Type 1 ladies - a couple of questions

obxlaurak

I am thinking of starting to "live like I'm pregnant" so that when I do get pregnant, things are a little easier.  Just wondering how expecting Type 1 moms handle a few things.

If you have a CGM - what are your high/low settings?  Right now I'm on 70/150, but my doc said she'd like my fasting BG to be 60-90 so I'm wondering if I should drop it down to 60 or 65.

If you go higher than you'd like, do you bolus to get your BG back down or do a temp basal?

What are your thoughts on artificial sweeteners?  This is what I really want to get used to - I drink a lot of crystal light and more diet soda than I should. I really don't want to be stuck drinking water for 40 weeks.  Obviously, I will if I have to though!

babybean82

I set my low on my CGM to 65 anything under that and I get shaky. I usually just do a bolus when I go higher than I would like. 

I used to love diet soda's I could drink a six pack a day of diet Mountain dew but shortly after my BFP I couldn't stand the thought of it, now any soda makes me want to vomit and water is the best tasting thing in the world to me lol.... so things might change for you I wouldn't worry too much about that now.

TaylorHam86

My doctors (OB and endo) told me 60 was too low. My OB said fasting should be 90-120, and two hours after eating I should be 120-150. My endo thought that was a little unrealistic for me, and not to stress if they were a little higher,  but surprisingly my blood sugars have been much more cooperative since I've gotten pregnant.

kks4471

Right now my low is at 80, and my high is at 160. I like to know when my glucose is dropping, because lately I've dropped too fast. 80 is a good "heads up" number for me. Right now I just bolus more if I'm above 160.

I used to drink Crystal Light and Diet Coke ALL the time, but have given both up completely since being pregnant. I used to hate water, but now it really is all I want. I flavor water with lemon too, and I do have coffee in the morning!

obxlaurak

kks4471 said: Right now my low is at 80, and my high is at 160. I like to know when my glucose is dropping, because lately I've dropped too fast. 80 is a good "heads up" number for me. Right now I just bolus more if I'm above 160. I used to drink Crystal Light and Diet Coke ALL the time, but have given both up completely since being pregnant. I used to hate water, but now it really is all I want. I flavor water with lemon too, and I do have coffee in the morning!
kks4471 said: Right now my low is at 80, and my high is at 160. I like to know when my glucose is dropping, because lately I've dropped too fast. 80 is a good "heads up" number for me. Right now I just bolus more if I'm above 160. I used to drink Crystal Light and Diet Coke ALL the time, but have given both up completely since being pregnant. I used to hate water, but now it really is all I want. I flavor water with lemon too, and I do have coffee in the morning! Thanks for the reply!  That's a good point about the "heads up" number.  

I also drink coffee which I won't be giving up, haha.  I may switch to half-caf though, but I get to work at 630 am and just NEED it.  My game plan will be to drink coffee and have the occasional soda.  I just feel like it'll be either if I get in the habit of drinking mainly water now, before I'm pregnant.

Of course if it takes me a long time to get pregnant, I'll be annoyed that I could've been enjoying crystal lite goodness for all that time.

=Lee=B

With the amount of water I needed to drink in a day while pregnant I totally had crystal light (diluted) and diet pop.  I was ordered to have a minimum of 12 glasses a day.  My blood pressure was low and pregnancy was trying to make it bottom out, the fluid helped.  After baby came I needed to keep that up to have enough breastmilk...and I still drink diet pop daily.  Not a ton...but one can only be so healthy!  Moderation is key...if you try and completely remove all your regular things from your diet you will go nuts. 

=Lee=B

Also, not to put down your idea but I remember having the exact same plan before we tried to get pregnant.  When I told my diabetes team they laughed at me (literally) and said not to be silly.  The amount of effort it takes to live that way is too much.  When you are pregnant, you have this sudden desire and power to pull it off...I tested my blood sugar 18-22times a day in the first 3 months to keep myself in pregnancy range.  No way I could do that before I had the baby to do it for!!

It is a great idea to try and get your life in order so it'll be less shock to suddenly be a pregnant diabetic but don't go crazy trying to do it beforehand.  It is MUCH easier to be that disciplined when you have the baby inside you (not that the hormones make it easier).

obxlaurak

Thanks @=Lee=B, great advice!  I don't plan on cutting everything out, just want to cut back and be a little more aware of how much diet soda/crystal lite I'm drinking right now.  You're right though - a baby will give me much more motivation than the thought of pregnancy!

asweeteepi

I have my CGM set 80-100. I bolus if I'm higher than I want. As for sweeteners I stopped all diet sodas during my first pregnancy and now again with preparing for a 2nd. I will, on occasion, have a diet sprite. I switched to regular Countrytime lemonade powder that you do not add sugar to; since my blood sugars would tend to run lower during pregnancy anyway it worked well for me. I make a big pitcher and You can also control the sweetness by adding more water. Like you, I didn't want to be stck with just water.

asweeteepi

To clarify my target range is 80-100. My CGM alarms are set at 80 and 160.

kates578

My alarms/range on my CGM are 70 and 170, I almost always bolus when I am above that, but for the past week or so it seems in the late evening I am having trouble getting them down, so I have been increasing my temp basal to see the effects before making a solid change to my basal rate for that time frame.  I also still drink coffee (one cup in the morning, but I will on occasion have a cup later in the evening, especially if we are out somewhere with others...as I am obviously sober and trying to stay awake to keep up!!!).  I have mostly cut out diet soda, crystal light and anything else that contains aspartame, but as everyone else has said, all things in moderation, I do still have a diet soda or a (diluted)  glass of crystal light.  Question for all of you, it seems everyones OB's/Endo have different info to give, what are everyone else's recommendations for 1-2 hours post meals? 

mfarmer0811

I have my CGM set at 75/200 My Endo. wanted to keep it at that. I'm like the PP and I still finger test at least 10 times a day! My last A1c was 5.5 and that was when I was 21 weeks pregnant, I will get it checked in 2 more weeks. I too thought I'd get in better control when "thinking" about getting pregnant. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, and since it took us 3 years, and a round of IVF I went through some denial and depression. Since being pregnant,however, my numbers have never been better! My A1c was 6 before BFP, and has just gone down since. Now that I'm responsible for another human, it is much easier to be more aware of what I'm doing with my body. I still have some cheat meals, but I make sure I bolus enough so I don't go high. 

The first 4 months I had nothing but water and decaf organic coffee. I now allow myself some diet soda's. I don't have one everyday, but some days, like today, I just need something more than water. 

orriskitten

My team of doctors and nutritionist say diet sodas are okay, so long as they are not all that I am drinking. I struggle to drink water since it hasn't been my friend this pregnancy. I never thought I'd be one of "those people" who said water makes them queasy, but I am and I'm so ashamed of it lol. At one point all liquids made me queasy, including diet soda, and all I could drink were ice cold iced teas (unsweetened). It has a little bit of caffeine, but not a crazy amount. I order Teas Tea from amazon and love the stuff. I particularly love the jasmine tea and the mint tea. Just beware that they do make sweetened flavors which you might as well drink regular soda for the carb content.

I add lemon juice to my water and that makes it better. When I couldn't have tea, I'd have water with lemon juice and that would be my liquids for the day.

Like PPs said, having a baby in you motivates you like nothing else. I don't have a CGM as of now, so I can't speak to that.

If I go higher, I bolus. If its a trend of a few days at any specific time, then we adjust my basal rates. So far I've adjusted my basal rates for different times twice in the month and a half I've had my pump. Fasting for me is the most difficult to control and we'll be messing with my basal some more in a few days if I don't start to suddenly respond. I notice my body takes a few days to respond to the basal changes consistently.