Less Than Six Percent

89

I scheduled an appointment with Dr. B, my endocrinologist, whom I like to work with, and took my husband along. I wanted to find out what I had to do to get pregnant, diabetes-wise. Once we had settled in and were finished looking my numbers over, negotiating and tweaking, I blurted out that I wanted to get pregnant. Should I meet with a high-risk OB now? Would she, Dr. B, still be involved? How low do my sugars really need to be? Can I have a natural birth? I tend to do this when I’ve been thinking about something for so long, blurt everything out in a nanosecond.

The only reply that I heard was, “we have to get your numbers lower, down to 6.0, maybe lower.”

“I can’t do that,” was my immediate response. (My numbers are in the low 7’s, with the exception of one miraculous 6.9)

“Yes, you can.” she encouraged. “You have a CGMS and an insulin pump, you can do it. I want you to come to the CGMS class this Friday. There was a recent study published that states that diabetics who are really familiar with the CGMS have better control.”

"Ok." I agreed reluctantly. And then, with little faith I asked, “But really, how many of your patients get their A1C’s down
to 6.0.?”

She replied, “90-95% of my patients who want to get pregnant.”

We left the office and as I was walking through the doorway, I whispered to my husband, she must be lying. That can’t be true. 90-95%?