Day 3

This is a picture of the kids and their meters... Do you know how excited Madi was that we found a pink meter!!?? All of hers are pink or purple..Craigs are blue and green.... Exciting huh??! Ha... well this picture also shows what their numbers look like lately.. Craig is right on target.. Madi always seems high.. close or at 300... but she wakes up great at about 120... Her goal is 150 like Craigs... She is very sensitive to carbs, meaning she needs more insulin for carbs..but she is also sensitive to excersize especially swimming.. we went yesterday and she was low 3 times when we swam for 2 hours... SO they cant give her much more insulin because the lows are scary especially for someone who is 4.. Craig being 12 can feel when his glucose is getting low..but for madi, she doesnt know the difference, yet. Its all a balancing act!!

Day 2

Today instead of sharing 1 picture, I wanted to share a quick note about each child, and a few pictures from their hospital stay, since they were so recent..Tomorrow I will start my daily pictures!! I want this blog to be informative so people who read it will learn more about Type 1, know the faces that come with it, and learn that there is no cure for type 1 diabetes. SO first, Craig...

Craig
symptoms: frequent urination, super hungry and thirsty, weight loss, fatigue
The going to the bathroom a lot (every half hour) was what tipped us off that something was wrong.. My thoughts were maybe he had a urinary tract infection. I had no education on Type 1 and when we took him to the doctor and they said "diabetes" I knew nothing....I was scared and confused as well.  Craig is a very active and healthy kid, how can he have diabetes..Well, thats when I got educated..Type 1 diabetes is an auto immune disease..Nothing we or he did, caused this to happen. Yes we ha people tell us that it meant we needed to eat better..I even heard "Teri ate too much sugar when she was pregnant, thats why he got this" Believe me, I hated hearing all of the negative comments from uneducated people...But I had to remind myself that they are just that..un educated..they just dont know....  What we learned was that he most likely has the Type 1 gene..and when he recently got sick, it triggered that gene and his cells started to attack his pancreas..which is the organ that makes insulin...So eventually it will kill off his pancreas and he will need insulin for the rest of his life...We went to the hospital the next day and his blood was 432...We stayed at the hospital for 4 days...Got insulin, lots of shots and poke and a ton of education.

A few weeks later we volunteered at the tour de cure.

Madilyn
Sympotms: frequent urination (every 20 minutes)
Honestly I didnt even think it was diabetes.. We took her to the doctor because she was having to go to the bathroom a lot..   I figured we were wasting our money and that she was just a typical 4 year old and was too busy playing to go potty...But my husband called me from the doctors and said it was diabetes just like Craig..I couldnt believe it... I was in shock, and completely had a break down....She was 564 that night, so we rushed to the hospital and stayed for 3 days....Everything with Craig was hard, but with her, it was even harder...4 year old just dont understand..and she didnt...She screamed at everything and it was torturous! Even the blood pressure cuff stressed her out.  It was a very long 3 days, but it was nice to go home...In the next few posts, Ill share how she is doing now, which is amazing! She is a trooper!

our first night...

 she was so happy to be in the hospital playroom... she was able to be a kid..she loved doing activities..

 Playing the Ipad.... the hospital staff had an Ipad she got to play.. she liked that too!!

Here she is just week and a half after diagnosis...

Day 1

Madi 's follow up at the hospital....She likes her pink shirt!!  She was only diagnosed 2 weeks ago, and she is doing amazing!!! Hard to believe just 2 weeks ago she was screaming at every poke...