Eyes in the back of your head...

Moms always know what thier kids are up to. Little bumps in the night are usually a little one sneaking out of bed for a book or another stuffed animal. An eye rub too many means a meltdown is coming if a nap isnt had, and soon. Something about the way B was constantly bugging me for a drink, sometimes 3 glasses of water at bedtime just did not sit right with me. After a while I really began to wonder if something was up.

I asked Nate to check her blood sugar but the only other symptom she had was frequnt urination, and as much as she was drinking that was understandable. So we put it out of our heads.

And then she was EATING us out of house and home, but we thought that was backwards, that it was a lack of appetite, so again, we pushed the notion aside, saying that if she was diabetic, she would be losing weight.

Then her jeans were loose. Jeans that I prviously had trouble buttoning, they had an inch of slack. So I asked my dad to weigh her, thinking she was just getting taller and slimming up some. But she had lost a few pounds... could have been the scale. But it still just didnt sit right with me.

Then the weekend after T was born, she wet the bed, 2 nights in a row. This child has been night trained since she was 2.  THAT really made me wonder, but MAYBE it was her adjusting to the baby, maybe she was just exhausted since her grandparents were here. But it wasnt RIGHT.

Finally, we checked her sugar. Nate and I had been in the ER all night, IL's were with B, and when we got home she was still awake- and asking for a 3rd glass of water after bedtime. MIL said she was inthe bathroom all night. I finally couldnt fight it anymore. As much as I know Nate didint want it to be diabetes, one finger stick wouldnt hurt that bad and we would sleep, assured that she was just fine.

I did not expect it to actually be high. If any part of me did, I thought it would be a number, like 250, not off the charts. It simply read HIGH. I think every jaw in  the room stopped, several hearts as well.


And so it began, Nathan and I, and his parents- who had obviously ben through this themselves- sat and discussed our options.  ER tonight or pediatrician tomorrow? At some point B actually vomited and we rechecked her for a 4th time to see that it was finally low enough for a reading. If you can call 457 low.

The decision was finally made that we would watch her closely overnight, and Nate and IL's would take her to the childrens ER in the morning. I would stay home with the baby and pack us up for the hospital stay and go in once she was in a room.

Let me tell you, txt message updates while your 5 yr old is in the ER are horrible. My grandmother, who I am very close to, kept me sane while I packed up our lives for the next few days.

After several hours, I finally got the call taht she was in a room. In the ER they had officially diagnosd her as Type 1. Her blood sugar had actually dropped some overnight, to about 250, but still too high. She was started on insulin injections right away, and had the first one before I even got there.

The next 3 days were filled with learning to adapt everything we knew about Type 1 in a 33 yr old adult to  a 5 yr old child. Her insulin is different, her diet, thankfully the two of them seem to react similarly to certain foods. OJ sends them both sky high, pasta might as well be protein.

She really is adapting well. Finger sticks are no big deal 98% of the time. She doesnt usually fight about injections anymore, although she will whine a bit. Overall, she is doing splendidly. There are the hard moments, When she cries how much she hates it, and just wants to be normal ( I wish I could explain to her that there is no normal). this is usually at 3 am when we are force feeding her carbs and juice.

But she is strong, and she is resilient, and overall, she is BELLA.