A Big Announcement

I've been thinking a lot lately that I wanted to write a series of posts about this, but I didn't want to break the news to the internets until we were ready to share, but we are, so here goes:

I'M PREGNANT!!!!

That's right, folks.  Come October 18th (or probably sooner, since, you know, the 'betes is involved)  my husband and I will be welcoming a little wee one into our family.  

There is oh so much that has already happened that I wanted to blog about, but we just haven't felt like telling everyone and their dog yet. But since we're coming out of the pregnancy closet, you better believe I'll be blogging a lot about the whole process.  Having Type 1 diabetes and going through a pregnancy is kind of a big deal, and I know there is a rain drop's worth of information about it out there (although that is getting a lot better), so I really wanted to be able to add my experiences to those already available to help out anyone else who might be having questions about having babies along with having Type 1.  So here goes!

Conception Planning

Obviously I won't be going into any of the juicy details about conception in this blog, but I do want to stress how important, and how frustrating planning a pregnancy with Type 1 diabetes has been.  Obviously there's all the regular worries like the right timing, mom's health, etc, but there's ever so much more when you throw diabetes into the picture.  I had to make sure I had a fabulous team of doctors in place (endo, high-risk OB, etc.). I had to make sure I had good insurance coverage for extra doctors visits, the ridiculous amount of prescriptions I will need to have filled, pumps & CGMs, etc!  I had to make sure I was healthy and that my A1C was in an acceptable range. My doctor wanted it under 6.5 and as close to 6 as I could get it.  That took awhile. Incidentally, my doctor also wanted me to lose 5 lbs, which despite my best efforts didn't actually happen until I became pregnant, go figure (I'll talk about that in a later post).  I also had to make sure I had any other co-morbid conditions in check, which got a little crazy at times for me personally, since it seems like the more we got ready to have a kid, the more co-morbids I kept acquiring.  First, it was gluten intolerance, then it was SVT (a heart condition), and the latest one was Hashimoto's hypothyroidism (which I can't even remember blogging about, but it happened).  

Phew! And when it seemed like the stars FINALLY started to align for us, and I stopped adding other conditions to the heap-o-medical-problems I already had, we got the green light from my endo to go ahead and start trying to conceive.  And a couple of months later, we found out I was pregnant! My lowest A1C pre-conception was 6.0, but my A1C at conception was 6.2, and I'd say that I'd been in REALLY good control for a year before getting pregnant and in pretty good control for about 3+ years before getting pregnant. 

It's been a crazy ride so far, and I'm sure it will only get crazier, so hang with us, and we'll keep you posted on all the ins and outs of having a baby with Type 1 diabetes.  Crazy!