The past few weeks have been pretty uneventful. I feel like we have truly embraced our normal and taking care of our sweet child has just become routine. It’s almost as if the fates know these thoughts start going through my head “Take that diabetes” “We’ve got this” “We’re sleeping through the night” “She’s just like the rest of the kids on the playground” and BAM! Diabetes hits like a ton of bricks.
Just when we start to let down our guard a bit, we are smacked with reality. This past weekend Frankie and I decided to take the light rail to a swim meet to watch the kids swim, play with swim buddies and just enjoy the beautiful weather. Before we left I was on the phone with my mom who said “You really want to take the light rail and not have a car if you need to leave?” I knew what her undertones were “Do you really not want to have a car in case there is a diabetes related emergency?” I brushed off her comment, the funny thing is she gets that from me lately. I’m always the one who always wants to have an exit strategy. Always thinking about the what-ifs and highly unlikely scenarios. But come on, we aren’t going to skip the light rail, Frankie’s favorite form of transportation because it leaves us car-less. Hello, there is always Uberfamily.
Well, we’d been at our destination approximately 40 minutes when a bit of a panic came over me. She was running around with one of her favorite swim meet buddies, the 3-year-old son of fellow swim coaches. They hadn’t been running more than 20 minutes, when Frankie tripped and fell twice. Her first time tripping was when her foot hit a large divot in the grass — ok reason. The second time, I looked and there was no explanation. Mama instincts told me to check a blood sugar. 46?!? You’ve got to be freaking kidding me! I had checked right before we left the house (approx 75 minutes prior) and she was 188, which was perfect since I knew there would be lots of running around. Her sugar hadn’t been below 50 until this point, we have been pretty regimented about checking her when she plays and making sure she is eating lots of snacks. Ok, my kid is completely hypo-unaware, as are all 3 year olds. I embraced my new outlook of not freaking the fuck out, took a deep breath and treated the low. We sat in the grass, had a picnic of smarties, honey roasted peanuts, and did a temp basal decrease of 60%. The good news is she stayed in range the rest of the day. With the continuing running and playing and several uncovered carbs. Outside of a few quick blood sugar checks she looked like every other little one at the swim meet.
And you know what, life went on. It goes on every day. Fate just likes to remind us that we always need to keep our guard up just a bit.
Triumphs, Tantrums, and Type One 
That’s why I started carrying the glucagon everywhere. The same thought keeps going through my head when I try to just pack the bare essentials. The most terrible thing will always happen when I am not prepared for it. So I now go prepared and live my maternal life as a pack mule. Carrying water bottles, snacks, insulin, cold packs for hot days, glucagon, and my anxiety. Cause that goes with me everywhere.
LikeLike
Oh, that little red box hangs out in our blue diabetes GO bag at all times (and an extra one chills at home). I totally feel like a sherpa hauling supplies around.
LikeLike
And ibuprofen, but that’s for me. 😉
LikeLiked by 2 people
Wow! She is growing into that light rail seat. Can really tell a difference since our light rail excursion at the reunion.
It must be stressful but I see you building your confidence!
LikeLike