Katherine's Birthstory

(Type II Diabetes, Pumper) AKA: MKPerez

Bryan Andrew

Born 3:54 am on Saturday
May 31st 2003 at 36 weeks and 6 days
Weight: 7 pounds 15 ounces
Length: 20.5 inches

Hi

My name is Katherine and I am 25 years old. I have been a diagnosed type 2 diabetic since 1998. I was controlling my blood sugars with very large doses of the oral medication Glucose and dreamt of some day becoming pregnant.

My blood sugar control was okay but not as perfect as all the articles I read said it had to be (in my interpretation). I felt I did not have all the control skills that a pregnancy would require being diabetic. I researched for a long time with the hope of finding some wonderful medication, other than insulin, that would allow me to control my blood sugar levels without injections, visited high risk pregnancy doctors and my OBGYN looking for information that would empower and allow me to have a healthy diabetic pregnancy. I did not find any other medication and all I found were a long list of doctors with negative things and many warnings about being diabetic and pregnant!.

After much thought and many hours of consideration, my husband and I decided to try for a baby. We expected it would be months before I became pregnant, so I made an appointment with my endo to begin insulin therapy as soon as possible so I can get pregnant as soon as possible. To our surprise, my period never came after I got off the pill and I had become pregnant before beginning my insulin therapy.

My diabetes control was not bad, but now I was pregnant and taking an oral medication that is not proven to not cause problems to the baby and I started to panic. I visited my endo when I was about a month in a half into the pregnancy. We discussed my options and opted to go with pump therapy.

I began insulin shots until my pump came in the mail and began pump therapy as soon as it arrived. My blood sugars started to go up, but nothing horrible- still I cried every day thinking that every bite of food that I put in my mouth not only gave nutrients to this beautiful being inside me but also could be causing terrible harm and giving our baby so much sugar he would be an enormous size at birth with a multitude of complications or a still birth. The first trimester was one of mixed feelings- I was over powered with fear but at the same time overwhelmed with excitement.

As I got adjusted to my insulin pump, I began to enjoy the benefits of the pump therapy since now I had more flexibility in what I ate, but was still very hard on me when I did not meet my target ranges for blood glucose post meals. I tested my sugars 10-12 times a day and at one moment became so obsessed with it that I would check it once an hour to make sure there were no swings in my blood sugar that I was not aware of. I slowly became more comfortable with controlling my insulin intake via pump and knowing how to adjust my pump settings to the many changes my body was making my sugars have.

The second trimester arrived and now I was less scared but still concerned about still birth since it was mentioned as a risk every other OB visit I had. They monitored my sugars and saw me every two weeks. This trimester was the best my sugars have ever been. there must have been a sudden balance in hormones and my sugars were in range every time, the happiness I felt was unbelievable. Then we found out we were having a little boy. My concern now turned into... what about spina bifida? I had an ultrasound once a month and they confirmed that his spinal cord had sealed in the back like it should and there was no sign of anything being wrong.

The third trimester was here and my contractions seemed to have started immediately when I hit six months. At this point I was told I would be induced. At first, I was told that they would let me go as far as they could and as the weeks progressed I had my official induction talk, starting with them telling me I was going to have to have an amniocentesis.

I was too busy doing kick counts to make sure he moved ten times in two hours and if I could not feel him, I freaked out until he did. (It is amazing how pregnant women always find something to worry about. Once there worry is resolved something else always comes up! LOL)

I became sick with the 24 hour flu and became so dehydrated I started to dilate at 30 weeks. They medicated me, but my contractions would not stop. At 34 weeks I was dilated to 1 cm and was taken off work. My job requires me to stand much of the time and they were scared that would cause me to continue to dilate.

I was very uncomfortable by my 35th week. My sugars had become some what erratic and harder to control and I was sleep deprived since my contractions were so strong that I really could not lay or stand or walk or sit for any period of time without becoming uncomfortable and my feet swelling up like balloons. At 36 weeks and 4 days I had an amnio done and it came back that the baby's lungs were mature... That evening I was called into the hospital to get an induction. I registered in the hospital at 11:30 pm of May 29th.

At first they put a tampon like thing with gel that was supposed to make my cervix efface. That took twelve hours and made me dilate to 3 cm and efface to 70 percent. After that they let me try on my own. I moved up to 4 cm and as far as pain goes, the contractions were really not that bad, but when they checked mt cervix that was a different story.

They wanted to break my bag of water but it hurt to much, so we opted for an epidural. They gave me the medication (did not hurt), broke my water and started me on petocin. I went relatively fast and before I knew it I was ready to push. The epidural had worked so well on me that they told me they would have to turn it down because I was not pushing efficiently since I could not feel a thing. Well, turning it down did not help and without me knowing it got turned off...that is right, I pushed and delivered "al natural" and boy did it hurt!! I pushed for an hour in a half total and delivered a beautiful baby boy at 3:54 am on Saturday, May 31st.

As soon as I saw him, they brisked him away to make sure his blood sugars were not low. I saw him a little later and took him to the recovery room with me, he has not left my side since! He was born at 36 weeks and 6 days, weighed 7 pounds 15 ounces, and was 20.5 inches long. He is very healthy and extremely handsome!
LOL

Being a diabetic mommy is hard work during the pregnancy, but being diabetic is hard work always. Having this child was worth every tear of fear, every injection, every moment I waited for his kicks, and every sacrifice that was made, it was worth all that and more...

Katherine

Here is an updated picture I received from Katherine in March 2004

What a cutie!

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