Prepare for Pregnancy with Type 1 Diabetes with These Tips

Right now, though, you’re probably sitting there thinking: Oh my gosh, can I really do this? What’s it gonna be like? I’ve never managed blood sugars that tightly before…how would I possibly do it for nine straight months?

Take a deep breath and start with these critical tips:

Practice Pregnancy Time-in-Range Goals 

Yup, you can practice managing diabetes for a week (or several months) as though you’re pregnant. This will help you spot the areas where you need more knowledge and support. 

(If it helps, stick a pillow up your shirt when nobody’s looking, too. LOL. Just kidding.)

Ideally, during pregnancy, you’re striving to stay between 70 and 140 mg/dL as much as possible. I realize that might sound very intense if you’ve never done it before! That’s why it’s important to ease into this new level of diabetes management.

For example, if your high alarm on your CGM is currently set at 180 mg/dL, you can adjust it to 160 mg/dL for a week. The take it down to 140 mg/dL for a week.

What you don’t want to do is rage bolus your way through pregnancy, trying to stay below 140 mg/dL. Instead, this practice phase helps you learn how to improve a few of your key diabetes management habits, including the following: 

Practice prebolusing before eating. 

If you’re not familiar with the “Art of the Prebolus” as I like to call it, it simply means you’re taking your mealtime insulin dose 10 to 15 minutes before eating.

The prebolus is tedious, but when you’re pregnant, it’s a critical game-changer. Even if you’ve never bothered prebolusing before, you’ll become a prebolus Queen during pregnancy. In everyday life, it’s easy to dismiss the need for the prebolus, but your time-in-range goals will demand it during pregnancy.

Taking your insulin 10 minutes prior to eating a carb-focused meal can make a significant difference, as it gives the insulin a head start to work before the carbs break down and enter your bloodstream.

Practice eating with intention vs. impulsive snacking.

Speaking of prebolusing, you’ll definitely want to get in the habit of eating with intention. This means you create your meal, you count the carbs, and you take your insulin. Period. 

It means you don’t randomly grab a few chips or crackers from the cupboard because you’d be introducing unplanned carbs that you haven’t prebolused for. It means you’re being thoughtful every time you decide to eat. It’s not about perfect meals, but simply thinking ahead. 

(This habit also helps to prevent excessive pregnancy weight gain.)

Here are a few tips to manage that sweet tooth, too.

Practice correcting high and low blood sugars very carefully.

How often do you find yourself on a blood sugar roller coaster because you overtreated the low with too many carbs, then overcorrected the high with too much insulin? You won’t have the time or energy for those silly habits when you’re pregnant.

Now is a very good time to start looking more closely at your not-so-helpful habits around high and low blood sugars.

This means: 

• Learning how to treat lows with fast-acting carbs without overdoing it
• Learning how to patiently dose a correction bolus without overdoing it

Easier said than done! I realize! But you can change this part of your diabetes management — even if you’ve been binge-eating and rage-bolusing for years.

Do you really need to prepare for pregnancy?

Well, yes! Did you know your blood sugars in the 6 to 12 months before becoming pregnant actually matter, too? This means that tighter blood sugar levels before you start trying to get pregnant can reduce your child’s risk of certain birth defects and other complications like preeclampsia. 

Take the time to prepare for pregnancy, because those nine months require more than just diligent blood sugar management habits. You’ll need to manage your mental health, too, thanks to daily pressure and focus on T1D every day. You can do this, future mamabird! The more you can practice and prepare, the more confident you’ll feel the day you discover you’re pregnant.

DIVE DEEPER INTO PREGNANCY WITH T1D with GINGER’S BOOK:

Pregnancy with Type 1 Diabetes: Your Month-to-Month Guide to Blood Sugar Management