Some nights...

Pod changes really suck. Started off with the pod change and Izzy was at a really nice 135. We changed the pod, bolused to get a little bit of insulin going and went off outside to play.

About and hour or so later we came in to get some dinner. I checked her blood sugar and she was around 230. Not bad for a pod change night. There have been many times that she has ended up in the 400's on pod change night. I was feeling pretty good about the night. Usually Isabelle ends up staying up late on pod change nights because her numbers are so high and it takes soooo long for them to come down. I guess that was my downfall.

The night was moving along and I was about to move the kids upstairs to bath and then bed when Izzy wanted dessert. After negotiations we landed on a pop-tart. These usually suck because they really spike her bloodsugar, but since her numbers were so good...I gave it to her. About 3 bites into the darn thing I gave her the bolus to cover the pop-tart (37 grams of carbs for just one...not one package!!!!) and the pod starts alarming. Dag-um!!!! I wanted to grab the pop-tart and banish it to the garbage can, but I didn't. I quickly got a new pod started and put on, the old pod taken off and re-bolused her for the pop-tart.

After her bath and her story I checked her blood sugar while holding my breath. 208! Holy crap!!! That's great! It was just a little over an hour since her last bolus so not bad at all. Of course within an hour she was calling to me telling me that she was low, she was actually right around 150. Not too bad.

We really are going through a ton of pods lately though. It seems that at almost every pod change something happens and we have to start a second one. Thank God we got her prescription changed to 1 pod every 2 days instead of 1 every 3 days. Hopefully that will give us some wiggle room.

Mommy's Vacation

I got my first vacation from Diabetes this week. My Mom and Dad volunteered to take Isabelle and Alex for a few days. I took them over there on Friday and came back home alone on Sunday. It's so strange how quiet that drive is when you are by yourself.

I got to have dinner with my hubby and we actually made it to the movies. Without the children. It was really nice. I got to relax and do whatever I wanted to do and I got to eat anything I wanted whenever I wanted without worrying about carb counts and weather or not Isabelle would want some if she saw it. I slept in late every morning.

I definitely missed the kids, but I really needed the break. It was the first time that Alex was away from us for any length of time since he has been old enough to understand. He did really great! He didn't even cry for me. I think he was too busy making Pawpaw walk him all the way up Booger Hill. Isabelle also did really well. She said that she missed me and my Mom said that she asked about me a couple of times, but all in all she did really great.

The only thing that really bugs me is that my parents say that her behavior was really great. Even though she had some highs while she was over there. When she is with me, she often has major meltdowns and screaming fits when her blood sugars are out of whack. None of that for Meme and Pawpaw though. Makes me realize that she can control her temper when she wants too. I guess this summer is going to be lots of fun for us.

Pumping it up

Thomas and I finished our classes tonight that we need to do to get Isabelle on the pump. We will order our pump this Friday. We are going to get an Omnipod. Everyone is looking forward to it including Isabelle.

We got a trial pod and tried it on Isabelle. The first one that we put on stayed on for a little over 24 hours. Then something strange happened. I realized that the strange buzzing sound was coming from the pump. After talking to the pump rep we found out that the ones that they give out to use for trials are pumps that have been found defective in some way. And when an omnipod isn't working they buzz like that. It took me about 4 hours after I first noticed the noise to realize that it was the pump. By that time I had the absolute worst headache I have had in years. So we took that one off.

The second pump lasted for the normal 3 days. Isabelle did a really great job with it. She loved wearing it and showing it to everyone. We are very hopeful. Now I am really anxious to see how she does with the insertion. I hope it goes well.

So we will be pumping it up within the next month or so. As it works out Izzy has an Endo appointment on Friday and since I have all of the needed homework already done we are going to go ahead and order our pump on Friday. We are all really excited. Wish us luck.

Inspector Blood

Isabelle loves to make believe. She is always asking Thomas and I to be different characters. Today she came up with a new character. It is called Inspector Blood.

She has drawn pictures and asked me to write what she said so that it is a book. Inspector Blood is the person that checks her blood sugar. Namely Mommy. Isn't that funny?

Brotherly Love

My kids are like every other set of siblings out there. Sometimes they just absolutely love each other and other times they can't stand the sight of one another. We have been having lots of sibling rivalry lately. Mostly consisting of screaming fits because Alex is in Isabelle's way and she can't watch the t.v.. Then there are the fights because Isabelle takes EVERYTHING that Alex ever picks up. One of those ended with Alex biting Isabelle on the arm. I felt bad that I had to punish him for that...Izzy really did have it coming.

After dealing with the fighting on a daily basis it is amazing when something like this happens.

First a little background. Those of you who know us know that we deal with Type 1 Diabetes on a daily basis since Isabelle has it. Alex was just over a year old when Isabelle was diagnosed. I have often felt like sweet little Alex has been put on the back burner the last 10 months while we have been dealing with learning the ins and outs of this disease. He has had a front row seat. He has often been in my lap as I draw up insulin or give Isabelle her injections or check her finger. I never realized how much he has taken in.

Recently as I stated before, there has been quite a bit of sibling rivalry going on around our house. I know that Alex really wants more of Mommy's attention. He is on my lap every chance he gets. I really even think that his recent interest in t.v. is because it is a time that he can sit in my lap and enjoy some time without inturruption. The other day I was sitting at the table writing down something to do with Izzy's diabetes when Alex climbed into my lap and grabbed Izzy's test kit off of the table and said "Check finger Mommy." I of course that it was charming and sweet. Isn't it nice to want to be so much like your sister that you want to have your finger checked too? Then, one evening we were in the living room and I was giving Izzy her insulin shot which was very trying since she was screaming and fighting me about it, Alex was sitting right next to her and when I got done Alex said, "Mommy insulin shot too!" I asked him to repeat what he said. He repeated it. I didn't know what to say. I told him that he didn't need insulin shots.

The next day Alex found the play doctor's kit. What does every kids doctors kit have in it? A shot. He pulled it out and put it to his little leg and said "Owww!!!!! Insulin shot Mommy! Hurt. Owwww!!!!" I almost fell over. I told him that they don't always hurt. He walked around with that shot for a few days.

Last weekend we were all in the car and Izzy's diabetes kit was on the seat next to Alex. I guess he was bored so he stared pulling things out. He grabbed the notebook that I write all of her meals, carbs, and insulin shots in and he was looking at it. I asked him what he was doing and he said, " Figuring out Mommy." That is what I say when I am trying to figure out how much insulin to give Isabelle. I can't freaking believe how smart and how sweet he is. He is so empathetic. I can't believe how much he worries about his sister. He often tells me in the morning that Izzy is crying if she has been up during the night crying.

I hope that Isabelle knows some day what a wonderful brother she has and how much he loves her. I have two brothers and it is hard for me to believe that either of them would want to take an insulin shot for me if I had to have them. I am so blessed to have two such wonderful children. Thank you God for my wonderful family.

Up High Down Low

We went to the beach for the long weekend and we had a really good time. But, it was hard to keep the diabetes in check. Izzy's blood sugars have been on a roller coaster lately. It really started at the end of last week.

Friday on our trip we made a huge mistake and gave her a milkshake. Of course Chick-fil-a didn't have nutrition information available and we didn't plan on making the stop so we didn't get the info off of the website so we just guessed. Boy did we ever guess wrong. She didn't even drink half of it and it took us 2 corrections to get her blood sugar back down into the 100's. It was crazy. I think we only had one good blood sugar day while we were there.

I have talked to the Endocrine and they can not see any pattern so they don't want to change anything yet. Today she was in the 300's and also had two lows. Lovely.

But, I think that she is getting sick. She broke out in a rash on Tuesday and also vomited. I took her to the peds and he said that the rash looks like a viral rash and there is nothing that we can do but let it run it's course. Today she started with a couple of hives so I gave her some Benedryl and then the blood sugar really went nuts. I would really like a month of just dealing with the diabetes so that we can actually get a handle on what her normal levels look like. She has been sick twice already(not counting now) since she was diagnosed 2 months ago. I am going to keep a close eye on her and check in on her in about a half hour so I can see what is going on with her blood sugar. When I put her to bed we did her Lantus and a correction of Humalog because her blood sugar was in the 300's. Hope we didn't overdose her.

Hi's and Low's

Isabelle has been all over the place lately. She has been high a couple of times today and she had a low in the 30's. Totally freaked me out. She has not wanted to eat anything other then grapes and cheese crackers. Maybe that's what's going on. I do wish she would level out. All of these ups and downs scare me.

We have another appointment with the Endocrine on Monday so maybe by then we will have it figured out or they will be able to figure it out then.