# 28 weeks pregnant newly diagnosed



## FairyNuff (Aug 19, 2010)

Hi everyone  

I'm new here, this is my story lol...

I'm 28 weeks pregnant, I had glucose in my urine and was told to have a GTT. I had that last week and the next day I was in hospital and told I had diabetes. They said it isn't gestational, it is type II but now they think it might be type I. I don't really understand how they wouldn't know but we have to wait for a blood test. They think I've been diabetic for years and no-one knew. 

So I've been injecting insulin for a week now, my blood sugar hasn't come down at all. Myself and my diabetic nurse finally convinced them to let me come home,  being inactive in hospital isn't helping with the levels. Been home for 24 hours and nothing has changed, the insulin just keeps on going up and up 

My baby is the size of a 32 weeker, my bump is the size of 36 weeks with all the extra fluid, I don't know what's going to happen. They are doing something to check the baby's heart tomorrow, but they just left a message on my answering machine, I don't know if this is routine or they think there's a problem. 

It's all so confusing! I already have 2 lovely boys and the pregnancies were so straightforward I think I just took it for granted this one would be too. Fingers crossed eh 

Am looking forward to chatting with you all and hearing your stories


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## Cate (Aug 19, 2010)

Hiya, and welcome 

I am type 1 and have 2 children, a 3 year old daughter and a 6 month old son.  My son Edward was 9 weeks prem and was a twin, his brother was stillborn.  Edward had a heart scan at 24 weeks because I had twin to twin transfusion syndrome.  If the baby is working harder for some reason it can mean their heart starts to show signs of stress - thickened linings and so on - that can be picked up on a detailed heart scan in utero.  Fortunately though he showed some signs, the treatment I had for the TTTS relieved it so all was good.  The scan is amazing, so detailed and they showed the blood flow along the umbilical cord and around the heart too.  So I don't think it's routine, but it is fairly standard fetal monitoring if required, IYSWIM?

What insulin are you on?  Have you been told what foods to eat/avoid/etc?  Hope you're getting decent antenatal care now they've picked this up!  It's hard work but doable  and worth it in the end (as you'll know since you've got 2 already!).

Good luck.


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## FairyNuff (Aug 19, 2010)

Hi Cate 

Thanks so much for that information. So sorry about Edward's twin, how hard that is. You must be very busy with 2 small children, my boys are 13 and 6, I'm a big one for deciding I'm having no more children and then panicking when they start school lol 

I'm on Humalin and Humalog, 18 16 16 22, but it is being increased every day so far. I'm very happy with the care from the hospital, except they have left hundreds of messages trying to get me in for this heart scan, when all the time I was like 3 rooms away! 

I saw a dietician before leaving hospital, I found her very patronizing, I'm not stupid... "How many portions of fruit and veg do you think you should have per day?" But maybe I'm being too harsh  I eventually got to the bottom of what I should eat/avoid and have managed to stick to it very well so far. I'm scared and will do all I can to get things right for this baby. 

Will let you know how it goes tomorrow, thanks again


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## rachelha (Aug 20, 2010)

Hi 

A fetal scan is routine for diabetics normally at about 22/24 weeks, so I would not worry this sounds like a normal thing to me.  You will be seen lots more in this pregnancy than in previous ones.  I am now 36 weeks and am at the hospital twice a week for scans and fetal heartbeat traces. 

Insulin needs increase in pregnancy (after dropping initially) I am now on over 3 times the amount I was on before pregnancy. Hope you manage to find the right amount for you soon.

Glad to hear you are now back home, much more relaxing.

Let us know how the scan goes

Rachel


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## getcarter76 (Aug 20, 2010)

Crikey...congratulations and welcome.

Its hard being T1 and being pregnant let alone being pregnant and newly diagnosed. I hope the hospital get to the bottom of your diabetes..keep us all posted 

Re the pregnancy, i have a young daughter (nearly 5) and from memory this is one of those many extras us diabetics go through. As it is classed as a high risk pregnancy with the diabetes, your care team have to keep a close eye on you. Normally fortnightly. 

In turn, you may have more scans, tests, checks etc etc to check all is going ok. You may have heard that T1's are more likely to give birth to a big baby because of the glucose carried over to the placenta (although just to be different, my daughters was born at 4lb 13 which dropped to 4lb 3)! Owing to the diabetes not being recongnised sooner, this may be the reason for your bigger baby. Don't worry though, your care team will keep an eye on you and you may find you have extra scans for this reason. 

Depending on where you live as well, the care varies greatly. I only had the bog standard two scans like any woman gets (perhaps though they should have given me more) but others on here have had much more and not because of anything bad, just because the care varies depending on where you live (i don't agree with this but what can you do).

I hope alls goes ok, keep us all posted along the way. Take care

Bernie xx


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## PhoebeC (Aug 20, 2010)

My heart goes out to you, Being pregnant and diabetic is hard enough with out only finding about the diabetics during the pregnancy.

The hospital should take better care of you now your a diabetic. Sounds like they are doing a good job.

When will you find out if your Type 1 or 2?

Lots of ladies on here have a huge amount of insulin now they are very pregnant, im still at the needing less stage. But your amounts arnt suprising even if for normal diabetics it seems alot.

Dieticians have always annoyed me, they really dont understand, I have never found them useful or helpful. Your not on your own there 

xx


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## FairyNuff (Aug 20, 2010)

Thanks for the lovely welcomes and information, I've already had more help from here than anywhere else! 

The scan was all clear, one less worry!  Was there for 3 hours though. After discussing the diabetes and the risks to the baby the doctor told me the baby was in the wrong position and I should go and have a hot chocolate or a packet of maltesers, as that would shift her.  I decided on a coffee... she moved but into another bad position, but after 3 hours, the doctor somehow managed to do the scan anyway. Do I just need to come to terms with spending half my life at hospital? 

Apparently it can take up to 6 weeks for this blood test to decide which type I have. And even then it might not be conclusive? I don't know enough about it yet...


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## sofaraway (Aug 20, 2010)

FairyNuff said:


> Apparently it can take up to 6 weeks for this blood test to decide which type I have. And even then it might not be conclusive? I don't know enough about it yet...



I should think they have tested for antibodies. In type 1 the immune system attacks the insulin producing cells so blood test will show these antibodies if they are positive then it's type 1. If you are type 2 you won't have these antibodies, which may mean you can come off insulin after you have had the baby. The only problem is that 30% of type 1's don't have antibodies so thats why they aren't 100% reliable. 

Good luck with the pregnancy


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## Cate (Aug 20, 2010)

Glad the heart scan was all clear  hopefully you can relax a bit more now that's done!

And yes, it's probably best to assume you'll basically be living at the hospital until you deliver the baby, at least it always seemed that way to me!


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## tracey w (Aug 21, 2010)

sofaraway said:


> I should think they have tested for antibodies. In type 1 the immune system attacks the insulin producing cells so blood test will show these antibodies if they are positive then it's type 1. If you are type 2 you won't have these antibodies, which may mean you can come off insulin after you have had the baby. The only problem is that 30% of type 1's don't have antibodies so thats why they aren't 100% reliable.
> 
> Good luck with the pregnancy



Thats interesting! Do you know why some type 1s dont have the antibodies Nikki?


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## sofaraway (Aug 21, 2010)

tracey w said:


> Thats interesting! Do you know why some type 1s dont have the antibodies Nikki?



err no I don't actually. but I will look into it.

I know that for some people that have been diagnosed for years that they might test negative even though they would have been positive at diagnosis.


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## tracey w (Aug 21, 2010)

sofaraway said:


> err no I don't actually. but I will look into it.
> 
> I know that for some people that have been diagnosed for years that they might test negative even though they would have been positive at diagnosis.



Yeah, like the antibodies have all gone now? Ive not heard of not having the antibodies before, that must make it quite difficult in trying to get a diagnosis if that occurs? 

I had the test and the consultant told me yep, positive you are type 1. My new consultant looked back at the results recently and said , yes you probably are type 1. Probably?  If there are antibodies you are type 1 right?

I presume if its slow onset the antibodies build up over time as output decreases? Or am i just confusing myself now?


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## tracey w (Aug 21, 2010)

Fairy, didnt mean to hijack your thread.

wish you luck for the rest of your pregnancy and hope you get used to the diabetes quicky.


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## FairyNuff (Aug 22, 2010)

tracey w said:


> Fairy, didnt mean to hijack your thread.
> 
> wish you luck for the rest of your pregnancy and hope you get used to the diabetes quicky.



No worries  and thanks x


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