Wednesday, October 17, 2012

D-Mama and The Flu

Ok, I remember someone saying that when you have a baby there will be nights where you get no sleep and not realizing that they were being literal.  You may not realize that being a D-Mom is like having an infant at times.

Having a child with Diabetes who has the flu is an insomnia enducing event!  You monitor their blood sugar a little more, you let them snuggle in your bed with you (at least we do) and you wake at every cough or snuffle.

Last night was a long one for us.  I was in the midst of a crazy fever when Ali woke up in the middle of a flu induced nightmare.  Alison snored all night and struggled with her breathing.  But in the end, although she's still really sick, her BGLs have been pretty good.  They've yo-yoed up a bit, but we've been able to bring them back down. 

We expected that Junior Kindergarten would expose us to colds and flus, but we were not ready for 5 illnesses in four weeks :).  Not like this, never like this as they say!

Oh! Well!  We'll nap this afternoon and hope that we all have a better go at sleep tonight! 

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Long Time No Blog

I can't believe that I haven't put a post up in three months.  Wait, that's not true!  Life has been so busy and exhausting, that I usually find myself asleep before my head even hits the pillow!

So what's been going on since we went camping in July?

Alison started school in September.  I have to be honest and tell you that the hubby and I had many reservations about sending her off to JK.  I thought that I was a completely confident D-mom, but the prospect of sending Alison off on the bus to school all day chilled me to my core!



In our parental struggles to decide whether or not to let Ali board the big yellow bus and start her life as a "big girl" I was lucky enough to have and make friends with other D-moms who had been through it before.  Of special note is Amy (Laughing at Diabetes) who's beautiful daughter was dxd right before starting JK.

With the help and support of many we were able to train the staff at Alison's school how to check her BGLs, give her a bolus, treat a low.  We made step-by-step, picture laden documents, we put ourselves on-call, we worried, we fretted, but in the end, we found our way.

So what's the school experience like for Ali?  For the most part its normal.  She has her own little private area in class where she goes for her snacks and lunch and for her testing.  Alison does miss out on eating with the other kids since the lunch hour the school has implemented is different from when we have Alison eat.

She is, like most T1D kids we've met, extremely resilient.  Alison LOVES school.  She has rolled with the punches and made the very best of the situation.  Her teachers have been very attentive and helpful.  After a month, we've all started to adjust to the routine.  If only we could find a way to keep all the colds that come with JK at bay!

Next step?  Maybe getting the courage to have someone babysit so that the hubby and I could have our first date in almost 5 years...but let's just stick to baby steps.