Our New Diabetic Daily Regime:

While life does go on when a child has diabetes, there are new components that must be fit in. This is what our new daily life looks like.

• Wake at 7:15am to prepare for the school day
• Test Rowan's blood glucose with her finger poking kit
• Prepare Rowan's breakfast, but don't pour the milk on the cereal, still not quite time.
• According to her blood glucose results, load the syringe with the insulin cocktail. Most school mornings she takes 1-2 units of Novo Rapid, and 13 units of NPH.
• Lovingly try to wrestle child to the ground, try to comfort her as best you can, so that she will surrender her fight and let you administer the insulin injection. Some days this only takes 20 minutes, otherdays, she fights like a cornered wildcat, and the whole affair can take up to an hour.
• After receiving insulin, Rowan must eat breakfast within the next five minutes so that her blood sugar does not fall through the floor and put her into a hypoglycemic state.
• Prepare breakfast for eldest daughter.
• Encourage them to talk less, eat more, so we can get this show on the road (they aren't even dressed by this point!)
• Wait for them to get dressed
• Start making lunches
• Assembling required snacks for my l'il Diabetic Wonder
• Have them brush teeth, eldest put on deodorant and use her asthma inhaler
• load backpacks
• take them to school
• either return home or head to work (my work schedule has definetly been impacted by diabetes)
• clean house, do laundry and put away
• pray that the education assistant doesn't call to advise me she's hypoglycemic OR hyperglycemic
• begin preparing dinner
• prepare necessary afternoon snack
• be PROMPT to pick them up from school (Rowan has a limited window within which she must have her afternoon snack)
• help with homework
• answer endless questions or statements begin with "Mama"
• continue preparing dinner
• record blood glucose levels from lunchtime
• Tell Rowan, once again, that NO, I'm not promising to get a dog after the cat dies. Encourage Rowan to wait for cat to pass before such requests.
• test evening blood glucose level, record accordingly
• prepare insulin cocktail if necessary
• repeat morning battle to get insulin injected
• eat dinner. Rowan must eat within 5 minutes of insulin being administered or will go seriously hypoglycemic
• usher kids into room for "quiet playtime" (Oh thank God for quiet playtime!)
• two hours later, announce time for bedtime snack
• Have Rowan select "Soldier Finger" for yet another blood glucose level
• Give bedtime snack
• have them get into pajamas
• have them brush their teeth & eldest use inhaler again
• have them straighten up their room before bed
• bedtime rituals
• I finish up on housework and other odds and ends that require my attention
• I try to relax for at least an hour before it's my time to go to bed
• bedtime for Mama.

And the last thought that floats through my mind before I drift off to sleep is usually something like "Oh yikes, I've got to get another injection into her in less than 8hrs from now". At which point, my sleep is filled with diabetic themed dreams.

Oh- and I forgot to mention the many times I have to check her blood glucose levels in the middle of the night. One day I'll sleep again!