New ACT1 Post... Passing Down Diabetes

I've got a new post up on the ACT1 blog - one that I'm sure each of us T1 moms or moms-to-be have thought about.  Stop by and check it out!

Week 16 Update

Well, I’m officially 16 weeks and Baby B is the size of a turnip according to my What to Expect When You’re Expecting iPhone App. I can’t believe how quickly time is going now compared with how slowly it dragged in the beginning of the pregnancy. September has gone by in a flash, and when I look ahead at the calendar, the next few months will be a whirlwind too. I love it when the calendar is full, because it is a sure sign that time will go quickly!

This past weekend I went shopping for maternity clothes with my mom, and it was so much fun trying on clothes with the fake baby bumps that the stores have. Now I know what I’ll look like at 7 months pregnant—I mean, the only change your body goes through is that one concentrated bump on your tummy, right?!? I also must say I already LOVE maternity jeans. Not only are they cute, but also extra comfy (again, I say that now at 4 moths, we’ll see if I’m singing a different tune at 8 months).

I can’t wait for our anatomy scan next week, it seems like it’s been a while since we’ve seen Baby B on the screen. The big question that everyone has been asking has been whether or not we’ll find out if it’s a boy or a girl, and the answer is………. we’re still not sure. I want to keep it a surprise, but my husband wants to find out. We have to decide before our appointment next week, so stay tuned for that.

On the diabetes front, my blood sugar has been really stable. I’m so glad things have calmed down with my blood sugars, because the lows were really difficult to deal with, especially with all of the sickness that I had in my first trimester. The worst of the “morning” sickness seems to be over, although I still get wave of it every few days. I’m preparing myself for the rise in blood sugars that will likely happen in the coming weeks, but for now, am enjoying the calm. The biggest pregnancy symptom that I’m battling now is the horror show that has become my face. The acne is horrible, but I’m now trying to combat it with Witch Hazel, so we’ll see how that goes (thanks to the ladies on the Bump iPhone app who have suggested it!).

I’m really looking forward to the next month because I’m hoping to be able to feel Baby B move soon. I’ve been feeling something going on in there, but not sure if it’s the baby or what, so I can’t wait until I can feel a good swift kick :)

New A1C

I went to my endo yesterday to check on the A1C and I was very happy to get a 5.6! My endo was pleased with that number, and is happy with how things are progressing overall. He warned me that my numbers are likely to start going up soon, as will my insulin needs, so he doesn’t want me to get freaked out by that. I asked how the high blood sugars that I’m likely to experience will affect Baby B and he explained that since I’ve already made it through the first trimester with a great A1C, Baby B doesn’t have any higher risk for birth defects than any other child born to a “normal” mother because the major organs are done forming (which, as an aside, is astounding to me!). He said the main concern about high blood sugars throughout the rest of the pregnancy is the size of the baby. If my numbers run high for long periods of time, the baby is likely to be large, which may lead to complications. He also said that even if my blood sugars are perfect, the baby could still be big, due to pure and simple genetics, so he said I just need to keep doing what I’m doing, and we’ll deal with anything that may come up later in the pregnancy as it happens.

During our meeting, I told my endo how Dex and I are not getting along, and he laughed and told me to just forget it. He said he can count on one hand the number of his patients who end up sticking with a CGM because most get frustrated with the fact that they just aren’t that accurate. I didn’t see any benefit to me or my numbers when using Dex, so I’ve decided to stop for now. I may still use it every now and again for a few days here and there, but to have it on everyday seems like a waste to me since I end up ignoring it half the time anyway because I’m so used to it being wrong. I also find that I test more often when I’m not wearing Dex, so I think for me, it’s better to just give it up for now. We’ll see if I change my mind again later…

Speaking of change, I have a new post up on the ACT1 site today—check it out if you have some time.

2nd Trimester!

I can’t believe we’ve made it to the second trimester. Looking back, it seems like it has gone fast, although I keenly remember feeling the days drag on in the beginning. I’ve still been battling “morning” sickness—I keep hoping any day now that will get better. Some days I feel fine and then other days, like today, it’s just a train wreck! I’ve lost about 7 pounds since the beginning of my pregnancy, so now hopefully I’ll start to even out and eventually start gaining as the pregnancy goes on (who would have thought I’d ever be concerned about losing weight!).

Since my scare a few weeks ago, my blood sugar has been behaving. I did get a CGM, as I wrote about before, but am completely unimpressed. I have an endo apt. on Wednesday and may ask about removing it because I haven’t seen any real benefits. It will be interesting to see what my A1C will be. My doctor thinks it will be even lower than 5.7 last time, which he constantly reminds me is not necessarily a good thing if it means I’m going low all the time. I think he doesn’t know what to do with me sometimes, he keeps saying he’s not used to having to harp on people to run a little higher. But, he’s been wonderful and I am so glad I found him in time for this pregnancy. He is on email, which is really convenient, and he will also call from time to time just to check in, even though I also work closely with a CDE in his office on a weekly basis.

Aside from all of the diabetes and pregnancy stuff, I have been able to enjoy the process more than I thought I would. I’m less crazed about my blood sugar than I thought I would be, although I’m sure my doctor wouldn’t necessarily say I’m easy going about it. I have had some highs and just get them down as quickly as I can. I don’t see the point in getting hysterical about it.

So far, besides the few scares that we’ve had and the nausea that I’ve experienced, I’ve loved being pregnant. It’s been such an exciting time, full of new experiences, ideas, questions, fears, feelings and priorities. I’m amazed at what is going on inside my body, and am in awe of what we as women are capable of in this process. Being pregnant makes me appreciate everything I’ve had even more that I did before. It makes me realize how lucky I am to have a wonderful husband, great friends, supportive family and the means by which we’ll be able to care for our son or daughter. I see things so differently now, that it almost seems like I’m living in a brand new world.

I can’t wait for so many things that will happen in the next few months, but I’m most excited for when I’ll be able to feel Baby B. kick for the first time. I’ve still get several weeks to go before that happens, so for now, all I can do is try to imagine what it will feel like. I am also way more excited than I should be for maternity clothes! I just think there are such cute clothes out there now and that the pants will be SO comfy. I’m still in my regular clothes for now, but we’ll see how long that lasts. Can’t wait to see what else this next trimester will bring!

Initial Dexcom Reactions

After my little incident a couple of weeks ago, my CDE and endo talked me into trying out a CGM. Since I have an Animas pump, I’m using the Dexcom. I’ve worn it for about three days now and I still can’t decide how I feel about it. I got it mostly to help me identify when I’m heading toward a low, but I find it most helpful in identifying when I’m going up since I personally hate being high when pregnant. My endo told me not to overreact when I see spikes after meals since he knows I’m an aggressive corrector, and so far I’ve been able to do that. I was even surprised that my postprandial spikes aren’t as bad as I thought they might be. So that has been one interesting tidbit I’ve learned from Dex.

On the other hand, Dex annoys me often. I understand and can even accept that it is sometimes up to 20% off (so if I’m 100, it could say I’m 120, or 80), but I have no patience for when it is 60, 70 or even 100 points off. What is the point of this technology if I can’t rely on the data being even remotely accurate? It seems like a lot of trouble for something that gives faulty information.

I do find the little trending arrows to be helpful, so it’s almost like I’ve already starting ignoring the actual number on the screen and just watching the arrows. I have been woken up about 5 times already by Dex, only twice for legitimate highs/lows, and the other three times were false alarms. While I was glad to be woken up the two times when it mattered, I was annoyed the other three times when I was woken up for no reason (and I was really annoyed when one of those times ended up being about 100 points off!).

So, while I’m certainly not an avid fan of Dex, I’m trying to wait it out a bit more to give it some more time. We’ll see if I can figure out ways to make use of it as best I can without getting constantly irritated by the fact that ultimately, the technology just isn’t there yet.

In more uplifting news, I'm almost out of my first trimester - only two more days to go. I can't believe it, and am SO excited to be moving on to this next phase!  More to come on that later.  In the meantime, hope everyone stateside has a great holiday weekend!