Feeding the Insulin

Yesterday was breakfast for six.  Us five plus some insulin to feed.  Mary Claire went off to school without finishing her breakfast (and active insulin on board!), good thing it was countable mini-wheats!  I found them on the counter (yes, soggy in milk!), counted them (the things we do!), and called Ches who was en route with the kids on the way to school.  He came back, and I gave her a fruit bar (a pair!) and two fresh mini-wheats to make up the difference in carbs.  I hate that she can't just not finish her breakfast without a talk and a warning!  And we have to pre-bolus for breakfast, since she rises so fast.  That girl scares me.  Sometimes she seems so on top of things, and sometimes she's just a kid.  I hate that I expect her to grow up so fast too.  Guilt. The monster that doesn't rest.


I am so overwhelmed by our terrific JDRF Walk, and yet, I still have more thank you notes to write, so I'm not quite done!  I got one of Sandra's thank you's today in the mail, So Cute!  I always forget about those adorable picture cards!  I'm SO going to order some of those.  She puts in pictures from the Walk, and a note of thanks at the bottom-she's one of my smart friends.  I love her! : )


And...I am still surprised every week. ; )  Still pregnant-and tomorrow marks 10 weeks.  He moved my due date back to the original date (April 26th, but I'll have a c-section at 37 weeks since I start dilating early, and they have to catch me pre-labor) since my ultrasound was right on today.  I was so stressed since I had to start antibiotics yesterday that it would do something..bad.  So, I'm super relieved now.  I even totally hydrated all day yesterday, and stayed in bed a-l-l day (except for my doctor's appointment to get meds!).  I might miss out on some life, but it's important to me.

I go back next Friday, and maybe we'll check to see if we can pick up a heartbeat on doppler.  He said he'd do it after the ultrasound, since it could really freak me out if it's too early for doppler first!

We are making an effort to slow down a little, and I've let a few things go..but there are still so many things I committed to before I knew.  The kids' fall school fundraiser is the Husky Hoedown, and it's quickly approaching.  I have to get fliers ready to go home in next Monday's folders (and every Monday till the Hoedown)!  I pulled up all my old documents from last year, and they should be pretty easy to modify.  We just need to get lots of tickets counted and bagged so they are ready for ticket sales.  Is that a job you are dying to do?  I could send some your way! : )  Just holler!
 

Excess Syringes

Well.  That went well.
We had quite a day yesterday!  We'd gone to church on Saturday, so we lazed around on Sunday morning-Clay and Mary Claire had gone to spend the night at Gigi's late Saturday after she got back into town, so we just had Ethan, and he slept till almost 8!
We got ourselves together (we were getting in the van to leave, and I spilled iced tea all over my shirt/shorts/van seat, so I had to regroup and change! I'm just glad it happened before we left the driveway), got clothes for the kids to wear, and went to pick them up.  Mom made lots of fun of my hair (tried to send me with a hair brush, hair clip, and finally I accepted a rubber band, just in case) which I thought was just fine, we got the kids changed, and on the road.  We stopped for some lunch since it was almost one, and Clay whined that we weren't actually moving toward our destination..exasperating.
We were going to Missouri since Ches' brother, Kenny, and his wife Jessie were visiting from Fresno, California.  We went to his sister's (Caroline) house.  So when we got there they had a big blow-up obstacle course thing for the kids to play on and a pool (maybe 2.5-3 feet deep?)  The kids immediately wanted to change into their swimsuits to PLAY!  The blow-up thing was really hot in the 90 degree heat, so they put a sprinkler on it, and it was just right.

The kids were so funny-they'd run over to the pool to rinse the grass from their feet, then run back across the grass to get back on the blow up thing!  Then the kids in the pool would swim in grass.  Yum.  But they sure are cute, those little swimmers:

So after a while, they started to get creative.  There were these tall things that you run around and between in the obstacle course.  So..Clay turns it inside out, stands in it, and it fills up with water.  Only my son.  Although it kind of looks like Ashley is in one too from this angle!
Here's my baby in the grassy water-he doesn't even know the difference!

Ok, so in the midst of all this, we are checking Mary Claire's blood..putting her pump back on when she eats, etc.  Well..when they are all done-four hours later-she's dressed, and we told her to put her pump back on.  She lifts up her shirt, and pulls her site (the sticker part of it) off!  It was not good.  We checked her blood, and she was 511!  All that time she'd been fine, but now that she wasn't getting that insulin all that time, she was starting to go UP!  We got a little panicky.  It was about 7pm, and we were all really hungry.  It was a huge debate whether we should go on home (wait till 9pm for dinner) or look for syringes so we could give her insulin right away (and get to eat dinner there).
We googled Walgreen's, found one (that wasn't a 24 hour pharmacy, so-CLOSED), and went to the next one.  They don't like to sell syringes over the counter, so we had problems.  They CAN sell them without a prescription, but they don't LIKE to.  We had to plead our case to the pharmacist, and he said we could have a box.  He was still very skeptical, and I'm sure he thought we were buying them for other reasons.  He was giving me dirty looks as I left.  I just have to deal with it, and I'll never see him again.
I got in the car, unscrewed the reservoir off her pump, and drew up some insulin (from the reservoir).  I had to figure her bolus (About 3 units), and I fought the tears and fear, and gave her a shot.  I wasn't scared (I just had to remember things I haven't done in six years!), but she was soo nervous.  She cried as we drove around looking for syringes, out of fear of needles and because she was so high.  She gets awful whiny when she's high.  She also had a headache.  I knew it wouldn't be long before she'd start throwing up-and she wanted to eat! We told her it was either wait to get home to eat, or take a shot.  My girl likes to eat, so she opted for the shot.
We finally made it to eat, and kept checking her all evening.  At first the meter read HI (meaning over 600), but then came down to 432, then 224, then 95-we finally brought her down by the time we got home.  Scary business.  I always take her supplies with us, and we never need them, but the one time..Ha-we needed them.  I've learned.  Oh, and the box of 100 syringes were almost $18.  And I don't even need them.  I did use 3, but now I have a whole box-added to the box I've had for 6 years.  Let's see..97 extra 31-gauge syringes.  There's got to be a fun use for them...
I'm just so glad we are home, she's safe, and has a new site in.  Girl Scout camp started early this morning, so we were up and around early!  She's there, was a little nervous when I signed her in, but was sitting with three friends when I left her.  It's hard being a little girl. I have not totally forgotten what it's like.