It is all about the moments

I think that every woman's pregnancy is full of "big relief" moments.  These are the moments when at least one of the nagging worries that have been keeping her awake at night is finally dispelled.  These moments come in many forms: the results of a blood test, the images of a sonogram, the first movement of a tiny body, or just a reassuring voice saying "That's normal."

It was almost a month ago that I took a home pregnancy test and got a positive result.  Of course, I took it at the office and then proceeded to  have a minor breakdown for several reasons.  The first was because I was a smoker.  I decided that I wasn't going to be one of those anymore as I stood staring at the two pink lines, and I have not had a cigarette since.  The second reason was that my husband was at work and I really did not feel that this was the type of news that should be conveyed over the phone.  And the third reason for my small breakdown was because the battery in my blood sugar monitor was dead.

I left work early and got another one and then went home to wait for my husband to get home from work.  

I of course started to test my blood sugars constantly.  Basically, I was testing every two hours.  The problem was that my blood sugars were nowhere near the normal target range of 70-150 mg/dL.  They were running around 275 mg/dL.  I started taking short acting insulin every two hours trying to get my blood sugars down into the normal range.  

I was scared to eat, afraid that it would drive my sugar level up even higher.  Every two hours the numbers on the monitor were like a slap in the face.  They would not stay down and if I did get them to go down they went too far down and I was forced to eat more.  Treating the lows seemed to send the numbers straight back up into the 200's.   Nothing seemed to be working and I was scared.

I was scared because I had read many articles about Type 1 Diabetes and pregnancy.  The information all said two things. 1) High blood sugars in the early weeks of pregnancy increase the risk of cardiac and nervous system birth defects.  2) Most women's insulin requirements are lower in the first trimester, in part due to morning sickness.  

Well, my insulin requirements were not going down and all the googling I could do wasn't giving me any answers.  I called my Primary Care doctor and asked for a referral to a new endocrinologist, because of course the one that I had been working with for the past five years had recently retired.  I called the OB/GYN office that I had an appointment with the next week and they referred me back to the endo.  It was a long day and a half waiting for the endo office to call me back and they finally got me in for an appointment 4 days after I found out that I was pregnant.

It was the first of the "big relief" moments of this pregnancy.  The doctor told me that the rise in my blood sugars was not at all uncommon in Type 1 diabetics.  She told me that the hormones of pregnancy make a woman's body insulin resistant.  It was going to take more insulin to produce a good range of blood sugars.  I also found out that while I am pregnant I will need to keep my blood sugars in a tighter range of control: 70-120 mg/dL.  

I was put on the testing and eating schedule that I posted in my last entry, 
and my insulin doses were increased. It took about a week, 
but my blood sugar levels came down to where they are supposed to be.  

There have been a few ups and quite a few downs with my blood sugars in the 
past few weeks, but I have come to the  conclusion that I can do this.

Tomorrow I will be officially 8 weeks pregnant.
Tomorrow I go back to see the OB again and get another ultrasound.
Tomorrow, if all is well, my husband and I will be able to see our child for the first time.

Tomorrow will hopefully be another "big relief" moment.