Pregnancy with Type 1 Diabetes: Your Month-to-Month Guide to Blood Sugar Management

I read this book three times before, during, and after my pregnancy. Pregnancy with type 1 diabetes can feel overwhelming but this book is such a wonderful guide! Very well written, too. I would have been so lost without it!

Okay, if you can get past the crazy grammatical errors, typos, etc, that are all over this book, it is incredibly helpful. Being pregnant and diabetic is absolutely nerve wracking—constantly wondering if your baby will be okay, and spending every second that your blood sugar isn’t perfect thinking your baby is doomed. Here is what this book did for me:- gave me practical tools for how to adjust my insulin dosage based on the changes I was seeing in my blood sugar due to hormones (especially helpful if you feel like none of your doctors are “getting” what you feel you’re going through—this helps you take control)- clarity in anticipating what kind of changes I’d see in my blood sugar/insulin needs based on the month of my pregnancy- some sanity—not reaching perfection is not a death sentence for your baby. The experiences and emotions shared by the diabetic women who wrote this book often mirrored mine, and their babies were healthyIf you are diabetic and pregnant or planning on becoming pregnant, this is a must read. Especially for first time pregnancies.

I'm not pregnant, just trying to get healthy before it happens. So my review is coming from that perspective! :)I appreciate that the book has personal stories mixed in with actionable advice. It's good to see the "real world" side of t1d not just the clinical stuff. This isn't a formal textbook and I'm okay with that.A lot of the diabetes management information is things I'm already doing to keep my A1C below 6, but reading a refresher is always helpful. I learned a few new things as well. Especially about hormone changes and insulin sensitivity changes.I'll definitely be referencing this book when the time comes but as far as pre pregnancy preparation goes, this book eased a lot of fears and bolstered my confidence. I kind of wish I'd bought it sooner, the prep chapters in the beginning are good for anyone.

This is a must-have for any pregnant (or looking to become pregnant) TID. After much searching for such titles (only to find the majority of books were tailored to ladies with gestastional diabetes), I was overjoyed to find this. What a gem. This book is written by two pros in the TID management world (who both went thru successful pregnancies as TIDs) and is packed full of advice, tips, encouragement specifically for the pregnant TID. There are tips in the book that are helpful for anyone with TID too. The writing style is very well organized/supported, informative, easy to understand and honest (with some laugh out loud - 'I totally feel that too' type of moments). It helped ease the constant anxiety of needing to maintain tight BS control and put things into perspective in a way that was very encouraging. I cannot recommend this enough. Thank you, Ginger and Jenny.

I am a clinical pharmacist and diabetes care and education specialist. In my role, I help pregnant women with type 1 diabetes manage their blood sugars throughout their pregnancy. I recommend to all my pregnant patients to read this book! It has excellent information and is written by 2 well-respected, knowledgeable authors. In addition to their knowledge, they have personally experienced pregnancy living with type 1 diabetes. Also, the month by month guide is great so women know what to expect at different parts of their pregnancy. I highly recommend this book for any person with type 1 diabetes that is pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant.

Wow! I’m over half way through and I’ve already learned more about just being diabetic then anywhere else. They explain things very well and give very specific examples of foods and different things that effect you with diabetes and being pregnant. Great read for before and to have throughout pregnancy!

Having a safe and successful pregnancy with Type 1 Diabetes is possible. It takes a lot of concentrated effort and management, but it is possible to have a healthy pregnancy and baby. This book was such a guiding light throughout the process as it gave so much good information on what to expect when and also offered strategies for figuring out your day-to-day insulin as your pregnancy (and hormone levels) progress. Yes, there are a few grammatical typos - who knows why - but please don't let that be a distraction as the actual information in the book is so very helpful.

This book is a lifesaver. Not only do you get thorough explanation of when and why your body is reacting to insulin in certain ways, there’s also tips on how to safely adjust doses. There’s even recipes to help navigate diabetic friendly cravings - I’ve tried most and they work! Never been happier seeing my number steady after a delicious snack that I don’t feel guilty about eating! I also love the end of month diaries with real women dealing with the emotional roller coaster. It’s great to feel “normal” given all the extra stress type ones have managing it all on top of pregnancy. Get this book!!!

I didn't really get on with this book. It is well written and easy to understand, it would probably suit most type 1s who are planning to get pregnant or who are pregnant. For me I was very fortunate in that my diabetes has been pretty easy to manage throughout my pregnancy, whether that's because my diabetes is always a pain to control so I'm used to it, or I may have gotten off lightly with the pregnancy hormones.The one thing that really annoyed me about this book is that it said that gluten causes miscarriages, which is fundamentally untrue. If you have undiagnosed coeliac disease (which is more common in diabetics so worth getting a blood test done just in case) then it can cause miscarriage if you consume gluten, because you have an autoimmune intolerance to gluten, but they seem to suggest this applies to everyone. So not only do you need to manage type 1 diabetes throughout your pregnancy, you also have to cut out gluten. It's just really unhelpful and makes me doubt other claims made in the book. There is a lot of opinion stated as fact relating to diet in the book, and given that diabetics are more prone to eating disorders I don't think it's appropriate. It seems very irresponsible to tell a group of people that are vulnerable to disordered eating that a specific food type will increase their chance of miscarriage, when it is completely unproven.

This book is one of the best purchases that I have ever made. I have always had a crippling fear of pregnancy of motherhood of which I have sought therapy over in the past. It was easy to have a fear around the whole thing because what if my diabetes does this and that. Then there is the constant fear of chaos and no control. This book helped me realise that I can be a mother. I shouldn’t fear it as there’s so many things that I can do to prepare myself and manage myself. It helped me feel equipped for pregnancy. I am currently using it in the lead up for getting pregnant with hopes of conceiving at the end of the year. I feel confident now that I can do this and I feel comfortable with the work involved.

Excellent book and a life saver. I wasn't getting much support at all from my hospital apart from "keep doing what you are doing" which isn't helpful when you don't know what to expect and what to do. The book breaks down month by month with what to expect your insulin and food to do and what you might do to fix it. Great for people with T1 on either syringes, pens or pumps.

I'm quite sure this book has lots of really useful information in it, but finding it pretty difficult to read - there are lots of distracting typos, a poor contents list and no index. I will be persevering with it as I've found Ginger's articles so useful, and this is a subject which no-one else has even tried to cover. Hopefully it will sell well and a second, improved edition will become available!

Very great helpful book. This is my third pregnancy with diabetes type I, I wish I have read it from my first pregnancy.Really worth it.