Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kristin on January 16, 2013 at 10:19pm

Even if your insulin needs go up by 4 times, then you would use a 1:1 carb ratio (which I think is possible). Some of us give large boluses by injection during pregnancy as the absorption can be better. So that would be an option too.

I had to eat very low and slow acting carbs for breakfast. I ate two eggs, cheese, veggies, and one slice of toast everyday.

Permalink Reply by lizzistardust on January 17, 2013 at 8:24am

You might run into a problem of an I:C you're not able to enter into your pump (mine, an animas ping, doesn't seem to go larger than 1:2). But it's NOT actually a problem mathematically. You could do the math yourself and then manually enter the amount of insulin you need.

Another possibly is that you may find your cartridge emptying out too fast with the larger boluses! I knew someone who wound up carrying a syringe and vial with her for most of her meal-boluses during pregnancy because she'd otherwise have to refill her pump every day.

Permalink Reply by Kristin on January 17, 2013 at 11:16am

I just checked and my Medtronic Veo pump allows 1:1 ratio (also can be increased by 0.1 units -- so 1:1.2, 1:1.3 is possible).

But I did what Lizzi suggested and actually just entered bolus amounts, as I was eating the same number of carbs each meal.

Permalink Reply by Jen G on January 17, 2013 at 5:41pm

Thanks. I have a Paradigm, so it's older. I want to see, since I'm on a new insurance plan, if they'll let me change to a more updated version. (Because I really should be on a 1:4.5 at lunch...) I know I can just do things manually, but... I was just seeing what others did before I had to resort to that.

Permalink Reply by Megan Ritter on January 18, 2013 at 6:03am

I'm so glad to hear about your carb ratios!! I'm in a similar boat and had an across the board 1:5 ratio before my pregnancy. I did have a 1:1 ratio by the third trimester. The biggest thing for me (and I was on a pump) was to start giving myself bolus 20-30 minutes before eating, in order to give my pump enough time to give me all of that insulin! I also switched to shots in the morning and did cut back on the number of carbs I would have at one sitting- I really spread it out. I also gave up chinese food! Oh the sacrifices we have to give to have healthy babies! :)Good luck!