We are already in March. I feel like just yesterday I was celebrating the holidays with my family and ringing in the new year! Big news for the Keller family for 2016…I’m pregnant!!! It was a bit unexpected in that we definitely wanted and talked about having kids, it just happened sooner than we thought/anticipated/were really ready for. I know that no matter how much planning you do, you will never be fully ready for kids, which is why we are facing this new chapter of our family head-on. Diabetes or not, I’m going to do everything I can to ensure a successful pregnancy and a happy and healthy baby!

I officially found out I was pregnant January 6th. Before even telling hubby, I emailed my endo and CDE. While waiting for their response I started jumping up and down, dry heaving, shaking, grinning and worrying and tried to figure out the best way to tell Sean. My endo was a little less enthusiastic than I was. My a1c was not in pre-pregnancy, let alone pregnancy range. She said that my blood sugars couldn’t go over 140.  It was at that point that I started thinking I was in over my head. I got really sick New Years Day and because my sugars were so high during the holidays she was worried about what damage I had already caused for baby. That brought me down to reality fast. I made an appointment with her top choice high risk OB for the very next week. I also made an appointment with her for the next week (for the near future I would have to see her once a week until we brought my blood sugars back into range).

Telling hubby the news didn’t really go as I had planned. I was too excited and couldn’t wait to share the news. I had originally wanted to get some kind of infant dodgers memorabilia and wrap it along with the (sterilized) pregnancy test, but I couldn’t find anything that worked. I would have had to order something online and I couldn’t sit on this news for a week. I’m not good at keeping secrets. So I drove to his work and told him right before he finished for the night. He was very excited and happy, but like me surprised and worried.

Since January 6th I have learned that my baby has an amazing heartbeat and while we didn’t get a chance to record it (we’ll be doing that next time!), it’s not difficult for me to remember that beautiful sound. His/Her due date is September 19th and I’m going to do everything in my power to carry to term– I have heard/read horror stories about type 1 mom’s who had to delivery early for one complication or another. I don’t like the sad stories, but it’s important for me to know the risks and work with my amazing team of doctors to prevent anything bad from happening to baby and me. I learned that every pregnancy is different especially if you’re a type 1 diabetic. I’ve learned that I am very strong and that I can absolutely get my blood sugars under control. My endo is amazed at how well I’ve turned my numbers around. By the end of the second month I was able to go back to monthly appointments, however, I still send her my pump and CGM data every 3 days.

I have developed a rhythm to my Diabetes management. A great amount of work and energy and thought goes into what I’m eating, when I’m eating and what I’ll be doing after I eat. I will say that this is the hardest thing I have done and probably will ever do. As of last week I brought my a1c from a flat 8 to 6.8.  I finally beat my goal of getting my a1c to 7.  Who knew it just took pregnancy to do it?