Seasons, Numbers and Change

The lazy, crazy days of summer in the north are over and FALL! Yes- fall has already arrived. Our leaves are changing and our highs most days barely make it to the lower 60's. Lots of rain. And I'm loving it! Yes, summer is short here and our fall is way shorter than most, but after a summer of smoke and record heat, I'm happy about it.

Summer here is crazy- sunny, late nights and little sleep make for wacky blood sugars! I have dealt with what seems like a TON of late night low blood sugars.....like in the 40s and 50s and we are suddenly dealing again with a mid-morning spikes that are just way out of range. The late night lows I think are due to eating dinner too late, then is too high to have a snack before bed and then when I check her at midnight, she's too low. Her mid-morning spikes have occurred for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, she wakes up on the low side and starving, so we don't always wait 20 minutes before she eats. That will do it nearly every time. Or we've woken up late, breakfast late and then is spiking when it's time to eat lunch. This summer has been a huge reminder to me how important a schedule is in order to keep Jada's numbers in range.


Change has occurred in a big way for our family this year! We have mostly homeschooled our kids- with the boys doing both public and homeschool. The plan had been for David to go the our neighborhood elementary school, Eli to private school and I would homeschool Mary Beth.

The week before school started and I was beginning to work on Mary Beth's curriculum, I just had the biggest knot in my stomach. I just didn't feel right about it- which is strange to me. So, I began to pray about it and just was not feeling any peace about it. I think my long days of being home alone with the kids have finally caught up to me and I am desperately needing a break. There's a whole lot more to it than that, but that's all I'll say for now. :)

So....with the instability of Jeff's job, it was quickly decided that private school for Eli wouldn't be the wisest financial decision that we could make. All three of them are in our neighborhood school and so far, we very happy with our decision. I miss them SO much, but they are doing great!

That's the short of it. With our schedule getting back on track, hopefully more blogging will come along with that. Be on the look out for more pictures of our beautiful Alaska summer in the next few days!

Crazy Numbers Update

Well, this last week has been interesting with this disease! At the beginning of the week, we were experiencing some super crazy lows. A 44 at 2 am (it didn't wake her up- I just "happened" to check her), several numbers in the 20's at mid-day as well as a lot of mid-afternoon numbers in the forties. We had been very busy since the 4th of July and I think that her all of her extra physical activity contributed to the lows. As the week wore on and we came to the end of it, things have straightened out and we seem to back to normal- although her after lunch numbers are still on the low side.
I think I've been reminded of the importance of routine and schedule with this disease. As I reflect over the last week, there was a hardly a bed time that was the same, hardly a meal time that was the same. Mornings where Jada slept a whole later than normal- thus delaying her lantus injection and then the next day- waking up earlier than normal and getting lantus earlier than usual. I wonder if some of the lows were due to too much lantus in the system- as it is supposed to last 24 hours. I wonder....
Well...summer is half over and a big part of me is sad because for us here in the north, winter is just beginning to stare us in the face (first frost is around August 30). But summer is crazy here. 24 hours of sunlight does something to those of us who live here! I mean, if the sun hasn't set- why should I even think about going to bed? It's not uncommon to hear a lawn mower running at 11 pm- last night someone two doors down was running an electric saw at 1 am- and he most likely just lost track of time. It happens here- just a part of life in the northern summer. So, I am looking forward to fall- which is very short lived here. But it means school and schedule. Life will slow down and there will be routine, which is SO much better for Jada.