch!

[Jacqueline]

Thanks Carlz! :)

I've started to calm down a bit, but there's sure a lot to get my head around with two! I've been reading up a lot about twin pregnancy, twin birth and having two new babies. Things are going to be very, very busy.

I'm really curious about how twins change things with diabetes though - There's info about pregnancy with T1, and info about twins but nothing I've found that deals with both - Do you find the changes to your BGL and insulin needs are magnified more so with twins? Does it follow the same sort of pattern the singleton mummies experience though? Do you notice things changing sooner? Generally I'm just responding to the numbers in front of me appropriately, as always really, but I'm so curious to know how things might change down the line so it's not a complete surprise when I come to it. What about medical people - Do you find there's a lot more medicalisation of the pregnancy, or that it's not too bad? I'd kinda like to enjoy the pregnancy as much as possible, but I'm not sure how many cooks are going to be in the kitchen - If you know what I mean? ;) I still haven't seen the specialist obst. yet or the D ed nurse or endo (NZ public system is mostly great but things happen in slow-motion) and don't meet my midwife until next week, so I've been left to my own devices quite a bit, which is nice, but I'm not sure that it'll continue for much longer. My GP has been fab, and trusts in me completely to manage things well myself for now, which is awesome. :)

I've had a lot of outsiders offering their unsolicited, non-medical background 'medical advice' - So annoying! Any tips from anyone for good answers to those types of comments would be welcome. ;)

Well done on the A1c Ali G! :)

[Carlz]

Hi Jacqueline,

You're right there is a lot of info on twins, a lot of info on diabetic pregnancy but very little on both- actually I haven't found any, but basically you take a bit of both and mush it together- then allow a fair bit of room for variation cos everyone is different!

As far as insulin needs being magnified because of having two babies not just one my guess is probably yes- hormone levels are higher/insulin resistance is increased etc etc, but i'm not a medical professional I can only speak from my experience, and at 28 weeks my insulin requirements have gone up a lot and continue to do so- but that doesn't mean it will be the same for you. I think my timeline for changes seems to be fairly similar to singleton pregnancies- but again they can vary a lot, so don't stress yourself out by saying right i'm now 12 weeks so this, this and this should happen now. But it is good to have a bit of an idea of what to expect. I went a little bit overboard when I found out I was having twins, read EVERYTHING I could get my hands, or fingertips, on. The only problem is a lot of the info you read tells you all about the things that can go wrong, and I therefore proceeded to completely stress myself out about how the hell I was possibly going to manage/survive etc. I'm doing a lot better with all of that now, I just had to ban myself from pregnancy books for a while!

I'm finding my pregnancy is fairly "highly medicalised" but then again you could look at that as having a team of people there to support you and make sure everything is going well, i'm very curious about all that sort of stuff so I haven't found it to be a problem. I started off with 3 weekly ob appts which increased to 2 weekly at about 18 weeks. I had 4 weekly ultrasounds until 24 weeks when they became 2 weekly, and have seen my endo 3 times so far and diabetes educator as needed, i think i've seen her 3 or 4 times but can upload from my pump and call her anytime. I have only seen a midwife once when the obstetrician was busy so they were helping out with appts, because i'm "high risk" I usually see the obstetrician rather than the midwives, but I can make an appt to go see them if I feel the need as well, I will be going for a one on one appt with a lactation consultant/midwife in a few weeks to discuss twin breastfeeding. I don't feel that the frequency of my appts has been a problem, I love getting to see my babies on the ultrasound so often, I enjoy the reassurance that they are doing well. But I understand that to some people it would be an inconvenience to get to all these appts and may feel like a bit of a science experiment.

I don't think i've had that much unsolicited "medical" advice, but have had some comments which haven't been that welcome- i.e. commenting on what a horrible situation to be in, diabetic and pregnant with twins. I was once tempted to answer with "well actually my first pregnancy was much worse, I ended up having to have a d&c after (insert all the horrible details of my miscarriage here) " just to see how they responded, but as they didn't know about that I decided not to. I tend to laugh it off and say that I don't like to do things the easy way. Just answer them in whatever way you are comfortable, be a smart arse, ignore them, ask if they've been in the same situation, or just smile, nod say uh huh and hope they go away!

Good question for everyone elso on here though. What "advice" have you been given and how have you answered them?

Hope this helps and good luck!

[eitak]

Hi Ladies!

Wowsers, so much happening of late!!

Congrats to all the new mummas to be, and AliG seeing as though you're the one who started the thread, I'm super happy for you. I can't beleive all the twins on the go...amazing! Its lovely to read all the latest posts.

Alig: RE your query about high BSL's early on - I hadn't thought about it until I read your post and then remembered that before I found out I was pregnent (so within about 3-4 weeks) I was peaking overnight & found I had to really limit my carbs in the evening. I almost went low to no carbs for a week or so to control the night time levels. After that it settled right now.

Erin: How are you going since your post a couple of weeks back with the pre-eclampsia-blood pressure-odema scare? Hope all has settled down for you.

Jenna: Nice work on the updated TTC/Preggy list!

I haven't been on much of late as just had a busy few weeks with celebrating my 30th - with a very tame afternoon tea party! Still, a big weekend all the same entertaining and lots of fun.

I've just clocked up 16 weeks last Friday and am happy to say the time is now going along nicely, not dragging like the first 8 weeks. I'm sporting a very prominent bump, although suspect those who don't know me might just think I've been to the pie drawer too many times. Its fun when you start to show!

Just a question on birth plans.............Is anyone one here heading towards a c-section? My Ob has suggested a caesar to me as he thinks it is the safest option and I want to deliver in our local private hospital. I have to say I am feeling more comfortable with the idea rather than an induction, so that I know I will actually have my ob for one thing, and secondly so there is a little more control with the situation. I actually feel a little guilty for feeling this way, especially when talking to other women but I know it is my body and my choice at the end of the day. I am just interested to know if anyone else has had similar thoughts?

[Gen]

Just found out today my latest HBA1c for the last 3 months has come down from 6.3 to 5.4. Very happy!
12 week scan on Friday.
:-) Gen

[LuciaL]

Hi everyone! I've just tried to catch up on everything that's going on since I was here not that long ago (Thanks Jenna for the list- it helped a lot!!). Wow, it's all happening!

Quick update on a few things we've been discussing from me.... The ABA's twins breastfeeding class yesterday was very good. They had four different mums come in with their twins, aged 3 months to 1 year, and tell their stories - there was a huge mix of people and experiences and approaches to everything, and we discussed a LOT more than breastfeeding. It was great. I'd highly recommend it; my husband also found it really useful. And don't leave it too late - one couple at our class had already had their babies, but they were in special care and they'd snuck out to come to the class - they would have been 36 weeks, and several others were not far from popping and looking pretty uncomfortable.... it was great to do it at 20 weeks as there were lots of info and ideas that we're still in a good position to take on board or put in place (yet another house re-arrangement in order for us!). Oh, and it didn't really come up but I didn't share that I had diabetes, so perhaps that made the class more enjoyable too.

We had a good chat in the class around expressing colostrum. They said the only reason you'd need to do it was if you had gestational diabetes, because they know then your milk and colostrum can be delayed at coming in ..... I can only assume that applies to us as well. They showed you how to manually express it. We discussed the risk of it bringing on early labour (which my endo also said was a concern), and is a big concern for me with twins, so I think I decided with all the info I've had so far that if I make it to 35 or 36 weeks (not guaranteed but I'll be celebrating if I do!), I'll start expressing colostrum but not before. I need to discuss again with my obstetrician now I have more info to ask better questions.

Good luck everyone, and look forward to hearing more of your news. And OMG all the twins - couldn't have imagined it when I first posted in here there'd be FIVE of us! How incredible. :)

[Lolly]

Today is my third wedding anniversary, and we had the morphology scan done this morning (at 18w2d). I hardly slept last night from worry about what they might find on the scan, but thank God, the baby is looking just fine. And we found out the sex- I’m expecting a little BOY!!!!

The baking soda test was right ;) Even if we hadn’t wanted to find out, it was obvious it was a ‘he’ as soon as they scanned the region.

Gen and Ali G- congrats on the excellent HbA1c’s.

Carlz- the most irritating things that have been said to me so far are:
* ‘Are you sure you’re only x weeks along/ only having one?’ This has been said repeatedly to me because my bump is all out in front, and apparently that makes me look massive to people.
* ‘Oh you won’t need to buy any 0000 size clothes for the baby, everyone knows that diabetic babies are big. Don’t buy smaller then a 000’. The recommended baby weight for a 000 romper is 6kg. Do they really think my newborn will be 6kg?

Hope you’re all keeping well :)
Lauren

[JuleS]

hi Jules

Where are you located?

I'm on the coast and have spent hours researching obs and think we have some very good ones here on the coast!

Hi

Went to Endo today, got all clear to TTC for bub no2, but dr recommended wait a few more months to get used to pump, so maybe start end of dec or jan!!!Bit nervous about it all!!

Ali G - I have sent you a email message through the forum email, I hope you get it.

Eitak - with your query regarding birth plan, with any birth you never know what will happen!!! But for us they were going to induce me at 38 weeks which i was anxious about and my husband and decided c section would be better and in the end at emergency c-section at 36wks 1 day.

Lauren - my bub was 3990grams born 4 weeks only, who knows what he would of been at full term.

Cheers
JuleS

[eitak]

Not sure of where you 'coast' girls are, but a girlfriend of mine just delivered on the Sunshine Coast at Buderim Private, and her ob was Paul Stokes. She was really happy with him.

[Ali G]

No email Jules, try allanandali@yahoo.com.au

[ErniB]

does anyone know how I can upload my latest 3d baby pics?

[ErniB]

Hmm they're on my facebook - try this:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fb ... =1&theater
http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=10150415572814113&set=t.505739112&type=1&theater

[Ali G]

Not sure of where you 'coast' girls are, but a girlfriend of mine just delivered on the Sunshine Coast at Buderim Private, and her ob was Paul Stokes. She was really happy with him.

I am in Caloundra and will be going to Sunshine Coast Private as the private one in Nambour is closing in June 2012 as all the obs are moving to Buderim!!

Such a shame as Nambourn private had a really really good rap for natural etcc but I am c sector all the way so doesnt really matter to me!

Dont feel gulity Eitak about having a CS - lots of people will have thoughts and no doubt in this thread others will choose another path.

I am going CS because I dont want to be inducted as I have heard this is sometimes a LOT harder on the body as it isnt ready to deliver and the thought of a 12-24 hour + d+exhaustion doesnt sit well with me!

I want to have some engery to bond with my bubba straight after and not faitgued... Yes the recover will be hard but that is the choice I have made!

I will have a plan... ie I want to see bubba come out with the curtin lowered, I want h/she straight on my chest etc, straight from ob to me ie not 10 other nurses.. more to come when I think of it!

Hubby can have bubba when I am getting put back together and they willl have some nice bonding time as well!

[ErniB]

[quote="Ali GI am going CS because I dont want to be inducted as I have heard this is sometimes a LOT harder on the body as it isnt ready to deliver and the thought of a 12-24 hour + d+exhaustion doesnt sit well with me!

I want to have some engery to bond with my bubba straight after and not faitgued... Yes the recover will be hard but that is the choice I have made!![/quote]


I agree with the induction! I've heard several horror stories - lasting for hours and hours sometimes 24hrs +; another lady had pulled the baby from her (as induction wasn't happening 'fast' enough - to who's schedule, I don't know), and it tore her pelvic floor muscles so bad, that she could barely sit down properly for a YEAR!! and had lost proper bladder control for almost 2 YEARS! That would be awful to have happen, and my bladder come from The Reject Shop anyway, so I would be in a nappy if that happened to me eeek!

I've also heard that an induction is much more stressful on the body in general, as the synthetic hormones don't work in the same up & down flow of our natural labour hormones (I know, I know, coz they're synthetic, der lol); but what I'm getting at is, is that friends that have had inductions have ALL requested epi's; whereas many of the women I know who went vaginally were able to work through the pain, as the most painful part was the head coming out, and that part only lasted a couple of intense minutes.

I know I ranted on about being boxed into a "cesarean section at 38wks" issue with my OB... and I still hate that he did that, but I am definitely not going to have an induction. If it came down to bubs being breech, or 9pounds +, then please give me a CS!! I have a great network of family and friend support to help out while I try and bond with bubs, feed her, take care of her and me, try to heal etc; and let the household be run by a few other people for a while....

[eitak]

Its really good to hear your thoughts on induction and CS, and that I'm not the only one heading down that track! I have so many friends who are all about natural birth with no drugs, I was feeling guilty. I remember the pregnancy thread from last year and there were quite a few difficult induction stories, that ended in emergency CS anyway and it really put me off.

Erin, I couldn't see your pics with that link. Not sure if I did anything wrong?

[Carlz]

I completely agree with the above comments about not wanting to be induced or exhauseted after a long labour. I too am quite happy with my/ my ob's decision for a CS. Don't feel guilty about it girls.

Had an ultrasound and obstetrician appt today. Girls are both looking great, both perfect size and very little difference between them. Blood pressure was rather high though and i've been told rather than doing 2 days a week for the next 2 weeks like I was going to I should only do half days.

Hope everybody's doing well.

[ErniB]

I don't think my links worked at all = they work for me as I am logged into my facebook account, but it must not work for others.

Does anyone know how I can upload a pic?

[Yasmahne]

So is anyone going to the TYPE 1 DIABETES AND PREGNANCY – EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW session on the weekend here in Brissy? I hope to meet some of you there if so.

Take care all
Yasmahne

I am ! See you there

Hey,

I was suppose to be going to this, but as I live 3 hours away it makes it a bit difficult, can you fill me in after you go.

JS

Hi I have added my notes at the thread advertising the 'Meet' viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10227 - hope you and others find them of use!

take care
Yasmahne

[Yasmahne]

I am off now to my Endo for my check-up.... hoping my HBA1c is going to be wonderful (I'm hoping for 6).

Hi all
apologies for multiple posts at this thread but I wanted to share that my hba1c result has come back as 5.8% - YAY *high fives all round*. I have been hovering in the mid to low 6's since finding out I was pregnant - so very happy with this result (to hit the magic under 6 mark and it was a PB!)

I am 14weeks 4 days now ... and I am feeling great!

Take care ladies
Yasmahne

[Gen]

"apologies for multiple posts at this thread but I wanted to share that my hba1c result has come back as 5.8% - YAY *high fives all round*. I have been hovering in the mid to low 6's since finding out I was pregnant - so very happy with this result (to hit the magic under 6 mark and it was a PB!)"

Congratulations Yasmahne! That is awesome news. It's so great to get a result when you put all the hard work in. Fantastic!

Also thanks for all your notes from the information sessions. Great to get the insight even though I'm not in Brissy.

:-) Gen

[jennat]

Hi All,

firstly a huge congratulations to eveyrone with their amazing HBA1c, what a fantastic effort, I just thought I would post a quick update, I'm now 34 weeks along - only 6 weeks to go (Oh my god is about the only thing I can say to that!!!)

Anyhow had a growth scan today - the first proper scan since the anatomy scan at 20 weeks, although I have been so careful with my Diabetes I feel absolutely huge so was quite worried about what the result might be, basically bub is measuring a little bit larger than average, this is made up of normal size head circumference (phew!), slightly larger than normal abdoman and very long legs!! My ob is very happy with this and has said he can't see any reason I can't go to term and progress with a normal vaginal birth (not being induced!)

So pleased with this and so conscious that I'm on the final stages now and its not long until I can meet and hold my little girl.

I also thought I would put by two cents worth in on the induction and C Section argument, I've mentioned earlier in the thread that I had a lot of battles at the beginning of my pregnancy trying to find someone who wouldn't automatically want to induce me at 38 weeks, I have read some absolute horror stories on induction and quite frankly the thought of it petrifies me, I'm with a lot of you other girls that I would rather hav a C Section than be induced. All that being said, my ideal birth plan is that I can go into labour naturally and not need either, but as we all know the best laid plans can easily go awry, so basically I'm hopeing to go into labour naturally and to deliver the old fashioned way, but if that doesn't look likely then I will re asses and discuss with Ob the pros and cons of induction vs C Section. I don't think anyone should ever be made to feel guilty or bad about the choices they make with regards to birth plans though, it is a totally individual decision.

Hope everyone is keeping well and enjoying this amazing time in our lives

Jenna

[Coll]

I love reading this thread and five years down the track, I'd like to put my 2cents worth in regarding c-section. At the time of my pregnancy for various reasons, we planned a caesarean at 38weeks however my waters broke at 36weeks and Sarah was breech so I had a caesarean. She was 3.3kg so a healthy size. At the end of the day a delivery is a delivery and I consider cesarean a birth, its just not vaginal. And while I would love to have delivered vaginally, (& it was 2 hrs after my waters broke before i had the epidural so I got to experience a taste of labour pains - the absence of pain once that epidural went in was bliss) I can tell you the joy of seeing my little girl being lifted over that green curtain they put up, the photos the ob let us take, and for me, our birth experience was one of true, deep joy and happiness. And right now, with Sarah asking about where babies come from etc and me not quite ready to go there with the whole baby-making-birth story I'm glad I can look into her eyes and agree when she talks about babies coming out of your tummy!!!!! I think the whole induction / labour/ delivey issue is a hard one but its great this thread is here to gain info and feedback. :)

[ErniB]

I love reading this thread and five years down the track, I'd like to put my 2cents worth in regarding c-section. At the time of my pregnancy for various reasons, we planned a caesarean at 38weeks however my waters broke at 36weeks and Sarah was breech so I had a caesarean. She was 3.3kg so a healthy size. At the end of the day a delivery is a delivery and I consider cesarean a birth, its just not vaginal. And while I would love to have delivered vaginally, (& it was 2 hrs after my waters broke before i had the epidural so I got to experience a taste of labour pains - the absence of pain once that epidural went in was bliss) I can tell you the joy of seeing my little girl being lifted over that green curtain they put up, the photos the ob let us take, and for me, our birth experience was one of true, deep joy and happiness. And right now, with Sarah asking about where babies come from etc and me not quite ready to go there with the whole baby-making-birth story I'm glad I can look into her eyes and agree when she talks about babies coming out of your tummy!!!!! I think the whole induction / labour/ delivey issue is a hard one but its great this thread is here to gain info and feedback. :)

OMG Coll, you made me get a little teary and mushy with your story :)

[Ali G]

OMG I have found the toilet from 5am! yep Morning sickness has kicked in with full force!!!

Any suggestions??? Just got the blackmore morning sickness tablets to try but really I would jump from the roof if someone said it would help :/

HHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

[ErniB]

OMG I have found the toilet from 5am! yep Morning sickness has kicked in with full force!!!

Any suggestions??? Just got the blackmore morning sickness tablets to try but really I would jump from the roof if someone said it would help :/

HHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

Oh AliG - you poor bugger. My MS started around the 8wk mark, and didn't stop until I was about 21wks. EEEK! Even this morning (28w tmrw), I woke up thinking "I need to eat or I'm going to be sick"...tested my levels, adn I was a lovely 5.6, which is great, but it's lower than my normal 7-ish reading, so I'm putting the lower bsl to blame for my mild feeling of MS this morning....

I was always recommended "have something to nibble on next to your bed - bikkies, crackers, bread, fruit etc".... but it was always recommended to me by non-D ppl, and I would think "yeah but if I eat that sorta stuff at 5 or 6am, then I have to test, bolus, and then re-test 2hrs later...blah blah blah"... and to be honest, I just put up with the MS, but ate when I got up as quick as I could get it ready to eat.

I didn't have it everyday, probably 3 or 4 days a week, and the nausea generally lasted alllll day except for a break between lunch and dinner. I figured out that the mornings that I did vomit, were usually my days off - so usually the weekend or a Wed/Thurs. I figured out this was because I was sleeping-in longer, and therefore not having any food in my tummy for a few hours later than when I would be up for work or appointments.

Oh, I've also heard dry toast, and a peppermint tea could do the trick too. Good luck!

[Jacqueline]

OMG I have found the toilet from 5am! yep Morning sickness has kicked in with full force!!!

Any suggestions??? Just got the blackmore morning sickness tablets to try but really I would jump from the roof if someone said it would help :/

HHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

I've had dreadful 24/7 sickness with these twins, I thought it was bad enough with my 1st baby, but it's been even worse this time around! They say it's a sign of a healthy pregnancy since it means your hormone levels are getting good and high. :)

Things I've found most helpful that don't mess with BGLs...

- Diet ginger beer. Great stuff for sipping when you're feeling queasy, it definitely helps settle things. Don't wait till you're on the brink of hurling, though.
- Sucking SF peppermints. I don't feel like them but they do help once I give in and suck one.
- Sea bands! These things haven't come off, except to shower, since I got them! They're awesome and really, really help, more than everything else I've tried. They're drug free and you can use them as much as you need them, then keep them for the future. :) They're accupressure bands, really simple idea. I was quite skeptical about them, but was desperate so tried them and they're wonderful! I totally recommend them to anyone. :) Most chemist shops have them.

[Ali G]

OMG Thanks Jaq,

I alreayd have seabands for cruising and they are fab.. Didnt even think to use them!

I am most worried as I fly to London next week for a few days with work and I think I will be in a world of pain!

[Nattie]

I love reading this thread and five years down the track, I'd like to put my 2cents worth in regarding c-section.

I haven't got five years to look back on, like Coll, only seven months, but thought I'd add my 2c as well :) I was induced at 38 weeks, and although it wasn't a horrendous experience and nothing dramatic happened, it took ages and didn't really work so we ended up have a c-section anyway. It had been so long since we arrived at the hospital (midday Sunday and Tessa was delivered 5am Tuesday) that I was THRILLED to be having a c-section as it meant the whole thing was nearly over and we were just about to meet The Baby! I had very much wanted to try and go for a vaginal delivery and was all set with my pain management techniques etc - it just didn't go the way I envisaged, but that was okay. The main thing is that the little people come out in one piece :) and the mummies stay in one piece!

Also a quick comment regarding expressing colostrum: it's great if you can do it, but not everyone can, so don't beat yourself up if it doesn't work for you. I went to see a specialist DE/midwife and was taught how, tried for ages but it never worked for me and she told me that is just the way it is for some people.

Best wishes to all the baby-makers and future baby-makers :) xx

[Cassie_B]

I'm relieved but also kind of scared to be reading all these stories/opinions of induction/c-section at this time.

Sorry if this post is a bit of a downer, but we had a scan to check growth last week (at 31wks + 3 days) and they basically told me bub's huge. Head and abdomen are >95th (more like 97th) percentile (off the little line chart!!!) and they estimated her weight to be almost 2.4kg/5.4llb - already!

I know that sizing/weight estimates from u/s are not always entirely accurate, and that lots of mums to be who are told their bubs are 'too big' actually end up having much smaller than predicted babies - and that a big bub was 'expected' for me as a diabetic, but I can't help feel very anxious and somewhat depressed/guilty over this prediction. With my HbA1c at 6.6 despite running levels (as per endo instructions) slightly higher than 'guidelines' to avoid crashing hypos with no awareness, I'd 'thought' I was doing ok. When earlier scans showed bub as slightly smaller than average, I thought I'd beaten the big baby curse and was doing great! Now I feel guilty for not keeping my levels at the 5.5 the DEs were harping on about, and for eating so much and gaining so much weight early on in the pregnancy... and most of all, I'm worried about what this will mean for bub and just how much of a risk it will all pose to her.

The obs haven't given me any indication of the different options at this point, or of the risks/benefits/recommendations for each... instead they simply say they'll keep monitoring and make a decision later... but to keep in mind I'll probably 'have to' be induced at 38wks and that it may be advisable to have a c-section instead. And that's that. That's all they'll say.

I'm not sure what my preferences are at the moment, or what to push for, because I don't like the sound of ANY risks to bub, and with the docs not saying much I honestly don't know what will offer her the best outcome. I've tried researching on my own, but that just seems to add to the list of risks/complications for each option and scares me further - eg. I don't like the idea that estimates of size can be wrong and that induction can thus cause bub to be born before she'll be ready, or that inductions apparently increases the risk of fetal distress (and from there emergency c-sections). I don't like the idea of trying to recover after a c-section, or that c-sections without active labour first increase the risk that bub will have difficulty breathing, but I also don't like the idea that big babies can get stuck/squash cord in birth canal and end up with complications. Ideally, I'd love to let everything happen naturally and have her come out completely safe and sound, but I'm so scared because I don't know what's SAFEST for her - or even how to weigh up the risks and make that decision - and the doctors don't seem too keen to give any straight up advice!

For those that have/had good obs/have been there before, have you been given/do you have any more helpful info on how to deal with the worry and make this decision? Am I just being crazy wanting more certainty and information at this stage? I feel so out of my depth...

[cupcake]

So after a long time lately as a lurker, i thought i should jump on in. I've been sitting on this for the last few weeks, just until i got some actual confirmation that i wasn't hallucinating or anything else. I'm currently 8wks 2d pregnant.

I had my first scan last week, which was supremely emotional for me and my partner. Seemingly my guilty diabetic conscience is playing havok with my pregnant hormones, making me a mess all round when it comes to baby stuff. Everything seems to be going well in there, which i am so glad of. i think i vaguely worried the obstetrician with the wailing and the crying before the u/s showed the little heart beating.

My BSLs have been all over the place, which made me super anxious for the first week or so, but they seem to be doing a lot better now. I did have one rather awful incident that had me sitting at 21 when i fell asleep without managing to connect to my pump. But im really really not letting that happen again. My HbA1c was 6.8, which i was pleased with. As for morning sickness, there really hasn't been any. Smells are making me queasy (like my husband oozing garlic after dinner the other night, ew) but i've a cast-iron gut and i have never been a puker, or had motion sickness.

My main worry at the moment are my other medical issues, being my Factor V Leiden,and my Anti Phospholipid syndrome. I've just been put on daily injections of clexane, which is a blood thinner. So i have every digit crossed at the moment that i can make this little thing work.

[Nattie]

Cassie, please don't feel guilty! The relationship between BGLS/A1cs and baby size is not a simple one - even people with excellent control can still have big babies. My A1c was 5.8-6ish most of my pregnancy and I still gave birth to a 5kg baby :) My endo was a bit stumped as to how that could have happened: I did the best I could and that's all we can do. They suspected early on that Tessa was going to be big but of course no-one really knows how big, as you've pointed out. When we ended up having a c-section because my labour wasn't progessing, the ob said that she wouldn't have fitted out through my pelvis anyway, so I'm kind of thankful we didn't get to that point and end up having to rush it all because she was in distress, or something like that. As it was, she never really made it down into the pelvis so there was no chance for her to get stuck.

I wouldn't like to really give advice as such because this is such a personal thing, but I would just recommend that you ask your ob all the questions you want to ask, even to the point of being annoying! Tell him/her all the concerns you've written here and try to get some responses. And then, on The Day, be prepared to go with the flow as much as possible.

And congratulations, cupcake :)

[Ali G]

Welcome Cupcake!!

I had my dating scan this morning.. I know the dates to the hour almost but I couldnt wait until the 12 week to see something!
We got to see the little heartbeat fluttering away at 122bpm which was quite cute!

Still sick as a dog but I need to keep thinking that I am lucky enough to be in this position! Although quite hard with my head in the toilet bowl.! and Weebix all over my work desk....

Hope you ladies are all well!

[amber1987]

Hi Ladies. Im currently 27 weeks pregnant and everythign going fairly smoothly. I have been reading all the discussions on this forum and finding it very helpful! Thiank you all. I was just wondering what you ladies who are pregnant your BSL's have been like? Mine were great until a couple of weeks ago they went a littl ehigh (I didnt think it was major??) I have been working towards new insulin doses. When I had my last scan at 25 weeks my baby was measuring 2 weeks longer than it was meant to and weighing 200gms more also. My ob said this was related to my bsls. So I am curious to know if anyone else have experienced this??

[jennat]

Hi Guys,

Its been another busy couple of days on the forum which is great that there are so many of us out there in the same boat.

Cupcake welcome to the forum and congratulations on your great news, your HBA1C sounds great so I wouldn't worry too much about the odd high reading, you will see earlier on the forum that there have been quite a few of us (me included) posting on here panicking with a high reading, essentially the odd high reading is to be expected its the average sugar levels so what your HBA1c measures that is important at the end of the day. My fingers are crossed for you as well that you don't have too many issues with your other medical conditions going forwards.

Ali G - you poor thing, wasn't as bad as it sounds like you are at the moment, but I did suffer an awful lot from nausea, the only way I could combat it was to effectively make sure my stomach was never totally empty, things like plain rich tea biscuits or crackers helped out a lot, one good point about this is that nausea and morning sickness is actually a good sign that the pregnancy is progressing well and finger crossed when you get to the magic 12 or 13 week mark the sickness will pass.

Cassie as Nattie says there are so many elements and facets to being pregnant and nurturing this life inside us, Diabetes is only one part of it, who is to say that based on you or your partners genes that you wouldn't have been destined to have a bigger baby anyway whether you are Diabetic or not, please please don't beat yourself up or think you should have done anything differently, your HBA1c sounds great. One question that may be worth thinking about is how sure are you with your dates? If your dates are a bit out this can make a world of differnce to the percentiles that are used and also bear in mind that I believe Ultrasound weights can be out by up to 400g so it may well be that little one is only actually 2kgs, do you have another growth scan booked in? I would say wait until you have your next scan before you start to worry too much. I recently had my first growth scan and I was officially at 33weeks 6 days so not that much further on that you and, my little one was also measuring a bit bigger than normal and is projected at just over 2.6kgs at the moment, My ob seems perfectly happy with this however and is still happy to take a wait and see approach. As Nattie suggested I would jot down all of the questions that are going on in your mind at the moment and speak with your Ob, ask him to run through all of the options with you not just say oh you may have to do this, ask him to be more specific just so that you can get your head around what is going to happen and if need be make an informed decision, keep us posted with how you go on this.

I hope everyone else is well

Jenna

[amber1987]

cassie! I just read your post after I wrote mine!! Im exactly the same!! Makes me feel slighly better knowing there is someone else in the same boat. Im due before you, Im only 27wks so you will have to inform of your experience. I was planning on getting induced at 38wks but now ob is saying it may be safer for a c-cextion. I feel Im headed more for a c-section. (Ive never wanted one in my life) Because Ive heard of how high the risk of having an emergency C-Section when induced. I think I would prefer to have a planned C-section then go through a horrible labour and end up having a c-section anyway. (Even more so because Im not in a city :( I feel like a faliure, I am trying hard with my levels but cant always be controlled, and all the naughty cravings Ive been having is putting me through hell!

[Gen]

Wow! What a hive of activity! I've just read through the posts since my last visit. As far as morning/all day sickness goes I have had it quite badly but have noticed that it either happens when I smell something I can't cope with such as perfume, cigarette smoke, I'm tired or my blood sugar is going low. My only solutions so far have been trying to avoid 'smelly' situations (e.g don't stand in a crowd at Harvest Festival watching Portishead because everyone will start lighting up and you will have to push your way out through the crowd and be sick in front of a group of police who think you are off your chops - charming!!), having food such as museli bars on hand, ginger tea and honey for hypos and having a rest.

We are now just over 12 weeks and had our scan on Friday.I was very nervous beforehand. All was clear. It was wonderful to be able to see "Yurtle" and "Turtle" (we have given them non gender specific nicknames :-)) and great to be able to finally share the news with everyone. I have been really impressed with the set up at the Royal Womens Hospital (Melb). Thanks to everyone for their feedback on public/private options. We have decided to go public for the appointments - multiple births and diabetes and private (Francis Perry) for the birth.

As far as c-section/natural birth goes I think it is so different for each person and each situation. I had a great chat with the obstetrician at the RWH when I went in the other day about options and risks and have been referring any of my questions to her.

:-) Gen

[Cassie_B]

Thanks for the support girls, it has helped me stop being so down on myself a little. Neither hubby nor I are huge/were huge babies (well, I may have been if I'd made it to full term, but I was born at 28wks so who knows?), so I'm thinking my own weight gain in pregnancy (20kgs!) is probably one of the most likely culprits here, and will try to remember that when I'm ravenous and basking in pregnancy eating the next time around...

As for the birth, I'll give the drs a few more weeks of 'wait and see' and then I'll start stamping my foot for some proper advice. I think I'm especially worried because quite a few people close to me have had tragic happenings due to pregnancy/birth complications, so it's hard to remember that most of the time things go well, not worse. I just can't stand the thought of having anything of the sort happen with our little one...

At this stage, it really helps to hear stories of things going well :) so thank-you all again for sharing - Nattie, it certainly helped lift some of my guilt reading that your Tessa was 5kg despite (what seems to me) perfect BSLs - how are you both doing now??

Amber, I'll definitely keep you updated with the progress from here - and good luck with yours - like I mentioned above I'm thinking my weight gain may be the main culprit in increasing bub's size, so although I know you can't avoid all the naughty cravings, maybe for now just try to minimise acting on them as much as you can!!

Cupcake sorry I missed your earlier post - Welcome and Congrats! I'll second Jenna's reassurance that you shouldn't beat yourself up too much over random high readings, I too was another one panicking over occasional high levels, and my docs also maintained that it's the average sugar level that counts. Best of luck with everything, it sounds like you're doing a fantastic job!

Ali G - Yey! For your dating scan! (It's magic, isn't it???). I wish I could offer you some helpful advice on the 'morning' sickness, but I was lucky enough to mostly avoid it so all I can suggest is hang in there and if it gets worse/doesn't eventually go away make sure you see the dr for some anti-emetics??

Jenna - Thanks (again) for the reassurance - and for updating the list recently, very helpful! How are you (and bub) doing at the tail end of this journey? I'm very excited for you that your ob's still happy to avoid induction :)

Hope everyone else is doing great =)

[ErniB]

Ooooh let me try this: hopefully this pic works! Thanks to Cassie_B who took the time to post me the info and discount voucher. It was a magical experience - unfortunately, hubby couldn't make it, so I invited my mum, and she cried in amazement at the beauty of it all.... Thanks again Cass!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58800153@N ... hotostream

[Cassie_B]

Gorgeous Erin!

And you're very welcome!! =)

[ErniB]

omg... my father in law sent me this link to watch - a visualisation of conception to birth....AMAZING!

http://www.ted.com/talks/alexander_tsia ... lized.html

[jennat]

Hi Ladies,

Erin the photo is gorgeous, it makes it so real when you can actually see whats happening inside doesn't it,

I just thought I would do a bit of an update on where I am at the moment, currently 35 weeks pregnant and sweltering through 36 degrees in Perth - Not Fun!!!

All going well with the pregnancy so far touch wood, getting to the point where I just want to meet my little girl now and counting down the weeks (pretty much Christmas day shes due!!) , all seems to be going well with the Diabetes, I've had HBA1c of 6.1, 5.8 and 5.5 throughout the pregnancy which I'm so pleased with, my insulin requirements seem to have stablised in the past few weeks, I'm on more than I was pre pregnancy but I've only increased my doses by about 50% of my pre pregnancy insulin and am keeping relatively stable with this, my hypo awareness has also come back which is a big relief. Have another appointment with the Endo tomorrow so we'll see how we go.
We had a growth scan last week for little one which I was really nervous about, I had the growth scan at 34 weeks and her head measure at 35 weeks, abdoman measured at just over 35 weeks and she has very long legs!!! They gave her an estimated weight of 2.6kgs. My Ob was really happy with this and is still happy for me to carry on as I am and hopefully go into labour naturally, he doesn't seem to think she will be huge but we will see what happens :-), I also found it really reassuring as I've joined another pregnancy chat group which includes mainly non Diabetic mothers to be and we were all comparing estimated baby weights and pretty much everyone was measuring from 2.4Kgs to 2.8kgs at 34 weeks so I'm happy to be slap bang in the middle.

I'm meeting with the Ob, every 2 weeks still but after next week this switches to weekly, I've prepared a Birth Plan as well and my Doula is being fantastic - I can definitely recommend one, fingers crosed things go to plan but as long as bub is healthy at the end of this that is all I want.

I hope everyone else is doing well, I'll keep you posted on how I go as not long to go now!

[LuciaL]

Hi Amber - Do you have an endocrinologist to about your blood sugars? I've been told the same that high sugars can cause the babies to grow faster and this can be dangerous. My endo has me aiming for very tight targets - they want bsls at at 4 or 5 when I wake up and before meals, avoiding hypos is the challenge for me.

No major news from me except that I've been a bit nauseous again and exhausted which has led to taking the foot off the pedal a bit with D but trying to get back onto it more. My boys are kicking A LOT which is quite nice actually, and I'm getting huge. Seeing ob tomorrow and will be interested to see what he says about my size and weight gain.

One last thing. I found this amazing childbirth educator who's also a physio (and mum of 4) and would highly recommend her. Cath (sorry forget surname) at Fitwise physio group in East Melbourne. Private but reasonable prices. I did her first one-hour birthing class and then had a private appointment and my husband came and his comment really summed it up, he reckons he got more useful info in 5 minutes from Cath than in the whole day of antenatal class we did. She wasn't fazed by my being not a standard issue pregnancy and was well versed in all the complications and interventions likely with d and twins, and able to marry that with her very active, natural approach to birth and gave us some fantastic advice and suggestions about making a probably high intervention birth as good as possible. A fabulous resource.

Ciao.

[amber1987]

Lucia- I dont see an endo any more but my diabetes educators wants me to do the same. Aim under 5.5 before meals and under 7 2 hours afters. I was good but then just trying to working my new insulin requirements out is was a causing my levels to rise. I know how you feel about the hypos though. I seem to be going under 4 a couple of times a day. Im beginnig to really hate this diabetes pregnancy experience, because I am either scared of having a terrible hypo (just around conception I had a bad hypo and had a fit and cut my head open) or going high and risking my babies health... aaarrrggghhh, it drives me mad

[Cassie_B]

Amber and Lucia,

I know what you mean about the difficulty avoiding hypos on such tight targets, and beginning to hate the diabetes pregnancy experience - especially when constantly trying to balance the fears of hypos/highs. Earlier on I was going low several times a day/overnight (exhausting in itself!) and then, to make things worse hypo-unawareness settled in and I'd go low just as often, only I wouldn't catch it unless I happened to be doing a test. So I started testing at least once an hour. Even so there were a couple of readings in the 1s and 2s that hit me without me knowing until I happened to test. It was incredibly scary and frustrating, and I found the DEs insistence that I keep my levels that low - despite the hypo unawareness and the physical demands of my job etc. made me feel even worse, because I seemed damned if I did and damned if I didn't. I hated going low and putting myself, bub and others at risk, but I was so scared of any level higher than 7, and felt incredibly guilty for what I was afraid it might do to bub whenever my levels were higher than the blanket targets.

For what it's worth, the frustration and stress of it all caused me to move to a better hospital and the fabulous Endo team that I picked up at 20 weeks were (and still are) adamant that avoiding hypos is the higher priority. Which makes sense - they told me that yes, higher levels can contribute to a bigger baby, but it's consistently and uncorrected relatively high levels that are known to cause this ... and the outcome of a bigger-than-average bub is much better than bub's chances if mum has a serious/unconscious hypo. Plus, there are a myriad of reasons why bubs end up large, and I was told they see a lot of cases where bub ends up big despite the mother having levels in the 'target' range. The hypos have eased off a little for me at this stage, but the Endos are so adamant about avoiding the risk of a serious low that they still have me aiming around 6-7 and no lower than 5-5.5. I guess what I'm saying is don't be too hard on yourselves, it's a hard tightrope to balance, just keep yourself safe as a priority (bub's safety counts on it!), and don't let anyone brow-beat you into following a blanket plan if it's not working for you! Good luck!

[larap]

Hi Everyone,
I too have been lurking a bit here. I had a miscarriage in Feb so have been a little nervous to talk about anything.
Currently 7 weeks. I had a scan last week which showed a great heartbeat but also some blood - so im not holding out hope but trying to stay positive.
Morning sickness is horrendous. I cant keep water down unless I take zofran which is pretty bad. But I figure its all worth it in the end. Also doing clexane injections for my cardiolipin.

Anyway - a few things I wanted to say.
I went to a new endo last week who specialises in pregnancy - she was adamant that its just as important not to have lows. She doesnt want me any lower than 4! She cut back all my insulin levels (which is still not helping with all these lows at the moment) but at least its a start. She said that although big babies are an issue - its more about food and consistently high levels throughout the pregnancy - rather than the occasional one or two. I really wouldnt stress.
Plus my cousin (not D) just had a baby who was 4.5kg at birth! So it happens to other people as well!!!!

I hope everyone is doing well! I have seen plenty of endos/obs so feel free to ask anything. I have a really good team at the moment which helps a lot.

[~Lou~]

HI larap, good luck with your pregnancy, my morning sickness was awful too, I hope yours gets better soon!

Ladies, I've been lurking a bit but am really starting to struggle with this diabetes and pregnancy thing. My last HBA1C was 6.4 (which for me was great). I'm 27 weeks pregnant with our first baby and my levels started to go haywire.

I'm up to a 1:5 ratio (carbs to insulin) whereas a few weeks ago I was 1:1 or 1:2 depending on the time of day. It just doesn't seem right in my head yet to be injecting sooooo much more insulin and therefore my levels are sh!te! They were mostly between 4-8 until a few weeks ago but are now up to 16.0 some days after breakfast (after eating 2 units of carbs and taking 12+ units of insulin :( ). I'm testing about 10-12 times per day.

To make matters worse my (private) OB (who is supposed to be a specialist in D pregnancies) asked me at my last appointment whether I'd had my gestational diabetes test yet!!!!! So needless to say he's not filling me with confidence. I'm seeing him every 2 weeks from now on and seeing my endo every month. I'm having another scan at 32 weeks but that's all the extra care I think I'm getting. No one has measured bub to check if she's growing big yet. Does that sound normal?? What appointments/scans are you having??

I'm feeling so down about it all and I dread testing because it seems like no matter how much insulin I give it's not enough. I'm feeling really guilty even though I'm doing pretty much everything I can.

[Cassie_B]

Larap, congrats on this pregnancy and I hope it all goes super well for you! Good luck with the 'morning' sickness too, sorry I can't offer any advice there, but they say it's a sign the hormones are doing a good job so.. keep up the good work? Also, thanks for your info on your cousin and reminding me that big babies are something people without D sometimes have to deal with too =) I'm glad you have a really good team on your side at the moment, and I'm sure I may be passing some questions your way in the near future - thanks for the offer and best of luck with everything!

And oh Lou, hang in there! This can be such a difficult time to 'manage' a disease that is difficult at the best of times, and it really sounds like you're doing everything right - as much as anyone can. For what it's worth, my carbs to insulin has gone up immensely as well, and I too went through a patch where levels just kept climbing despite the fact I kept upping my doses. (I'm now taking about about 20 units of insulin for 2-3 units of carbs at most main meals, plus corrective doses before if I'm greater than 5.5 prior to meals and after if I'm higher than 7.5). I'm testing at LEAST 12 times a day too and I know what you mean about that point where you start to feel really down and dreading testing. Please don't feel too guilty about it all though, 6.4 is a FANTASTIC HbA1c, and it really does sound like you're doing everything you can and a fantastic job at that (yes, even with the spikes after breakfast and all). I had the same problem and my Endo worked really hard to try and get me to not beat myself up for it. I actually found that when I regulated my testing and corrective doses a bit more - prior to meals and making myself hold off on extra corrections until 3 hours after injecting (rather than testing almost every hour and freaking out about/trying to correct every 'bad' result in between) - things actually didn't seem so bad. It gave me more room to breathe and (coupled with some base level insulin adjustments suggested by the Endos) things started to settle down a bit more/seem more manageable and less suffocating. Maybe your Endo can help you do the same at your next appointment - just explain what's been happening and how it's making you feel. Hopefully things will settle down for you a bit more over the next couple of weeks xo Ps that IS a little scary about your ob asking about the gestational diabetes test too... I hope he manages to remember from now on, but it's good that you're still able to see your endo regularly.

As for 'extra care' I'm at the RBWH so I'm not sure how different that would be to the private system, but as a comparison at 27 weeks they had me seeing both an Endo and an Ob (whoever happened to be on duty) every two weeks. The more frequent endo visits may have been due to that rough patch I mentioned, coupled with the ongoing hypo unawareness. Mostly it was just to check on hypo awareness and for regular adjustment of insulin base levels. If you're not happy with seeing your Endo monthly, or you feel you need extra support, you should definitely go ahead and ask for more contact time - apart from the inconvenience of having to go to even more appointments, and perhaps the cost, it can't really hurt, right? In reality, I'm not sure that the Endo's have done much that I hadn't been doing/wasn't able to do myself (most of the time the dosage changes are pretty much what I put forward, occasionally with a little tweaking) but I think it has helped having that regular discussion with 'specialists' who 'get it', and the reassurance/approval that I'm doing all I can and that these fluctuations are 'normal' and not necessarily something that's directly my 'fault'. To this point the obs haven't really done much other than check my blood pressure and bub's heart rate at each appointment. They keep saying they'll wait til 36 weeks before discussing options/decisions. As for scans, what you've said sounds pretty similar to what they had me doing at that time. In fact, the head Ob I was seeing wasn't planning on doing any extra u/s at all until 34 weeks. I only happened to get one at 32 because the Endo wanted to check (and due to bub's size I'm now looking at a new one every fortnight as well). This week I think they also have me booked in for a dietitian and a midwife ... which they seem to be doing about every month. So what you've got going on sounds pretty similar in a nutshell, but again, if you're not happy with it or you feel you need extra support, you should definitely ask for more appointments or whatever you need! Good luck!

[jennat]

Hi Guys,

welcome Larap, I hope the morning sickness settles down a bit and my fingers are crossed for you that everything progresses smoothly for you.

Lou as Cassie says what you are going through is perfectly normal in a Diabetic Pregnancy from what I can gather. I've been quite lucky my insulin levels have only gone up by about 50% from my base insulin pre pregnancy but this pretty much kicked in overnight at about the 28 week mark for me, I was on 12 units one day and then had to boost up to 18 pretty much the next day to stop from getting stupid blood sugar levels. My understanding is that at this time of the pregnancy there is a fair bit of trial and error involved, your body starts to become more insulin resistant the degree to which you become insulin resistant is very individual so the only thing I can suggest is definitely speak with your Endo and in consultation with him continue to increase your insulin until you are getting levels you are more comfortable with. One other thing that I did as well around this time as I was adamant I didn't want to boost my insulin too high is I actually reverted back to quite a low carbohydrate diet and tried to make it that as many of the carbs I was eating as possible were low GI. I struggled horrendously when eating things like Bread even wholemeal or Granary and having 2 slices for breakfast in the morning would shoot me up sky high by mid morning so I made the decision to cut it out and go back to the slightly boring staple of porridge oats - but hey it works, then having things like salads for lunch and fish or meat and vegies in the evening (with a heatlhy serve of ice cream thrown in a couple of times a day as well :-) ) . It has taken a fair bit of trial and error to get to this but I have found this is working for me at the moment. Don't beat yourself up about having some higher results its your bodies way of saying everything is progressing normally with the pregnancy and just telling you you need to make some adjustments.

On another note with insulin resistance and insulin sensitivity during pregnancy, I went and saw my endo last thursday and he surprised me somewhat as he said that apparently in the last few weeks of pregnancy it is likely that my insulin requirements will come down again, I'm at 36 weeks now and I have reduced my injections by 1 unit per injection so this is something to maybe look out for going forwards as well.

With regards to appointments during the pregnancy, I was on four weekly visits to the OB until 32 weeks, following which it went to 2 weekly and from this week on I'll be seeing him weekly, with regards to the Endo that has been a bit more sporadic, but he is now requesting that I see him every 2 weeks also until the end of the pregnancy. My experiences with scans etc have been pretty similar I had the usual 12 week and 20 week scans and then didn't have another one until 34 weeks, I get a mini scan every time I go to see the OB but he is just checking bubs position and heartbeat. I'm quite happy with this as I like the fact that I'm basically being treated as a normal pregnancy unless something crops up that needs additional monitoring so I wouldn't worry too much about getting scanned every time you go in,

I also had my pre admission interview at the maternity hospital this morning, makes it all seem very real, I can't believe this little one is going to be here in the next four weeks!!

Jenna

[eitak]

Hello to all the lovely ladies!

While I have a moment, I just wanted to jump online and wish you the best Jenna, as your due date approaches! The silly season is upon us and I know I'll struggle to get on again in a hurry. Looking forward to hear your exciting news soon.

[LuciaL]

Interesting discussion about endos who actually understand diabetes and pregnancy being big on avoiding lows as much as highs - I think that's great. Mine is the same. I was just a little concerned about a few people in amongst that implying that the only concern is having big babies; hate to be a bore but there are some much more serious complications that high sugars can cause in pregnancy, and even the 'big baby' thing is quite different if it's caused by diabetes; the risk (as I understand it) is that babies grow too fast and are big enough to want to come out but are actually underdeveloped. Enough of the scary stuff, but I'd hate it if people reading this to think that we're all working so damn hard just to not have a big baby like many people do without problems - there's a lot more on the table than that unfortunately. :(

Amber - I'm worried for you that you;'re not getting help from an endo..... this is tricky stuff and I wouldn't do it without an endo, everything I've ever read says you should see one ... I have managed my d very independently for very many years but have found my endo invaluable during pregnancy - is there anything we can do to help you find one or anything?

And to the gals experiencing morning sickness, hugs! It's horrible! Mine was shocking in the early stages, but it did go away about 18 weeks or so thank god. I ended up on Zofran wafers which were a dream. My advice from my recent experience would be to talk to your ob at the very first sign or even beforehand! I was very sick by the time I got to asking him, then got onto the right drugs and was a million times better. Was a pity for me that it all bottomed out when I was away for work for a few weeks and for some reason being inter-state I was hesitant to call him (then in my last appointment he took a call from a patient in Bulgaria who sounded to be having much less problems than I was in in Perth!). Anyway, I wish I had asked him about morning sickness (and go scripts for the drugs!) before it hit, rather than being right in the worst of it before I got the help I needed. You might not need drugs but there are a few different options that make a big difference. As my GP said to me the other day, we don't like to prescribe when there's no need, but we also don't need you to be suffering when there are safe treatments.

Other good advice I got was to take leave in the early stages if you need it with the morning sickness, as for some people (me so far) that has been the worst bit so far and you think you need to keep it for the end, but if you're sick you should take ti and rest rather than try to kill yourself powering on.

Good luck everyone ... no major updates from me, all going along swimmingly (much to my surprise!). Basals almost hitting double what they were pre-preg already and a lot more highs than I like as I try to keep up with that but nothing too dramatic.

Ciaooooo

[Julie]

Well put Lucia. Unfortunately there's all the other yukky stuff that we do our best to avoid.

I'm just getting on to share my extremely great news - my 14 week hba1c was 5.6! It hasn't been without it's fair share of highs and lows, but it's certainly a pat on the back!

Just another quick question that's off the topic of D but I just wondered if anyone has had a similar experience... We've just finished building our lovely new house and we were meant to move in last week. Unfortunately the new house smell (new carpet, floorboards, glues, silicons, etc etc etc) is appalling and I can't be in there for longer than a few hours. I'm stressed because I'm pregnant and as much as I've googled and asked my ob about it, I can't seem to find a proper answer as to effects it might have on the baby, and how safe it is to be in there. It can't be good because it stinks so much, but at what point do I make the move?? Googling it produces scary horrible stories and my ob said she can't be sure. It's been 2 weeks since all the work has been finished and we are airing it out as much as possible. I'm just a bit anxious about it and was wondering what you girls would do in my position? Am I being over the top? Any advice would be much appreciated!!!

[Ali G]

Julie can your hubby smell it as bad or is it because your sense of smell is greater now??

thanks for the tips LuciaL, I am really on struggle street at the moment as I have just come back from 6 nights in London for work and the MS really kicked in while I was over there and I think I have hit rock bottom as I am happy to make a deal with the devil not to feel sick!!!

Havnt eaten anything for the past 3 days and everything that I try just comes straight back up again! so I am taking my insulin for the food then crashing when I throw it all back up - not nice to read! sorry!

I have a obs appoitnment on wed morning and I am trying to hang out until then to get something for it as I really cant drive to the DR as any movement in the car makes it worse.

9 weeks tomorrow and really just feeling over it, D+MS is such a bitch!

[amber1987]

Lucia! I live in a regional area and edno only visits every month. I was seeing her reguarly but she said that I was controlling my diabetes fine on my own (She has so many patients with more important needs tha me apparently). I even took my partner last time because he didnt believe me that she was no help. (I had had a horrible hypo and ended up fitting and in hospital and she still said everything was fine!!!) My partner agreed it was a waste of time. I e-mail my DE my readings every week and met up with her last week at my obs appointment and she said everything was going really well. (Although she is ridiculous to think I should give myself 7 units of novo-rapid everyday for lunch.) She expects me to only eat the same amount of carbs everyday. Does anyone one else's DE have these expectations? My HBa1c came back as 5.6. I think just having the re assurance and support from you ladies on here is what I need. Im in a better frame of mind now, I was just distressed to think of every little thing I do wrong (eating) can have a horrible impact on my baby and the birth. Im sure it will all go fine and Im sure to let you know how it went. Im getting induced in the first or second week of feb if everything is going well :)

[larap]

Hi Ali,

I feel your pain! I am 8 weeks and this MS is killing me. I called ob today. He wants to look at admitting me for a few days for hydration. I cant even hold down water at the moment. Zofran has been working like a charm but it makes you seriously constipated! Not a great combo.
If anyone has any advice please let me know - could seriously do with the help!

[larap]

Hi Ali,

Just to let you know. I spent the last 2 days in hospital with IV fluids. As bad as it sounds - I feel sooo much better now! It has helped hugely. OB also said to keep taking drugs to keep it under control and drink at least 2-3 litres a day!

Hope everyone else is doing well. Good luck to everyone who is due in next few weeks :)

[Ali G]

sometimes you just need drugs dont you! Glad you are feeling better now larap

Once you get dehrayted it is so hard to come back so the IV would have made you feel a million bucks!

I am feeling slightly better! have been sleeping 12hrs nightly to try and get over my jetlag which didnt help the MS at all! Thought I was dying at one stage!!

Saw the obs yesterday and I was 9w1d and they did a scan agan and saw pebbles moving and stretching around which was so super cute! Didnt expect that so soon!

Was so with the faires when I was in there I forgot to ask for Zofran so will need to call and sort that out as I am sure MS isnt gone yet!

[Ali G]

forgot to add that if I leave eating to long and start to get hungry then I will spew it all back up again so trying to graze all the time to try and stop getting to that point! And eating slow I find also helps