# help needed!



## smile4loubie (Dec 22, 2009)

hi everyone.
Me and my partner want to start trying for a baby but all my docs say is my sugar levels need to be well controlled but aren't offering any advice or help to do this. I.ve never been very good at controlling my levels and have never had good support from my docs etc. I'm so depressed because i don't know what to do. I have read pages online about diabetic pregnancy and know there is a massive risk in getting pregnant while they are high. I just don't know what to do. I don't know how to carb count or anything. Only found out about carb counting through a work mate of my fiances. I'm type 2 and have been for 5 years but i take nova rapid 3 times daily and levemir 1 time daily. Help please! X


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## Steff (Dec 22, 2009)

hey smile my current partners ex  had a baby thru pregnancy she was a type 1 she had a preety ruff time of it but she was also epoleptic as well as diabetic her levels where quite topsy turvy and she got through the delivery part fine, i think the care you recieve has such a great diffirence, if your levels are to high they need to help you as well as helping yourself you need encouragement and help as well.rearding carb counting they are some amazingly knowledgable people on here who carb count etc etc and im sure they will be more then willing to help you on that front.


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## smile4loubie (Dec 22, 2009)

thanks steff. Just feel so alone with it all and like i'm not getting anywhere


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## rachelha (Dec 22, 2009)

Hello

does you local diabetic clinice have any clincis that could help.  I am currently ttc, and have been going to a pre-pregnancy clinic for a while now.  My levels were all over the place, by Hba1c is now down to 7.4 which is still not within the recommended range but we were given the go ahead to start trying.  It is so frustrating though.  It took about 9 months to get the go ahead, so it feels like we have been trying for ages.  So many of my friends and collegues are either pregnant or have babies at the moment.  

I am not sure why you have to have good control before becoming pregnant, I wonder if it is just so you can show you will be able to control it once you are pregnant.  

Have you been told about folic acid?  Type 1s are meant to take large amounts of folic acid for about 3 months before getting pregnant and then for the first tri-mester.  I get this on prescription from my GP.


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## smile4loubie (Dec 22, 2009)

i.ve just moved house and my old clinic didn't. Haven't registered here yet. Still going to old one till i get settled.


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## smile4loubie (Dec 22, 2009)

my doc has given me folic acid anyway even though my last hba1c was at 10.8 i think.


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## Lizzzie (Dec 23, 2009)

Hi

Smiling's a good start! The more stressed you get, the more crazy your sugar is.

I'm at the opposite extreme: want to ttc but I was so worried about being told I couldn't start trying yet, that I swung it too far the other way. My doctor says that my levels are too low (my HbA1c is 5.5) and I need to relax my control because I run it down to hypos all the time and have hardly any hypo awareness left.  

Hope this helps:

First thing, I'd say be OTT and weigh your food when you eat at home. I have cereal for 2 meals a day: I weigh it, read the g of carbs on the side, and work out how much insulin to take.  Once you know what that ratio is for you (e.g. 1 unit insulin needed per 10gs of carbs) any food with the carbohydrates printed on the side is easier to manage.
Do you have a little book of 'how many carbs in this food' for things that don't have labels on the side? (I find I need it for home-made meals)

Second thing, get as much support as you can. No friendly diabetic nurse? Visit this site a lot: These people are lovely. But it's not a substitute. If you've moved, you might find yourself with a new diabetic clinic with really helpful people.

Third thing, test your blood sugar A LOT. Be over-the-top, and write it down,  Then your new friendly nurses, or yourself, can look at the book and it might give some clue as to what's going wrong. Write down exercise and what you had to eat, too.

Third, if you are running high, work out a good correction ratio for you (e.g. if I have 1 unit of insulin, it sends my blood sugar down by about 3 mmol/l if I'm not exercising).

BUT must stress I'm type one so a lot of this may be different for you. I think the main thing is, getting some proper support which will help you a LOT - and when you do, run some of these ideas past the medical staff esp. no 3 before you give it a try.


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