12 Weeks!

:My Journey of Pregnancy & Type 1 Diabetes:

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:12 weeks 3 days:

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We are almost through the 1st trimester. Yay! Unfortunately I'm still feeling nauseous everyday. Some days are just in the afternoon and evenings, but lately it's been spreading to ALL day :( I've been trying different medicine and vitamins, but nothing seems to be helping too much. I eat every 2-3 hours (more for blood sugar control, but heard that helps with nausea too), I tried the Sea bands, have a prescription for Zofran, trying 100mg of Vit B6 (currently), and also going to try the Scopolamine Patch for the cruise. I was hoping the nausea would be mostly over by the time we left for vacation. Doesn't look like that is going to happen. I will be 13 weeks we when get on the ship on Saturday. I will be saying goodbye to the 1st trimester and hoping it takes this sickness when it goes!! Soon I will be saying hello to my 2nd trimester and welcoming some of the best times during pregnancy (hopefully)......2nd trimester don't let me down :)

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So, I took a 12 week picture last Saturday. You can't really see much yet. (The pic was in the morning, and I think I look bigger at night!) I feel like I have already grown more in the 3 days since the picture too!

I can't believe we are leaving for our "Babymoon" tomorrow morning! A whole 3 weeks just to celebrate you baby (well mostly). We will be celebrating Valentine's Day, our 4th Anniversary, and most importantly, YOU :) This is a trip I have always wanted to do, but never really thought it would be possible. Well your daddy is making my dream vacation come true. 5 nights in Hawaii, 12 day cruise around the Hawaiian Islands then around the French Polynesian Islands, then 3 more nights in an overwater bungalow on Moorea!!! This will be our last BIG vacation before you join our family. Mommy & Daddy love each other very much, and we always want you to know that. We are very excited to be able to spend this time together in some of the most beautiful places on earth. Since you won't remember going to all these places, we will take lots of pictures to show you later :)

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These are all the diabetic supplies I need to take with me for our vacation.

These are all the meds I need to take with me for pregnancy.

Phew, that's a lot of stuff! My carry-on will for sure be full! I'm going to try to pick up some queasy drops (sugar free) today if I can find them. I also have all my log sheets to keep track of too. I will be having 1-2 phone appointments with my Endo while we are away. Then we have a OB and Endo appts on the morning after we get back!

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(Sorry for all the ":" The enter bar is no longer working once I upload a picture. Not sure why, so I'm using : for time being.)

God Gave Me You for the Ups & Downs

:My Journey of Pregnancy & Type 1 Diabetes:

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11 weeks 6 days

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I knew this was going to be hard, but man this is going to be a lot harder than I thought! This was my thought, as I was sitting in the chair at my first endocrinology appointment since being pregnant, listening to her go over all the guidelines for a type 1 diabetic pregnancy. This was a new endocrinologist for me. My regular endo is located in Fort Wayne, IN. It worked fine seeing them 2-3 times a year. But now I would need to be going a lot more often (up to 2 times per week, EEK). So I did some research, and found the best endo around the Bay Area. Too bad he was booked until 3 months later. I knew I could not wait that long! The receptionist recommended another Dr. in the office, so I went with her. Since I was in Indiana for the first few weeks after we found out, I was almost 7 weeks at my first appointment.

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Not gonna lie, I did not love my endo during my first appointment! Actually when she stepped out of the room to get some more booklets, I told Ry this wasn't going to work and I needed to find a new endo right away. Well, the appointment went on (for over 2 hours) and things got better. And I do like her now. She is just a get to the point, by the book kind of doctor. At first it was overwhelming, but now I'm grateful at how diligent she is. Her goal is to keep baby and me safe too! I was just so used to managing this disease on my own, that it was hard to hand over a little control to the doctor. She did her understudy at UCLA and still uses all their guidelines. I must say, they are pretty intense! She said it was normal for the main doctor there to call his type 1 pregnant patients everyday to make changes to their insulin needs. Holy Cow....Everyday?! The goal is to have my blood sugars between 70-120 at all times. On the lower side for fasting and staying under 120 after meals. I'm pretty much checking my blood sugars every hour that I'm awake and twice in the middle of the night,about 15 times a day. (So much for getting good sleep before the baby arrives) She gave me loads of material from UCLA that states what to do when you blood sugar is this number, or this number, or this number. I'm eating every 2-3 hours to keep my blood sugars from crashing after meals and keep my carbs more spread out. She gave me a log sheet to record everything on. Starting with morning blood sugar, check for ketones, what I eat for every meal/snack, how many carbs, what my blood sugar was at 1 hr post meal, 2 hr post meal, etc, and over night checks. I also add exercise since that adds another curve in the mix.

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This is a log sheet I found that is similar to mine. Not identical, but you get the idea!

I started out with appointments twice a week. Then once a week. Now we are looking to go once every week and a half, if things are going ok. And this is supposed to be the easier time with your blood sugars. Oh 3rd trimester, I can't even begin to think about your and your insulin resistance right now! I have already made numerous changes to my basal rates and carb ratios. First few weeks I needed more insulin (being sick might have been involved in the increase), then about 9 weeks in they started to lower, which is normal for the 1st trimester. I have been dealing with a couple lows a day, but nothing too serious. Eating every few hours help catch the lows before they drop too low! My endo is great with me changes my ratios on my own, which is awesome.......because I would have anyway!! This disease is so personal, it's different for everyone. I do my best at adjusting my rates by what my numbers are showing. Then during my appointments, we analyze everything and try to make more tweaks if necessary! It's rough going over almost every number from the past week. It kinda makes me feel like I'm failing, even if I'm actually doing really well. (Which my endo continues to reassure me of how great I am doing.)You just want everything to be in range every time. Hello changing hormones, you make that impossible! The hardest for me right now (besides the guilt of highs) is finally getting your basal rates and carb ratios right, and then a few days later.......they are no longer working. Back to the drawing board trying to figure out what needs changed now. It's going to be a challenging process that's for sure, but it will all be worth it in the end. You are worth it baby :) And we get to see you today! Woohoo!!!!

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When I think about how wonderful Ryan has been through this whole process, it reminds me of the song, "God Gave Me You," by Blake Shelton. I can be a mess when my blood sugars are not where I think they should be. I feel angry, upset, sad, and guilty! And I'm not so fun to be around during these times :( Ry, I'm so thankful for your support and understanding!

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"God gave me you for the ups and downs

God gave me you for the days of doubt

And for when I think I lost my way

There are no words here left to say, it’s true

God gave me you"

I'm going to be a Mommy :)

:My journey of Pregnancy & Type 1 Diabetes:

11 weeks 3 days

So Ryan and I have been talking about becoming parents for a few years now. It was always something we knew we wanted to do, but when was always the question. The longer we were married and the more freedom we found with traveling, the harder it got to actually start the process. Last fall we finally made the call that maybe it was time. I'm 28 now and with type 1 diabetes already making me a high risk pregnancy, I want to be done having kids before I'm 35. So that only gives us a few years. Not sure how many more we are planning on at this point, but just in case :) Right now, I'm overjoyed with one! We will see how my body (& and sanity) can handle this pregnancy and go from there!

We were able to see our lil cupcake (fyi: Ry is not so fond of that name) for the first time when we got back to California. We were home for a few weeks for Christmas when we shared our surprise with our families!! We found out we were pregnant 2 days before we flew home :) When we went in, I had figured that I was a little over 9 weeks along. The doc said the baby was measuring a little smaller at 8 weeks 4 days. When he said that everything looks great, it was like the best news we could ever hear. My blood sugars had been hard to control in the first few weeks, and I know how dangerous that can be for the baby. It is such a scary feeling! So seeing that precious boy or girl on the screen for the first time, I could not help but cry tears of joy. Everything was in the right place and baby had a strong heartbeat of 160. We actually got to see the tiny heart beating. That just put me over the top. I don't think I could have been more happy at that point. What an amazing feeling!! We get our 12 week ultrasound this Friday (in 3 days)! I feel like I have been counting down the days since we left the doc last time. I don't want to rush things, but I can't wait to hear that baby looks great again, see how much he/she has grown, and maybe hear the heartbeat this time. I don't understand how people can see that and think that we could do that. God is so much bigger than we can even comprehend. How amazing He is!!

Be back soon to fill you in more about how the diabetes is coming along with this process. Definitely ups and downs (to be expected). It's just so hard because I want to be perfect........yeah, I know it's not possible. I just want to keep baby safe! And yes, I'm working very hard at it! Well just wanted to let you know how thrilled we are to be parents. We love you baby so, so much already. But you already know that, we tell you everyday ;)