My inspiration for this post is based on my current life situation. A few months ago, I was pregnant. Towards the end of my pregnancy I took a leave off of work. I would get up around 9am, eat breakfast, read, get some sun, eat lunch, take a nap, watch a movie rental, have dinner, and go to sleep early. I was so bored and didn’t know how good I had it.
Since my twins arrived on June 16th, I have had to evolve my entire schedule around these two very needy bundles of joy.
It has been almost 4 months and I’ve been pumping breast milk every 3 hours around the clock. (Which is when I work on this website) Once that is done, I bottle the milk, feed and burp each baby, change each baby, put each baby to sleep, and guess what? Start pumping again. If you are wondering how I slept at the beginning (when babies eat every 1.5 to 2 hours) let me just say: I didn’t. By month two I was hallucinating…seeing babies where there were none and confusing my baby boy for my baby girl and vice versa.
If I couldn’t even remember where I had left a baby to sleep (In my bedroom where there is an additional crib, in the nursery, or with my husband on the couch?) how could I possibly remember to check my blood sugar?
Here is what I did:
I cleared the dining room table and made it a “diabetes station” (knowing I wouldn’t be eating dinner there for about 6 months, anyway). On that table I have my testing meter, my insulin and syringes, extra strips and syringes, glucose tablets, juice boxes, beef jerky, and water bottles. I also have a red pen and a notebook to write down reminders.
Before every pumping session I go straight to that table and check my blood sugar. If my blood sugar is low I have glucose tablets or juice. I drink some water before pumping. If I’m hungry I have some beef jerky (great energizing low carb snack-nuts a great, too). If I need insulin it is right there. After a week of this routine I really didn’t have trouble with my blood sugars because I was checking frequently. This was so important at the beginning because I needed tons more insulin while pregnant and tons less while making milk and adjusting the insulin took some time to get right.
Checking a lot ensured I didn’t get myself into trouble with blood sugars.
I also enlisted help from my husband and family. I asked them to help remind me to remember my diabetes incase things got so crazy I forgot I even had the disease (I did by the way, my what a nice feeling).
Sharing what worked for me is not to necessarily persuade you to make a diabetes station (although it works great for me) but, instead to inspire you to get creative; to make lemonade out of the lemons life hands you. Diabetes is challenging when all is peaceful and easy and extremely frustrating when life is hectic. When things get crazy-you cannot afford to lose control of your health. What if I felt I didn’t have time to check my blood sugar? What If I suffer a low blood sugar episode while holding one of my precious infants?
We take care of our loved ones by taking care of ourselves. Not only do they deserve it but, as always YOU deserve it.
So find a way to make your diabetes a priority even when there seems to be no time.
If I can do it on no sleep, you can do it.
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