Glorious Numbers

Hello new day!   Current BG is 5.3  :)  WOW.  What a difference.  I have a sensor in and life seems under control once again.  God is faithful.  The wisdom of the endo's office staff is once again proved!  Thank you!

I did have a low last night and another this morning.  But that is fine.  I can deal with those. But I will keep an eye on them. 

I am now at home busily tidying up the house.  Who wouldn't with so much energy and happiness?  With numbers like these I could go all day.  The small victories in life.

And I was finally able to connect with my mom who is overseas this morning.  That also put me in a great mood.  Finally, Gmail voice and video came through for us!

I just wanted to post a small note to thank you all for the kind words of encouragement and for sharing that you've gone through days like those.  I'm sure more will come.  But for now, I will praise my Creator who always comes through for me.  Always turns things around and comes to my rescue.

:)

I was up pretty late last night not only waiting for the number to come down but also watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.  I was inspired by Lorraine's blog about her son Caleb.  He is a 10-year-old T1 Diabetic and he is really into this new Food Revolution.  And he even took it to his school officials.  He did not feel that the food that was being served in the cafetaria was anywhere close to healthy and he wanted something to be done about it.  I was blown away.  He is 10.  WOW!  So I watched the first 3 episodes of the show (I know it was a bit much) but it was so good.

I woke up this morning at 8 am happy and inspired to feed my family a healthy breakfast.  We had eggs, ham, milk, orange juice and pears.  It was great.  I am all over this cooking from scratch idea.  Not that I don't do it now but a show like that shows me just what my slack will do to our kids and to hubby.  The processed crap that we sometimes eat (when I "don't feel like" cooking) is simply horrid.  And I need to say no to it.  For goodness sake, I love to cook.  I don't like the planning stage but hey you know what - it's just part of the process.  So I am committed to serving up great meals for my little growing family.

I am off to continue with laundry and tidying up the house.  All along the way thanking God that we have three or four loads to do - because that means that we have more than enough clothes;  thanking God that I have to load the dishwasher - because that means we've had great food; and while I swiffer and wash the floor I'll thank God for the square footage of my raised ranch - how well our God provides for our needs.

Here's to a great day.

Maxed out

So they maxed out my ratios across the board.  3:1 all day.  Wow.  And increased my basal rates - all of them and upped my correction on the Wizard.  So yeah... the doc wants to see me again on Thursday to see how everything went.  I hope this will help.

I was pretty frustrated even when I left the endo's office.  I can't believe I've already reached max.  I have another 2 months to go.  The doc did say that up until 32 or 34 weeks things will continue to be kindda crazy then it will stay the same - crazy but consistent at least.  My pump won't even go past 3:1 ratio... my diab. nurse said I'll have to tell the pump I'm having 30g when I'm only having 15g to trick it.  That is such a limitation... and the maximum insulin delivery is pretty crazy too - only 25 units.  At this rate I will have to cut back on carbs because every 60g of carbs meals will max out the amount that I can take and then I'll have to remember when it finishes delivering to give myself the difference.  Really?! For another 2 months?

So the crazy thing was - I left the doc's office frustrated, called hubby and we met for lunch.  Not wanting to mess up on day one with the new ratios I opted for chicken caesar salad with a water and a wedge of garlic bread.  So at about 1pm I was 9.6 (not a happy pre-lunch number!) so I put that into the pump and bolused for 35g of carbs (which is pretty high for a slice of garlic bread but again I didn't want to mess it up).  The pump spit out 15.3 units (11.6 u for the food and 4.5u for the correction).  That ought to do it, I thought.  As it turns out I didn't even eat half of the garlic bread but did finish my chicken ceasar and water.

Still bummed out I left Noah at grandparents a little longer while I went home to take a nap... only to wake up around 4:30 with a 14.7!  What the monkey is that about?  I was about to cry when I decided I will call hubby and he will calm me down.  We talked and I decided I should change my site just in case.  So I filled up the pump with new insulin, changed the site and fired up the pump.   Correction - 10.2 units!  WOW.  If that doesn't do it I don't know what will.   But GUESS WHAT!  It didn't do it!  At 7pm just before a late dinner (mind you I had not TOUCHED food since 1 pm! ) I was 10.4.  WHY?!  Someone please explain it to me - because I don't get what I'm doing wrong.  How can there be that many changes in a matter of days??  And how can all these new adjustments not work!  I was honestly LOOKING FORWARD TO A LOW.   Really!  I don't have a sensor in now.  It ended this morning - the transmittor is charging and I will put it back in the next 30 min or so.  Hopefully then I'll be able to see the trends. 

With Noah it wasn't like this.  I'm wondering if it's because it's the second pregnancy... is that right?  Does it get harder?  Does each subsequent placenta get more and more stubborn?

I'm frustrated.  I wanna keep this kid safe. 
That's my No. 1 concern for No. 2

I need some help

Today at 10:45 I have an endo appointment and boy do I need it.  With this pregnancy progressing my basal requirements have skyrocketed and my morning ratios are crazy (3:1).  But I think the rest of the day is following suit.  My sugars were crazy this weekend and no matter how many times I went through the Bolus Wizard on my pump to "Correct" the high - the insulin it would recommend would do nothing and I would have to add my own guess of how much to correct with.  One to two hours later nothing.  So I would manual bolus some more and finally by about 4 or 5 hours later I would see it come down.  But what was really frustrating was that by that point it would be time for the next meal or I'd be hungry for a snack (even just cheese with crackers and grapes) and so I'd have to bolus for that and I would still not see the sugars come down.  So frustrating.  So So So frustrating. 

I can't wait to sit down with my very wise diabetes educator nurse and my endo.  They are pretty wise and I know they take a look at my downloads and check out the graphs and help me out. 

The basement project is well underway.  So much has already happened.  We sealed off the walls from the inside.  An unnecessary step since we will also be digging the outside of the foundation and sealing it from the outside but still it makes us feel better.  We had some damp insulation a couple months ago and we wanted to find out the problem and fix it before we close up the walls with drywall and move furniture down there.  So yeah.  Hubby and Noah's Apko have been working hard.  Today hubby had some work lined up for his business so The Basement Project is on hold for a couple days.  And that's totally great too - because business goes on and then money comes in.  The joys of owning a business.  Some time off here and there where you can take care of your own stuff.

I'm also having a hard time finding foods that don't spike me.  It seems this placenta doesn't like me.  It is so stubborn.  And getting more and more stubborn by the day.  Ugh.  I have been changing ("upping") my basals almost every other day.  It's crazy.  Frustrating because you have to wait a few mornings to make sure they work and by then you already have to change it again. 

Love being pregnant still.  I am trying to keep a positive attitude and keep it all in stride.  But I am also concerned.  I don't want to sit back while my A1C rises.  (I'm curious what it will be today... remember, I was going for the gold?  - I'm pretty sure I'll settle for silver at this point.  ;)  I want to stay on top of it and be proactive with it. 

And hubby isn't sure how else to encourage me.  I can see the concern in his eyes when I tell him that I can't get my sugars down or that I'm not sure what else to do.  He tries to be supportive but truthfully he's concerned too.  I am carrying a baby and so any of these variations and spikes may or may not affect the little baby.  And that is constantly on my mind and his too.  Just when you figure it all out and the basals and your ratios are good, the placenta sticks its nose in and enhances it's resistance.  I can just imagine No. 2 in there struggling to produce his own insulin with his tiny little pancreas. 

It's normal to worry and I am trying to make good food choices but what's out of my control I will leave up to the medical staff at my endo's office.  We'll see what they say. 

In the mean time I will try to enjoy the last two months of this pregnancy.  It is sorta glorious and fun to be pregnant.  Other than the T1 stuff.  That I can really admit is not fun.  But it's manageable with a little help and it's all worth it.  Looking forward to another little Noah out of this whole thing so it's all worth it. 

Through this ordeal I need to trust in God.  I am reminded of the verse from Psalm 139 verse 13, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb."  I have to trust that God knows what is going on and that he has it all under control.  Just as he had in the past he does now too.  It would be crazy to think that I am the one "knitting" this baby together.  He knows the number of hairs on my head, knows me by name and knows my concerns and fears.  He only wants the best for me and so I will trust him. 

Give Peas a Chance

Life is so good right now.  I am not working at work.  I am working at home.  I am working on my relationship with my little boy, I am working on maintaining great sugar readings, I am working on my hubby's business, I am working at keeping a clean house, and I am working on getting ready for the baby.

I am finding it so hard to set time aside time to do things that I did before, like update my blog.  Simply because I am no longer in front of a computer 8 hours a day.  I am now free.  I am free to run around barefoot in the backyard with Noah, I am free to stay up late (belly permitting of course), to spend early mornings in bed with hubby with no worries of being late for work and lounge around watching Thomas the Train with my little guy any time we please.

I miss my mum terribly.  And updating my blog for her motivates me to do it.  She was my first "follower".  She is my greatest fan.  :)  I love you mom! They are gone away to Europe for the whole summer.  They return one week before my due date.  I can't wait to see them.  They've spoiled us with so many visits this Spring... it's hard to think that I won't see them for another 2.5 months.  We've tried communicating on Skype and other webcam messenger programs but the connection there is pretty terrible.  So I miss her and dad so much. I've never in my whole life been away from them for such a long stretch of time.  Or as she'd say "I ever, never..."

Today is a day of work.  Good work.  I am spending the rest of the morning filing and then in the afternoon hubby will take a break from his work and him and I will be doing some shopping for materials for the big basement project.  I can't wait to have a fully finished basement.  So exciting.  More space to clean.  That was sarcastic and I don't really mean it.  It will be fun.  For sure.  And there is a huge room down there that will be a guest bedroom/my studio.  I'm into Video editing and scrapbooking and I love to have my own space for that.  The dinning room table won't cut it anymore.

Here's to a great Monday.  (Which is so funny - because Mondays were the worst while still working the 9 to 5).

To borrow from the Black Eyed Peas: "I got a feeling, that today's gonna be a great day, that today gonna be a great, great day!"

Maternity Leave

... has officially begun!  I am home.  It's bliss.

We spent all of Saturday together.  Enjoyed the DIA (Detroit Institute of Art), browsed the art and then came home for a glorious nap.  It was truly such a easy-going anniversary.  I loved it - although I missed the little monkey from time to time but I knew he was having a ball at Apko's house. We woke up really late - about 10:30 pm and felt famished.  We decided Chinese would be great at midnight so we got dressed and went out to a place called Jade. We had a really good time. We laughed and laughed.  I ordered Bean-sprout Noodles, with no bean-sprouts.  LOL.  Then for my combo - substitute egg roll for spring roll, hot and sour soup for Wonton, and no bean-sprouts in my bean-sprout noodles.  We were laughing to the point of tears.  The Asian waitress was not impressed.

Sunday was nice too.  Seeing hubby lead the worship service was great.  I loved the song line up and I really felt like the church was really encouraged to see him up there getting involved and really loving it.  The small little church officially has a name: Faith Community Church.  Pretty straight forward.  I like it.  This Sunday I will be preparing the lesson for the KIDS program - The Tower of Babel.  Any fun suggestions?  I was thinking of bringing the game Jenga.  You know, building a tall tower, and I can say that we all speak different languages (ie. I speak Romanian too and some of these kids speak Slavic languages).  I can tell the kids that we can only speak in the other languages that we know.  Seems like it'll be fun.  :)  Any other suggestions?  What would work as a snack?  To go with the theme... something to do with languages or towers...

Then we spent yesterday and today working on hubby's small business paperwork.  It's kindda funny.  The guest bedroom needs to become the baby room.  But then that means we have to move the guest bedroom.  So that means we have to finish the basement.  To finish the basement we needed to move hubby's office out of it.  So, guess where it went.  In the guest bedroom!  So that poor room is going from a guest bedroom to an office to a nursary all in three months.  As soon as the basement is done the office is moving down there again and that room will finally meet his final destination - baby room.  And you better believe with the crazy nesting kick that I'm on - it's gonna get done.

To give you a glimpse into this hyper-drive "nesting stage" that most preggos go through during the last few months of the pregnancy:

Sunday after lunch, while Noah took a nap, I went outside in the back yard and weeded my entire flower garden.  It runs the length of the back of my yard.  I haven't weeded since Easter time (well, I haven't but my father-in-law came over and did it once since then - I love Apko!).  So, completely devoured by mosquitoes, I came in, showered and lathered on Benedryl cream.  Then in the evening I decided that my vegetable garden would be jealous if I don't tent to it a bit too.  So hubby, Noah and I all ventured out in the backyard once again.  While hubby cleaned the BBQ, and Noah played hockey and chased "butterflies" with his blue net, I weeded the vegetable garden, pulled out my ever-expanding mint (I must have pulled about 2/3 of it) and replanted two tomato plants.  Nate took Noah in at some point during that whole thing and gave him a bath, pjs and cuddles while mama was still working away at the garden. The sun set and it was getting dark fast.  I put away all the tools, raked the weeds, bagged them and brought in all that mint.  After singing Noah his bedtime song, I washed all the mint and hung it all up in my laundry room.  I have about 6 or 7 bundles.  I love peppermint tea so how perfect is that going to be?  And to top it all off - I showered again and then we watched a movie.  That sounds crazy right?  All in one afternoon.  I felt like I had super-human determination.  I really didn't know that nesting applies to the outside of your house as well as the inside.

It's so nice to be taking care of business around the house.  I get such a sense of accomplishment.  I can exhale and smile.  Then reward myself with something all for me.  Like Pride & Prejudice last night.  The newest version.  Such a great movie.  Nate was out at hockey, Noah was tucked away in bed and sleeping and I was lost in the world of Mr. Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennett.  I can watch that movie a million times.

I still dream of work.  TO DO lists and mail and phones and appointments.  I'm sure with time they'll be less and less.  And I'll dream more and more of babies... and diapers, spit-up, crying, and 4 am feedings.  I truly can't wait - and I'm not being sarcastic one bit.

Last Day on the Job

Today is the last day.  Starting Monday I am a full time mom.  For a year a bit anyways.  I am so excited.  I can barely contain it.  Today is dragging on though, of course. 

I have a pretty lengthy TO DO list to wrap everything up at my desk, but I am hesitant to get started.  And I'm not sure why.  Maybe I'm still waking up, maybe I'm afraid to be ALL DONE my list and then to just twiddle my thumbs.  But maybe that won't be so bad.  Maybe I'll get to leave early ;)  Doubt it. 

I woke up this morning with a smile on my face.  Last day. 

Tomorrow is our 6 year anniversary.  We are celebrating it by going out to our favorite restaurant in the Ritzy part of town after spending the whole day together.  We're planning on spending the day strolling the Arts Museum in the States and maybe some lite shopping.  The little monkey will be enjoying the day with his best friend (grandpa) - museums are so boring for toddlers.

When I first saw my hubbie ten years ago, he was strumming a guitar at the front of the church.  This Sunday, I get a chance to glimpse back since he will be leading the music at our little church.  He hasn't picked up his guitar in about two years so it's been nice to hear him singing and playing the guitar around the house this week.  He is pretty excited to be back into it and I am pretty excited too.  It was so much fun pouring over sheets of music, helping him pick up the song line-up for Sunday.  We sang and giggled and worshipped God on the living room floor last night.  It was really cool. 

I have so much to be thankful to God for today and I will make the best of it.  Off I go to get that TO DO list all finished, my desk cleaned out, files put away and random back room stuff in a box that I'll walk out with.  It's times like these that I wish I had a plant.  In the movies, they always have a plant when they leave the office with one of those boxes on the last day. 

Placo's Flood

On a down note, this weekend there were some huge storms in our hometown and there was some crazy water coming down! My in-laws live in a beautiful 10 year old home with a huge finished basement so we've been storing our stuff in there. When I moved down here to get married all my journals and albums came with me and went down there; after we got married a lot of our wedding mementos (guest book, tiara, gloves etc) along with wedding albums and some unopened gifts; and then after Noah grew out of the infant stage - all his pack'n'plays and cradle swing and exersaucers and teething toys and rattles and stuffed animals... all this stuff went in the my in-laws basement. Right along with some scrapbooks and journals of mine that are a little more recent. After the huge storm this weekend my in-laws had about one to two feet of water in their basement. The city storm sewers backed up and the sump pump wasn't working because more water was coming in then it could pump out. Most of these items I listed - soaked. All with the exception of most of the albums and the journals.  Only one jounal and one album was damaged...

We called their insurance company and the city. When we called about 10 hours after the storm there was over 80 claims already submitted due to the same storm. They told us there may be a wait until they get someone out to us.

Yesterday morning the adjuster came by with a moving crew, cleaning crew and a ton of water damage restoration equipment. I went in to work and tried not to think of it. At 10 am hubbie called me at work asking if there is any possibility of letting my work know that I have an emergency personal matter to attend to and to boogie on over to my in-laws. The adjuster was going to have the crew go through all the stuff and lugging all the stuff out that needs to be tossed and replaced. We had to make some decision. What was to be "cleaned" and was going to be "replaced". Nate mentioned "Noah's teddy bears" and I just lost it. I started crying at work and said I had to go and attend to this emergency.

So I sped over to my in-laws and tried to keep my composure as they lugged out the dripping excersaucer and the pack'n'play. We took pictures and wrote them all down with dollar mounts. But how do I put a dollar amount on Noah's first discoveries that happened while playing with those items? Sure they are just items and they are replaceable, but there is so much work to be done now and we were so all set for this next baby. Now it's square one again. And my other concern is whether this will be settled within the next 2 months - before the baby. 

[sigh]

Hubbie has been great and supportive and encouraging.  He's reminding me to look on the bright side - new stuff for the baby, up-to-date on all the new safety features and totally clean.  So that is true.  And this way my in-laws had lots of help cleaning out their basement and getting rid of all the old couches and the rugs and the junk that usually accumulates in one's basement.  They didn't really lose anything of value at all.  Everything down there is replaceable and their "superior" INS coverage will cover it all.  So that is great.  Right?  It's too bad, but there is a silver lining.  A blessing in disguise.

Canada: Disability Tax Credit

So I signed up for TuDiabetes a couple of weeks ago and finally got myself on there to check it out.  I joined one of the groups, Canadians, and I instantly found a wealth of information.  I guess since I am diabetic I am eligible for the Disability Tax Credit in Canada and that dates all the way back to my diagnosis in 2005.  This is because I am on "Life Sustaining Therapy" that takes more than 14 hours every week.  Someone on the TuDiabetes forum had even posted a detailed template of how we come up to 14 hours a week.  I will include it here in case that any other Canadian out there needs to file for this:

PUMP ACTIVITIES:


a) Changing tubing and catheter every 2-3 days

- cleaning area once found unused area

- filling up syringe

- priming tubing

- changing batteries if low

30 minutes X 3 = 90 minutes (1.5 hours) per week

b) Checking for air bubbles daily

Checking site daily

2 minutes X 7 = 14 minutes per week

c) Reviewing basal rate and change if necessary

Reviewing bolus calculation re: insulin/carbohydrate ratio

Reviewing blood sugar readings - looking for trends

20 minutes X 4 = 80 minutes per week

d) Troubleshooting:

- Messages and/ or alarms received by pump

- clear

- troubleshoot

- reset

5-6 / week X 5 minutes = 25-30 minutes per week



SENSOR (CGMS) ACTIVITIES (where applicable)

- Inserting infusion set

- Taping + connection

30 minutes / week

- Initialization + calibration

- Responding to alerts/alarms

- Double checking with meter check, and doing proper correction

20 minutes/day X 7 = 140 minutes / week



TESTING

a) Self blood glucose monitoring:

- proper hand washing before every test

Frequency:

- Wake up

- Before meals and 2 hours every meals

- Before snacks

- At bedtime

- Before and after exercise

- Reviewing readings

- Calibrating strips

- Retesting when not enough blood, when error

10 minutes X 6-12 per day = 60-120 minutes per day X 7 = 420-840 minutes per week

b) Managing periods of variable control

- Testing blood sugars to confirm change

- Testing B.S. after treatment

- Administering treatment

- Recuperating from extreme of fluctuation

- Logging in log book management strategy

40 minutes X 2-4/ week= 80 –160 minutes per week

c) Driving:

- Testing before, to rule out/prevent any lows (Ontario Ministry of Transportation requirement)

- Testing every 2-3 hours when driving

8 minutes X 2/day X 7 += 112 minutes per week



TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME SPENT BY PUMP USER PER WEEK…without sensor…: 821-1326 minutes ( 13.7-22.1 hrs ) per week



TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME SPENT BY PUMP USER PER WEEK….WITH SENSOR…: 991-1496 minutes (16.5-24.9 hrs ) per week


That sounds crazy eh? So I filled in the form T2201 and took it to my endo appointment yesterday.  He gladly signed it and filled in some details.  I included a cover letter just stating when I was diagnosed and all that and a copy of that template. 

Now we wait. And my accountant will send in the adjustment for the previous 5 years. I guess it can make a huge difference on your taxes. If you guys have any questions about this, I will do my best to answer them.

Then I found out some more info about sensors and a bunch of other stuff.  It's a great community of peeps.  I am looking forward to going on mat leave this Friday (insane eh?) and then spending more time on my blog, getting the new name for the blog underway (can't wait for the big reveal ;) and also getting on TuDiabetes and learning as much as I can.

On another note, at the endo. appt yesterday my A1C was 6.1.  Sooo excited.  The doc is proud.  And since I am an avid people-pleaser, this made my day.  I asked him if he is looking for even better numbers.  He said, my numbers and my A1C are great right now, but if I want to "go for the gold" to aim for an A1C of 5.7.  So I will bring down my wake up sugars (from 6.5, 7.1, 6.9 etc to 4s and 5s) and try and get my before dinners down from 8s and 9s to 6s and 7s.  I will work hard at this.

Since my insulin resistance is so high now I was replacing the insulin reservoir every day and a half.  It was really frustrating.  My Paradigm 522 only holds 180 units.  So my fabulous team at my endo's office lent me a Paradigm 722 that holds 300 units of insulin.  It's so great to have the support of a great team of health care professionals.  And they were able to do my A1C right there in the office again -  I didn't have to go for blood work.  I love my team!

Today's Dinner - TACO RING

One of my hubbie's favorites.  I had about three of those "sections" which is about three croissants.  I told my pump I'm having 70g of carbs (a little on the higher side but I wanted to be sure to cover it).  I  bolused and my sugar (now 2 hrs later) is 7.4   Boo-yeah!

Here's the recipe.  It's delicious.

Taco Ring

• Time 20 minutes
• Serves 8

Ingredients

---

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 pkg taco seasoning mix
• 1 cup (4 oz) cheddar cheese
• 2 Tbsp water
• 2 8 oz refrigerated crescent rolls
•  
• Garnish:
• Green bell pepper
• Salsa
• Lettuce
• Tomato
• Chopped onion
• Pitted ripe olives
• Sour Cream

How to make it

---

• Preheat oven to 375 F
• Brown ground beef and drain grease.
• Stir in taco seasoning, water and cheese.
• Unroll crescent rolls and separate. Arrange triangles in a circle on a round baking stone with wide ends overlapping in center and points toward the outside. There should be about a 5 inch diameter in the center.
• Scoop meat mixture evenly onto widest ends of dough at center of ring. Bring points in and over and tuck underneath the wide end.
• Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.
• You can garnish with bell pepper, lettuce, salsa, tomatoes, onion, sour cream, olives, etc.