Pregnancy and Diebeties.

I wanted to write a few posts about my experience with diabetes while being pregnant.

It has been one of the toughest journeys I have ever had to make.  Only becuase this isn't all about me. In the past anything I had to deal with has had the biggest impact on me. But being pregnant with diabetes is no longer just about me its about my baby.  His survival, his health and his well being.  I cant begin to describe the guilt, anger and desperation I have felt over the past 7 months and raw need to have my child survive my broken body!  The road that lead to diabetes has been a long and complex one, although technically its hereditary in my family the choices I have made have led to this sickness. Those choices, although most made in ignorance, depression, and desperation have now impacted the health of my son and I. To have my past still effecting my future this way is devastating.

How exactly has it impacted my unborn son and I?

Excerpt from: Babycenter.com
 When you're pregnant, hormonal changes can make your cells less responsive to insulin.  If your blood sugar levels are too high, too much glucose will end up in your baby's blood. When that happens, your baby's pancreas needs to produce more insulin to process the extra glucose.Your baby may also be at higher risk for breathing problems at birth, particularly if your blood sugar levels aren't well controlled or you deliver early (the lungs of babies whose mothers have diabetes tend to mature a bit later). The risk of newborn jaundice is increased, too. If your blood sugar control is especially poor, your baby is at risk for polycythemia (an increase in the number of red cells in the blood) and hypocalcemia (low calcium in the blood), and your baby's heart function could be affected as well.  Some studies have found a link between severe gestational diabetes and an increased risk of stillbirth in the last two months of pregnancy. And, finally, women with gestational diabetes are at increased risk for developing preeclampsia,

I take insulin 4 times a day, once before each  meal and again before bed. I then take my blood sugar readings an hour after I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner.  That means I have had to learn to inject myself with a needled and carry my insulin, my needles and my blood sugar monitor with me at all times. I also carry glucose tablets in case I get low blood sugers.  I only have to do this while I am pregnant as pregnancy makes my diabetes worse and the bigger my baby and placenta get the worse my diabetes gets. So every day I record my numbers and at the end of the week I report them to a team of specialists who will then tell me how much insulin to take.

Below is a response to a question asked by a Diabetic Mum regarding early delivery and complications.

The essential thing here is that your diabetes has been very well controlled, which means that the potential risks that diabetes brings to pregnancy are minimised for both you and your baby.

We know that diabetes usually becomes more severe during pregnancy because there is an increased resistance to the action of insulin.

This means your insulin dose almost certainly has needed to be increased to keep your blood sugar under control.

In the last trimester, problems with high blood pressure, protein in the urine and fluid retention (pre-eclampsia) used to happen three times as often in mums-to-be who had diabetes.

You were also more likely to have more fluid around your baby (hydramnios). Until medical treatment improved, there was a significantly increased risk to the baby both in the womb and immediately after delivery.

We know the risks of all these things increase after 36-38 weeks, but before 36-weeks the baby is still undergoing essential development within the womb.

For this reason, obstetricians generally agree that the delivery should happen at about 38-weeks to minimise all risks and ensure the best possible result.

Your treatment to date will have made sure that your blood sugar is well controlled through watching what you eat and through insulin dosage adjustment.

You have probably been seeing a specialist diabetologist as well as your obstetrician, and having weekly appointments since you were 28-weeks pregnant to achieve these things.

You should be induced a couple of weeks early, although the size of your baby will need to be carefully assessed because some babies born to mothers with diabetes are larger than others.

The obstetrician will want to know that there is room for your baby to come through your birth canal, because otherwise a Caesarean section may be necessary.

For further information contact Diabetes UK.

Yours sincerely

The NetDoctor Medical Team