The days of “sit at that table until you’ve cleaned your plate” are fading fast. We’re learning that the way many of our parents treated food was… problematic, to say the least. Now, many parents lean more towards encouraging children to listen to their bodies. Eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re full. No force-feeding, no using food as a punishment. It’s much more natural and causes fewer power struggles. But then, T1D throws a wrench in the whole process. All of a sudden, you go from having an empowered child who listens to their body to a picky eater who isn’t eating the food that they’ve gotten insulin for.

So you want to go on a date night. Ever since your child’s diagnosis, you’ve been stressed, exhausted, and you feel your relationship with your partner being taken over by finger pokes, carb counting, and insulin injections. You deserve a night out. You need a night out. But it was difficult enough leaving your child with a babysitter before diabetes. How can you have a care-free experience with your partner if you’re constantly worried about how the babysitter is handling your child’s complex medical condition?
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Parenting isn’t an easy job. There’s no “right” way to parent, no pamphlet or manual with all the answers, and yet, everyone has opinions about what you’re doing wrong. Similarly, doing the job of an organ isn’t an easy job. There’s no manual teaching you how to be a pancreas. Doctors don’t have all the answers. Other people with T1D don’t have all the answers. And yet, everyone has opinions about what you should be doing differently with your T1D child.

When he came home from school, I was waiting to look at his meter. I had received a text from the school saying that he had a very high blood sugar level around lunchtime. I couldn’t think off the top of my head why that would have happened. The pump site was fine, his insulin was good, he didn’t have anything out of the ordinary in his lunch. His blood sugar was in range at 10:00 for recess, up to 21.4 by lunchtime (about 385mg/dL), and back down to normal range at 2:00 after his insulin and lunch. So, what had happened? [Read more…]

This is for you

For the Mama who was up all night fighting highs or lows while her child slept.

For the Mom who slept through the night because she knows if she gets up every two hours, she can’t function the next day.

To the Mama who switched the whole family to a low-carb diet to get those straight lines on her child’s CGM in the hopes of avoiding long-term damage.

To the Mom who kept her child’s diet exactly the same, and works hard to figure out when to use extended bolusing, adjusted basal rates, or a super bolus.

For you Mama, who went back to work to pay for your child’s medical bills and to support your family.

For you Mom, who quit your job because you couldn’t let a stranger take care of the unpredictable disease your child has.

The Mom who has all the latest T1 tech for her child.

The Mama who lets her child go without the tech because they don’t want it. Respecting their wishes even though a pump or CGM may make her worry less.

To the Mom who has to do every finger poke and injection because her child can’t do it themselves.

To the Mama who is taking a step back, letting her child learn to manage their disease, even if they make some mistakes along the way.

To You

Who has forgotten a bolus, mixed up long-acting and rapid-acting insulins, miscalculated a carb count.

Who has slept through an alarm, forgotten to bring low treatment on an outing, didn’t pack enough supplies for a trip.

To the Mom who put her child in therapy because she was concerned about her child’s mental well-being.

To the Mama who cries at night, still grieving the life her child could have had.

You, who cries with your child, because sometimes diabetes really sucks.

You, who is miles away from your child, yet you still wake up in the night worried about their blood sugar.

And You

Who is on the sidelines, waiting to check blood sugar and give some juice if necessary before sending them off to play some more.

Who educates friends and family so that your child can go to sleepovers and playdates.

To you, Mom, who finds a way to say “yes” even when it’s terrifying you to let go.

To you, Mama, who sends her child to camp and on field trips even though it’s scary.

You, who has found your “new normal” and takes it in stride… most of the time.

And you, who is overwhelmed and can’t grasp this ever being normal.

To every Mama of a child with type 1 diabetes

You are doing a good job. More than good. You are doing an amazing job! You have taken the job of being another person’s organ, a job that no one in their right mind would ever want, and you’re figuring it out.

You’re playing nurse, nutritionist, pharmacist, researcher, and therapist more than other moms do.

You didn’t ask for this. But you’re rocking it! Yes, there are some bumps along the road. That’s ok. You’re human.

You are strong, and you are brave. You fight every day to make your child’s life “normal”, to put them first. And they can see it.

You are the expert in your child’s disease. Whichever way you handle it, even if it’s different from how other people do, that’s the right way for you and your family.

Most people don’t understand that T1D is a complicated disease that needs attention 24/7. But you do.

Mama of a child with type 1 diabetes, you are a HERO.

~ With Love from: A Mama who understands

For more tips and stories about T1D, join the Carb Counting Mama email list, and make sure to head over to the Carb Counting Mama Facebook page and “like” it.

Your child has been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and Halloween is fast approaching. You have been concerned about what to do with all the candy. Should you skip trick or treating entirely? Should you go anyway to allow your child to feel more “normal”?

When you ask more experienced T1 parents how to approach trick or treating with T1D, you are met with an overwhelming, “do what you did before diagnosis. Go trick or treating. Let them be a kid.” But to a parent of a newly diagnosed T1 kiddo, that can be a scary concept. How exactly do you do what you did before while managing T1D?

Here are some tips and tricks that will allow you and your child to enjoy Halloween, even with T1D tagging along.

When my son’s blood sugar goes low, we treat it. It comes back into normal range with one or two “doses” of sugar. But this time, it didn’t. It wasn’t because of his diabetes, it was because of something he did. He caused a low that could have given him a seizure. He caused a low that could have put him in a coma. And he did it for one simple reason. [Read more…]

My son was two months shy of his third birthday when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. In an instant, we went from everyday normal playing and enjoying life with our family and friends to being completely overwhelmed and bombarded with new and scary information. It’s hard to stay positive when something so shocking happens.

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