Hello to you all. I am new to this site, and after reading extensively through the posts, I am SO glad that I found you all. My name is Lora.. I am a 25 year old T1 on the Omnipod pump. I was diagnosed just before my 21st birthday while stuyding for finals in undergrad... yes that was EVENTFUL! Anyway, I have been with my husband for about 10 years - married in June of 2009. He has been with me through this emotional/physical rollercoaster of diabetes. He also happens to be a paramedic which makes things extremely handy when I have an episode. I am what my doctors have labeled as a "brittle" diabetic. I have the highest of highs - sometimes my glucometer will just read "high" - and the lowest of lows - low 20s. It seems like no matter what I do, I just cannot get a grip on it. My a1c last year was 12.4.. my a1c this past month was 10.1.. I know that is horrible, but I am really working on getting it down, and it's definitely an improvement.. right?!

Now to the pregnancy issue... Yes, I was one of those girls that just-so-happened to watch Steel Magnolias right after diagnosis.. It sent me into a emotional tailspin.. I thought, I am going to be that girl - I have the wost luck! I felt like I would never be able to have a baby.. That it wasn't fair to my husband (then boyfriend) to sentence him to a life without children because of my inadequacies. I felt so, so low. After a few years of coping with the fact that my life had changed forever due to my diagnosis, thoughts about children weren't at the forefront of my thoughts. Now, however, the topic has risen between my husband and myself. I know that my a1c needs to get WAY under control, but I thought.. this is something I can do.. I tried to be positive and think to myself that I can do this! So, I made an appointment with my specialists to discuss the potential. My endo said that I needed to be around a 6 for at least 6 months and she wanted to run a full chemistry panel to make sure there were no issues with my kidneys/liver etc before giving us the okay to TTC. The chemistry panel came back great.. although it said I had low CO2.. weird? - Side topic.. anyone know what this means? Anyway, off I went to the OB with my positive outlook and encouragement from my endo.. When the conversation started with my OB, she asked me what my endo said.. after I relayed the information she flat out told me that I would have to seek another doctor - a specialist with high risk if I were even thinking about getting pregnant, but that in her opinion, I had NO business even thinking about pregnancy.. that if I were to get pregnant today, she would suggest an abortion for me. That even if I got my a1c in range.. that the statistics were high that my baby would have developmental issues, I would go into kidney failure or die.. Now, I knew that I would hear some pretty tough things, but I guess I was expecting something a little different.. I mean, EVERYTHING she told me was EXTREMELY negative.. abortion? really? After going home to crawl under my covers in the dark and crying my eyes out, I am now able to talk about what happened, my situation, and reach out for a support group.

I don't really have that much of a support system that UNDERSTANDS what exactly I'm going through and feeling.. My mother suggested a hysterectomy.. My husband says he doesn't understand why I'm so sad (my doctor wrote me a prescription for lexapro - haven't really noticed much of a change).. he says he loves me child/no child.. diabetes/no diabetes.. but I desperately feel the need to make this happen for the both of us.. He has ALWAYS talked about wanting kids.. Just one of those guys that was born to be a daddy.. and I feel a deep desire to at least try and do this for the both of us.

SO.. please tell me your stories of success.. please give me your wonderful advice.. I desperately need it. Thank you in advance. Once again, I'm so glad I found you!