Dex & Jocelyn

When Johnny was diagnosed with T1D, the hospital staff and our Endo team took a lot of time to comfort us and make us feel like once we went home, we would just find a new routine and life would resume like normal.  Eh.... not quite... I guess we do have a new normal... but it really isn't the way they made it seem. 

I never immagened what a big world T1D would open to us.  There are so so many types of products for people with D.  There are cases, accessories, belts, coolers, toys, books, and on and on.  I learned about Insulin Pumps, and have decided that we really need to get Johnny on that type of insulin therepy as soon as possible.  We had set up private classes Johnny's team to fast track him to the pump before his little sister Jocelyn was born.  Very exciting.  Our Pump arrived and we are just waiting to do our training with the educators.

Another device that we learned about is known as a CGM, continuous glucose monitor.  There are some things that I have learned about that seem like they would be nice to have but THIS seems like it should go home with you the day you are diagnosed with T1D.  It is amazing how much it helps us manage Johnny's BG and keep him safe.

This grey transmiter is a device that is worn for 7-21 days, with a small bit inserted under the skin.

It gives blood glucose readings every 5 minutes to a remote reciever that you carry, as well as tells you if BG is going up/down and how quickly.

Sounds WONDERFUL!  Unfortunately it is not approved for use in kids under 18 years of age.  I almost didn't even request information because if it isn't approved for kids there is no way our insurance was going to cover it, and financially we are tapped out this year.  But... I met a woman with a boy the same age as Johnny and hers was covered!  I decided I had to at least find out.  Shockingly, it was approved by insurance and we recieved our Dexcom 7 just a week after submitting paperwork. 

Johnny wore it for the first day on Tuesday June 12th. 

It was really interesting to watch how his blood sugar reacted to each meal and snack.

Tuesday night, I couldn't sleep.  It turns out that our sweet baby girl wanted to make her entrance into the world 4 weeks early so we checked into the hospital at 3am Wednesday morning.  Grandma came over to take care of Johnny and I literally had no time to explain Dex to her, and my husband hadn't even learned yet.  After all it had been on for less than 24 hours.

Johnny's baby sister was born at 7:28pm on Wednesday 6/13/12.  She was 4 weeks early, 7 lbs 13 oz, and very healthy. 

I was so happy to have her with us that day, but I was disapointed that she came so late in the day.  The reason was that it was too late for Johnny to come up and visit us.  That was the first day of Johnny's life that we were apart.  I know he was in great hands and from what I hear, he was not upset that Mommy and Daddy were gone.  Daddy did come home and spend the rest of the week at home with Johnny, they came and visited Jocelyn and I every day.  Johnny has been an awesome big brother from the very first time he met her.

We have almost been a family of four for two weeks now, and we have yet to have to change out our Dexcom site.  We have a baby monitor that used to focus on Johnny at night, that now reads our Dex for us so we can keep an eye on his BG from our room, which provides more peace of mind than I can explain. 

Dex has been wonderful, but the real star of the past 2 weeks has been Jocelyn.  We are all so in love with her.  She has been a super relaxed baby so far, letting us all ease into this new routine.  She looks just like her big brother by the way!

Top: Jocelyn 2 days old, Johnny 1 week old
Bottom: Johnny 1 day old, Jocelyn 1 day old

Have I mentioned that life is wonderful?