Diabetic Parents

The last two mornings when I've checked my BS before breakfast, it has been pretty  low (2.5 and 2.3) and I didn't feel it.  I corrected and went on with my day.  I have a 3 year old and an 11 month old.  This morning I had a terrifying experience.  I didn't get out of bed until 11:00 am.  When I finally woke up, I didn't know what day it was.  I usually get up at 6:30 am to shower and get dressed before the girls get up.  Not today.  Somehow I got my tester out of my gym bag and tested my sugar.  It was 2.5.  I got the baby out of her crib, put my 3 year old on the potty...then tried to call my husband at work.  Thankfully his number is stored in the phone, b/c I couldn't punch it in...I tried 3 times.  He knows that something isn't right as soon as I said Hi.  He asked where the kids were and if they were ok...I said yes, but I wasn't ok.  He waited until I checked my sugar, told me to have some juice and said he'd leave work to come home.  He works about 30 minutes away from home.  I got the baby dressed and then went downstairs....at that point I realized that nobody has had breakfast!!!  So I feed both kids and my husband came home.  He asked my oldest daughter what she did while Mommy slept in and she said that she tried to wake me up but I didn't hear her crying.  I had to excuse myself and went upstairs and cried.  I can't believe that I did that!  I feel horrible!!  I honestly don't know what happened.  I remember looking at the clock sometime around 10...but that's it.  I feel like the worst mother in the world.  I hate diabetes, but what I hate even more is that I'm not better at controlling it.  Hubby and I talked, he was really great.  I agreed that I would check my sugars more throughout the day and every night before bed.  Every single night.  Also...if I'm still getting lows in the morning, then I'll set my alarm and check at 2 or 3 am also.   But I still feel like a bad mother.  

Okay, so I admit that I'm a massive worry-wart. I mean, above and beyond, seriously. So this is what's on my mind today:

Eventually, Dotty is going to grow up, and finish school, and (hopefully) go to college. And her father's (or my) medical insurance will cover her as long as she's a student. More or less. But what happens when she leaves school? How the heck does she ever get insurance, when most insurance companies disallow coverage of pre-existing conditions? I know the current HIPAA laws require coverage when insurance changes as long as you can prove you were covered for at least 12 months prior, with a break of not more than 2 months -- but what if it takes her more than 2 months to find a job?

Okay, I know. Dotty hasn't even started kindergarten yet; it's going to be a good 15 years or more before this is even remotely an issue for us -- and so many things could change in the next 15 years that any answer I receive now is probably going to be entirely meaningless by the time it rolls around... But what did y'all do about this kind of thing? Were you ever uninsured, and if so, how did you get insured again? Or did you? I can't quite imagine trying to keep up with the costs of diabetes without insurance, but the system is kind of set up to screw you over if you're not a good bet. Someone reassure me, please!

I'm not sure what everyone's ages are in this community, but I'm going to be 31 in 3 months and growing up I loved hair metal...stuff like Bon Jovi (OK...still a huge Jovi fan..lol), Warrent, Motley Crue, Warrent, Skid Row and yes...Poison.  So last night when hubby started watching Rock of Love (I htink that's the name) I didn't really have any complaints...I thought it might be fun.  How wrong was I??  Bret Micheals (the lead singer for Poison) is looking for love.  It's a Bachelor type show in that there are 15 ladies (and I use that term loosely) who are competing for him.  Honest to god, that show just took the Women's movement back like forty years.  I won't tell you all the sordid details but at one point the girls were feeling each other's boobs to see who's boob job felt the most realistic.  Ridiculous.  Anyways, at one point, Bret thinks that he's made a great "connection" with Rodeo (I swear that's her name).  They start talking about their kids and then she tells him that she had a diving accident that broke both her feet and left her paralyzed for a bit and she had cancer but has been in remission for a while.  Good old Bret then pipes up saying that he totally knows how she feels, he has Type 1 Diabetes and has to give himself 4 shots a day...he's learned to live each day to it's fullest and not to take anything for granted.  I think I puked a little bit in my mouth.  I totally agree that Diabetes isn't fun, it's a pain in the ass and at times I would give anything to not have it...but I don't think it compares to cancer.  And Bret has been living his life to the fullest because of it??  Give me a break.  

I had to change the channel right after that.  I told hubby that I can't watch it anymore...I will never get that time back!!

Hi Ladies,

Hope everyone is doing well.  I'm recovering from a very long weekend.  My husband had a vasectomy a week ago today.  And although, I understand that it wasn't fun and very painful....I have to say that I'm not all that sympathetic, as I did have 2 children...lol.  Anyways, I've been doing my best to lighten the load for him....which means taking care of the house and the kids so he doesn't have to.  Well, Saturday was the worst.  I took both kids out all morning so he could relax.  He still wasn't feeling completely back to normal.  Saturday night I made dinner and cleaned up.  I asked him if he would mind if I went out for an hour...I just needed some time for me.  I mean, I couldn't even go to the washroom without a kid with me...lol.  He said that he wished he got some time to himself...what??  Did I miss something?  I'm pretty sure he got all morning!  Anyways, he then fell asleep (I think it was the Tylenol 3's) and I was left with the kids again...alone.  I was almost in tears when I went to bed.  I have to say that he tried to make up for it on Sunday, but taking the girls out...which was great.  But I was still a bit upset at what he had said.  Needless to say, I didn't really check my sugars much on Saturday...but they were ok on Sunday.  That was a nice bonus!

So, introduction... Let's start with my qual: My four-year-old daughter was just diagnosed with type 1 diabetes a week ago.

Me, I'm currently a big bundle of stress. My second child was born only a couple of days before Christmas, and before the New Year arrived, my grandmother was in the hospital with congestive heart failure. She finally recovered, and then Dotty turned up with what we thought was the flu the same week my mother-in-law was coming to meet the baby... and suddenly we were headed to the ER and then to the ICU of a children's hospital an hour away.

I'm trying to focus on the... I can't quite call them "positive"s, but I'll let them be silver linings. I'm glad she's young enough that, by the time she reaches her next birthday, she'll probably have already forgotten that there was a time she *didn't* have to follow every meal or snack with a shot. It's nice that her brother was young enough that he wasn't unduly disturbed by the sudden upheaval in our lives and schedules. It's also convenient that the middle-of-the-night glucose check times coincide more or less with the baby's usual feeding schedule, so we're up anyway. I can hope that the constant and intense focus on the numbers affecting her life will give her a leg up on math, when she gets to school.

I'm still mostly suppressing my feelings about things, because my sorrow and rage will not help her. She's only four; what she needs to see is not that I'm distraught on her behalf, but that everything is *normal*. But sometimes it spills over -- see the aforementioned list of stresses -- and I need an outlet. I'm hoping this will be one. Because, really, what *is* an appropriate outlet for the feelings you have to try to hide when your child, who isn't even in kindergarten yet, gets all excited about getting to wear her brand-new bracelet (you know, the one with the pink beads and the MedAlert tag) and you can see it's actually just a hair too big for her, even though it was the smallest size available?

Abby...our 7 month old is sick.  It's a cold, but seems worse.  She's all congested and you can hear her wheezing when she's breathing.  And...she's miserable.  Yesterday was a long day.  I woke up this morning and thought things were fine...I get both kids up and dressed and get downstairs to make them breakfast and all of a sudden I'm tired...think exhausted.  This tiny voice in my head tells me that I should probably check my sugars...I do...it's at 3.0.  Great...chug some OJ and start to feel a bit better.  You know it's going to be a great week when this is the start of it... 

Hi-

Just found out I'm pregnant, I'm 25 and Type 1.. everything I read is pretty scary about the complications, I am on an insulin pump, so my blood sugar is undercontrol, however I don't have insurance, since no one will accept me.. so I got on Medicaid, and have my first appointment next Friday.

I'm beat.  We move on Friday.  We're redoing all the floors in the new place...since I'm off on mat leave I've gotten the job of making sure everything related to the move goes smoothly.  Yeah right!  This week I'm packing up all the essential stuff (dry food, bathroom stuff etc.) while trying to keep a 3 year old entertained (the baby's easier to entertain..lol).  And it feels like my 3 yr old is really 13.  The things that come out of that kid's mouth...honestly!!  Yesterday, I started feeling crappy around 10 am....turns out I forgot to give myself insulin after breakfast...nice.  I started working out and eating better around the middle of October.  As of Christmas, I had lost 11 lbs...but b/c of all that's going on...I've only been to the gym once this year..lol...Lord help me...I want to sleep for a week straight!! 

So I have to admit that I'm not the greatest diabetic...lol.  I honestly test my sugar maybe once a day...always at breakfast.  And for the past week...I haven't even been doing that.  I pretty much eat the same things every day for breakfast and lunch and if I feel normal then I assume that my sugars are fine.  I know...that's bad!!  And....another confession....since I've had my second daughter, I've become horrible at changing the sites for my insulin pump.  I used to do it every 3rd day...no more....I try....but then I forget....or I'm trying to catch a 2 minute shower and get dressed while the baby is crying and Christina is hovering around my room telling me she's hungry and can she watch Dora while eating?  It's a mad house around here in the morning.

So that's my confession for the day.  I feel better already  :) 

So we have some new members...that's great!!  Anyone feel like introducing themselves????  No pressure....lol