Halloween, 6+3.

Yeah so feeling like shite and being pregnant really sucks.  My drug repertoire is severely limited, paracetamol and um, paracetamol.  Woke yesterday morning with a suspiciously sore throat and pounding head.  I popped some paracetamol and a cup of tea and hoped for the best.  I had a quick 10 second indulgent Strepsil as I'm not sure if its going to irreparably damage my 6mm bean-baby.  Felt increasingly awful all day and deciding to have to skip a party I was invited to (sorry Michael!), I  just sat feeling sorry for myself on the couch.  G did a roast chicken and I stretched to doing some roast potatoes - lovely!  Once again I barely slept but when I finally did I woke G up frequently with my snoring - I NEVER snore!!  What I wouldn't give for 2 Neurofen+, an anti-histamine, a sleeping tablet and a hot whiskey.  Pfft.

Belted it up to the shops today to get some bits for Isabella's dress-up and treated myself to a couple of H&M Mama tops.  Seriously comfy.  They aren't voluminous but what they are is long and snug.  Brilliant for the now stage where I'm hugely bloated but can't in all honesty accept that I have a bump at 6wks 3days.  I cant wait for the 10-12wks stage when I can start telling people and let it all hang out. 

I think Halloween is the curse of the diabetic.  I went to my sisters house so we could all go trick or treating together on her road.  Its a great road, heaps of houses and about 80% of them answer the door.  That meant one huge amount of sweets to tempt me - "malteserteasers" being the biggest temptation.  The kids all had great fun painting each others faces, some of the grown-ups got painted too.  They played dipping for apples and then with their wet faces, they dipped in porridge flakes for jellies.  Great fun - water and porridge everywhere!

 

The Technical Stuff

So, I nibbled my way all the way through the T&T, taking random bolus shots and then scoffed a load of roses (love the orange ones) once back indoors at my sisters house. I didn't risk testing before my dinner which consisted of colcannon, sausages and barn brack but 90 mins after I scoffed my face I tested a sweet 7.4.  Result!!! Not perfect but not the 15 I might have gotten months ago.

Right now, I'm just suffering pre-lunch hypos so I've lowered my basals by .2 of a unit between 10am and 12am and am hoping I can get through tomorrow nice and level.  I've only got another 10 days to keep things as steady as possible before I present myself to the Rotunda.  Every time I think of it, Rescue Remedy gets a lot of loving.

Paying for a pizza - 6+1

Wow - 2 days since my last post - have to make sure I'm not losing the impetus.

Its been busy here the last few days. We had a Presidential election and 2 referendums on Thursday 27th and that was great fun. I decided not to work this year as its a long day and as much as I desperately needed the money, it wasnt worth it for the long long day (6.30am - 10.45pm). I decided to have a lazy morning with my lovely new pal Eugenie. She's considering getting an insulin pump so we went though the pros and cons and I explained some of the technology. I also pretended to be her on the phone and scored some freebies from the meter companies. Its nice to be able to be part of someone else making the decision to have a pump. Lisa helped me so much and I really hope Eugenie finds it as bloody wonderful as we have. So, I had a big slappy lunch (cheeeeese) and a nice lazy afternoon.

Friday was count day and I do love watching a front-runner losing the plot and getting slapped around the polling station. Am delighted that Michael "Dobby" Higgins is to be our new president. Gordon and I went to the count centre to see the carry-on (a lot of sitting around) and then over to the Ideal Homes exhibition. The most exciting thing to report is that I got a new steam cleaner and a little spy light to put beside my bed to turn on when I have to test during the night. Am still inordinately excited with my steamcleaner and will give it a go later. The one I had is ok but it soaks the floor and is bloody heavy.

We got home around 5 and I crawled straight into bed exhausted. Isabella woke me at 7ish and I got ready to head out for dinner with the girls. My GOD am I big already. I'm sure its just bloating but it took me 15 minutes to struggle into tights. Then they were so tight, they cut off the blood supply when I sat down. I could have changed into trousers but I'm not terribly comfy in trousers at the moment, much comfier in a dress. So I rooted around and found a pair of M&S support tights that I've been avoiding succumbing to. Jaysus they were comfy but it was still a struggle. I kept having to twist the top of them and then crouch down and wiggle to get them into the right place. Eventually I caved and cut the wasteband, cutting my buggery tubing in the process. Cue mad panic to change my kit and try and do my hair and makeup - not a pretty sight.

Had a great night - was delighted to find out Mark and Miriam got engaged - with a baby on the way for them too its just great news all around.

The technical stuff.

Not great yesterday - levels hovered around the 6-7 mark. I managed to get a 5.2 before dinner but I think that was all the rushing around. I ate badly last night too - the salad to start was fine but the Pizza and Sticky toffee pudding was probably a bad idea. I did a split bolus, calculating 140g of carb for the entire meal and split it 40%-60% and then had it over an hour. I think I did ok as I was 6.2 when I got home and then 5.2 before bed. However, woke at 3am feeling shite and tested a 14.5!! WTF??? Anyways, I was 5.1 by 5am and 4.9 this morning so its all back to normal now. Bloody pizza. I wouldnt mind only it wasnt terribly nice pizza. Salami instead of pepperoni and a soggy damp base. Pizza is a rare treat now so dont fuck it up please? Am headachey and crampy this morning.

I miss food. 5+5

I did my last Clearblue Digital HPT this morning. It showed up very quickly "Pregnant 3+". According to their site, that means I'm 5+ weeks which means that my HCG is rising nicely. Its the best I can do instead of a reassurance scan!! All good tho. The worrying might have kept me awake a bit last time **whistles**.

I've been chatted with some girls on a "Due in June 2012" forum group that I'm a member of and I've realised I'm insanely jealous of all the pregnant girls that consider eating chips with curry sauce and cheese or pizza or white bread "standard pregnancy fare". I'm on a really strict diet (self-imposed to get near-perfect BS). I dont really eat anything high fat or high carb - high fat means everything takes much longer to absorb and high carb means I have to take a truckload of insulin and that can make me go low. High fat and high carb usually go hand in hand so that sort of cuts out all sorts of yummy stuff.

Anyways - its all in a good cause!

I went to see The Help with the Mammy this evening and it was brilliant - I loved the book so was nervous the movie would be shite but it wasnt. It was really enjoyable and hysterically funny at points. I had pasta this evening for dinner (Linguine with veg in a creamy white wine sauce - NOM!) in a cheapy Italian restaurant and then a paltry 4 minstrels in the cinema with Mammy and i'm high now - ok, 7.1 but high all the same.

I'm going for dinner with the girls on Friday night - there is no way they'll not work out I'm up the duff. They all knew I was waiting for my pump to try for another one so if I show up not boozing, I'll be slagged to an inch of my life. Ah, I dont mind, they are all Mammies themselves and one of us is pregnant already after her first course of IVF so thats par for the course really. Also, I figure I'd tell them if I miscarry so I might as well fill them in now. I hate not telling people - clearly - as so many of you are maybe reading this blog LOL!

The Technical Stuff.

BS almost perfect this morning and ran on target for most of the day. I'm highish this evening but eating out will do that. I'm going to raise my nighttime basals slightly again to try to corner the increases, only because they will go up again in a day or two. I slept funny last night and my pump was pressed into my cannula site. Mahoooosive bruise when I changed it today and very bloody sore.

I'm finding it hard to stick to the same bloody breakfast every morning but I know the carbs spot on and it works perfectly. Weetabix - *yawn*. Also my kidneys are still reacting to the slightest high, despite being on potassium so I'm back on an anti-spasmodic.

Tuesday 25th October. 5+4

Finally after a weekend of not sleeping, I slept like the dead last night. I think a mini-roast dinner and a big fat glass of wine helped. I've been so bloody tired and could fall off to sleep but would wake at 7am or so and not be able to get back to sleep for the life of me. Gordon even gave me two lie-ins but I just lay there faffing. Humph.

Isabella is enjoying coming to our bed at 4am every morning "for a cuddle" so we're reduced to 30cm each on either side of a king sized bed. I'm hopeless at saying no as she pulls the heartstrings "I just want a cuddle Mammy!". At 4am its so much easier to just let her in. Little wagon.

I'm feeling fine now - I've no real symptoms yet except being exhausted and a bad dose of BO, despite showering twice a day. I'm still doing HPTs too - gotta cut that out. I've done about 5 now. Only for the fact that they are only €5 for two in Tesco, I'd have stopped ages ago. I think that as I wont be having a scan for a while, I'm entitled to test. So there. I have one Clearblue Digital left that will tell me how far along I am so I think I'll do that test tomorrow and hope it gives me a "2-3wks".

I'm also going through insulin at a furious rate. I went to the chemist today and came out with 2 enormous bags of supplies. 4 boxes of 10 Cannula sets, 6 vials of insulin, 3 boxes of 5 cartridges, 9 boxes of test strips, 5mg Folic Acid and 75mg Aspirin. Price = €0. Thank god! I don't know how my fellow US diabetics handle having to pay for everything.

The Technical stuff.

My BS levels have been great during the day as I've tweaked my ratios (amount of insulin needed per gram of carb consumed). My only issue is my ever climbing overnight basal requirement. Just as I win, the damn thing goes up again. I set a 110% TBR last night but I was still high this morning. I also tested at 3am and was a respectable 6.1 so its the 2am - 7am levels that have to be addressed. I'm avoiding testing every hour as I've been so tired but I might have to tonight. As I'm starting to feel hyper around a 9, I'm feeling particularly rough when I wake after a few hours at 10 or so.

Want!!!!!!

http://www.diabetesmine.com/2011/09/testing-out-the-ibgstar-first-plug-in-glucose-meter-for-the-iphone.html

Typical Sunday

5+2 today. Feeling good. Quiet weekend doing housework and pottering - might go get me a roast chicken for later. I do love my roast chicken dinners.

My BS have been really good and stable - SO important. I can go a little high immediately after my evening meals, 8.2 last night but I came down within 2 hours of finishing my meal. I'm not overly concerned as the rest of my levels are very good, usually 4s overnight and in the mornings and random tests are in the 5s.

My current targets are under 5 before breakfast and meals and under 7 90mins after finishing a meal. I'm meeting those targets about 80% of the time. I'm praying for a good A1c when I present myself at the Rotunda in 3 weeks time.

First post!!

5+2 today! Up early, mind racing. Setting up a blog, cleaning up facebook, copying posts. Busy busy.

Flu jab!!

Friday 21st October 2011

I'm feeling a bit better in general about money. I know I don't have much but if we have a girl, it will be a lot easier and if we have a boy, he'll just have to wear some pink stuff and get over it. I'm more worried about the extra medical expenses involved in having a high-risk pregnancy etc but I know we'll be ok!!

Went to my GP today - all good - got the flu jab!! We had a good chat about my levels and she gave me heaps of advice and support and asked me how we were going to approach the hospital (i'm going to do a bit of "twisting the truth" - long story). I love my GP so SO bloody much. She's just wonderful. I'll probably get a scan at 8wks but in all my history of miscarriages, i've never had a mmc. I always have very visible loss so I'm going with my body and lots of POAS for this one. Once again - its very odd but I'm very very positive about this pg. I usually get a very gut negative feeling when its going to go pearshaped.

As for a sexing scan?? They'll say "its a boy" and we'll go and stock up on pink. Thats how it will work for me i think!!

Basal day fail.

I was planning a protein-only day today to check my basal rates. These "rates" are the doses you get every hour through your pump and can only be properly checked by eating nothing or by eating carbs only. These rates are the very basis of pump therapy and if you get these right, nearly everything else falls into place.

I did ok in the mornings, I had a slice of toast to check my ratio - thats gone up to 2:1 but my levels are ok mostly. Hypo at 10pm (after a walk) so that threw me off but I was fine before and after dinner. I'm feeling the lows now at around 3.8 and 2 glucose tablets are doing the job these days!

The rest of the day was fine, apart from forgetting I was both non-carbing and pregnant, i popped a mini-muffin into my gob in Aldi. Nom. But I did ok with a bolus for that. I couldnt work out how many carbs were in one so I ate 3 and took 2units. LOLOLOL!!!!!!!!

High again this morning so my overnights will need to go up by about 15%. I am going to do a temporary basal rate of 15% tonight from 1am to 7am to see how I get on and if that works, i'll be on the right track. Not TOO many corrections but most random tests are under 7 so I'm getting there.

And we are off....

Just got a BFP this morning after a BFN on Friday morning. Drank a lot at the weekend so I wish I'd taken something serious for my hangover before I did my pregnancy test!!

Over the moon and nervous as hell.
Absolutely no symptoms but I rarely get any anyways. I still have a bit of cystitis from my kidney infection I had at the start of the month but now I dont know if i can take the meds I was given (Urispas). I cant find the card that came with them. (duh - just googled it and I can take them.
I might have to do a blog or a diary or something to record all the dramas in my pregnancy - hopefully it will be very boring.
I'm due 29th June, day before my sisters birthday!!