He's Brilliant!

Yesterday as we were hanging out in the living room Sesame Street was on. Isabelle was watching it intently as they were singing the ABC's. Alex was sitting in my lap drinking a bottle. Elmo came across the screen singing the ABC's (it was an ABC day) while he was riding his tricyle. Alex jumped off of my lap and went straight to his toy box. He rummaged around for a few minutes pulling toys out and looking at them then throwing them down. He finally found what he was looking for and he turned around with the most proud expression on his face. He had Elmo in his hand...the one that is like a rattle that you shake and it giggles. He was so excited!!!! He walked over to me talking and giggling the whole way and handed it to me. Then he wanted to climb back up in my lap and finish his bottle.

I had no idea that he knew who Elmo was let alone like him. LOL!

Yucky Day

Last night Isabelle went to bed around 8:00 and by a little after 9:00 she was complaining about her tummy hurting and that she was hungry. I went upstairs with the meter and checked her blood sugar...60. It's supposed to be between 80 and 180. Back downstairs to get some juice and a snack. She finished the juice and it still 74. She wouldn't eat the snack that I brought her and she was complaining about her stomach hurting. I went back downstairs for more juice. Finally it was up to 83. Thank God. I stayed with her for a little while and read another story and then she finally fell asleep around 10:30. I set the alarm for 2:00am to get up and check on her blood sugar again. We didn't make it that far.

At around 12:30 I was asleep and Isabelle came into the bedroom complaining that she was wet and that her bed was all wet. Thomas went in to check on the situation and I heard him say something to the effect of "Oh No!" and I was up. She had thrown up all over the bed. And it looked bad because she had pizza for dinner and some of the juice that I had given her when she had the low BS was red. Lovely. Sweet Thomas stripped the bed while I got Izzy into some new jammies and into the bed in the guest room. I checked her blood sugar and it was 85. That wasn't too bad. But, she wasn't done throwing up. Lovely. She finally crashed sometime after 1:00am and I got to sleep a little after 2:00am. I slept with her because I felt like I needed to be close by in case she started throwing up again and so I could check her blood sugar easily if I woke up again. We both luckily slept all night and so did Alex.

So, today didn't start until around 9:00am when it is usually starting between 7:00am and 8:00am. She has kept everything down today, but it has been a total battle to get her to eat anything. She has mostly eaten fruit so I guess that is ok. Her blood sugar has been all over the place today. We have had at least 2 lows and 1 high. It's almost time for her to go to bed. I hope tonight goes better then last night.

I have felt so helpless today. Izzy obviously was not feeling so great today and I don't think that she felt so great yesterday either. Now that I think back about yesterday she told me quite a few times that she didn't feel good. I thought that she was being a drama queen because she was at preschool yesterday and I am sure that everyone was cautious about her diabetes. I guess I should learn to listen to her better. Some of the info that I got from the Endocrinologist says to call whenever they vomit. So I called them first thing this morning. They just said to keep a close eye on her blood sugars, make sure that she doesn't get dehydrated and to call back if she vomits again.

It's just been such a stressful day. Alex hasn't been himself today either. He has been really clingy. He actually sat with me in the chair just playing with a small toy and cuddling with me for at least 30 minutes. He never does that. He is getting some new teeth in and I think that is what is wrong with him. On top of all of that the DSL has been acting up so Thomas called Bell South last night and they were supposed to come today to check things out. I had to be here from 1-5 and they never showed up. The only phone in the house that is working is the phone in the kitchen on the wall so whenever the phone rings today I have had to stop what I was doing and run into the kitchen. Totally annoying especially since it has been quite a day. The phone guy called around 2:30 to tell us that he was on his way and to see if anyone was there. I didn't answer it because I was upstairs and didn't hear it. He never showed up. Really pissed me off. GRRRRRR!!!! Add frustration to an already crazy day. Hopefully Izzy will feel better tomorrow and we can see some friends.

Funny Isabelle

We were hanging out today not doing a whole lot of anything and Isabelle out of the blue says, "Mommy...I have a baby in my tummy. His name is Achy." Then she turned around and went on playing. I laughed until my tummy was achy. LOL! Guess her tummy still isn't back to normal.

So many new things

It seems like for the last three weeks everything has been new. We are all learning about how to deal with diabetes and how it effects Isabelle. And on Wednesday of this week I took Isabelle in to see the Pediatric ophthalmologist and they gave her glasses. So now we are dealing with a 3 year old with diabetes who has to have her blood sugar tested at least 4 times a day; which actually tends to be more like 8 times a day and the subsequent shots who seems to have figured out that when she eats she has to get a shot which has not helped the eating situation. Now we are supposed to get her to wear her glasses so that she can correct her lazy eye. She does not want to wear them. That makes me say to her at least a 100 times a day..."Put your glasses on." "You need to wear your glasses." or something of that sort. So much fun. She did get to pick out her frames and was very excited about them until she put them on. The prescription is really strong...the girl at the eyeglass place was surprised that this was her first pair with this prescription. She is very cute in them though. If only I could get her to wear them, but I am also thinking that this is just one thing too many right now. Today I took the day off from bugging her about her glasses...I told her to put them on once then not again. I think I will let her go for a couple of days and then start again.

Thomas kept the kids today so that I could get out. Friday was bad so I really needed some time to myself. It was nice to sit and have lunch all by myself without having to talk to anyone or do anything for anyone. Everyone needs a break now and then. I do worry though that Thomas doesn't get enough of a break.

I have found quite a few new websites about diabetes and some interesting blogs. It's nice to know that there are other people out there that are dealing with the same things that we are dealing with. I do feel really sad that she has to go through this and that she is going to have to do it for the rest of her life. I am trying to wait patiently for the day that she won't scream and cry about getting her shots. I hope it is soon. It is really hard to take sometimes.

Sorry this post is so blah...I'll think of something cute to write about the next time.

Sweet Alex

My sweet little guy. I know that I am his mother, but he is just the best baby in the entire world!!! He has such a great disposition. He is always happy and laughing and he just hangs in there no matter what we are doing. Today Isabelle had an eye doctor appointment so I left him with my Mom. Alex loves his Meme, but today he seemed to really want Mommy. I don't know what was up with him, but he was just not happy this morning unless I was holding him. Well, I had to pry him away to take Izzy to the doctors and when we got back he was just so happy to see us. He just walks around most of the day and plays all by himself. Later in the day we went to the mall and he was just content to hang out and watch all of the people.

I guess I was just thinking back to what a sweet little baby he was. Now he is getting to be such a big boy. He is trying sooooo hard to talk. He repeats or tries to repeat everything that you say. He doesn't have much time to cuddle now since he is so busy, I actually find myself not minding at all when he wakes up in the middle of the night needing a bottle or some comfort. Tonight when he woke up (why else would I be up this late???) I went up and took him a bottle. He was just so cuddly. When he was done with his bottle he turned over on me and snuggled his little head onto my shoulder. I just LOVE that feeling. When you have a sweet little one laying on you and they are so sweet and trusting and they are sleeping so soundly. I know that there won't be that many more nights like this so I am trying to treasure them.

The antelope

Ya gotta love toddlers. This morning while Isabelle and I were eating breakfast my Mom came downstairs. On her way to the kitchen through the dining room she noticed that there was a centipede on the floor. She told us about it and Isabelle was very excited to see it. Mom then picked it up with a tissue and flushed it down the toilet.

You would think that it was not a big deal at all and that it would be forgotten. Not with a 3 year old around. Isabelle asked me to tell her the story about the antelope. It took me about 15 minutes to figure out that she was talking about the centipede. So I told like a thousand stories about it. Then I got up to get her waffle out of the toaster. When I had my back to her she said "Mommy I am going to be the Antelope." I have to admit that I was only half listening to her as my mind was on how many carbs were in the waffle that I was making her and how many units of insulin I was going to have to give her. When I turned around to put the waffle on the plate I didn't notice that she was no longer in the chair because I could hear her sweet little voice. When I got the waffle cut up into the necessary 16 pieces I finally noticed that she wasn't in her seat. I walked around the island and there she was. She was laying on the floor on her tummy saying "Look Mommy! I'm the Antelope!" It was hilarious. We were in fits of giggles for at least 20 minutes. Good old Isabelle! She always makes me laugh.

Crazy day

What a crazy day! Isabelle, although very sweet, was a pistol today. I forgot my new lesson that when she is crazy and mean that I should take her blood sugar. I didn't do this and found out later that she was low. Not just once but twice! Hmmm...could this be part of her mood swings? I think so. Alex was also needy today so before 9:00 am they had both driven me a little crazy. At least my Mom is still here so that helps a lot.

When she wasn't driving me crazy she was riding around on her stick horses and asking me to be 'Spirit' with her. She is too funny!

Thanks to Jay who sent me the links on the articles about the news in the diabetic world. I sometimes don't have enough time to look for things on the Internet.

Tomorrow I am headed to Isabelle's pre-school to talk to them about what kind of care she will need. I am hoping that she will be able to return on Monday. On Monday I will be able to go with her and stay for the day so that if anyone has any questions I will be there. Wish me luck.

Isabelle's hospital stay

Ok...I'm trying to move into the computer age so I thought I would start a Blog. I have been spurred on by my friend Sheila. She has a blog and I love reading it.

I started to create this blog a little over a week ago and I got kind of sidetracked.

Last Monday, April 2 my sweet little daughter Isabelle got sent to the hospital. She was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Totally threw me for a loop. I took her to the pediatrician because she was peeing all the time and really thirsty. She had what we thought was the stomach flu and I just thought that she was dehydrated. While we were at the peds they did a blood test and the doctor came back in and told me that she had Diabetes and that I had to take her to the emergency room at the children's hospital. He said that we would be there for at least 2 days so that we could learn to take care of Izzy. I called my Mom first thing and told her that I needed her to come over asap. Then I called my hubby and told him to meet us at the hospital. We were crazy. Alex was sick with throwing up and diarrhea so I couldn't ask any of my mommy friends to keep him so we had to take him to the hospital with us. We got to the hospital a little before 5:00 and we were finally put in a room a little after 8:00. Thomas was about to go home with Alex when my Mom showed up. Isabelle was so excited to see her Meme that it really helped her to not be so freaked out.

Thomas and I spent the next 2 days in the hospital with Isabelle taking classes to learn how to manage her diabetes. My Mom took care of Alex and stayed with Isabelle in the hospital while Thomas and I were in class. I don't know what I would have done without my Mom. It helped not having to worry too much about Alex.

Isabelle will have to have insulin shots for the rest of her life unless they find a cure. We have to check her blood sugar via finger prick at least 4 times a day and she gets shots after every meal and at least 1 before bedtime. It is really hard to have to give your child a shot every day. Especially when she is crying and screaming for you not to do it. Isabelle thought that she would not have to have shots any more after she got home. I'm so sorry that it wasn't true.