Gestational Diabetes

At my appointment earlier this week I did my standard glucose test and drunk that lovely sugary carbonated beverage. Well, the next day I got a call from the nurse that I indeed did NOT pass the initial glucose test.

I didn't worry about it too much as I actually didn't pass when I was Haken either. However, with Haken I ate strawberries at lunch right before and I think that messed up the results. I also ended up passing the 3 hour glucose test that I had to take.

This time, however, I made sure to eat a carb free breakfast so the results would for sure be accurate. The nurse said I barely didn't pass, but I still had to go back in and do the 3 hour glucose test later that week.

So, today I went in and did the 3 hour test at the hospital. It was actually kind of nice as I got to sit there for a solid three hours by myself doing whatever I wanted to do. I took the laptop with me and got my blog all updated through the summer. It's amazing how much I can get done when I don't have any distractions. Shad stayed home with the kids and it was a good thing that he did because Jack ended up having a pump site at school that wasn't working at all. When Shad went to go change it out it was completely kinked. We haven't had an incident like that in a while. I'm glad he was close enough to take care of it so we could get his blood sugar down.

During the test I actually felt a little bit nauseous in the beginning, probably due to the high blood sugar on an empty stomach because I had to go fasting that morning. I was done by 11:00 though, so it wasn't too bad.

On the way home from the hospital I got a call from the nurse. I did NOT pass the 3 hour glucose test and so I am now considered a gestational diabetic.

This was so weird to me as I thought I was actually being really healthy this pregnancy. I was eating a salad a day for pretty much my whole pregnancy. I was trying to exercise regularly, although the last few weeks I had been a little lazier as I just didn't have the energy and thought carrying twins was a good excuse to sleep in instead of wake up and work out.

Apparently, you are more prone to have gestational diabetes if you are carrying multiples and have a history of diabetes in your family. Obviously, we have type 1 that runs in our family, but my dad was also technically considered type 2 so I think it is something that I will need to watch for in the future.

Because my numbers were technically "right on the line" she said to start by managing it with diet and then we will see where it goes from there. I have to check my blood sugar in the morning before I eat, 2 hours after lunch, 2 hours after dinner, and at bedtime. She was going to order me in a blood glucose monitor and test strips but I told her that we have an extra meter and lots of strips because of Jack, so we didn't worry about getting a new prescription.

Jack is kind of loving the fact that I get to check my blood sugar with him. Although, my numbers do look a bit different than his. I am supposed to be under 95 when fasting and under 120 after a meal and before bedtime. I think they just like to see that I am coming down on my own. By looking at my fasting blood glucose they can also see whether that is happening overnight as well. If it starts to rise, then that means it is not well controlled and I need to do more than just managing it with a low carb diet.

This pregnancy has been really easy so far so I thought something like this was bound to happen eventually. I am determined to keep it under control though because I read about the effect it can have on the babies like having low blood sugar when they are born and even making them more prone to being diabetics later in their lives. It sure is going to be a challenge though with the holidays coming up.

Say a little prayer for me.

“You’ve got your hands full”

I don’t normally go out with all five of my kids alone. In fact, I actually avoid going out by myself with even one or two kids. I try to do my shopping when I have a sitter or when Shad is home, or I just shop online. It isn’t because they behave terribly, they are actually really good in public. I  more just enjoy shopping (even grocery shopping) alone and it is “me time.” I don’t have to worry about one of the kids asking for this or that, I can compare prices, and actually move through the store a lot faster without them. Then there’s the buckling in and out of car seats as we hop to different stores...don’t miss that at all when I’m out on my own.

Today was Jack’s quarterly endocrinologist appointment. The closest Endo is an hour and 20 mins away in Peoria so we make the trek over there 4 times a year. I usually try to schedule it during school hours and just pull him out and try to get sitters for the others because it is nice to have some alone time with him, but once a year I have to take them all with me so that the others can get their blood drawn for the trial net study. That day was today and this year it was a much better experience as they now only require a finger prick instead of a complete blood draw for the study. Not a single one cried and Ruby was even begging for it to be her turn. They said that she was the youngest one that they have done successfully so far using this new method. Everyone got their prizes and were all smiles when we left. Jack also had a healthy check up (although his A1C is back up to 8.8, but it is probably due to the unpredictability of the summer months routine).

As we were leaving there were some pharmaceutical sales people at the front desk. One of them said “well you’ve got your hands full,” then we talked about how I was going to have twins in December too. They were both very sweet explaining that one of them had 8 kids and the other had identical twin girls. My unusual amount of kids is always a great conversation starter.

After the doctor appointment we went to Wendy’s during the lunch rush.  My kids were pretty well behaved except for the top of the lungs screaming by Benny as I was ordering. I swear three’s are way worse than two’s. I went back and forth on whether we should stick around Peoria and go to the children’s museum or not, but decided to go as the kids were under control once they had full bellies.

As we were walking out the door a man held the door open for me as I walked out holding the hands of the two little ones and said “well you’ve got your hands full.” Then I had my three others follow me out afterwards. I wonder if he could tell I was pregnant too. No wonder his eyes popped out of his head. 2-3 kids is pretty typical here in the Midwest. We are somewhat of a freak show with five going on seven.

We had a great day at the children’s museum and I’m glad that we decided to stay. I was very grateful to have Haken there to help even though he really just wanted to go home. Children’s museums aren’t really his thing anymore unless they have some older kids activities and this one was sparse in that area. I needed him for the extra hands and eyes to keep track of them all.

At the end of the day, I am reminded why I don’t do outings like this all of the time by myself. I am tired. I needed a bath with the jets on tonight because although at home I don’t feel like I “have my hands full” I think it becomes more apparent as I go places with them, it is physically draining, especially when pregnant. However, I made a promise to myself that if I was going to have a lot of kids we were still going to go do things together. I want to make sure that they have experiences and look back to remember that we made the effort to get out of the house.

I was recently listening to a Jim Gaffigan comedy routine where he was saying that people always say to him “you’ve got your hands full”  when they see him with all of his kids and he compares it to someone walking up to another person in a wheelchair at a dance and saying “I’m sure you don’t get out and dance much.” It made me laugh because it truly is pointing out t don’t know what else to say. I’m sure I’ll come up with some kind of fun response but for now I just reply with “yep, and I’ve got two more coming.”

Indiana Dunes

One of the huge advantages of having a daddy that travels is that sometimes we get to go with him. Because it is the end of the school year, Shad has been attending a lot of Seminary graduations. His last one was over Memorial Day weekend (May 30th) and was the furthest away (Valparaiso, Indiana), so we took advantage of the holiday and decided to do some family exploring. We stayed the night in a hotel Sunday and then headed to Indiana Dunes State Park in the morning which was only about 25 minutes away.

We had a fantastic time on the shores of Lake Michigan. I always knew it was a big lake, but you don't realize how big until you are there. It really does feel almost like an ocean without the huge waves and without being salty. You can't see the other side of the lake (although we could kind of make out the Chicago skyline in the distance). The sand there was so amazing! It was the finest most beautiful sand of any lake I have ever seen.

Benny was in love with the sand. He loved throwing it along with the rocks. We had sand in every little crease by the end of the day.

One thing that really made the day awesome was the friends that we found on the beach. We set up all of our stuff and then another family (with 5 kids) set their stuff up next to us. I could tell almost right away that they were Mormon just listening to their conversations. Our kids were about the same ages and they became instant friends. They live in Chicago and were just there for the day too. The other great part was that the father and one of the sons is also diabetic and have pumps. So, while Jack was plugging in his pump and checking his blood sugar, they were too!

Before we left we got their phone number and became friends on Facebook so that we could keep in touch. The next week we also found out that they are cousins with Bill Holmes who is in the branch presidency with Shad! It's such a small Mormon world! It was actually really great because Bill had lost touch with them after going to school and we found them for him.

Although I really do enjoy our outings together just with our little family, I thought it was a huge tender mercy that the Lord sent us some "Mormon cousins" for us to play with that day and especially ones that we had so much in common with. The Lord really is watching out for us as we are away from so many of our close family and friends.

One funny story while we were there: Some of the kids were playing about 10 yards from our "base camp" on the beach in a small stream leading into the water. Gracie wanted to go over there to join Shad and the other kids. I told her to start walking that direction and you would see him. I was watching Benny and didn't want to walk over there. Then, about 15 minutes later I looked over there and didn't see Gracie. I went and asked Shad where she was. He said he thought she was with me. Then, right on cue, the loud speaker for the beach comes on and we hear "We have a lost little girl. Her name is Grace and she is wearing a purple seahorse swimming suit and carrying a blue bucket. If she is your child please come and pick her up at the life guard station." Shad went running and hitched a ride on a 4-wheeler to the life guard station. He found her there, surrounded by 10 lifeguards, doing a coloring page, and talking their ears off. They thought she was the cutest thing ever. Apparently she walked in the other direction, someone noticed she was wandering by herself, and brought her to the lifeguard station. Later  as we were walking to the bathroom and passed the life guard station all of the life guards said "Hi Grace!" She had made some pretty good friends. It's going to be a little joke for a while.

There are lots of great hikes to do in the Indiana Dunes park, but by the time we were done with the beach, the kids were beat and ready to go home. Next time we will have to try out some of the hikes before we hit the beach and cool off in the water.

And baby makes 4...

What?! Did I just say four? How the heck do I have 4 children? I remember after having Haken, having two miscarriages, and struggling to get pregnant, I thought I would never have more than one child. I wondered how people got pregnant so easy and why it was so hard for us. I wondered if I would only have one child to focus on for the rest of my life. Through my experiences in the last 6 years I have come to realize that God is good. He hears us and he knows what we need. Patience has never been a strong point of mine and He found a way to test it. Now I hear Him almost laughing and saying "you wanted more children, right?" I am very much at peace and feel his love as I sing to each one of my kids at night before they go to sleep. God is good indeed.

Although my husband has documented the birth through pictures on his blog I decided I needed to give a little more detail on our experience. The birth of our children are by far the best days that we have had together as a couple. Everything about a birth is miraculous and these days become those that I will never forget. There is nothing closer to heaven than the death of someone you love and the birth of a child.

Bennion Steve Anderson came to our family on February 9th at 9:56 AM weighing 7lbs 2 oz and 20" 

At 2:45 AM I was awoken by a dream that I had peed my pants. I got out of bed realizing that although it was a dream, I was indeed wet. Sure enough I kept leaking so I knew this was for real. The baby was coming TODAY. I was actually very relieved because during the last two weeks I had lower back pain and cramping which made me feel like I was going into labor soon. I had no idea it would actually come two weeks later. All of my other children were born around 38 weeks and this baby waited until 39 weeks. I was not overdue, but I felt like I was in comparison to my other pregnancies. Again, the Lord knew what we needed and held the baby off for a week knowing that we were dealing with a very sick diabetic Jack. He had the stomach flu all week long. After an ER visit, some Zofran, and a few glucagon shots we were able to get it under control but it was not a very fun week.

At 3:00 AM we called my neighbor across the street to sit with the kids while my mom and sister drove up. When we got to the hospital I was having contractions about every 10 minutes but not anything very hard. When I was admitted I was dilated to a 5 but not really in pain. I think I had about 5-6 contractions total before I got my epidural. I thought for just a split second about going natural, but for only a second.

I was glad that I had that epidural when the contractions started to show up on the screen one after the other. I did, however, get nauseous and throw up once due to the contractions but that was the most uncomfortable I really got.

At 9:00 AM I called my mom at my house and told her to hurry over because I was starting to feel pressure. By 9:30 I was complete and ready to push. Luckily she got there with a few minutes to spare. I pushed for two sets and then he was out.

Because we didn't know the gender of the baby, it was quite a different experience from the rest of my children. The other three births were much more emotional for me. This was more a feeling of excitement. I couldn't wait to look down and see the gender on that last push. I was surprised as I thought that he was a girl the entire pregnancy. I had guessed the other kids right but he threw me for a loop. I wasn't as sick with this pregnancy so it felt a lot like my Gracie. I was more sick with the boys. Apparently that isn't so much an indicator for me after all. I wasn't at all disappointed to add another boy to the family. He is already such a little sweetheart and we can't get enough of him.

The boys fight over who gets to hold him. Gracie is indifferent to having him there. Although I can tell she is just fine with being the little princess of the family. She will be lucky to have three brothers to watch over her.

I love having a newborn in the house again. There really is a special spirit that they bring and each time I have another I realize how quickly they leave the newborn stage and grow up. I find myself just cuddling cheek to cheek with him and not ever wanting to put him down. I am tired, but I have never been happier and can't believe I am now a mother of four.

Walk the walk

Every year JDRF does a 3 mile walk to raise funds for type 1 diabetes research. We haven't even been through a year of diabetes with Jack and I am already hoping for a cure everyday. I am so happy for all of the technology that is out there but honestly it gets really old day after day trying to manage it all. My hat goes off to people who have dealt with this for years on end or virtually their whole life. After 9 months I am so ready to be done and pray for a cure.

This is why I felt that we needed to do our part this year and participate in the fundraising for JDRF by participating in the walk. I was amazed at the response from our friends and family. So many donated and we ended up doubling our goal of $200. I honestly didn't know what to expect when I made our goal. I hate asking people for money, especially when I already feel like they give so much. Our family and friends were so generous and didn't even think twice about it. It's really hard to resist a donation in behalf of cute little Jack.

We also had my parents, one of my friends, and my brother and sister-in-law and their boys come up for the the actual walk in Logan. It was so fun to have their support there for our little super Jack-Jack. I think Jack loved the attention and had a really great day.

We are excited for the walk next year and already have an action plan to raise even more money. The future looks bright for diabetes research and I can't wait until Jack will reap the benefits of the generosity of our friends and family through JDRF research.

All of the T1D's at the walk posing for a picture

This lady was so sweet. Jack was looking uncomfortable so she
offered to have him hold her hand.

Helping cut the starting line. Jack really liked
the big scissors.

Super Jack

TEAM JACK-JACK

The Life of a Super Hero

During the month of November Jack said to me on more than one occasion that he was a super hero. He would say "Mom, I'm super Jack-Jack, and you are super mommy." This is significant to me because on December 16, 2013 Jack was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and really did become my super hero.

It has been a whirlwind the past couple of weeks and I have had a lot of people asking me questions. I have been meaning to write this post for a while to help answer some of these questions and I am just now getting to it. I am by no means an expert about diabetes. With this disease you learn by fire. We are still in the fire, so I am still learning something new everyday. There is a lot of trial and error involved and a huge learning curve involved. I'm sure by the time I get it all figured out Jack will be ready to do it all on his own.

Hopefully this post will help educate some of our family and friends on diabetes.  If nothing else it will help me to write down and review the information for myself. I honestly didn't know anything about diabetes before Jack was diagnosed except for that it involved high blood sugar and insulin.

Here are a few of the questions that I have been asked:

What is Diabetes?
I thought this video from youtube would be better at explaining diabetes than I could. It is 2 minutes long and explains it in a way that my 6 year old can understand.

Right now Jack is in what they call the "honeymoon" stage where his body is still producing some insulin, although it is a guessing game to know how much. My Dr. described it as wringing out a wet rag. You never really know how long you will be able to get a few drips out. It can last for weeks or months. This is why getting his dosages correct right now is kind of a guessing game.

What are the signs for Diabetes?
Of course when I talk to other moms about Jack being diagnosed they want to know what the signs are so that they can make sure their own children don't have any symptoms. It is something that can really sneak up on you. Especially in toddlers because a lot of the signs are common for really any toddler.

- increased thirst
- increased (or decreased) hunger
- increased urination
- weakness or fatigue
- weight loss
- blurry vision
- fast, deep breathing
- slow or confused thinking

The last few symptoms come when your blood sugar has reached its max. Your body starts breaking down your fat causing you to go into what is called DKA (Diabetic Ketoacidosis). It can be a very scary thing and these kids are very sick.

Fortunately, we caught Jack very early. Looking back I am not sure how long he was really showing signs of diabetes. The only signs that I saw were the week before his yearly check-up. He was always asking for water, peeing about every hour, waking up at night in a panic to use the bathroom, and fighting us at every meal to get him to eat.

I have told many people this, but I honestly think that the spirit was prompting me that something wasn't right and told me to ask questions. Two, almost 3 yr olds, are like this, so I have no other reason why I was lead to get him checked out. One night as Shad and I laid in bed my mind went to a conversation that I had with one of my friends whose son was diagnosed recently. I asked her what the signs were and she talked about frequent urination and loosing weight. Shad and I looked up all of the symptoms of diabetes, and although I didn't think they sounded like Jack at the time, I couldn't get the thought of diabetes off my mind.

This is what led me to ask the Dr. at his appointment a few days later. This was the first time that we had seen our new pediatrician and I wasn't sure how seriously he would take my concern, however, he immediately had him tested in the office and his A1C (a sample of blood that can tell the doctors what your blood glucose has been like in the past 3-4 months) indicated that he was indeed diabetic. He was an 8.7 where as a normal A1C is around 6.5

Honestly I was in a little bit of shock, especially when the doctor told us to pack our bags and get down to primary children's hospital in Salt Lake that night and expect to spend the next 2 days there. As we left the office I just kept thinking "but he's not sick." However, I heard from a number of people how lucky we were in finding out in this way. Unfortunately a lot of cases go unnoticed until something serious happens and they have no choice but to go to the hospital. I was able to finish my laundry, let Jack finish his nap, and have dinner with my parents before we were admitted into the hospital.

I wasn't always a believer in getting those yearly check-ups done with my children. I always did, but they were always healthy so I never worried. Now I know just how important they are. What if I would have put it off or not done it at all? What if I wouldn't have followed the promptings and asked questions? The timing couldn't have been any better.

So, my advice to all of the moms that have asked me if they should get their children checked because of things they have noticed, I would say "it doesn't hurt." Ask questions. All it takes is a urine test or a little finger poke for a peace of mind.

What causes type 1 diabetes?
Type 1 is more common in children or adolescents. It is the result of an autoimmune process, which is basically like a case of mistaken identity. Your body's immune system, which is responsible for protecting your body from invading illness, attacks your own healthy tissue by mistake. With type 1, the autoimmune process attacks the pancreas, damaging it so it can't produce enough insulin.

Scientists aren't sure what triggers the autoimmune process but there are two factors that seem to play a role:

- Genetics. People with diabetes are more likely to have inherited certain genes that make them vulnerable to the disease.

Jack doesn't have any immediate relatives with type 1, although my teenage cousin was diagnosed a few years ago and Shad also has a cousin with type 1. My other children will be tested since it does seem to run in families.

- Environment.  Something sets off, or "triggers," the autoimmune process in a person with a genetic tendency toward diabetes. The trigger could be a virus, a chemical, stress, or something else the person encounters in daily life.

I have wondered since diagnosis if all of the stress of moving to grandma's house and then to our new house this past year could have been his "trigger." Not to say that if we didn't move this wouldn't have happened. If it wasn't moving, it would have been something else later on. Diabetes doesn't happen suddenly, although it did seem that way. It happens over a matter of months or years in where the beta cells (those that produce insulin in the pancreas) are under attack. This is how they can actually test to see if you are at an increased risk for diabetes before you even show visible signs. The damage to the beta cells is detectable through tests.

Is it possible to grow out of type 1 diabetes?
No, Jack will have this for the rest of his life. He will need to manage his blood sugar through food and insulin until they find a cure, until someone creates an artificial pancreas, or until the resurrection comes. This sounds a little daunting to me. I try not to think about it too much and take one day at a time.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, Jack won't know any different once he gets older. This will be a way of life for him and something he will have always known. For those that are diagnosed later in childhood or adolescence know what it was like to live without diabetes.

How do you treat type 1 diabetes?
Diabetes is treated with basically two things: Food and insulin. Food brings the blood glucose up and insulin brings it back down (so essentially food is like medicine for Jack). Our goal is to keep Jack's blood sugar within a target range at all times. Since Jack produces no insulin (or will eventually produce no insulin) his blood sugar has to be treated using artificial insulin. This can be given through a shot or a pump that is attached to the body (something we hope to get before he starts school.)

There are two types of insulin:

- Long acting (basal): taken once a day and lasts 24 hours. This insulin stays in his body for a longer period of time and essentially gives him a small dose of insulin throughout the day to keep him in check. This dose stays the same everyday, but changes slightly as he grows and needs more insulin.

- Meal insulin (bolus): taken every time he eats. Since food brings up the blood sugar, this has to be counteracted with a calculated amount of insulin based on what he eats. For those without diabetes our bodies do this naturally based on what we eat.

 This is the tricky part of diabetes because everything that he eats has to be counted for carbohydrates to see how much insulin he will need for that particular food. If it is not calculated correctly or food is taken without insulin it could cause a high or low blood sugar which can cause complications.

Right now since he is on his "honeymoon" and doesn't eat very much he hardly ever has to have a bolus shot and is on a very low dose for his basal shot. Almost enough that it makes me wonder if it is worth dosing him at all.

Obviously, it is impossible to keep him completely within target range all of the time. You are continually correcting the highs with additional insulin and the lows with additional snacks. The goal is really to just make sure that everything stays in check all of time (or MOST of the time). As long as you know what is going on then corrections can be made. This is why we check Jack before he puts anything into his mouth so that we know how to treat him. We also check him even when he doesn't put anything in his mouth just for peace of mind. This includes checks at 2:00 am, which he hardly ever wakes up for.

How is Jack taking all of this?
Honestly, for anyone who knows Jack knows what a happy and carefree kid he is. Although he doesn't like the shots entirely well, and he would prefer not to check his blood when all he wants is a few crackers, I think he has accepted this new way of life already. The needles are so small that you really can't even feel them and I think he is already starting to develop some calluses on his tiny fingers.

He still can to anything that any other normal 3 yr old can do. His diet has not changed at all. He can still have snacks, candy, and his beloved peanut butter and honey sandwiches. He is not limited to a "sugar free" diet. Just like any kid, it is important for him to have a balanced diet and that still includes sweets. However, now everything he eats has to be counted, calculated, and a possible shot given. I think it will make him value what he eats that much more once he gets older.

How is our family handling this?
It has been a lifestyle change, a stress, a learning experience, but also a huge testimony builder for us. We have already learned to rely on the Lord for help and never to ignore promptings when they come (which I am sure will become more frequent than ever.) Haken has learned the value of empathy (a topic for another post), and Gracie has learned that she is not always going to be the center of the universe with our attention turned to other things lately.

We are taking it in stride, but that is because we have been blessed by some of the most amazing doctors, support groups, ward members, friends, and family. We have a stable job with insurance (something I will never take for granted again), and have had confirmation after confirmation of why/when/where things need to happen.

When I see my sweet little boy's fingers already developing "prick marks" my heart hurts a little, but then I realize that he is alive and I will take seeing that little drop of blood every few hours to see his sweet little smile every second of the day. Being a diabetic is not what it used to be. We live in a day when it is better understood and controlled than it has ever been.

It is an adjustment (probably the biggest understatement of my life), but nothing we can't handle. People do this everyday and we are going to take this disease one day at a time because being a super hero isn't supposed to be easy.