Road trips...

Oh, the dreaded long drive with a small child!  And even worse when the child is a diabetic!  We took a trip to Omaha last weekend for a wedding.  I was not looking forward to it!  Six and a half hours of driving followed by two nights in a hotel, a pre-wedding BBQ, the wedding and reception, dance, and all wrapped up with second six and a half hour drive home.  With 2 small children.  Lily actually does pretty well on car rides.  We did the "smart" thing and picked up a portable DVD player to help keep her entertained during the long drive.  Wow, was that a lifesaver!  Now if her little brother would have dealt as well with the long drive!  Leo actually threw a fit when we put him in the car to go grocery shopping this morning.  I don't think he's recovered yet.  My teeny little 16-month-old peanut is pretty strong when he's protesting something passionately!

I have to make this kind of short tonight so I can head to bed and get some rest tonight, but I just wanted to share a few things I learned during our trip:

1.  A six-hour-plus drive with 2 diabetics does not equal fun!

2.  A hotel with a good pool is a necessity at the end of that 6+ hour drive!

3.  Regardless of whatever vending machines and snack options a hotel has to offer, it is always a good idea to keep your hotel room well-stocked with fruit, crackers, cookies, or whatever other snack your diabetic child is willing to gobble up when she's low.

4.  Words that would not normally come out of a parent's mouth frequently come out of a D-parent....."you have to finish your cake before you can go dance" and "well, at least finish the frosting".

5.  It may be no use to cry over spilled milk, but sometimes you just can't help yourself!  Especially when the "spilled milk" is really a half-full tube of test strips and you know each one of those tiny little strips floating in the puddle at your feet is worth $1!

6. Summer/sandal-season is a great time to take a road trip.  Those bare toes come in handy when it's time to check a blood sugar and you're flying down the interstate!

My eyelids are getting a bit heavy now, so I think I'll leave it at that for the moment.  One more blood sugar check and I can turn in for a few hours before getting up to check again.  Oh, how I love my life as a D-mom!  Really, I do!  I just wish it allowed for a little more sleep!

Oh, and a few pics of my monkeys shaking their booties at the reception:

Not the best pictures, but the kids are cute anyway!

Aren't they amazing?

I swear, my kids leave me speechless nearly everyday.  Their ability to cope, to take what life throws at them and to get back up and keep going without blinking an eye is just incredible.  I'm particularly amazed tonight with Lily.  Tonight was a pump night.  And also, my hubby's break-night.  Since it's so hard for us to find someone knowledgeable to watch the kids, we rarely get out together.  But we make a point of giving each other a good break at least once a week.  It makes a huge difference.  Back to my awe-inspiring story....bath night, pump site-change night.  We just started using a new infusion set from Medtronic called the mio.  LOVE THEM!  Seriously, they're cute, little colored sets with the insertion device attached to the set, so each one is disposable and no need to keep tracking down our insertion device.  Usually, my hubby changes Lily's infusion sites.  We both figure since I put in my own infusion sets, it's good for him to have the practice of putting in Lily's sets.  Practice makes him less nervous about it.  So, it was my first time using the new infusion set.  I pulled the set back to get it ready to put in, pushed the buttons to release and pulled the insertion device back....with the set still attached.  I thought it hadn't even gone in.  Pulled it back and repeated.  Same thing happened.  Set was still attached to the insertion device.  Looked at the device and realized that I'd forgotten to take the tape off!  No wonder the set wasn't staying in.  And here was my absolutely amazing, incredible little girl, getting poked three times total by the time I figured out what I was doing!  Not one peep out of her!  No owies, no crying, no throwing a fit and asking me not to poke her again!  Seriously, she's amazing!  She stood there, patiently waiting for me to figure out what I was doing and finally do it right.  She inspires me! 

On the eve...

Tonight is Lily's last night as a 2-year-old. She turns 3 at exactly 5:46 a.m. Oh, what a year it's been! We had a few good months pre-diabetes and finished off the year with finger-pricks, test strips, needles, injections, insulin vials, logbooks, and her new, pretty pink pump (or her "punk" as she calls it!). Birthdays take on a new meaning and your view of them changes so much when your child has diabetes. You start seeing all those little milestones and moments with insulin-goggles. That birthday cake will raise your child's blood sugar to the moon. The fun and games of the birthday party will cause a low and you'll have to wrestle your child into your lap and hold her still while you force juice into her before she can rejoin the fun of her own birthday party. It sucks sometimes. But....the truth is, we're all grateful to make it to another birthday. Lurking in the back of our minds is the fear that we'll fail at keeping our child safe from her own body. It may not be likely that we'll ever fail to that extent, but we can't rid ourselves of that fear. So, tonight, I'll get myself ready for bed before sneaking into my daughter's room with her meter to test one last time before I doze off until the next finger-prick. And tomorrow, I'll bring out the chocolate cake I baked for my little girl and the load of presents that I couldn't resist picking out for her when I thought about how she'll only be able to have a small piece of that birthday cake and her party fun will be interupted by frequent finger-pokes and insulin dosing. Somewhere in the middle of all the worrying and stress, I'll rejoice that I've brought my little girl to another birthday, happy and as healthy as a life with diabetes allows her to be. When it comes down to it, I wouldn't trade one moment with her!

Bedtime Lows

I have Type I Diabetes. I've been diabetic for decades. But this isn't about me. My beautiful, perfect, little girl was diagnosed with diabetes as well. At the incredibly young age of 27-months. It was incredibly heartbreaking, but that's another story for another day. Tonight, the story is about the awfulness of bedtime lows. I go in to test her blood sugar every night before I can go to sleep. More often than not, her blood sugar runs high. I'm okay with it being a bit high at night. It's a comfort to me because then I know she won't be hitting rock-bottom in the middle of the night. Her tiny little body is constantly going through major changes and her blood sugars often make me feel like we're on a neverending roller coaster ride. I hate, hate, hate the nights when her blood sugars are low when I test them at my bedtime. It means I have to wake her up from her peaceful slumber to get her to drink a bit of orange juice. All it takes to bring her blood sugars up is a little bit, but it's still a break in her sleep. And then I play the waiting game. I'm waiting right now. Fifteen minutes seems like a long time when you're waiting to retest your toddler's blood sugar. And if it hasn't come up enough, there's more juice, more waiting, and another finger-poke to do. It's all followed by a very restless night for us both. Her sleep has been disturbed. My sleep will be disturbed. I'll spend the night waking up, off and on, imagining every creak of the floor, every sigh, every little noise is her, questioning if she's low again or if her little body has kicked in and used her stored resources to send her blood sugar soaring among the stars. Oh, the life of a mom with a diabetic child! It's one of constant worries, constant second-guessing, questioning if you're doing a good enough job, and trying to repress that little part of you that wants to panic and think about all the scary possibilities life with diabetes has in store for your child and you.

The wait time is over. Off to poke another tiny little finger and hope for the best!