How can I help?

Every so often I get emails from extended family members of newly diagnosed kids. Sisters, uncles, grandparents, and sometimes even friends. Their stories are all different, but in every email I get the same question; how do I help the parents? What can I do?

When Elise was diagnosed, we didn't have any help.  It was awful.  People who we thought were friends and our support system were nowhere to be found.  Over 5 years later it still hurts and I fight major feelings of bitterness towards these people.

So to the ones who care enough to ask, here is my two cents on what you can do to help your friends or family maintain their sanity.

Go See Them
Our 5 days in the hospital were pure misery.  They had Elise in one of the metal cages, er cribs, which she hated, so she spent a lot of time sleeping on us on the sofa.  The room was tiny and the only time the playroom was open seemed to be when Elise was napping.  We ended up eating the food we ordered off the hospital menu for Elise (all they had was grown-up food, with a few selections of baby food).  We were overwhelmed, tired, hungry, sad, and lonely.  Seriously... if they are still in the hospital, go see them.  And for the love of all that is holy, BRING FOOD!

Educate Yourself
This is a good place to start.  This link also has some great info.
Fred and I had to attend classes at the hospital a few weeks after Elise was released.  Unfortunately, we had to attend separately so one of us could be home to look after Elise.  As I sat there alone, I kept thinking how great it would be if someone had come with me.

If you're crazy enough, learn to count carbs... I had a friend whose friend's daughter was diagnosed.  She wanted to bring dinner to her friend, complete with carb counts, to make it as easy as possible.  I helped her out and thought how amazing it was that she wanted to help in that way.

Tell Them 
You know what the most UNhelpful thing you can say to someone going through a crisis?  "Let me know what I can do to help".  I bet you're wondering what is so awful about that, and I'll tell you; it puts the burden on them and takes it off of you.  

Chances are, your friends/family are so overwhelmed, scared, and tired, they don't know what they need.  The best thing for you to do is tell them how you are going to help; bring a meal, offer to tidy house for when they get home from the hospital, do some laundry, walk their dog, make grocery store runs. Don't ask; tell. 

One of the best things a friend did for us when Lucas came over a month early, was to tell me that she was going to stay with me at the hospital.  My Mom couldn't get here for a few days, and Fred needed to be home with Elise; leaving me all alone at the hospital, recuperating from a c-section and with a newborn in the NICU.  I was so scared and overwhelmed, if someone had asked me what they could do, I wouldn't have known how to answer that question. She was a life saver and I am so thankful for her.

Don't Forget
After the initial crisis is over, a lot of times people move on and forget that anything happened.  Your life may have moved on, but for the months (and even up to a year) following diagnosis, your friend/family may be struggling.  Check in on them from time to time to make sure they're doing okay.

Don't Ask Stupid Questions/Say Stupid Things
They don't need to know about your aunt who lost her leg because of diabetes, or a friend who went blind. See this video for further clarification. 

Listen
You may not 100% understand what they are going through, but your friend/family need someone to talk to; especially if they're not part of the DOC (Diabetes Online Community)  or some other support group.  Be there to lend a sympathetic ear.  Even better, encourage them to find a support group.  There's nothing better than being around people who "get it".

Of course this list isn't exhaustive and may not be pertinent to every situation, but the fact that you're here, reading this blog post tells me you're already a good egg. 

On behalf of every parent of a T1, thank you.

The dilemma

I cannot believe it, but the time has come to start pondering kindergarten for Elise.  How did this happen? Wasn't it just yesterday that she made her grand entrance into this world? Shouldn't she still be babbling and cooing, all snuggled in my arms?

Isn't she due for a diaper change right about now?

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

Okay... Focus.

So. Kindergarten. And the dilemma. Once again I need your advice.

We are zoned for what I will call "school A". This school is about a 10 minute drive from our house. The kids in our neighbourhood take a bus (this will not be an option for Elise since there is no way I will put her on the bus at such a young age) to get there. In years past, it didn't have the best reputation, but they now have a new principal and things are turning around. My neighbour who sends her kids there says it is wonderful. A former neighbour who teaches there says the same.

"School B" is about 2 minute drive from our house. Although Elise couldn't walk there because she would need to cross two very busy streets, it is a lot quicker to get to AND right across the street from the preschool Mattias attends. It has an excellent reputation, and is an "exceptional" school (I think that's what the ranking is called). There is also a ton of parental involvement.

I was told I could petition for Elise to be sent to the closer school for medical reasons, and I so I was thinking of talking to the principals/nurses/kindergarten teachers at each school to see who I get a better vibe from.

 And this is where I ask you to help me with my dilemma.  What should I ask? What is important to know? What would ask if you were me?

I really want Elise to be in a school that will care as much about her as her preschool has (although I'm pretty sure that's impossible, her preschool rocks!). Right now I'm not leaning either way and I'm waiting to talk to each school before I form an opinion.

So if you have any pearls of wisdom, send them my way!  Please help me DOC... You're my only hope.

***At this point, if I had mad photo shopping skills, I'd include a picture of my head on Princess Leia's body.  But since I lack the talent and time, do me a favour and picture it in your head, m'kay?***

Pod change highs

Well, it's been almost two months since we started pumping, and things have been much better after a very rocky start.

(That is until, as you all predicted, those lows that we were having turned into heinous highs when the full-extent of Elise's illness showed it's ugly face and that coupled with the craziness of Christmas her numbers have been so coo-coo bananas that I don't even know where to start to fix them).

Holy run-on sentence, Batman.

Anyway, the one issue that is vexing me every three days is those pesky post-pod-change highs. Elise skyrockets into the 300s and doesn't come down for a looooong time; sometimes it can take up to 8 hours.

I don't think it's due to stress. Elise is pretty cool when it comes to changing the pod. I hand her the PDM and she presses the button like it's no big deal.

We also usually do it right before a meal, so I can give her a big-ass bolus. Take today for example:

She was 108 pre-change. We had an issue, and had to discard two pods, so the change took a bit longer than usual, but she was only "disconnected" for 10 minutes.

I bolused her for her dinner, plus another .5 of a unit for good measure. That's a lot of insulin for Elise... a dose like that should drop her by about 125.

She ate, and two hours later was at 340. I corrected and 2 hours after that she was at 359. BLERGH!

I'm hesitant to give her too much insulin because we're without the dex, and I find I am so much more cautious when I don't have a continuous flow of numbers to help guide me. I'm also less aggressive with corrections.

Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong? Should I bolus her more? Do a change when it's NOT a meal time? Do a temp basal after I change? Does anyone have any tips that have helped them with this? And is this just a pod issue, or do kids who wear Animas or Medtronic also go through this with site changes?

Help me DOC, you're my only hope!

(yeah... I'm a nerd. So?)

Ouch

I'm sending out the bat signal once again to the DOC. I'm at a loss with what to do with the dexcom. The sensor is causing terrible rashes on Elise's arms and legs. She is so itchy while she's wearing the sensor, and the rash remains as long as almost two weeks after we remove it.

We're pretty much at the end of the road with where we can put it. She has a rash on every site we use. I've asked her about using her bum, but she's not so enthusiastic about it. I know I could push the issue, but from what I've read, most of you don't have a lot of luck with bum sites.

Here's a picture of her leg... I think the sensor was removed about 12 days ago.


I tried giving her a break, but it lasted 1/2 a day... her numbers are just so weird right now (plus I was too scared to go without it at night while Fred was away). But we really need her to be able to wear it when she goes back to school in about a week.

I just don't feel comfortable sending my 3 year old to school without the dexcom. In fact, we will have to pull her out if she's unable to wear it. This will absolutely break her heart, she's been asking when school starts almost everyday for a month.

Plus, will this be a problem when we start her on a pump? Will we have rashes and itchiness in two areas? Again, we absolutely will not put her on a pump if the same thing happens. She is so miserable and I don't know how to help her.

Surely Elise is not the only one out there with sensitive skin... I'm not sure why this is a problem all of a sudden. She's worn the dexcom for over a year now. Could it be the hot weather? Anyone out the have any advice???

Crash and burn

It seems to me that I may have asked this question before. But I don't remember and am much to lazy to search for it, so here it goes:

Lately we have to give Elise her rapid-acting insulin at least 20 minutes (and sometimes 30) after she STARTS eating her dinner, or she will CRASH. For example:

Yesterday her BG before dinner was low 100s. She ate (and finished her dinner - 40g), and I gave her her shot 25 minutes after she started. One hour later she was 45.

Two days ago she was low 300s (not sure why) before dinner, so I gave her her shot at the same time that she ate. She had 35g, and about 45 minutes later was 151 with double arrows down on the CGM. I rode it out and she ended up steady in the low 100s.

She gets between 35-40g of carbs at dinner. It used to be 30g, but we usually have to give her between 5-10g when she crashes, so we just added it to the meal time. Anything over 40g, she goes high after she crashes.

It's like her body absorbs the food soooooo slowly at dinner. This is the only meal it happens at. Breakfast I can bolus her up to 30 minutes prior to eating with no problem.

She only gets 1 unit of humalog at dinner. I don't want to give less because it is so imprecise to measure up 1/2 a unit. And I don't want to go back to diluted either.

So, any ideas? Anybody have this happen to them? I know I could work around it on a pump, but with everything going on in our life right now, we have put the pump decision on the back burner.

Edited to add: This has been going on for about three weeks. We dealt with it about 3 months ago, but it went away in it's own. Unfortunately, it's back and doesn't seem to be going anywhere.

Edited further to add: So tonight she was 191 going into dinner. I gave her her insulin right as she started eating. Via the dex, her BG went down to about 150, but always with a flat arrow (her BG would lower by a few points each update). Weird. We never saw a crash, but we never saw a spike... just a flat line for almost 2 hours post-dinner. Maybe she's starting to come out of whatever this is. Glad to know we're not the only ones.

Sending out the bat signal to the DOC

I need help. And while that's true on so many levels, right now I'm referring to help on the diabetes front. For the last week, Elise has been CRASHING after dinner, only to soar to record BG highs three hours later. I'll explain:

For her dinner, she usually gets 2 units of humalog, and 35g of carbs. The carb amount has been slowly creeping up over the last few weeks to 45g (I'd rather give her more carbs than try to measure out 1/2 units). We give her the insulin about 5 minutes before she eats at dinnertime, and her BG going into dinner ranges from 80 - 170.

About 1 hour after dinner, we start to see arrows down on the CGM. Sometimes there's a small spike, but a lot of times (like tonight) she stays even through dinner until she starts to fall. But when she starts, she falls fast. Like 100 points in less than 30 minutes.

A lot of times, we don't catch the crash until she's in the 60s (tonight we caught it at 80). We give her carbs (10-15g), then 3 hours later she's in the low to mid 300s and stays there most of the night. A few nights ago we had to correct her in the middle of the night (we've probably only done that 3 or 4 times since her dx), and last night we gave her the correction up front (because she was in the 300s) with her bedtime dose of NPH. And she STILL only came down to the mid 200s and cruised there throughout the night.

So tonight we lowered her dinnertime insulin to 1.5 and she still crashed. We gave only 7g of banana to bring her up. Right now she's out with Fred visiting a neighbour in the hospital, so I have no clue what her BG is, but she was holding steady at 103 when she left.

So what the what is going on here? The food she's eating isn't out of the ordinary. Tonight it was tortellini soup with some bread and yogurt for dessert. Last night it was sandwiches, grapes, yogurt for dessert and chocolate milk. It's almost like there's a delay in her food absorbing.

Everything else is normal as can be. I am just scratching my head over this one and would love any insight that anyone has to offer.

Edited to add: thanks everyone for the comments. If it were a food absorption issue, wouldn't it happen at every meal? Why just dinner? The food she's eating is the same as she always eats. And we haven't contacted our endo or CDE because; A) today is not the day to fax in logs, B) they won't talk to you without looking at your log, C) the CDEs are useless and I haven't talked to one in over a year and a half and, D) you have to go through a CDE first to get to the endo. Yeah, the system sucks.

Last night she was in the mid-300s all night and woke up at 242. Gotta figure this out.

Quick Question

After two years I am finally getting off my butt and ordering Elise an ID bracelet. Yeah, I know... just add it to my "Bad Mom" list!!!

My question is, what did you have engraved on your child's bracelet? Obviously it should say Type 1 Diabetic (or should it be Type 1 Diabetes?). But do you put their name? Phone number? The fact that she's insulin dependant (and the types on insulin?) Am I missing anything?

Please and thank you for your help!

Diabetes and Discipline

It's hard being a first-time parent, even though it's something we (meaning those of us that make the plunge into parenting) must go through. Basically, you have to learn everything on the fly. Sure you have your ideas of how you want to parent, but when you add one little, but very distinct personality to the mix, those plans can go right out the window.

Now, add diabetes on top of it all, and it can be downright impossible. I'm talking about having to discipline your kids.

This may come as a surprise to you, but Elise is not the amazingly sweet, wonderful angel I make her out to be. Oh no, she has way too much of her Momma in her for that. And lately we have noticed that along with a couple of inches, Elise has grown a wee bit of an attitude to match.

People have told us all about the terrible threes, and I'm sure this is what we're dealing with when we hear her yell "no!" at us, or she doesn't listen, or the tantrums, the not sharing, the refusing to do what she's told... man, did my two year old skip a bunch of years and turn into a teenager when I wasn't looking? Should I hide my car keys and lock up the liquor?

The problem, as all you D-parents can attest to, is sometimes it's hard to tell if it's a "typical-toddler" issue, or a "diabetes" issue. Is her bad behavior because of a low or high BG? And how am I supposed to discipline her when I have to test her BG to rule it out? By the time I've done that, we've lost our "teachable moment".

For any other child, discipline would look like this:
-Child acts out.
-Discipline child (for us, the first step is a time out, after a warning of course).
-Explain to child why what they did was wrong, why they were punished, and how they can make a better choice next time.
-Hug it out and go on your merry way.

With Elise, it's more like this:
-Elise acts out
-I wonder if she's just misbehaving, or if it's D-related
-I run around the house, looking for her meter
-Elise continues to misbehave
-I try to get her to wash her hands... she tells me no
-I lose patience and use an alcohol pad
-I tell Elise I need to check her BG
-Elise yells no and runs away
-I finally get her to listen and check her BG... normal
-Now why the hell was I checking her in the first place???

Okay, that may be a little exaggerated, but you get the idea.

Another thing I hate is how Elise has learned to use her diabetes as a stalling tactic, or when she's looking for attention. This usually comes into play at bedtime, when she'll tell us her tummy hurts, or that she's hungry (for her, these are signs of a low). She fully understands that this means we'll need to check her BG, and she'll possibly get a snack. With the introduction of Eileen, we can now show her that she's okay... but it doesn't stop her from trying.

I've tried to explain to her that she shouldn't say these things if they're not true (I've even read The Little Boy who Cried Wolf... she didn't get the parallel), but of course I'm not going to punish her for it. The last thing I want is for her to not tell me something because she's afraid of getting in trouble.

All in all, I'd have to say we are pretty lucky... despite having a strong personality, Elise is pretty quick to listen, and we usually don't have to go past the "warning" stage with her. But I am feeling pretty beaten down trying to figure all this out.

So what do YOU do? How do you handle discipline and diabetes? Come on... help a rookie out and tell me your secrets!

I take it all back... we suck.

Calling on all my D-Peeps for some help here. Fred and I are stumped beyond belief at a trend of numbers Elise has been having lately. I blame it on my proclamation that we are "freaking rock stars".

Anyway... for the last three days, when we check Elise for her pre-bedtime snack, she's in the mid-300s. We give her a snack and her bedtime NPH, and usually somewhere between 9:30 and 11:00, she falls low. We give her some carbs and she rebounds into the 300s during the night, waking up in the mid-200s. The timeline looks like this:

5:00 pm - shot + dinner. Usual carb ratio.
7:30 pm - bedtime check. In the 300s.
Between 8:00 - 9:00 pm - bedtime snack (15g) and NPH.
Between 9:30 - 11:00 pm - Elise's BG is in the 70s. We give her carbs.
1:30 am - BG in the 300s.

Is it possible that her fast-acting insulin she gets at dinner (diluted Humalog) is peaking 4 - 5 hours after she gets her shot?

Is it the combination of her DH and NPH making her go low (are we giving the two shots too close together, which is approx 3 1/2 hours apart)?

Is the NPH now peaking earlier than it ever has?

Keep in mind, we are doing EVERYTHING the exact same as we have before. Same schedule, same carb ratios, same snack. I just don't get it. The weirder thing is the numbers are pretty much IDENTICAL for the past three nights (for example, last night at 7:30 she was 331 and tonight at 7:30 she was 331... WEIRD).

As far as I've been told, Humalog starts to work in about 20 minutes, peaks around 2 hours, and is gone by hour 4. NPH (in most people, we've found differently with Elise), starts to work in 1 -3 hours, peaks by hours 4 - 9, and is gone in 14 - 20 hours.

So... anybody have any pearls of wisdom for us? We're going to try giving her a few more carbs for her bedtime snack to see what that does to her BG at around the 10:30 mark. Otherwise we're out of ideas.

I never should have opened my big "rock star" mouth.

"I HUNGY" Part 2

Remember how I said in a previous post that we figured out how to quell Elise's cries of, "I HUNGY"? Well, we didn't . I mean we did for a few weeks. But now they're back. And with a vengeance.

I don't get it. I look at the amount of food she's eating, and it looks like enough. But not 30 minutes after she eats, the cries begin. She's even waking up at 2:00 in the morning and saying she's hungry.

I don't know who to ask for help on this. We have zero relationship with the dietitians at our endo's office, and the few times I have talked to them, we don't really see eye-to-eye. They have a very cookie-cutter way of approaching things. They don't know Elise and they don't know me.

Plus, this might not be diabetes related. I wonder if there could be another issue that's causing the extreme hunger (I know when I was dx hyperthyroid, I was STARVING all the time). Could it be the mother-of-all growth spurts? I even wonder if she's doing it for attention.

We were at a party last night, and after getting her in range after a low BG of 62, we gave her a bedtime snack. Even as she was eating, she was moaning that she was hungry. And after she ate. So we gave her some chicken, and after she was done that, she was STILL asking for food.

It continued during the car ride home, and even as we were putting her to bed. Throughout all of this, her BG was around 145.

Has anybody experienced this with their kiddos? I just don't know what to do for her anymore, and I feel like I'm punishing her by withholding food. Any advice you have is welcome...

Question

Calling all those wily D-veterans I count as friends... I have a question for you.

This morning we checked Elise's BG at around 4:30. It was 109. We were hesitant to give her anything, because all the insulin should have been out of her system by then (her shot of N was at 7:30 the night before, and NPH is generally gone by 9 hours).

So we checked her at 6:30 am, and she was down to 71. At which point we gave her some carbs. My question is; why did her BG falling with no active insulin?

Pancreas, we have a problem

It's official. My brain is fried. I can no longer think, reason, talk, remember my name, walk and chew gum at the same time (although that one was always a little dicey), or figure out the BG numbers.

I am flummoxed, stumped, puzzled, bewildered, confused, befuddled, discombobulated, and just plain at a loss.

And yes, this is yet another post where I bore you with the breakdown of Elise's numbers.

Last (Monday) night:
7:40 pm - 93. She gets her new lowered dose of 3N, and 17g (2 more than usual) of carbs
12:11 am - 74. She gets 8g of carbs
12:47 am - 102
1:16 am (crying) - 138
2:19 am (crying) - 125
3:54 am (crying) - 63. She gets 8g of carbs.
6:45 am - 91. We realized we never re-checked her after her last low. We're not too worried about this number as all her N should be out of her system by now.
7:54 am - 152

Today we had a pretty good day, numbers-wise. Then as then sun sets, Elise's pancreas starts at it again.

Tonight:
5:05 pm (dinner) - 234. High, but we give her a normal dose of 10DH and her usual 30g of carbs. We're eating a Chick-fil-a, so she plays in the play area for about 30 minutes afterwards.
7:42 pm - 196 - Still give her the lowered dose of 3N, and her usual 15g of carbs. We figure she's on the high side, so this should be okay.
9:15 pm (crying) - 44. What the FREAKIN' WHAT? How do you go down by 150 AFTER eating 15g of uncovered snack??? We give her 15g of carbs, plus almost a block of cheese (I may be exaggerating a wee bit). She also drank a sippy cup and a half of water. Ugh, can you say midnight diaper change (and no, I don't mean mine)?
9:32 pm - 69. Going up slowly. Gonna be a looooong night.

One thing I'm wondering is how much is exercise affecting her? I have noticed a pattern on nights where she's more active, she tends to go low.

But we also have these night time lows even when she's not active. Like last night for instance. Another thing I can't help but wonder is how long the DH stays in her body. I know they told us it peaks at about the 2 hour mark, then is pretty much gone by hour 4. But this does not seem to be the case with Elise, especially at night. It seems to peak a bit later and last longer. But how can that be?

Tomorrow we are going to be contacting the endo. Not the CDE, but the actual endo. Fred and I can't take much more of these night time issues. We have been testing her 6 - 8 times through the night almost every night. And it's not leaving much time to sleep. Even lowing her dose isn't having much effect. Last night when we lowered it, she had more lows that night than she did the night before on the higher dose.

If you didn't understand that last sentance, don't worry. Neither did I and I'm the one who typed it.

Bah, this post has already gotten too long and I need to go check Elise.

Flummoxed AND stumped

Although it's better than it was, Fred and I are still up two to three times a night checking Elise. We are seeing some seriously WEIRD numbers.

The one that has us stumped during the day is her post-nap number. She is waking up in the low to mid-300s. We can't tell if we're missing a low while she's asleep, or her morning N needs to be increased. For example, to day she was 184 right before her nap at 1:00pm. It took her awhile to go to sleep, and when she woke up at 3:30, she was 304.

I think the only way we'll be able to figure it out is with a CGM, but I don't know if insurance will cover it or how expensive they are (or even if Elise will tolerate such a thing).

We've also been giving her DH(only 1.5 - 2 units) with her bed time N shot because we're having trouble getting her down after dinner. She's high going into it, and no matter how much DH we give her for her dinner time shot, she ends up at almost the same number three hours later. So tonight she was 315 at dinner, we gave her 14 units of DH (4 units more than she usually gets), and exactly three hours later, she's at 335.

I HATE giving her DH at bed time, because it's so scary for us to let her go to sleep with rapid-acting in her system.

Can anyone offer any insight from their experiences? I know it's hard to tell just by what I've written out here, but I'd welcome any advice. I think an email directly to the endo is in order on Monday if we can't figure it out before then.

Thanksgiving questions

This is our first year to do Thanksgiving with Elise (last year we opted for the uber-traditional Thanksgiving fondue... yummy!), and some friends have invited us over for dinner. I'll be bringing some food, but my friend will be doing the majority of the cooking. Of course I can't ask her to count the carbs for me in each recipe, but I thought some of my D-Sistas who use carb factors might be able to help me out.

I'm looking for an approximate carb factor for the following: gravy, stuffing and/or dressing (and if someone knows the difference, please tell me), pumpkin pie, and apple pie (if you know the carb factor for just the filling, that would be tops).

I know each recipe differs, but if I could figure out a generic carb factor for each, that would give me some place to start. Thanks much and Happy Turkey.

Needing help (once again)

I'm reaching out to my wonderful internet peeps to help answer another question I have; how can you tell when a high BG is the result of a low BG and subsequent dumping of glucose by the liver?

How high of a number would you see? Would it keep going up, or start coming down on its own at some point?

The reason I ask is because Elise's BG was 281 upon waking from her nap this afternoon. She wakes up pretty much every day with a BG of about 120 or lower, and on some days she's below 80. We've had to work with her lunch time carbs because she was waking up from EVERY nap with a low BG. Today she overslept by about 30 minutes, and that number is very, very high for her at that time of day.

The other reason I wonder about this is because her dinner time BG was higher than the BG when she woke up from her nap. If I don't give her a snack (which obviously I didn't today), her BG always goes DOWN at dinner time. I think her BG was 318.

I know I'm trying to make sense of the nonsensical, but I really have a strong feeling I missed a low. And if that's the case, I don't want to let her oversleep again.

As always, thanks for any ideas you have... mwah, you are all wonderful!

I am slowly going crazy...

Man are we having issues with Elise's bed time insulin. She's on NPH, and it seems if we give her 2.5 units, she wakes up in the mid to upper 200s. If we give her 3 units, she wakes up in the 50s and 60s.

Really? Can 1/2 a unit make that big of a difference? Really??? I just don't get it.

When we do her middle of the night check (when we give her 3), she's usually about 190-220 range.

I really want to figure this out.

A question for all you NPH'ers or ex-NPH'ers: When did you give the bed time snack, and the bedtime insulin? Around the same time? A little bit apart? How far apart? Which did you give first?

Okay, that's 5 questions, but I'm trying to figure out if we need to alter her schedule. As of now we give the snack first (15g), and the insulin about 30 minutes later.

Sorry about the disjointedness of this post... I'm really tired, but wanted to put my questions out there in case anyone had some wisdom to share.

Good night... (I hope!)

Leaving on a jet plane

On Thursday Fred and I are taking Elise to Kansas City. The reason for our trip? To see my absolute favourite band in the whole, wide world at the KC Irish Fest. They're called the Hothouse Flowers, and I did a post about them on my other blog here. I love, love, love these guys, and they never come to Texas, so this is my only chance to see them.

I'm a little nervous because not only is this our first flight post-diabetes, it our first flight with Elise, period. I have no idea what to expect. We're flying out on Sept. 3, which is conveniently, the day before her birthday, so we don't have to pay for a seat. Yeah, we're cheap like that.

Anyway, once again, I am coming to my fabulous, brilliant, and savvy internet friends for any tips or advice they have on air travel; either on the toddler-side, or the diabetes-side. I like to be prepared and I want to make sure I haven't forgotten anything.

Our flight out takes off about 30 minutes before she eats dinner, and coming home we'll be leaving right before her lunch.

I have a few new toys that I bought just for this trip. We'll be bringing Fred's laptop so we can watch movies. And I know I need to carry on all her D supplies, but I'm wondering how I should pack them... in a plastic ziploc so they're all together? What will I need to show the TSA people? What should I be bringing that I'm probably forgetting? How early should we get to the airport?

As you can see, I have a lot of questions, so bring on the advice!

What the???

This diabetes stuff has me scratching my head again. It all started last night when Elise got home from her night out with Poppa at the ballgame (I got to eat some fabulous food with some fabulous ladies at our Girls Night Out).

She had her normal snack (15g) at her normal time (8:o0), and 2.5 units of NPH 30 minutes later. Pretty much how we do it every night. Except last night she was up later than usual, so subsequently I nursed her later, but that was the only change. When we checked her before bedtime (10:30), she was at 110. Much too low for a bedtime number, but we let her be, hoping that her BG was on its way up.

One hour later, 100. Two hours after that (at 1:45 am), 70. So, we give her 7g of carbs and 45 minutes later she's at 208. Yay! Back to bed. She wakes up at 7:45 with a BG of 76.

I decided to give her about 5g more of carbs for each meal (I had noticed she was trending lower a few days prior), and we pretty much stayed in the mid to low 100s all day.

Then dinner time came, and she was 155. We gave her the usual 9.5 of DH, an approximately 35g of carbs at dinner. About an hour and a half later, she's acting whiny, so we check her and she's at 87. A pretty low number considering her meal consisted mostly of pasta. We decided to wait and see. When we checked 45 minutes later, she was at 70.

So we gave her 10g of banana (carb grams, not weight grams), and when we check her an hour later, she's still at 70! At this point my husband and I are looking at each other, not quite sure what to do. Since it was snack time, we gave her a 20g snack, her insulin, I nursed her and we put her to bed. At last check (one hour after snack), she was 201.

Is it just me, or are those some crazy numbers? She hasn't been any more active than she usually is, so I'm thinking honeymoon? I just hate seeing those lower numbers at night. It doesn't lead to a very good night's sleep. This is the first time we've experienced anything like this, so I'm a little unsure of how to handle it. I know I have the head knowledge, just not the confidence that I'm doing the right thing. I'm thinking I should start off by lowering her dinnertime DH?

I'd love any advice (or acknowledgement that I'm on the right track), ideas, etc.

You know what I'd really love? A pancreas that was miraculously being healed.

Any party planners out there?

So here I am, asking for advice... again. What can I say, everyone has given me some pretty good advice so far!

Elise's second birthday is coming up and it just so happens that it's also two days away from her dx anniversary. We're going to be out of town on her actual birthday and dx anniversary, but we're trying to plan something for when we get home.

Because we're in Texas (so very, very hot), an outdoor party can be a little dicey (Elise's birthday is September 4th), but our house is just too small to host a bunch of kids and their parents. Plus, I don't need the stress of cleaning a house only to clean it again a few hours later! So we're planning on renting a little gazebo at a neighbourhood park where there is a playground and some dolphin statues that spray water.

Food is obviously going to be a big deal, because I'm not going to have stuff that other kids like, but Elise really shouldn't be eating (and by that I mean because of the insulin/carb regimen she's on, certain things just don't fit into her meal plan). So I'm thinking we should grill hamburgers and hotdogs, have some veggies and a fruit plate.

My main question centers around the birthday cake. Should I order one for Elise to blow the candles out on and serve to the rest of the guests, and then have a special one made just for her to eat? To me, that seems to be the best situation. Elise has never really had sweets like that, and I'm worried that it will be too much for her little body.

What have you guys done for birthday parties for the wee ones? Does anyone have a great birthday cake recipe that is D-friendly, but doesn't contain splenda or any other artificial sweeteners? I'm looking for something that's somewhat healthy and natural. Any other food ideas? Party tips?

Last year we had a small party for her, that consisted of the kids of the couples from our small group. We got the phone call from Elise's pedi in the middle of the party, telling us Elise had diabetes and that we needed to take her to the hospital ASAP.

So this year we're going to do it right, and I'd love any advice you have to give!

Potty Training and Diabetes

Well, those are two things I never thought I'd see grouped together... but I have some questions and I'm reaching out to the "been there, done that, and I've got the souvenir t-shirt to prove it" people who read my blog.

Those of you whose children were diagnosed young enough that they were still in diapers, how did you handle potty training? It seems that everyone I have talked to (with non-D kids) uses the candy/chocolate reward system. I'm not sure if this is advisable with Elise.

On the other hand, what is the big deal of ONE m&m (or something similar) as a reward when she goes on the potty (and that's only if she "produces")? Will that really mess up her numbers?

Or should I try something else? And if so, what else is there?

If I do try chocolate or candy, I won't be using sugar-free. That's a whole other post for a whole other day and I'm not trying to start a sugar-free debate, but my husband and I have decided that (for now), we're not going to give Elise sugar-free products.

Sooooooo, if anyone has some advice, I would love to hear it. She's showing all the signs of being ready, and we bought her a potty and some big girl underwear (how can that be... didn't I just give birth to her yesterday?). I just have no clue as to how to proceed.