pumping...the first few days

Tuesday, at 1:00ish our trainer walked us through a total set change with insulin and got all of the ratios, target BG and basal set on Bekah's pump. We did a BG check 442! Was Bekah nervous much? I think so. Poor thing. She did great with her set change. Didn't even flinch. She wants to do one her self soon. She has been practicing with the empty set sans the needle. By the next BG check, Bekah was in range, 174, heading toward the goal of 120. We saw numbers in the 100s all day. The basal was set to temp 0 until 12AM when the Lantus should have worn off from the night before. 3 AM check was 76. We treated it with one 15 cb juice box and got 130, 15min later. That was the first night time low that only took one treatment. She held pretty steady waking up with a 145. Day two was mostly 130ish except for a random low late afternoon. Then at midnight we got an 80 again only one treatment to bring it up. Then pretty much the same scenario happened today as yesterday with numbers in the 130ish and then a crash in the late afternoon. The Animas nurse decided it would be a good idea to lower the basal rate on Bekah's pump to 0.175. I am hoping we don't see many highs with this new setting.

After dinner tonight, my husband ran to the store for milk and bought a brownie mix that he whipped up when he got home. (yes I married well) We had a night time snack of brownies which I had cut in to 10 carb (or bite sized) squares. Bekah wanted another brownie but instead of asking for one she started jumping and spinning around so her BG would go low and she'd get another with out a fuss. She was successful to my dismay and got her wish. BG check =81 and a small brownie seemed like the best was to get a slow steady BG increase. I told her the next time she tried to go low on purpose, she'd get liver and onion flavored carbs. (not sure where to get that but maybe the threat will be enough) I don't want to torture her and getting that BG up fast is important but I didn't like her game and am certainly not going to encourage it.

Today we went to a picnic at my mom's work. I saw many people that I know. My mom has been with the company since I was about 10. My mom is an educational therapist for a pediatric therapy center. She created and teaches a preschool program to 2.5 year olds with special needs. In our state the kids with special needs start school at 3. 3hrs a day 5 days a week and they ride the bus. Both the kids and their parents need a transition so that is why my mom created the program they have. One gal (I know she was well meaning) asked me about Bekah and then asked if we had it all figured out. I know she didn't realize what she was asking and was trying to be kind and show some care. I have to admit though that is one of the most frustrating questions that I get asked. ALL FIGURED OUT would mean that I, a mere human, knew the complexities and intricacies of a human organ created by God Himself and was adept at second guessing the way Bekah's body was going to react to everything she puts in it. That is not taking in account sick days, growth spurts, hormones, nerves etc. Humans were not meant to play the roll of the pancreas but I do give it my best shot. I will NEVER have it ALL FIGURED OUT.

As I have been typing this out, I stopped to check Bekah's BG for the 12AM check. 244! I decided to leave it alone and see what happens for the 3 Am check.

The other issue that we are having is my sweet little girl fights back tears every time we give her a bolus. She says it hurts just as the insulin is being delivered. She rarely cried for an injection and doesn't even flinch when we put a new set in. I feel so bad for her. I offered to do a set change. She won't have that though. We had decided that Sat mornings and Tuesday after school would be the best time to do those changes so she is holding out. I'm going to try to talk her in to changing it tomorrow. (later today) She is such a rule follower though, she'd rather suffer that break the routine that we have set up.

It's getting late and my head is bobbing between sentences so I'm going to post this now. Please forgive any punctuation and spelling errors.

One quick questions for fellow pumpers. What does the site look like when you remove an old site? (Bekah has a small red bump that looks like a vaccine was given in that spot, I'm just wondering if that is normal)

Oh and one other quick note. David had his 18 month well child check up. I do selective vaccinating and only give one at a time to keep his body from being overwhelmed. With all of the autoimmune stuff in our family, I just figure it is better to be safe. Anyway he got his final DTaP and didn't even flinch. I showed him the shot and told him it was like Bekah's insulin and it was going to keep him healthy and all I got was a look like ouch but no tears, no yelling, no nothing. I was so proud of him and I know it is because he has such a brave example to look to every day as she rarely complains about all of the injections she gets. (I know some of you who read my blog are anti-vax, I have done the research and this is what I feel fits my family best)