Feels like we are sitting ducks...

Well, as you may have read in a previous post (How much is too much?), The Princess worries me. I feel like we are sitting ducks waiting for Diabetes to hit her at any moment.

If you read this post, you know we had some blood work done. All of her blood work came back fine. Her A1C at the time was 5.6 (average BG around 110), nothing alarming, but, this is what I read...

A1c level of 5.6 - 5.9%: The individual level of mean blood glucose has exceeded the normal upper limit of the assay range, indicating an abnormality in the expected normal human range. While this level is not recognized by the ADA as diagnostic of diabetes, it does signal a level that may be indicative of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and/or pre-diabetes. Anyone with an A1c in this range should seek medical attention to determine the cause of the elevation in mean blood glucose.

Now, with her age, I think an average of 110 is probably OK, BUT she has many signs of Diabetes looming. And they are not going away or getting better!

She drinks A TON of water (or whatever drink is around).

She takes a cup of water to bed with her EVERY night, and throws an absolute fit if you take it away from her.

She wakes up with a FULL diaper, and then pees on the potty a ton too.

She will DOWN a drink like it is going out of style! (Example: The Superhero had a LOW blood sugar at the mall a few weeks ago and refused to drink the juice I had opened. The Princess saw it on the table and sucked the whole thing down in seconds.)

She is CRANKY. She cries off and on a lot, and it is getting increasingly more so. She even cries when dropped off at church, or any time away from me. Which could be her age, or at least partly. They did tell me today at church that it took them a while to get her calmed down today.


THEN, last night, the kids and I were having another picnic on the floor and The Princess wanted her Sprite (we had McDonald's, I know, healthy.) She sat there and SUCKED IT DOWN in matter of a few minutes. It seemed a little odd to me. I waited a few minutes and then checked her blood sugar, just out of curiosity.

First reading was 169. Hmmmm...re-check (thinking there MUST have been sugar on the finger or something). Recheck was 171!

So now, I am MORE worried than before. Her BG did come down to 88 by the next time I checked her about 1 1/2 hours later. But, I still cannot help but worry.

She had her MMR last month, and now I am a worried, nervous wreck that D is looming like a ticking time bomb that will go off at any moment. I am constantly thinking that the next virus she gets will be "the one" that sends us down another diagnosis path.

I know if it happens, we will deal with it. But, I would much rather NOT deal with it. And I know logically we WILL NOT miss the diagnosis, but the irrational part of me feels like I would.


This morning The Superhero told me he wants The Princess to have Diabetes, so she can be like him. It was so sweet. I think that would be the only good thing about her being diagnosed.


Please keep her in your prayers. I would like to pray that she not get diagnosed, but if she does get diagnosed someday, I pray that God gives me(and the Daddy) the strength to make it through the challenges that lie ahead.

My Sweet Princess

Just being her sweet, snuggly self today. :)

A Diabetes Celebration

We have had such a GREAT weekend CELEBRATING our 2 year Diaversary!

Here are pictures showing what we did...


Saturday: Picnic on our living room floor, starting out with a BG check

Pretending to go to sleep together in The Superhero's bed...

Sunday: "Dinner" with Mommy and Daddy, and seeing Toy Story 3

Yes, ice cream for dinner. BG was 74 and dropping, so it was ok. :-)

A stop at the bookstore to kill time before our movie

Quick Dexie check

Enjoying some popcorn

Happy Boy

Unfortunately, we let The Superhero eat WAY too much popcorn and he is WAY high tonight. Just did another finger check (Dexie does not work when BG is over 400), BG is over 500 now. We did a shot. He screamed. Hopefully it will work and he will be back down soon.

In spite of that, we had a great weekend and really enjoyed the movie.

2 Years Ago Today (7/10/08)

Sometimes it feels like just yesterday when we made the decision to take The Superhero into the ER instead of the doctors office.

He had been SICK for days and no one could figure out what was wrong with him. Even the ER docs tested for other things before actually checking his BG.

Once they did, there was no turning back.

Our lives were flipped upside down in a whirlwind that would be our stay in the PICU and Peds room over the next several days. Our diabetes education consisted of about an hour each day with an educator. Then we were sent home to manage this beast on our own.

We became carb counting, insulin calculating, finger checking, shot giving, sugar forcing parents to our then 18 1/2 month old toddler.

We have gone through the many steps of having a child with a chronic, life threatening illness. Emotionally, this last two years has definitely been a roller coaster. We have had lots of good days and plenty of bad days.

This disease has brought LOTS of mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion. BUT it has also given us MANY, MANY, MANY close friends we would have NEVER met without this disease being in our lives. The people we have met virtually, have become instant friends.

We have ONE, HUGE common bond, the fact that we are keeping our children alive 24/7. And, we do this together. And those of us that live near each other, love to party together too!

Diabetes has brought a few trips to the hospital (October 2009 and February 2010), LOTS of finger pokes, and LOW blood sugar days.

We also have celebrations with our new found friends. We exchange cards at Christmas, have a secret Santa exchange and share HUGS for Hug a Diabetic Day.

So, even though I did not plan to go to Holland, I am enjoying the company while we are here.

Lots of love on our 2 year Diaversary to all of my AWESOME D Mama (and Dad) friends!


***Side Note: Here is The Superhero's Diagnosis story and the post from our 1 year Diaversary***

It is official!

The Superhero will offically be going to PRE-SCHOOL in 1 month! We got the letter in the mail yesterday that states he was accepted.

I am/was still in denial a little. Then my mom pointed out that August 16th is only 1 MONTH away.

I keep reminding myself that it is ONLY 4 days per week. It is ONLY 3 hours per day.


I can do this.

I can do this.

I CAN do this.

Finally!

It has taken 5 weeks of swim classes, but The Superhero is FINALLY getting comfortable around water!

He has always been a little skittish when it comes to the pool. So it was no surprise when we first started going to the pool this year, he seemed very nervous around water. After the first time I took the kids to the pool and I saw how scared he was (and what a fish The Princess was) I knew swim lessons were in order.

Last summer we enrolled him in the city lessons. He went 4x per week and mostly just played in the water. I don't think he learned anything. But, we did it because it was cheap! Well, with his reaction this year to the water and The Princess having NO FEAR, I decided it was time for real lessons. (don't get me wrong, I think the city lessons might work well for older kids, but my kids need the structured lessons this year).

So, after that first day in the pool, I went up to the local Hubbard Family Swim School and enrolled both kids. They would start that Saturday morning at 8am. (I know, what was I thinking, that is EARLY!)

Now that we are 5 weeks in, The Princess can jump in, turn around, and swim to the wall. Almost completely on her own! And she is only 20 months old! She amazes me constantly with her swimming abilities.

In the beginning, it took A LOT of convincing to get The Superhero to put his face and head in the water. After a few weeks, I was able to force him under one time and then he kept wanting to do it.

Now, he does it on his own! He is even JUMPING in the pool! He used to "jump" in to one of us and he always made sure we would NOT put his head under water. Well, last weekend, this changed! He was actually JUMPING in the pool! I am SO impressed and SO proud of The Superhero! Our classes are definitely paying off!


Check out these pictures...(Thanks Kate!)

Is this even the same kid from a month ago?

1000 Pictures?

A friend of mine posted on FB today that she had taken over 1000 pictures of her daughter since her 1st birthday just 2 months ago!

I am feeling like such a slacker! When The Superhero was born I took pictures ALL THE TIME. This continued for a while after The Princess was born.

Now that they are both a little older, I seem to only take pictures when we are at special events. I am not sure if it is Diabetes, the second child craziness, working full time, etc. that is causing my lack of pictures.

All I know is, I am SLACKING.

So, from today forward, I would like to take at least a couple pictures of the kids every day. I know I will want those moments captured in time to remember, even if it is just messy hair, jammie, jelly faced, kind of a day!

And I look forward to sharing more pictures with all of you too!