In Progress.......

Finally, after life getting in the way of switching Jada's Lantus dose from morning to night, we got it done this morning. She took 2 units of NPH this morning in place of Lantus at about 8 am with breakfast. I was nervous at first because you have to be on such a strict schedule with NPH, but by midmorning, I wasn't concerned about lows, because she wouldn't come out of the mid-300's!! Obviously, the NPH dosage wasn't enough. After her lunch time shot, she has slowly come down and at 4 pm was 205. She hasn't had numbers like that in such a long time and she obviously didn't feel well. We'll see how her numbers do the rest of the day. We'll give her the Lantus dosage tonight at bedtime and we should have better numbers tomorrow.

I'll let you know.........

Silly Paranoid Rant

So...lately I've been paranoid that Jada has celiac disease. I know it's quite common among Type 1's and maybe I just feel like I'm waiting for the hammer to fall somewhere else. She's never had a screening done and I really think we need to.
Now...I'm not seeing any signs--all of her BM's look "normal" (sorry if I gross anyone out), she doesn't get bad tummy aches but I think what got me to thinking was her rate of growth. And of course, I've compared her to Mary Beth, who is built different and has grown several inches in the past couple of months. Jada has been wearing the same size of clothes FOREVER (4T) and I have kept wondering when the heck she was going to get a growth spurt. About a month ago, I had her try on a pair of 5T jeans and they were way too long. Tonight, I had her try them on again and they fit- perfectly! Finally. I was so relieved.
So...I know this all sounds pathetic and obviously, I can't diagnose her by looking at her poop! I'm just amazed at how my mind can take something and just run with it! All this to say, she has an appointment (finally!) in 2 weeks with our new doctor and I'm going to ask them to do a screening-- just so I know for sure and I can either get it out of my mind or deal with it if I need to.
Okay. I feel much better.

Kind of.

Will it ever end?

Okay...I don't want to sound like I'm whining. I apologize to anyone who is tired of hearing me complain about diabetes and my kids being sick. Here I go again......
Eli ran a fever from Thursday to Monday afternoon. Fever and body aches. Not a big deal...it just lasted FOREVER and had to miss church.....he just wasn't up to getting out and doing stuff. Well, then Monday, David started running a fever. Same thing. Fever and body aches. His temp got up to 103.6 today and he just doesn't feel well.
Swine flu is running rampant in town right now and they have had to shut down the summer school program. So...this could very well be what they've got- just not having any of the respiratory symptoms. If you recall, I thought maybe Jada had the swine flu earlier this summer- fever, respiratory symptoms- the whole nine yards. I was really hoping that she had...so it could be done and over with.
Well, she's running a low grade temperature tonight. ((Sigh)) I noticed she felt warmish before dinner and thought I should check. Sure enough. 100.6. Her numbers were great- 160 and no ketones present. I gave her some ibuprofen ( don't want that fever to spike to high) and now we're just waiting to see what happens. I'm very concerned because David and Eli's fevers have been awful! Eli last Thursday night spiked to 104. It just doesn't take much for her little body to start producing ketones and then the puking starts. And 5 days....can I do this? I don't know.

I hate diabetes.


*UPDATE*

A few minutes ago, she came out of her room saying that she's thirsty. Well- her 160 BG at dinner went to 287 at bedtime and is now at 301. We checked ketones (we only have urine strips) and she is spilling a large amount of ketones into her urine. So....a shot of novolog and she's back to bed. This may be a long night.

Miss Munchy

"Jada- what are you doing?" 

"Nothing"  (refrigerator door closes)

Jada walks out of the kitchen with chocolate milk dripping out the corners of her mouth. 

"Jada- did you drink some chocolate milk?"

Silence

"Well, I was just firsty, Mama" (no- firsty is not a typo- "thirsty")

20 minutes later-  "Mama-   I want a drink of water. I'm REALLY firsty!"

hmm....

"I think we need to check your blood sugar."

beep. !!399!!

Then, we have the talk.  You know, the one about how we ask before eating.  How we need to test  before we eat.  How sometimes, we have to have a free snack like cheese or a peanut butter sucker or a piece of lunch meat.  

I don't know if she's going through a growth spurt, but Jada has had the munchies for the last week!  I have had this conversation with her at least once, if not twice a day for the last week!  I've never had to put things up out of her reach, because she's been pretty good about not eating the things she shouldn't eat and usually pretty good about asking, too.  Well, not any longer.  So, here are a few things that I know I should do:

1. Make sure she gets plenty to eat at meal times AND keep her meal/snack times on schedule. (which, since moving, we haven't been too scheduled).

2. Not get angry with her for eating food that she shouldn't- the last thing I need to create is a battle over food!

3. I think I also need to put things up out of her reach and make sure everyone else does the same (wish me luck!).

Any other suggestions?  Over all her numbers are pretty good but she is just one hungry little girl!

Feeling Better and Crazy Numbers

Jada made it through yesterday with no major issues.  She actually ran around all morning like nothing was wrong and then crashed on me in the afternoon!  She fell asleep while I was holding her and I just couldn't bring myself to lay her in bed- the little princess slept for more than two hours on my lap!  Yes- I enjoyed it and took a little nap myself!  The rest of the day, Jada was pretty low key, but didn't spike another fever.  Hopefully, she won't spread the love to her siblings! :)

Today, her numbers have been swinging back and forth like crazy!  As high as 350 to as low as (2 hours later) 43.  I treated her with 2 glucose tabs and 15 minutes later she was 245!  Then, an hour and a half later- she was down to 65.    It's been one of those crazy days of just keeping a close eye on her.  She's feeling fine- I just wonder if her being sick yesterday have just messed things up for a little bit.

Not What We Need Right Now

As Jeff and I were thinking about heading to bed last night,  Jada walked into the living room and cuddled up next to me.  Her cheeks were flushed a rosy pink and as I felt her hands, that sense of dread fell over me.  Fever.  Ugh.

Her blood sugar was a little high but okay for night time. Right at 214.  As a precautionary measure I checked urine ketones (she thinks it's a lot of fun to potty on the strip) and she didn't show any signs.  Her temperature was about 101.4 and still rising.  She wasn't upset and said she didn't feel bad.  So, I gave her some ibuprofen and laid down with her.  She wouldn't go back to sleep  because she was in a chatty mood! :)  If she wakes at night, she's usually mad at something and cries non-stop, so I know she didn't feel too bad.

This morning she crawled into bed with me at 7 am and felt just as feverish as last night.  We cuddled (love my morning cuddles with her) for a while and then got up and checked for ketones in her urine again.  And this time- she was showing a small amount.  Her fever is around 100- not too high, but we took some ibuprofen to stay ahead of the game.  I am SO GLAD that she's not vomiting!  

Hopefully, she's just got a little virus that we can stay on top of.  Jeff is headed to the grocery store this morning to stock up on ibuprofen, acetaminophen and regular sprite in case she needs real sugar.  She's got a great appetite and we're waiting for her novolog to kick in so that she can eat.  I didn't see this coming- none of the other kids have been sick.  Actually, I'm glad that she's the first one, otherwise, I would have done nothing but worry!  I guess the only warning that I may have had was that her blood sugar hung out all yesterday afternoon in the low 200's.  Her lunchtime shot just didn't bring her down at all.

We'll see what today brings- it could be interesting.

A1C

After many frustrating attempts to blog today- I think, at last, I'll get it done!  

Jeff took Jada to her endo appointment on Monday and it went very well. Her A1C ended up right at 8 %- I'm happy with it because in my mind, we just haven't had the best control lately.  Definitely shooting for a better number next time around and I think it's going to take adjusting her numbers even more than the doctor did on Monday.  Overall, the dr. gave us a good report and was happy with how Jada is doing.  As a mom, I feel like I really missed out by not being there and feel somewhat out of the loop.  

Her correction factor was lowered to 100 from 105 and with the exception of breakfast, her insulin to carb ratio was lowered from 1:35 to 1:30.  Her breakfast insulin to carb ratio was drastically lowered from 1:35 to 1:15!!   And still- this morning she spiked over 300 and  she had her shot 15 minutes before she ate!! So, I'm thinking we're going to have to do some more tweaking with her breakfast numbers.  If we can get her midmorning spikes under control- I think we can get a much better A1C next time, because they tend to set the tone for the day.

So- there it is.  I'm so proud of Jeff for taking her on his own along with 3 other busy kids!  I just wish I could have been there!

OH --- NO!!!!

I can't believe I wrote the wrong date down for Jada's endo appointment!!  I thought it was supposed to be on Monday the 16th.   Holy cow- it's Monday the 9th!! Yes-- in a few days.  And I won't be here!!!! Jeff is going to have to brave this one on his own.  

I'm leaving for Phoenix in just a few short hours and won't be back until late Monday afternoon.  I'm feeling pretty badly about it.  Completely new doctor.  Probably a whole new way of doing things.  Crap.  I'm going to be gone.

So----if any of you think of my husband on Monday- please please please pray for him.  He's only ever been to one of her appointments and that was right after diagnosis.  Pray for a good A1C- I'm expecting it to be high- in my mind we've only had mediocre control of her numbers lately.

Well- off I go.  I'll be back next week with a report- good or bad!

Vigilance

I'm sitting here- wishing I could go to bed, but need to wait at least another 45 minutes to check Jada to make sure she's going to make it through the night okay.  Never in a million years would I have believed you if had told me that when my baby was 3 1/2 years old would I still worry about her in the middle of the night.  You know what it's like when you bring your newborn home- wondering why they're sleeping so long and hoping to see their little tummy moving up and down rhythmically when you go in to check on them.  Being extra quiet so you can hear them breathe in and out.  Remember those times when they took a deep breath in...then held it long enough for you to begin to panic ever so slightly, then you heard the soft sound of them breathing out, then getting back into their rhythmic breathing pattern?

I do all of that again with Jada.  She crawled into bed with me early this morning.  I wasn't concerned with her being low- at her check last night she was at a perfect number for getting through the night.  As she lay there and fell asleep, I was just naturally in tune with her breathing and there was a moment when she drew in a deep breath and didn't let it out for a very long (or so it seemed) time.  Until this moment, I was never really struck with how much I do this.  Day and night.  For her nap, I am in her room every 20 minutes or so just to make sure she hasn't dropped on me.  Until I go to bed at night, I check on her about every 30 minutes just to make sure I see that little chest raising up and down.

I also remember that feeling of wanting my kids to just get a "little" older so that I could experience a little more freedom.  Not having to worry about midnight feedings and whether or not they could die from something like SIDS.   Midnight feedings happen more often now than they did when my kids were babies.  And now I know that she has something potentially life threatening and it will kill her if I'm not vigilant.  Vigilance is hard and tiring and there are so many days that I long for my pre-diabetes life.  I'm tired of this disease.

I'm Liking These Numbers!

Jada had a great day today!  She's had so many of those in a row that I feel as if I'm getting spoiled!  I love it when she wakes at a good number- it seems to set the tone for the day and her diabetes seems much more manageable.  She was right around 100 this morning and it was her day to have a breakfast "date" with daddy.  Once a week, he takes one of the kids out for some special time with him. Typically, he takes the kids to Panera Bread.  Obviously, that's not a great choice for Jada! :)  So, he takes her to a little restaurant down the street where she can get some eggs and toast.  

At lunch, she had dropped a little- down to 94, which isn't too far and with just having a peanut butter sandwich, she didn't need a shot! That's always a good thing!  She even had to have a little snack before her nap, because she had only risen to 115 an hour after she had eaten.  The banana she ate sent her a little high- just over 200- at her snack time.  But- she had a great nap and woke up happy.  So often I have to check her and wake her up so that she doesn't drop too low while sleeping.

At dinner, she was 169 and she had a carb free meal.  150 is her target blood sugar and because she was so close to her target, we opted for  no carbs and no shot.  It worked beautifully tonight.  At bedtime she was at 160!  She had 15 grams of carbs before bed, and hopefully, that will get her through the night.

Wonder if we can do this again tomorrow?

Friday Lows

It seems I've spent the weekend battling lows with Jada. My sister in law and her family came on Thursday. Actually- they brought David back. He had been staying with them since the previous weekend. They left today and we had a great time. They have four children ranging from age 11 down to 4 months. We had a houseful and plenty of excitement around here with kids running all over the place.
All of the excitement and activity caused several lows. At about 10 am on Friday, she started acting hungry and crabby. Checked her and she was 107 and apparently falling fast. I gave her 15 grams, because I wasn't sure what time we would eat lunch. At 10:30, she didn't appear to be any better, so I checked and she was at 84. Sheesh. I gave her half a banana. A little while later we left and drove through McDonalds and took our food to the park. I checked her again at 11:30 before we ate and she was at 104. I was glad she didn't spike but decided not to give her a shot with her cheeseburger because I knew she'd be running around and I was concerned that she would drop again. I would have thought that the 30 grams of carbs in that cheeseburger (the bun) would have been enough to spike her. Not so. At noon, she looks a little peaked and is moving slowly. Checked and she was at 80!! I gave her a 100 calorie snack pack and made her sit for a few minutes. I couldn't keep her down- she wanted to run and play, so I let her go. I checked her again 15 minutes later- 72. Holy cow. At that point, I decided she was done playing and I dug into my purse for the candy I keep for emergencies and a juice box. We went back to the van and turned on a movie while she ate smarties and drank her juice box and the other kids finished playing. I was beginning to get concerned and I couldn't figure out why she was having a hard time coming up- I still don't know why. My only guess is that she was burning sugar nearly as fast as she could consume it. She finally spiked to 274 and began to slowly come down after that- I don't think I'd ever been more relieved to see a high blood sugar!
The rest of the weekend she was pretty good. We did have some moments when cousins and siblings got to have donuts, cake and ice cream and she was unable to have it. I just hate that. She would eventually get to have it, but not until a meal. It's times like that in which I really look forward to the day that she will be on a pump and we can be a little more relaxed and flexible with what and when she eats. It's pretty tough to offer her a piece of cheese or a handful of nuts or a spoonful of peanut butter when everyone else is indulging in chocolate. We did have some Sprite Zero on hand and she had a little of that- but it's not what she really wanted. She lucked out and was a tad low after her nap today and scored a small piece of chocolte cake- you would have thought she won the lottery!

Spiking.

Last week we adjusted Jada's lantus because she had been consistently high through out the day but didn't touch the novolog.  We discussed with our CDE about what to do with the novolog and she said that if we felt like we needed to increase it, to go ahead and do it.  Well, I think we're heading in that direction, but I'm not sure.

About an hour and a half after she eats- and this happens every day- Jada asks for a drink of water.  She will guzzle 8-12 oz. of water- then of course I know she's high- usually in the 300's.  But by the time lunch rolls around at 11:00 or  11:30- she's within close range of her target number, which is 150.  Actually, she is quite often closer to 100.  Is it normal  to spike before the rapid acting insulin works?  Somewhat confusing, because I thought the whole point of rapid acting insulin was to ACT RAPIDLY!  Her numbers the rest of the day are pretty good and we've had more lows the last week than we have in a while.  

If anyone has any suggestions or thoughts....