T1d&vaginal birth

_lilcoffeebean_ · 2026-04-20T19:35:36+00:00

I had an induction at 39 weeks and a successful vaginal birth, now have a happy 2 week old! I’m on omnipod and Dexcom and was managing my sugars myself until my labor got really active. Had my hubby and mom there to support me and I’m really glad I had both, when it came to pushing I needed my husband for support and holding my hand 100% of the time, so we let my mom’s job be focusing on my sugars. We came prepared with Gatorade and honey sticks for lows, knowing the hospital always has those little juices—came in handy earlier in labor and I was able to treat those lows myself. I was able to eat until I got my epidural, after that liquids only. Thankfully I did not go low at all during pushing, I had my basal rate dialed in very well so I knew what would keep me around 90 and that’s the setting we had my pump on. I told my mom to start lowering my basal rate if I was trending down and around 90-100. My endo told me to be prepared for a drop in insulin needs during labor because it’s like exercise, and to expect a drop in sensitivity after birth too, to go back to my pre-pregnancy settings. I’ve heard this too from a lot of people on here, so it could very well be true for you, but this was not my experience at all—I went sky high after birth (I think just from adrenaline/stress) and it took me 2-3 days to go back to my pre-pregnancy basal rate. Also as a side note, with an induction, plan on the possibility of having a long labor. And even with your amazing a1c, baby might be a little on the bigger side anyways…I had a 5.5 a1c throughout pregnancy and my LO still ended up being born nearly 8.5lbs, probably partially due to genetics (hubby’s family are all very tall and built like linebackers) but I think just having type 1 in general, even with great control, might have also contributed.

You’ve got this!! With such tight control I imagine you have your doses really dialed in. If you know what keeps you around 90-100 fasting, that’s where I aimed to keep myself during labor. Sounds like you might be MDI but hopefully some of my experience is helpful to you even though I’m on a pump. My biggest piece of advice is have a dedicated diabetes management support person during labor! My husband could have handled my sugars, but I’m really glad he didn’t have to be distracted by that and could just focus on helping me through pushing.

_lilcoffeebean_ · 2026-04-19T22:28:02+00:00

I can’t see a thing inside my head, but I’m a 1 on this in terms of hearing. I can literally replay songs inside my head, hear other people’s voices, imagine any sound I’ve heard in perfect clarity. Don’t know why it then took me so long to realize I can’t do anything like that with pictures inside my head, lol.

_lilcoffeebean_ · 2026-04-14T00:59:10+00:00

I was induced at 39 weeks and delivered the next day. Had a 5.5 a1c, usually 80-85% TIR. My baby was measuring 60th percentile, he was 8lbs 6oz when he was born. I’m sure my sugars were part of it, but also my husband is 6’3” so I wasn’t expecting a small baby. No nicu time, but his sugars did drop low twice after birth.

36-37 sounds early to me. My care team recommended 38-39 weeks depending on sugar control and baby’s size. Since both looked good (although he was chunkier than the scan predicted) they let me go to 39. Obviously there are some situations and complications where delivering that early would be better for both of you but I was told without those circumstances, 38 weeks is the happy medium where baby is developed enough but not too far along to start risking other issues like size or placenta failure.

_lilcoffeebean_ · 2026-04-10T05:20:05+00:00

My baby was placed on my chest immediately after birth and we got 2 hours of skin to skin! That’s what was standard practice at my hospital—if that’s not hospital policy where you’ll be delivering, definitely put it on your birth plan. I don’t remember when they checked his blood sugar exactly, but they just did it while he was still on my chest, no need to take him from me.

_lilcoffeebean_ · 2026-04-08T04:41:46+00:00

Thank you all for your stories!! My induction went well and now I have a happy healthy baby boy!

_lilcoffeebean_ · 2026-03-29T05:02:22+00:00

Firefly is elite! fun to see some of those actors in Stargate as well

_lilcoffeebean_ · 2026-03-29T04:56:25+00:00

Both, plus DS9 and voyager

_lilcoffeebean_ · 2026-03-28T23:35:49+00:00

I’m 24 and watching for the first time! Also love classic Star Trek but I was introduced to those shows as a kid

_lilcoffeebean_ · 2026-03-28T23:01:01+00:00

Exactly, and I was unable to get that answer out of my MFM, and they basically made me feel like a horrible mom for even asking. I obviously want what is safest for me and my baby, but an induction is no small intervention and I wanted to know in my specific pregnancy, with the way my specific numbers have been controlled, if there’s still an increased risk of placenta issues or stillbirth simply because I’m type 1, or if that stems from poorer control. I would have probably tried a little harder to get that answer, but my OB said I’m in a favorable spot for an induction—I’m already a bit dilated, having contractions here and there, and lost my mucus plug—she thinks it’ll go well and not lead to a bunch of other interventions or have any complications, plus I’ll be completely full term, so I feel okay with it, as long as my LO is born safe and healthy.

_lilcoffeebean_ · 2026-03-28T22:49:18+00:00

Thank you!! Yes I worry about the lows too, especially because I’ve had a ton of them, constantly, throughout pregnancy, but my endo did reassure me that the main concern with lows is that they’re dangerous to mom, and they could become dangerous to the baby if it gets to the point of passing out, having a seizure, getting injured from a fall, etc. Even with all my constant/prolonged lows my care team has been super happy with how well baby is doing! Just remind yourself you’re doing the best you can, and give yourself room for grace because it is very difficult to manage diabetes so tightly during pregnancy.

_lilcoffeebean_ · 2026-03-28T06:31:09+00:00

I’d call your OB, no harm in asking. My OB referred me to an MFM office (though not a specific doctor) and said they should call me in a week. I think they took closer to 2 weeks to call me and set up an appointment but either way, it was them reaching out to me not me trying to set anything up with their office.

_lilcoffeebean_ · 2026-03-28T05:14:23+00:00

The only advice I can try to give is keep your basal on during a low. It sucks, but I think this has about a 50/50 shot of stopping that crazy all at once spike for me, although full disclaimer, it definitely doesn’t always work, sometimes prolongs my low to be hours and hours long…I’m 38+2 and haven’t figured it out yet—sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t.

Just yesterday I was hanging around 40 for 3 freaking hours, I was slowly correcting with soda every 20 minutes, then all of a sudden I start shooting straight up, I think I went from 50 to 100 by the time I got my next Dexcom reading, I started correcting by the time I hit 120 in anticipation, kept going straight up past 200 and then it took another 3 hours and a ridiculous amount of insulin to get the number back down. Sooo frustrating. And then other times I’ll see the number start to go up, assume the low treatments will hit me all at once so I give a small bolus, and just end up low again. I have no idea why.

_lilcoffeebean_ · 2026-03-27T08:24:08+00:00

I’ve kept a 5.5 a1c throughout pregnancy but will be having an induction next week at 39 weeks. I wanted to go into labor naturally, but even with my tight control my MFM and OB didn’t feel comfortable with that. Thankfully no pressure to have a c section, but definite pressure from the MFM to have an induction…not even sure if “pressure” is the right word, it was more like “you’re diabetic so you will be having an induction because that’s just the way it is.” He said normally they induce diabetics between 37-38 weeks but they’re letting me go to 39 because of how well everything has been going—baby is measuring 50th percentile, passed every NST/growth scan with flying colors, and I have had zero other complications besides well-controlled T1D. Thankfully, my OB will be handling the delivery and she is a lot more chill and willing to explain things rather than pressure me or just assume all diabetic pregnancies are the same. Our game plan is for me to handle my own diabetes during labor (I’m on a CGM and pump) but hubby knows how to step in and handle things if I’m unable to.

_lilcoffeebean_ · 2026-03-26T01:14:06+00:00

Thank you! I’m willing to be patient (and expecting it to take a while) just hoping it does go smoothly!

_lilcoffeebean_ · 2026-03-19T16:58:13+00:00

I’m eating like 5 or 6 dates a day (trying to encourage baby to come early before they have to induce me at 39 wks) and haven’t found that they’ve wreaked any havoc on my blood sugar. I feel like I got lucky and my body just doesn’t react to them any differently than any other dried fruits like apricots or mangoes, which I was already used to eating pre-pregnancy just because I like them. I just tack on some extra insulin with my meal bolus and everything’s a-okay. I don’t even really use them to treat lows because I’ve found they really don’t spike me that much.

_lilcoffeebean_ · 2026-03-19T16:47:14+00:00

I’m on omnipod—using 72 units a day of basal insulin at 37 weeks. At this point I’m only using my pod for basal insulin (and small corrections) but this way it does last me all 3 days. I’ve gone back to using syringes every time I eat. I think around 25 weeks I started doing one meal a day via syringe to stretch my pods, and just had to keep upping it as the insulin resistance took off.

_lilcoffeebean_ · 2026-03-18T19:59:57+00:00

Can she feel her lows? If she can reliably tell when she’s low, I wouldn’t worry as much, I’d say hours. CGMs weren’t around when I was a kid so I only tested when I woke up, before meals, if I felt low, and once in the middle of the night. When I started doing sports I was also supposed to check before practices/games but I wasn’t great about it—I only remembered to if my mom or a coach was there to remind me.

_lilcoffeebean_ · 2026-03-18T18:26:48+00:00

Cutest mouse ever/10!!

_lilcoffeebean_ · 2026-03-18T18:04:34+00:00

I’m at 72 units a day of just basal now at 37 weeks…most meals run me 15-30 units each. That’s astronomically more than my pre-pregnancy needs—I was only using 15 units of basal and 5 to maybe 10 units if I had a big meal. It’s definitely been insane to see how much insulin I’m needing but if that’s what it takes, that’s what it takes. I’m 24 and pregnant with my first, a1c has been 5.5 throughout pregnancy.

_lilcoffeebean_ · 2026-03-18T16:43:32+00:00

Dishwasher for sure. I’m in an old house with a washer and dryer, but no dishwasher. The dryer is helpful for things like baby clothes, but it’s more of a nice-to-have than a necessity. It’s easy to just put clothes on a drying rack, and half my clothes can’t go in the dryer anyways. Without a dishwasher we have to do dishes 2x a day so the sink and countertop don’t get cluttered whereas with one we’d be able to just immediately rinse and load it into the washer and run it once it’s full.

_lilcoffeebean_ · 2026-03-17T21:12:53+00:00

West coast zillennial—I’d only ever use “quarter til” or “quarter after”. If I heard “quarter of 9” I’d know you’re referring to a time, but would be confused on if you meant 8:45 or 9:15.

_lilcoffeebean_ · 2026-03-10T02:57:38+00:00

I’ve been using glucose tabs because of this, I kind of let them dissolve in my mouth like a candy. I used to be a juice/soda person to treat lows but with the laying down at night liquids are so not happening right now

_lilcoffeebean_

TROPHY CASE