You know You're the Parent of a T1 Child When....

You find yourself using a spent, capped syringe as a light fuel container for a light saber (made out of a tinker toy) that has run out of light.  Yes, that's right, I was refilling my son's and his friends pretend light sabers with pretend fuel from an insulin syringe. It was the closest object to me, what can I say!

Some Things I Learned About Diabetes in 2009

2009 was our second year living with diabetes. Although diabetes pretty much always sucks, this year was so much better than our first year with it. SO MUCH BETTER! Some things I learned along the way:

Sugar is nothing to be afraid of. I was so afraid of  regular sugar our first year with diabetes. I went out of my way to avoid it in everything I could and never baked or cooked with it. I bought agave syrup and used it anytime I was baking. This year, I took the plunge and tried out regular sugar and you know what..I can't say that agave really made Addison's blood sugar behave differently than regular sugar. This was a revelation. I still reduce amounts of sugar when baking and avoid candy and processed sweets like the plague AND limit Addison's sweet treat to a small portion but making home made treats with regular sugar was  so fun over the holidays this year. We even made some coconut snowball cookies with powdered sugar on the outside!

My diabetic child CAN get sick and NOT end up in the hospital. The first year of diabetes for us came with two illnesses..one a stomach bug and one a flu like bug. The stomach bug ended Addison up in the ER for an IV drip and the other flu had ketones and fever and lots of extra insulin. They both scared the crap out of me and I turned into a major germaphobe as a result. When he was sick I got sick from worrying. It was enough just to get used to all of his day to day care and the illness on top of it just really threw me for a loop. This year, Addison had roseola and hand foot and mouth disease. Neither one required loads of extra insulin or a trip to the ER. He was miserable but his blood sugars were not too badly impacted. These experiences plus getting the H1N1 vaccine made me feel a little less freaked out about Addison getting sick.

Very hot weather makes Addison's blood sugar run low. 

Baths are just plain weird. I cannot for the life of me figure out baths and blood sugars. It seems that even when we wait 90 minutes after a shot, taking a bath still makes Addison's blood sugar drop quickly.I always have to test him before and after a bath and if he is below a certain number, I give a little snack to ensure he stays up. What in the world do pumpers who get insulin every hour do?

Always keep a stash of extra batteries around for you meters and scales.


I am not the only parent of a type 1 child that doesn't get a whole lot of sleep. As much as I would like to know that there is an end to this lack of sleep sometime soon, it has given me great comfort to know I am not alone.

My instincts are good. Second year in, I am learning that most of time I should listen to myself because my instincts about Addison's care are mostly right on!

Hope everyone had a very Happy New Year! I also hope I didn't end up sending anyone two Christmas Cards! In my rush to get the cards out I may have missed some and double up others! If you got two or none I apologize!!  Cheers!

Happy, Happy New Year

Calling All Mac Mama's (or Papa's)

I have to admit, I am not the worlds greatest log keeper. In fact..I might be one of the worst! The only time I even attempt to log anything I use scraps of paper and I can only keep up really good detail for, oh, about a day. I usually only attempt log keeping when I am having trouble with blood sugars and hope I can eek out some sort of pattern to help determine a course of action. That being said, I want to be a better logger and I wish I had something I could use on my computer. Everything seems geared towards pc's but I am hoping that some of you out there use macs and are good log keepers and that you might want to share some tips/links/spreadsheets..whatevers..with me! If you have any ideas, tips or suggestions I would appreciate them!

I have been tagged!

Thanks Laura for the Tag! I was happy to realize that it is really easy to think of  things I love and not so easy to keep it to just 5 but here they are:

My Son  - It is such a cliche but I never knew that I could love a person so unconditionally and so, so much until Addison was born. He brings me so much joy. He has always been a happy and extremely loving little guy. I admire his bravery and ability to deal with diabetes every single day..he is amazing.


My Husband - I couldn't do all this without him! He is my best friend, my best love and the best father ever. He cooks me good meals, makes me laugh, cheers me on and is always there to help me figure out tricky insulin calculations. He gets down on his knees and plays with Addison until they are both giggling like crazy and he takes Addison out for adventures in the world that I never would and I love that!




The Family Bed - I hope this doesn't sound weird but when Addison was born I knew co-sleeping was the thing that felt right for me and him and Chris and now that he is almost 3 it still feels right. He was an intense nurser so it made night nursing oh so much easier and I love just waking up in the middle of the night and having him curled up next to me. We are still co-sleeping and it still feels good. And now, having to do multiple blood sugar checks a night sometimes, it make it a lot easier too than having to get up each time and go to a different room. Most nights it is Multo Bene (our lovey 10 year old cat) on one side of me, Addison on the other and Chris at the end. Cuddling up with all my loved ones every night is a real pleasure and I love it. (and yes, we have a King sized bed..otherwise I might NOT be feeling so much love here!!)


D Blogging Community/Shamae - I have to do a special shout out to Shamae here because she was the first "stranger" to comment on my blog. I don't know how she found me but she did and when I tracked on over to her blog and read about her family and saw her humongous list of other D blogging moms I think  I may have shed a few happy tears. I had been wanting so desperately to connect with other T1 parents out there and here they were. All of you out there mean the world to me!!




Ukuleles - These little four stringed instruments are the most joyous instruments in all the world and I love them. I own 3. I still can't play all that well and wish I could sing a little better but who cares! They make me so happy!

If you are reading this and haven't been tagged..consider yourself tagged baby!

Interesting Video About Artificial Pancreas Development

You Know You're the Parent of a T1 Child When....

You often look down at your kids feet (inside the house of course) and notice they have one sock on and one sock off. Sometimes you are too lazy to go to the sink and wash hands so you just do a toe check instead and forget to put the sock back on!