Marrying a beautiful Girl with Type 1 Diabetes

[azisho]

Hi, I am planning to marry a beautiful girl who has type 1 diabetes. I love her dearly and her diabetes does not change that. She was diagonosed when she was 3. She has to take Insulin injections every day twice. My question is that can we have kids in future and will there be any complications in future. I am willing to walk extra mile with her. I want to help her but she is very sensitive when it comes to diabetes.
I can't think of loosing her because of any complications becuase of diabetes. Some guidance and suggestion would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Someone in Love!

[nickipos]

Hi there and congratulations! I've had type 1 since I was 12 and am now 30 and 13 weeks pregnant with my first baby. First of all, no matter whether a pregnancy is planned in the near future or not, her blood sugar should be tightly controlled to prevent complications. She can do that, but I wonder whether 2 shots a day are the best way to control her blood sugars. Do you know her last A1c? Could you ask her about it? Anything below 6.5 is not too bad, but for a pregnancy, it should be below 6.0. I managed to get a 5.2 and feel great, but am on a pump and test about 12 times a day. The ADA has some great message boards up for people with type 1 and maybe she herself could come and join. I know you're trying to help, but it's really your wife who has to live with it and learn how to manage it herself. If she is motivated enough to do it, she can!! This is the link to the type 1 board: http://community.diabetes.org/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=messages&webtag=adatype1

Take care, Nicki

[Dano22]

I to am married to a wonderful woman who is now 40, and has been diabetic since her early teens.  I too wanted to marry her, and the fact she was diabetic was not going to stop us.  We have been thru alot over the past 13 years of marriage.  There are ups and downs, highs and lows.  The one thing I have learned about being married to a diabetic is that there is little I can do to change her habits, without trying to be in control of her every decision.  With therapy, I have learned I cannot be her 'food police'.  There is alot of indifference within her, by feeling sorry for herself or by not telling me whats really going on.  It's like she is living on her own island.  Your love may not be enough to make your partner realize how much they need you.

We have two beautiful children.  Our son is 10years old, and was a C-section.  He was born 6lbs.3oz.  My wife did an amazing job with her blood control.  She got an insulin pump and ate all the right foods, checked her blood sugar 10-12 times a day.  We had some bad moments like her vision being impaired.  Laser surgery was done almost weekly.  

She was a teen who did not take very good care.  Three of her diabetic friends from those years have all passed on because of neglect.  I urge you to go to every doctor appt and not let up on her testing when she is pregnant.  I have heard stories of babies being born up to 12 lbs. to a diabetic.  So please watch out.  I can go on and on.  This is just the tip of the iceberg.

I wish you all luck.

Dan

[Newmexigal]

If complications do arise, as they have in my husband's case, it is extremely difficult, especially when you have children.  My husband has had diabetes since he was five, he is now 33.  He has suffered complications with his vision and has had several surgeries.  And also his health in general is not great.  

It is difficult emotionally, and it is difficult physically.  When you are the well spouse you have to pick up the slack which is exhausting.   It is also incomprehnsibly difficult to watch your spouse suffer.  I don't want to scare you, only to prepare you in case this happens to you, I pray that it doesn't.

Just please have your wife get regular check ups with the retina specialist and with her diabetes specialist--ATLEAST every six months.
  
You will do fine, just stay on top of the diabetes, don't get complacent.  

Also, have her get the pump if she doesn't already, it is awesome, definitely worth all the hassle of getting it approved through insurance.  

[azisho]

Thank you very much for yuor support and comments. We are married now and very happy. Kids are not in our mind at the moment. (At least for another couple of years) She is 24 now. So we think it should be not a problem in next few years.

We trust in GOD! So hoping all will be well in future. It is still new for me, so I do get worried about her. Like when her sugar goes high. She is not very carefull when it comes to making healthy food choices. Also, she does not like exercising. I am slowly motivating her to do that.

Sometimes, I get worried about major complications. I cannot imagine a thought of losing her.

[baby_doll]

Children wont be a problem, but diabetes and being pregnant is a high risk pregnancy. I have a friend who I have had diabetes with since we were both diagnosed at 10 years old. She has a beatiful 6 month old baby boy with no deformed limbs (which is not a diabetic complication of pregnancy but okay) or any birth defects whatsoever. Before she got pregnant her blood sugars were out of control but as soon as she learned of her pregnancy, it motivated her to do better and her baby did not suffer. Type 1 diabetes is known to skip generations, so youre kids are pretty safe but type 1 diabetics can develop from more than genetics alone. Whats best is to plan the pregnancy and diabetes wont be a risk factor. If its unplanned though, test every 2 hours to get in more control. The children will be fine.

Me personally, I am 5 months pregnant, my blood sugars are in great control. Baby is healthy when I get ultrasounds. Nothing wrong and so far so good. If you guys are spiritual, pray for guidance and wisdom. Dont hassle her about her blood sugars because she has been dealing with it all her life. Be there for her when her sugar is low because for women, its more emotional than physical. Dont baby her about it though. If you guys do end up havin a baby her endocrinologist will set her up on weekly visits so they can monitor her diabetes more closely. The only thing about being diabetic and being pregnant is people will try to scare you with all the risks that come with it. But most problems that occur is a large baby and babies with bone problems. You have to  be waaaayyy out of control to suffer bad complications from it when youre pregnant.

But help her use common sense to break out of bad habits because its not about just her anymore. Dont go to bed without checking her blood sugar and seeing where its at and what needs to be done, so while she is sleeping she wont run into crash episodes and hurt the baby.

[lampeskjerm]

She can have kids, the diabetes doesn't prevent that, but her blood sugar should be checked extra often during the pregnancy - if it gets too low or too high it may be serious for the kid (deformed limbs, death, etc.).. Your (future) kids will also have an increased chance of getting diabetes themselves.

And as for the happy years to come (when she's not pregnant), low blood sugar on daytime isn't a big problem. She's had it all her life (I got it when I was 8, and can still remember not having to have to take injections before meals), she will feel that her blood sugar is low, and then eat a snack. The worst part is if she gets low blood sugar when she (and you) are sleeping..

I once had a low blood sugar episode during a night with my girlfriend.. Afterwards she told me I was shaking, my limbs were "locked" (she couldn't my my arms/legs), and that my pupils were extremely large.. She called an ambulanse and they fixed me pretty fast, I didn't even have to go to the hospital.. To make a long story short: if we hadn't slept so close that she had wakened by the shaking, I would have died that night. But low blood sugar episodes happen, nobody has total control of their blood sugar (except you without diabetes, of course), so I would recommend you to sleep so close that you will be waked if she shake.. The worst thing about that episode is that I personally don't remember anything of it, all I remember is that I went to sleep with my beautiful girlfriend, and when I waked there were a needle in my hand, my girlfriend were as scared and shocked as it's possible to be, and 3 ambulance people were standing around almost telling jokes. So if anything like that happens, you'll be totally scared the next day, and she almost won't be affected by it, because she can't remember it..