Remember the fantastic 30th birthday party I had last year? And how it was Pirates of the Caribbean themed and all my gifts were related to the theme? Among those gifts was a great purse--black leather, brass chains, the Pirates logo on it, red satin lining. LOVE that purse and used it for a good 18 months. But it's not large enough to hold all the items I consider necessary as well as Miss Bubbly's diabetes kit, her diabetes binder, snacks, orange juice, the glucagon kit (for an emergency--it's the diabetic equivalent of an epipen), the measuring cups (for accurate carb counting), and our carb bible--The Calorie King. I still love that purse, so I'm going to hang it on the wall as a piece of art, but art it will remain. I've got a snazzy new brown backpack with pink piping that holds all of the above with room to spare.
I guess that means we're adjusting. We said we wouldn't let diabetes stop us from doing everything we'd already planned on doing, and so far we haven't. We're on a more rigid schedule now, but the insulin and the blood sugar meter are highly portable, so Miss Bubbly gets her shots or her blood tests poolside (4th of July celebration), at Nana's house (4th of July BBQ), or in Braum's (FHE treat after a library visit). This weekend we're headed up to Arkansas to see my mother and my aunt and her family. We'll take more breaks on the trip up so we can get out of the car and Miss Bubbly can run around, burning off some of her sugar. The pregnant lady will probably be very grateful to stretch her legs as well. The trip should be a lot of fun and the girls are very excited to see their Omay (my mom)!
And Miss Bubbly has stopped fighting me on the 3am blood tests! We pick the finger she's going to have pricked before she goes to sleep, and I just have to wake her up enough to give it to me. It's been an almost pleasant experience.
The downside so far is trying to get portions weighed or measured so I know how many carbs Miss Bubbly's getting and the fact that Miss Bubbly is ALWAYS HUNGRY. She lost six pounds in the weeks before her diagnosis and she's doing her level best to make it up now! We've gone through massloads of cheese and eggs and meat and sugar-free Jello for her in-between snack snacks, but she's still eating all the time. I shouldn't complain, though--it's staying down and doing her good. I can hardly remember the listless, labored breathing girl she was just last week. Honestly, that's one memory that I'm quite willing to let fade. Well, until she's a teenager and whining about taking insulin all the time. Then I'll have to threaten her with said memory and the potential for kidney failure and blindness if she DOESN'T CONTROL HER SUGAR! But those are things that we can prevent if we can just stay on top of things. I'm so glad to have the diabetes nurses for support--they answer my most inane questions so patiently.
Things to look forward to: 20th week sonogram on Thursday! Hopefully the fetus won't be shy and we can actually give this kid a gender. That would be nice.
2 comments:
I'm glad to hear you're getting into a routine. And more importantly that she's getting into it as well. Makes life a lot easier!
It sounds like you're really getting a handle on things. Have you found any online support groups w/other parents who can offer commiseration, advice, etc. about handling diabetes (plus the hunger, snack issues, etc.)? I bet there's a lot of info out there and I'm sure you're getting your hands on all of it. I'm so glad to hear that Afton is healthy and in good spirits. Yeah for vacations! And I hope that baby cooperates for the ultrasound too - I can't wait to hear the gender.
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