mamas with type 1 diabetes - 2009

[~pi]

Link to old thread with list of resources, etc.

Hi mamas! Our old, slow-moving thread was closed after a period of inactivity. I've had some PM's recently from new members who are type 1 and interested in low intervention birth and/or home birth, and since our old thread is too long to be re-opened, I thought I would start a new one to give everyone a chance to (re)connect and share info.

On my side, not much is new. Life-wise, I am finishing my degree (and am very, very tired.) D-wise, I am in the midst of choosing a new pump. I currently have a Cozmo but am leaning toward Minimed this time as it's the only one in Canada with a CGMS option. (Opinions/reviews welcome!)

In other news: my toddler is waaaay fonder of my glucose tabs than I am. I find them unpleasantly chalky, so when he asked and asked and asked for one, I finally thought, "Fine. He'll try one, see that it's yucky, and stop asking." Turns out he thinks they're fabulous and now every time I'm low, he wants to share my tabs. Gah!

I hope everyone is well and healthy! Welcome to the new mamas/members.


P.S. I meant to mention for the new members who are looking for info about type 1 and home birth -- it's rare, but I have come across more documented experiences in the past year or two than in all of the previous time. One of our tribe members (txtarheel) planned an HBAC with a supportive midwife and backup doc and I know of at least two other women with type 1 who have had a successful home birth in the past year. I'm going to see if I can recruit them to MDC/this thread.

[widemouthedfrog]

Hi, pi!
Another Canadian here. As you know, I've had the Minimed with CGMS for more than two years. I've been using it solidly since October 2007, sporadically before that. For me, the CGMS had a steep learning curve and is not always bang on, but it has led to infinitely more mental well-being and less anxiety. I do have problems hearing the alarm at night sometimes.

With my severe seasonal allergies and rather crazy hormone-induced BG swings, it's well worth the ~150 Cdn a month I pay for the sensors. I use each for about 10 days, though I will go longer if they are working well.

Brief re-intro: got type 1 while pregnant (6 months), had it for 4 years now. Pumping with Minimed for 3.5 years, CGMS for 2.5 years.

Dd loves jellybeans just as much as your ds loves glucose tabs, btw. My solution? Since I chew xylitol gum when out to prevent cavities after treating a low...she gets the gum instead. It's a treat and it's good for her teeth.

Oh, and I am getting dd ready for a lifetime of ignoring alarms. She's very good at sleeping through the CGMS alarm, though sometimes it does wake her a bit. Just a thought for the co-sleepers.

Ok, must stop dithering on MDC! I'm trying to edit my sister's dissertation.....

[Asarum]

Hi i am a type 1, who was interested in a homebirth, but when i got pregnant i found a great midwife but could not find a backup doctor that i felt comfortable with. so i chose a doctor who was very open to my philosophy on birth. i had a great well controlled pregnancy. and just had my baby about 10 days ago.

i had a very long labor which started out great at home and i thought i was ready to go to the hospital and push out my baby, but to my surprise i was only 4 centimeters. so labor with back pain continued for a long time, and we decided to start pitocin, which led to a relaxant drug so i could rest. when i still was not dilating we decided to get an epidural. at this point my blood pressure was increasing and i developed a fever. i was praying i would not get a c section. so finally at hour 38 of labor i was fully dilated and began pushing. our baby was born 45 minutes later.

i am very thankful to have been able to push out my baby, and we were all healthy. i am very thankful to have controlled my blood sugar very well throughout labor. but i am still sad about the interventions that happened.

having been through this experience i feel like i will be more confident in having a homebirth next time (if we are blessed again).

i wish for all the women with type 1 that they may have the birth experience they truly want. as long as blood levels are welled controlled there a homebirth is definately possible.

good luck to all you women searching for a homebirth experience!!!! looking foward to getting to know you and hearing about your experiences.

[~pi]

Thanks for your comments on the CGMS, Tricia. You are a lovely person for editing your sister's diss!

Asarum, congratulations on the birth of your baby! I'm sorry to hear about the circumstances and your mixed feelings. I hope you're doing well during the newborn period.

I forgot to give a brief intro myself. I've been type 1 for 26 years and have one son who is almost 3. I had a difficult birth with him -- a failed induction that got complicated and ended in a c/s and a stay in the NICU. I had a surprisingly hard time with it at the time, but am really OK with it now. I've been pumping for 5 years.

[pittsburrito]

Greetings from the Carolinas!
I have to say that I think it is SO incredibly cool that we can share experiences with type 1/pregnancy/motherhood across international borders! I am looking forward to learning a LOT from you guys--as I am a complete novice in the pregnancy/motherhood area.

Like Pi, I've been type 1 for 26 years. (13 years of shots and 13 years pumping.) I recently married, and though I'm of "advanced maternal age", I figure it's a now or never chance for a pregnancy. I had an endo appt. on Monday where I got the "go ahead" from the doctor that my A1c and lab report work showed I'm ready to do it.
So my husband and I'll start TTC next month.

So far, I've taken the official birth tour of 4 hospitals, and interviewed 3 different OB providers (none of the midwives will take me), but still haven't found anyone I feel good about working with. (They are very into their "diabetic protocol," while I'd much prefer evidence-based care.) So, no decisions yet on birth locations, providers, or plans. I'm still looking and will let you know!

[Tilia]

Hi! I am Anne and I have had Type I for only 2 years. I had gestational while I was pregnant, was fine for a year, then developed Type I when DD was 16 months. So I didn't do a Type I birth, but I did monitor my BS and then they checked DD and she was fine.

I started back working after being a SAHM for 3 years. I started just a few months ago. That was a crazy first month because I was walking so much at work that I was getting low every day. Trying to balance my Lantus with my activity level was interesting. Now I am doing a lot better but it really depends on what I will be doing that day. I am so ready to get a pump but my endocrinologist says I have to get my A1C down a little more. Plus I am living with no health insurance, but it kicks in in 3 months.

Anyway, does anyone else's kids sense your lows? Sometimes she wakes me up when I am getting low, or during the day she will start to get crabby while I am low. Its pretty weird.

[~pi]

pittsburrito and Anne!

pittsburrito, best of luck with your hunt for a provider. It's annoying to have to do so much legwork to find someone who will work with you collaboratively.

Anne, that's an interesting question. DS has figured out my blood sugar a tiny handful of times, but I haven't paid attention to his behaviour as a signal. The craziest one for me was once when he was nursing, and then toddled off and came back with my test meter. I tested and was crazy high -- I think he could tell from my milk.

[widemouthedfrog]

I don't think that dd knows when I'm high or low. When I'm low I get very urgent and focused, so she gets annoyed with me. And when I'm high I'm cranky and get ticked with her. However, since I try to remain somewhat calm and balanced around dd, I think that her presence makes me more aware of how my blood sugar is influencing my mood.

[widemouthedfrog]

You know you're a mom with T1 when you tell your dd that she can continue to swing for a while, because you need to head over to that tree and do a site change (while surrounded by little baseball players) AND you can do the complete change without anyone noticing, even in a crowd.

I've also done site changes on public transit with a kiddo in a sling and a backpack on my lap. Kiddo serves to hide the site change, though.

[~pi]

Tricia! A moving vehicle?! I am seriously impressed. (My best site change was in a washroom in a library after my tubing got snagged on a tree while I was cycling.)

[widemouthedfrog]

Totally. My CGMS trainer has done hers at stop lights when she's driving. I'm not going to go that far - I only do mine when someone else is driving (grin!).

I think I did one in an airplane washroom with a cranky two year old beside me in the washroom, too.

[pittsburrito]

My best one was on a sidewalk of the Champs Elysees in Paris, a block from the Arc de Triumph, in the middle of the final laps of the Tour de France. There were thousands of people lining the street--which was open only to the cyclists that morning. No restaurant would allow me to use their bathroom without buying a meal (not even McDonalds), and so I was forced to change it on the sidewalk in front of the passing crowds. I was very embarrassed, and at one point had even considered going over to the French EMS truck for some privacy inside. (I figured they might understand.) However, to my great surprise, of the hoards of people walking by, not even ONE person noticed, or looked at me--while I changed it in view of everyone. Apparently site changes are normal on the streets of Paris? (Either that, or everyone was too intent on watching Lance Armstrong!)

[widemouthedfrog]

You know, I find that if you turn around so that the place you're putting your site isn't obvious, no one actually notices. Odd. I think that people get used to blocking out anything weird.

That is, unless you put your pump sites on your rear end and need to pull your pants down to do it. That could get some notice.

I want to be on the Champs Elysees!

[~pi]

Originally Posted by widemouthedfrog

That is, unless you put your pump sites on your rear end and need to pull your pants down to do it. That could get some notice.

I am seriously at all of you. I have never done a site change without a table or counter on which to put all the equipment and packaging!

So, speaking of pumps, I have to decide between Animas and Minimed for my next pump. (I've got a Cozmo now, so continuing is obviously not an option.)

I've met with both reps, played with both pumps, and I really prefer the Animas, but I would love to have the option of the CGM. Partly to do more fine-tuning, and partly because if we decide to have a second child, it will probably happen in the next pump warranty period, so I'd like to have the CGM option for that. But I could just get a Guardian on top of the Animas, and the Dexcom is waiting on Health Canada, so I may have more options in a year or two.

:

I'm considering trying the Minimed for the 90 day trial and seeing if I can live with its shortcomings.

[widemouthedfrog]

~pi, isn't the navigator also coming to Canada in the next year or so? I love Freestyle stuff, I'd go for that one. I am not fond of the fact that Minimed pumps are not waterproof - grrrrrr from someone who wants to easily do triathalons.

Also of interest to you:
I went to the Diabetes Clinic at St Pauls the other week (Vancouver) and the nurse there is working on getting better regulations in hospitals across Canada for patients to self-manage their pumps when in the hospital. I mentioned that I was quite interested in her work and we discussed placing maternity care into the areas that she's working on.

Just an FYI.

[co_diabetic_momma]

Pregnant for the first time and have been a type 1 for 19 years. Looking for other moms to chat with about diabetes during the pregnancy and after. I have to deliver in hospital (state law for midwives) but do have a midwife/nurse with a back up doc. I have done lots of research about natural birth and what I want even though it will be in hospital.

If glucose tabs are hard for you to choke down (like they are for everyone, cause they are nasty!) I carry Smarties around and they do the job but taste way better!

[co_diabetic_momma]

About the pump. I don't know what your restrictions are in Canada with pumps, but my mother in law has a minimed. I personally have an Animas and love it! Adjustable basal rates of .025 and it has a super easy screen to read.

[widemouthedfrog]

welcome, co momma!
I developed d during pregnancy, so no experience with the early stages. I found early nursing to be a challenge, because it dropped my bg quite a lot. As nursing tapered, so did its impact on bg.

I did adore the fact that I had no period for 2 years, because boy, my monthly hormones mess with my bgs!

Life with a child is also much more sporadic in terms of exercise, at least it was for me. Dd would frequently nap in the stroller or carrier. I wish I'd been experienced enough with d to have an understanding of what I needed to do to accommodate unplanned exercise.

I also keep a kit of juice, meter, site etc on me in a little purse or fanny pack so that I am ready to head out the door and don't need to get things together when dd wants to leave. Though at 4, she is now fairly familiar with the fact that some things need to wait because I need to test, do a site change, etc.

[~pi]

Welcome, co momma!

I finally decided on the Animas, and the day the order was ready to through from the clinic here, the Ping got Health Canada approval. So after some hemming and hawing, I decided to wait 6-8 more weeks for the Ping program to get up and rolling. My Cozmo is in rough shape after 5+ years of hard life -- little cracks up both sides, missing a button -- so I'm looking forward to a new pump!

Tricia, I had not heard about the Navigator's status here, but I will have a lot more options later this year. I've accepted a position in the US and will have access to whatever they have available down there.

That is fantastic to hear about the hospital protocols.

I've really noticed in the past couple of years that people everywhere seem so much more likely to know what my pump is. I notice this especially when traveling -- four or five years ago I always had to explain, now I just say, "It's my insulin pump," and people understand.

[widemouthedfrog]

Just took a look at the ping. I love the lithium battery and the waterproof aspect of it. I can't wait for the navigator to get here, then I'll feel ok switching. My pump is only 2 years old, but I paid for the upgrade myself when I got the CGMS. So I hope, hope, hope that in a couple of years insurance might pay for another one if this one decides to stop working (I drop mine on the floor a lot too).