Blood Glucose range whilst pregnant

Hi Can someone please tell me what my ideal blood glucose range should be whilst pregnant. Thanks

hi

This is actually mentioned in this month's Balance mag - apparently 3.5 to 5.9 pre meal and no more than 7.8 after meals. very tight! (actually sounds totally unatainable to me, but is seemingly possible so the docs say). I guess that's why we need so much extra input from the health service while pregnant. Are you seeing people regularly?

Hi, Thanks for your reply. You dont happen to know what the bg should be before bed do you? As you can see from my readings they are a little up and down... not sure if the ups are an effect from the lows, however I have adjusted accordingly. I have seen the diabetic doctor at the hospital when I first became aware I was pregnant and he adjusted both QA and BI insulins. After numerous hypos I have decreased ratios and BIs where possible. I spoke to him again last Monday but was not happy to increase evening ratios. My BG was raising late evening with no QA in my system only BI, however still found I was experiencing night time hypos.. Strange.. but no one can explain this, not even him. I am trying desparately to keep my levels under 10 and eat a balanced diet. Im due to have a dafne course review next week... perhaps they will have some answers :-/ Thanks caroline

hello caroline, i see that im not the only one who is struggling,i was 7 weeks pregnant but sadly i lost the baby 4 weeks ago, ive been trying to get pregnant for 3 years and all the time i kept going to see my diabetes nurse she was telling me how my bg's had to be spot on target, its easy said then done dont you think! ive been a diabetic for 20 years and i have never had my h1abc lower than 8%. i just wish the nurses would be more supportive and put their selves in our shoes! how far gone are you?

Hello Lil, sorry to hear of your miscarrriage. Miscarriages can happen for many reasons and not just because you are a diabetic. I do agree that your blood glucose control needs to be tightly monitored, however you and me both know it can seem like an impossibility at times. My advice to you is to keep on trying to conceive and continue to follow what you have learnt from the Dafne course. My blood glucose range wasnt exactly good when I fell pregnant with my first child. In fact I only got diagnosed as diabetic 3 weeks before I found out I was pregnant. Education was poor then and to be honest I did not have a clue what I was doing! However, she was born 3 weeks early than due and weighed 9.4! With my second child, my education was obviously better understood and I ate the same carbs each day and he weighed 7.9 (born by induction at 38 weeks). Now carrying my third child (6 months pregnant now) my blood sugars have been ok but I wouldnt say brilliant. Some times they are high... so I adjust my insulin accordingly. Then some times im low... again I follow the dafne way and adjust if necessary. Since doing Dafne in Sept 2010, I feel pregnant in November 2010. They say it bests to have good control before you plan, but in my experience that could take forever. Keeping a closer eye on my blood glucose control enables me to correct if necessary. Its up to me and now not the speciailists and I very rarely need their input in my montioring. My last HBA1C was 6.6 (miracle) however I expect it has risen lately due to frequent highs (2 trimester requires more insulin). My HBA1Cs were not great before becoming pregnant. Anyway, I hope my comments help you, and I wish you all the best.

Caroline, i had my baby 8 months ago and i'm pretty sure bg should be no more than 7.9 before bed. I will try and find my diaries as i did record it! You will probably find that your insulin doses re quire more frequent adjustments, i was doing mine every week in the last trimester. I remember the hospital were particulary focussed on preventing a hypo as it takes a lot for the baby to recover from. I also remember my insulin requirements were nearly treble towards the end of my pregnancy and it took several monhs before i got them partially stable again. Good luck

Hello

I needed my before bed blood sugar to be around 10 when I was pregnant as it always seemed to drop overnight. Adjusting bi did not stop this. Always had good hba1c (around 6) in both pregnancies but 1st born at 36 weeks (8lb 13oz) and 2nd at 35 weeks (9lb 4oz). Both planned c section due to failing placenta. So infact my insulin requirements dropped in last trimester instead of going up and this was a sign that my placenta was failing.

There is a section in the course handbook on pregnancy (see link at the top right of the page, assuming you are logged in as a graduate). the targets stated there are:

The normal level of HbA1c is lower during pregnancy so we encourage women to try to get their HbA1c below 7% if possible. During pregnancy is one of the few times we recommend testing your blood glucose level in between meals. The target levels during pregnancy are:

Less than 6 mmol/l before meals.
Less than 8 mmol/l 1-2 hours after meals / before bed.

Good luck in meeting those. They certainly look tough to achieve.