A Very Special Easter Egg Hunt

In looking at my last post, I can't help but think that diabetes is a lot like golf. You can have your best round ever followed by your worst. With diabetes, every day is a new day. You can have your best day ever, followed by a not so good day. Or the reverse, if you are having a bad day, there is always tomorrow.

On Sunday, the boys participated in a sugar free Easter egg hunt sponsored by JDRF at Lake Wheeler Park. What fun! There were probably several hundred eggs spread out on the lawn when we got there. They broke the groups into older kids and toddlers. The boys really enjoyed the hunt and all the treasures inside the eggs. In my opinion, if I were a kid, it is a lot more fun to receive a rubber lizard or snake than candy. After the hunt, folks stayed around for the post hunt activities like sack races, face painting, bubbles, crafts and other fun stuff.

The highlight of the day though, was a Trinity, a cute little 5 year old girl, recently diagnosed, asked Chance what color his pump was and if she could see it. Hers was silver. Chance's is blue. Chance pulled out his pump to show it off. We also met another mom of twin boys who were 7, where one had diabetes and the other didn't. Great connections!

A Night of Good Numbers

We have been fine tuning Chance's night time basal rate. We are seeing an interesting trend. His BG readings can be 100 at the 11pm check, then be 300 by 2am requiring insulin, then he has a massive drop off by morning. Nancy, our diabetes educator, thinks this is due to growth hormones, which is common in little ones.

We're trying to balance this with his basal rate. We don't want him going too high overnight, but we don't want him too low either in the early morning hours. We made an adjustment yesterday and Chance's numbers were great last night. We increased his basal rate from 11pm to 2am to 0.075. The result: at bedtime, he was 104. At 2am, he was 213. At breakfast, he was 163. HORAY!!!!!!!!!

The other big news is that the new daycare teachers (whom we love!) are doing the morning snack by themselves and are feeling real close to taking over the meal routines without us there. His new teachers are awesome and very engaged in the whole diabetes management process. The head teacher's husband is a type 1 diabetic so I believe this helps.

We are still waiting for word on when Tas will move up to be with Chance. In the meantime, I am giving him a lot of extra love and have been bringing him over to the 2 year old playground so he can see his brother, whom he asks for during the day. This morning, Tas was playing with my hair and said "Mommy red hair." I thought I would melt.

"More Hot Dogs"

After our surprise weekend in NY was cancelled, we found ourselves with an open and much needed weekend for downtime. Friday, Heath and I got out for a date night thanks to Aunt LaLa and Uncle Cha. We went to see Crazy Heart, which I give two thumbs up. Saturday, we went to a two year old birthday party, then I came home and slept for 3.5 hours. Does that tell you how tired I was? I plan to take more naps in 2010. Then, Sunday we went to visit the family I am mentoring, which I think went well. Their son Benjamin is adorable and a sweet kid - no pun intended. He had a Thomas the train set, which the boys loved playing with.

After we left our mentoring visit, we went to Home Depot. The Nathan's hot dog woman was outside and we decided to indulge. Heath and I each got a hot dog and we got one for the boys to share. They gobbled in down. Tas actually shoved the entire half into his mouth, which I thought he would choke on but didn't. Five minutes after finishing their hot dog, they were both signing and saying "more hot dog". So I waited on line for about 10 minutes to buy another hot dog because the group in front of me got about ten hot dogs with all kinds of stuff on them. All the while, they were saying and signing "more hot dog".

The boys gobbled down the second hot dog while we were in Home Depot. On the way out, we passed the hot dog vendor and the boys signed and said "more hot dog". I looked at Heath and said "should we let them have another?" His answer was of course "yes". So I waited on line AGAIN and bought another hot dog - for a total of THREE. In the car, they gobbled the third one down as well and asked for another!

If you give your kids a hot dog, they're going to ask for another!

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Last night, during a visit with a mother of a newly diagnosed 3 year old, I discovered that Chance has really changed over the last 6 months. In fact, I would say he is thriving. I showed her a photo of Chance just before his diagnosis, then I showed her one of the photos Heath shot for JDRF. I am including these photos in this post because it is remarkable. I know that part of the change is due to the fact that he is getting older, but he looks significantly more healthy now.

It felt good to help another Mom. Her name is Darcie and their son is Benjamin. We are going to bring Chance over to their home on Sunday so he can meet them and they can see his pump routine. They are in their first week, which is extremely difficult. Our heart goes out to them.

We had the boys 2 year old pediatric appointment today. Pre-diabetes, Chance was in the 10 percentile for weight. Six months into this and him being on insulin, he is now in the 25th percentile. Both Tas and Chance are staying on their trajectory for height, which is a good sign. Based on their length at this appointment, we expect the boys to be about 5'7" as adults. 

Chance continues to do well on his pump. We continue to tweak his insulin doses and test him many times a day. I believe he is a happy camper as is Tas. Chance is transitioning into the 2 year old class, which is going well. Tas will transition in a week and a half. Then, the punkins will be reunited during the day. Tas is doing amazingly well with all the change and really is an extraordinary child.

Friends and Toes

Last night, I went out with my MOBS group. MOBS stands for Mothers Of Boys. There are four of us. The criteria is that you have to have only boys and more than one. The theory is that only mothers who have more than one boy, truly understand the madness of parenting multiple boys - especially young ones. We are a very connected group. I came home feeling like I had been back to my hometown for the night. The friendship that has grown with these ladies reminds me a lot of the friendships I had in NY.

Tonight, Heath and I went to see Blue Collar comedy live at the RBC center. I laughed so hard that I am wheezing. It was totally hysterical! Thank you Ladonna and Charles for organizing such a fun night out.

I don't think I have ever described doing the nighttime blood test on Chance so I will because he is precious. We do this at 11pm and 3am. I walk into the nursery armed with all my test gear - lancer, alcohol swab, meter, test strip, extra test strips and a small flashlight. Chance is usually laying on his back with his knees bent and legs spread. His little pump pack sits at his waist.He is usually breathing heavy, which is the opposite of Tas who is the most quiet, tranquil sleeper  like a little angel.

I sneak quietly in the room. Turn on the flashlight to assess my angle for getting to his toe - where we currently test. I get a chair or stool and bend completely over into the crib. I pull off one of his socks to be greeted by his adorable little feet. I take a pig (toe) in my hand a squeeze it a little to get some blood in it. Then, I cock the lancer and click to draw some blood. The rest is history. The thing that always strikes me about this routine most is how little and pudgy his feet are. It is usually at this time that it hits me how young he is to be dealing with such a serious health issue.

This week, one of our teenage neighbors two doors down from us got diagnosed with type 1. There was also a three year old son of a SAS employee who got diagnosed. I will offically be a JDFR mentor for this family like the way Cindy mentored us. Heath wants to be involved too. We are very eager to give back.

The news of the week is our dear friend Ed and father of Ruby (Gibson's girlfriend) got a huge promotion to Retail Inside Sales manager. We are so happy for him and proud of his achievement! Tomorrow, Ruby comes for two weeks and Ed and Kim are off to Ireland to celebrate! Congrats Ed!

We're Pumping!

Have I mentioned how awesome the pump is? We love it! Chance is doing fabulous on his pump. He gets to eat all the yummy daycare snacks just like his friends. We don't have to chase him around with needles all day. Total flexibility and much better control of Chance's numbers. The only downside is the site change, which I think Chance will eventually get used to.

I went to the Rex pump support group meeting last week and got some good tips on nutrition and for the blood tests. Turns out that our ears have no nerve endings so this is where we test Chance now and he doesn't feel a thing.

Have meant to blog sooner, but I was in NY for a day and a half. Nice business trip there with one of my direct reports. We went to Bond Street for sushi, which I must admit was disappointing. Great weather!

Diabetes Utopia!

This morning at 9:45, Chance got hooked up to his Animas insulin pump. Heath and I wore this for a week to make sure we knew how to operate before going live. It is a fantastic device!

Chance did really well with us inserting the infusion site. Nancy, the awesome nurse, asked if we needed to hold Chance laying down over Heath's leg. I said "no, let's have him sit up on Heath's lap."  We had prepared Chance for this moment for several days and we knew he would be courageous and handle it well. I prepped the site, cocked the infusion set, lined it up on Chance's upper butt and released the infusion set. Chance did not move, fuss, cry or react. Next, I peeled back the adhesive and is stuck to him well. That was all - insertion complete!

We checked Chance's glucose, which was high due to not having lantus on board. I gave him an injection through the wireless remote to the pump. Chance felt a slight vibration of the pump to indicate it is delivering insulin but NO NEEDLES!! HORAY!

After this, Chance immediately wanted animal crackers, which we had promised him. He ate 6 and I gave him a bolus. He ate 4 more and I gave him another bolus. He ate 4 more and I gave him another bolus. What freedom!!

Nancy said that Chance was the best 2 year pump patient that she had ever seen. We are so proud of him and so happy that we will have much more flexibility and control over his numbers.

The best news of all is that Heath just checked Chance's blood glucose at lunch and he was 135, which is a spectacular number!

This photo was taken outside of Dr. Lagarde's office. You can see Chance is wearing his fashionable camo pump pack. You can get these at http://www.pumpwearinc.com/.

Our future's so bright, we have to wear shades

The boys just love their new sunglasses. They have been wearing them in the dreary weather we have had the last two days. Wait until they see how cool and effective they are in the sun!

We are cool cats!

Last Lantus Dose

Tonight, I gave Chance his last Lantus insulin dose. This is his long acting insulin. He particularly does not like this shot, which comes at the end of his day. Tomorrow night, Chance will go to bed Lantus free and wake up and be put on his pump at Dr. Lagarde's office. We do this because they do not want any long acting insulin in his body once on the pump.

I have been wearing his pump since Friday. It is really cool and I already feel quite liberated by it. It does not hurt to get the infusion site on and once on, you can't feel it. The trick is to put it on where you have some extra fat. The diabetes educator has warned me that the first few weeks will be a little crazy though I am not sure how much more crazy they could be than what we have seen over the last few days.

Saturday, we hosted another JDRF photo shoot. It was really awesome. Folks really stayed around to chat and get to know one another. I chatted with a Mom who had a 3 year old son on the Animas and was doing really well with it. This was extremely encouraging to me. Saturday night, Heath and I got out for a date at the Pittsboro General Store. We met up with our dear friends Loren and Carrie and saw Tommy Edwards perform. I did yoga in the afternoon, which really helps ground me. This is something that I desperately need with all else that is going on around me.

"Momma Pee Pee"

Tas and Chance's new favorite pastime is sitting on their new potty and going pee pee. It is very cute. Tas goes "Momma pee pee" and points to the toilet. After Tas jumps up and goes pee, Chance gets into the action and takes his turn. I believe that this is a very good sign that they are moving towards being ready. I don't think this means that they'll be potty trained anytime soon, but it is progress. I don't really mind the diapers - no accidents and we can be on the go without stopping to "go pee".

In addition to the potty they have also discovered their pee pees and are quite fascinated with them!