One Month

Today marks one month since Liam's diagnoses. Things are different for us, but we are starting to get the hang of it. I am amazed at how strong Liam is.  For the most part he has done so great.  He never complains when we have to check his glucose levels.  Recently he has started fighting back a little with the shots.  He hates getting what he call the bum shots.  It is the long lasting insulin that he gets once a day in the morning.  For his short acting insulin, we use a pen, but for the long lasting we use a syringe and he hates it.  It is also cold and it burns.  He has hidden a couple of times, but he has never cried or screamed to I'm grateful for that.  The hardest thing is getting him to eat all of his food.  Once we have dosed for his meal, he has to eat everything on his plate or he will get too low.  This has been really hard and I've resorted to bribery and hand feeding him.  I only dose for what he says he will eat, but sometimes he will start eating and decide he doesn't want to eat anymore.  He also takes longer than the recommended 20 minutes and then he will start to feel sick because he drops too low.  We just take it meal by meal and do whatever we have to to keep him stable.  I don't really blame him.  Shots suck and sometimes you just don't want to eat everything. Other than that he is a normal, active little boy.  He has started growing again and put on weight so he's looking back to normal.  I am surprised at how tired I am all the time.  It take a lot of mental energy to take care of him.  I am always wondering if he's acting tired or cranky because he's 4 or because he's high or low. My mind is always thinking about something related to diabetes whether it is carbs, insulin does, insurance, glucose levels, debating a pump and the types of pumps, and so many other things.  I'm also more emotional over things.  Some days are great, and others I cry over simple things.  Everyday get a little easier though.  It also affects the girls.  I don't give them as much attention as I should and their lives have changed as well.
I wanted to document our new typical day.
6:45- Maya gets up and I get her breakfast and she gets ready for school
7:00 Sophie and Ellie get up and get breakfast and get ready for school
7:15 Liam is usually up.  I check his glucose.  Then I get is fast acting insulin ready so it can sit and warm for a couple of minutes.  I then get his breakfast, count carbs and figure out his insulin dose.  He then gets both shots and eats his breakfast.  I try to stay with him while he eats so this is when I make lunches
7:45 take Maya to school
8:00 take Sophie and Ellie to school
8:15 I get to eat and try to shower and get Liam ready for school
9:00 check Liam's glucose and take him to school.  He takes his own carb free snack so I have to pack that
9:00-11:00 I either garden at the temple or try to get some things done around the house while there are no kids home.
11:30 Pick liam up from school and check his glucose
12:00 Lunch.  Make lunch, counts carbs, dose insulin, give shot
 12:30 and 3:00 Liam and I are home together.  I try to play and game with him, do laundry or get some projects done.  If I'm lucky Liam will watch TV and I'll get to lay down for a little bit
3:00 pick up Maya.  Sophie and Ellie walk home and get  home about the same time as Maya.
3:15 snack  check glucose, count carbs, dose, and shot
3:00-6:00 This is super busy for us.  Depending on the day we have cub scouts (I'm the Bear leader), dance, or piano.  The kids also have homework, practicing, and chores.  Whatever they don't get done before dinner, we are rushing to finish after dinner.
6:00 dinner.  I try to make a nice dinner most nights and plan ahead so that it gets done.  Dinner is really hard because I'm trying to get it all on the table and at the same time checking glucose, counting carbs, dosing insulin and giving shots.  By the time was can all sit down and eat, our food is not always warm.  I rarely get to eat my food warm because I have to help Liam eat.  Dinner is the hardest for him.
7:00 we start cleaning up and getting ready for bed.
8:00 bed time.  check glucose and snack.  If he's low we have to bring him up and if he's high we give him insulin.
Sometimes in the middle of the night I will get up and check if levels, especially if he had a rough day numbers wise.

Life is a little crazy with kids, but I sure do love them.