Pregnancy with Type 1 Diabetes: What I Keep on My Bedside Table

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Before my first pregnancy, I certainly kept a container of old glucose tabs next to my bed, and maybe a juice box or two. Sometimes I’d remember to bring my glucose meter kit up to bed with me, but mostly I’d have to go downstairs if I wanted to check my blood sugar in the middle of the night.

At the start of my first pregnancy, I realized I needed a different variety of diabetes “goods” on my bedside table, because checking my blood sugar at midnight and/or 2 a.m. would become a regular thing, not a rare thing. And treating lows in the middle of the night would be at least slightly more frequent because I was trying to stay between 70 to 100 mg/dL all night long. Sometimes I just need 5 grams of carbs to boost a 65 mg/dL up a few points…but boy oh boy, I do not like glucose tabs.

Here’s what I keep on my bedside table for the sake of diabetes management during pregnancy (and now all the time, whether I’m pregnant or not):

1. A glucose meter, test-strips and lancet device entirely devoted to my bedside table. It isn’t in a usual zipper case, it’s just sitting lose in this cheap little basket (along with probably 50 used test-strips). It’s ready-to-go. I’ve learned that I benefit from keeping a glucose meter, etc. next to my bed at all times because when I wake-up at 2 a.m. with symptoms of a high or a low blood sugar, it is a struggle sometimes to convince myself to get out of bed and go downstairs to check my blood sugar. Having it all one foot away from my head makes it effortless. (Every couple of months, I actually go through that little basket and throw away the hundred+ used test-strips. Lovely, eh?)
2. Cough drops & Tums: During my first pregnancy, heartburn and coughing accompanied me often during the last trimester. This second pregnancy, coughing at bedtime became a new “perk” from the very start of pregnancy. I haven’t had to take a cough-drop in a while, but it’s easy to keep them there for that occasional pregnancy coughing fit. And the Tums, well, after two bouts of severe acid reflux and on-going acid reflux this pregnancy, I keep them there when my round-the-clock antacids need assistance. In the last trimester, I know I’ll need these regularly.
3. Water! Particularly for the rare “super-high” blood sugar, I know having a full container of water right next to my bed is far more likely to be consumed to help that blood sugar come down than if I have to walk downstairs and fill a glass of water. And more often, it’s easy to wake up thirsty as heck during pregnancy (when blood sugars are normal) and especially when you’re breastfeeding, so keeping water within arm’s reach is an absolutely must.
4. Tap Light: I keep this cheap Tap Light from Walmart next to my bed at all times so I can see what the heck I’m doing when I’m pricking my finger in the dark or when I accidentally fling my lancet device across the room or under the bed. It’s good to have an effortless light that doesn’t wake up the deeply-snoozing hubby.
5. Gummy LifeSavers: I prefer these lately because I can literally bite it in half and swallow both pieces entirely. I don’t have to chew. I don’t get stuff stuck in my teeth. 1 gummy is 4 grams of carbs so I can easily and quickly consume 16 grams for a severe low or I can just have 1 or 2 gummies for a minor low. They don’t melt, freeze, spill or mold like other options. They don’t make me want to hurl like glucose tabs. And there’s a lot in one bag. I haven’t had to refill that bag in more almost 3 months…partly due to not having many lows at night but also because there’s so many servings to treat so many lows in one bag.
6. Extremely awesome item you can’t see: my back-scratcher! My husband bought me one of those cheap wooden back-scratchers at one of those stores on the coast filled with cheap knick-knacks. It’s amazing. Every pregnant gal needs one. Mine hangs on the lampshade…which I occasionally knock off by accident and scare the sh*t out of my little dog Pedro who is sleeping nearby.

The book and the lotion are because reading helps me fall asleep, Jodi Picoult is always entertaining, and I live in Vermont where the air is dry as whoa so my skin looks like a reptile if I don’t cover my hands in lotion at bedtime!

What helps you manage diabetes at night?

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