Stressed to the Max!

Now for more information than anyone ever wanted. This is our baby book, so I want to write everything down, but you can feel free to just skip right over this informational post.

We got home Wednesday just in time for supper and all that goes along with it: blood sugar check, scrambling to fix something Noah can and will eat, breathing down his neck while we ensure he eats all his food in 30 minutes or less, calculating exactly how much insulin he needs depending on how much he eats, and then the dreaded shot. We were both anxious about the whole process, but we had been well-equipped at Children's. Plus, they assured us all would be well: his sugars were somewhat stable and we should never see the dreaded ketones in his urine. No need to worry.

First blood sugar at home: 413 (His range should be 100-200.)

We have to test his urine for ketones if his blood sugar is greater than 250. What do you know?! Trace to small ketones. We panicked, to say the least.

There was a mad scramble to find emergency phone numbers and our flow sheet telling us what our next step should be. We were to pump our kid full of calorie-free fluids, as many ounces as he would hold, to flush out the ketones. Thankfully, he loves Chrystal Lite and guzzled it down. When ketones are in his urine, he has to remain still because being active will further break down muscle and fat, resulting in even more ketones. So all four of us sat on the couch in a row, drinking Chrystal Lite and praying for wisdom. Oh! And don't forget the extra-big insulin shot he got that we were hoping would bring his sugar into the normal range.

Two hours later, we checked again. His blood sugar actually went up to 443 and there were still trace ketones present in his urine. More frantic phone calls ensued...and stressed out tears started to flow. The doctor told us to keep Noah awake until 10:30pm, drinking, drinking, drinking, drinking. He was exhausted, and after already drinking 30 ounces, not the least bit thirsty. So we did our best. And gave more insulin, a shot in each leg this time. Praise the Lord that the ketones finally went away, although we put him to bed with a blood sugar of 407.

Jeremy and I fell into bed exhausted and stressed and oh-so-worried. Is this what life is going to be like now? Constant on-the-edge-of-our-seats drama that majorly affects our baby's health? We just cried and prayed and tried to sleep...at least until the next blood sugar check. Thankfully, his sugars were in the high 200's all night. Not great, but definitely better!

Whirlwind

So, the last few days have completely turned out lives up side down. Noah has been diagnosed with Type I Diabetes.

For the past two weeks or so, he has been exceptionally thirsty, and thus has been peeing quite a bit more than normal. But we've been outside a ton, running fast, playing hard. What little Boy wouldn't be pretty parched? It wasn't until he started completely flooding his entire bed at nap (while wearing a diaper) and twice at night that I began to wonder what was up. Over the weekend, I began tallying how many ounces Nosy was actually drinking. After coming up with numbers between 80-100 ounces a day, I really started to get concerned.

Bright and early Monday morning, I called the pedi and apologized for being such a paranoid Mom, worrying that my toddler may have diabetes. Surely not, but would they mind checking just to be sure? I didn't feel quite as paranoid when they sat down to break the news to me and told me to pack my bags, we were headed to Children's.

We sat in the Children's ER until 1am, completely surrounded by swine flu. I think I could feel the germs crawling up my leg. I just kept praying God's protection over our health. Nosy's blood sugars were in the 400's. An IV was started and lots of labs drawn. Poor baby was such a trooper. He just kept crying, "I want to eat at home!" Alas, no food for Noah for awhile.

Finally we got admitted to a room. There was a fold out chair for Jeremy, and Nosy and I shared the hospital bed. Pretty close quarters, but it felt good to have Noah sleep on my chest, safe and sound and blissfully unaware of how his life was about to change. He hadn't slept on me since he was teeny tiny. I cherished every minute.

Tuesday was probably the worst day of my life. His blood sugars were so high, he would scream for 45 minutes after every blood sugar check and insulin shot (minimum of 4/day), he was starving but couldn't eat much. There was nothing we could do to console poor Nosy-Posy. Plus, Tuesday was diabetic education day...and it was intense! I know I am a nurse, but I have not dealt with diabetes since nursing school, eons ago! It was so much information and the consequences for messing up are so severe. Jeremy and I felt like we were under so much pressure, and it is our little boy's life at stake. We hadn't slept since Sunday night and hadn't really eaten in over 24 hours. We were emotional wrecks.

Tuesday evening, my Mom and Dad brought Owie up to the hospital to visit. He had been so anxious about Noah, telling my Mom how much he missed his brother and how very worried he was about him. It was so nice to snuggle with O for a bit and try to reassure him the best I could. Sadly, Nosy cried through almost their entire visit. And do you notice the mimi (paci) in every pic? I don't think the plug was pulled for three days straight.

Wednesday was met with a new perspective. We had slept a little and eaten and were feeling a little more encouraged. Noah perked up a bit (between traumatic "pokes"). O came again and we all spent some time in the playroom together, just being a family. A Child Life specialist spent time with both Boys, just explaining what diabetes was and why Noah will have to have shots every day forever. They got to play needless syringes and lancets and pretend to check our blood sugars and give us insulin. It was so good for both kids!

Nosy got his IV turned off around 10:00 and there began to be talk of discharging us home! Jeremy and I were very nervous, but the doctors assured us that everything would be fine and we were prepared for every scenario. We spent the morning bopping the ball around the bed and reviewing what we had learned the day before.

Around 3:00pm, we packed up and headed home, feeling quite apprehensive about what lay ahead. But at least we'd be in our own house, with Owie back with us and our families close by...

...To be continued...

Crafty

This was a really fun craft we did awhile back that I am back blogging. This was actually earlier in the day we found out Noah had diabetes, so the details are sketchy, but O's picture turned out so cute that I wanted to post it.

We copied pictures of animals from this book (whose title I forgot to jot down). I cut out piles of shapes, and the Boys put the animals together.

Snack Time

Some of our favorite Guys came over to play awhile. I just happened to glance outside and noticed there was a family of ducks in our front yard! Feeding the ducks would be a great pastime for all these Boys! I quickly distributed bread and ran to capture the perfect duck-feeding photo. What did I see instead?

Four well-fed Boys, while the ducks wandered away with empty tummies. Funny Boys!

Pop-o-rama!

I have long been wanting to know how to make popcorn the old fashioned way. Around Christmas, I even asked around if anyone I knew still owned an air popper we could borrow. I finally came across a recipe for popping corn on the stove. And it turned out to be super easy! Not to mention tons of fun!

2 Tbs canola oil

1/2 cup popcorn kernels

Turn heat to medium high and cover the pan.

Entertain yourselves with silly antics...

and listen very hard for the popping to begin.

Act super surprised when you hear the tiny pop, pop, pops.

When the popping slows to 3-5 seconds between pops, remove from heat.

Add salt.

Enjoy!!

Two

...of my three favorite Guys, all dressed in blue and white. So handsome!

The Squiggle

We checked out The Squiggle by Carole Lexa Schaefer from the library. It looked interesting, and I am always looking for ways to spark some creativity.

It is a great book about a little girl who imagines a ribbon as many different things: a wall, the ripples in a pond, fireworks. It inspired us to create our own squiggle art work.

After cutting lengths of ribbon for each kiddo, they squiggled some glue on their paper and secured their ribbons in whatever shape they wanted. Nosy made an "O." "Oooooo, Mommy!"

Owen worked so hard on his picture! He knew right away that his squiggle was a twisty, turny slide. See the ladder he drew beside it so the kids could climb up? He also drew a sandbox and a swingset with Noah and me swinging. So creative, my Boy!

While we let the glue dry, we found an old length of yarn and had great fun throwing it up in the air. Once it came down in a random pattern, we would try to "spy" the pictures it had made. It was so fun to watch the Boys thinking hard to come up with creative pictures in the yarn. This is definitely something we will do again!

LOVE These Boys!!!!

A Perfect Day

There are many different types of fun to be had at the Arbo. There's the trot around to see everything that's new and different type. There's the stroll around while flower-gazing and visiting with friends type. And then there is the type my friend DeAnn and I were craving: the sit on a blanket and have a nice, long chat while the kids run around type. Oh, it was blissful!

My new favorite picture of sweet DeAnn and Preston

As we sat and chatted, we soon noticed the boys were up to something...a very important project that required the utmost attention of all four of them. Hmmm...

When we spied Grant looking like this, we finally hopped up to investigate.

The Guys were stockpiling all the goodies from the other houses in the tiny chapel. They had emptied the tiny school, tiny log cabin, tiny house on stilts, every last house to collect their treasures in the church. Funny Boys!

We finally decided to roll up our blanket and walk for a bit.

DeAnn always brings her wagon to the Arbo. It's amusing to see what combo of kiddos my stroller and her wagon ends up holding. Today, all three big boys wanted in the wagon together. Poor Nosy-Posy. No room for him, and he was not too happy about it! (See him in the background?) Don't worry, he got his ride a bit later!

I love this area of the Arbo. Such a quiet, peaceful spot!

Sadly, instead of soaking up the serenity with his friends, Noah only wanted to throw wood chips at the fish. For nearly fifteen minutes, he would look up me on the bridge above and act as if he were going to throw his tiny piece of wood. I'd remind him not to throw. He'd burst in to tears every time, and the internal struggle was visible, but obedience won out every time! Good choice, sweet Nosy!

When we were hot and sweaty, we headed to the women's garden, one of our new favorite hangouts.

The Boys had fun splashing both hands and feet in the refreshing water. Before I knew it, O was standing on the bottom of the little pool! Whoops! Just the bottoms of his shorts got wet. No harm done. But what did the crazy Boy do next? He took his shorts completely off "by-cuz they are so, so wet, Mommy!" After re-dressing, we had a short conversation about the requirements of being in public, one of which is clothing!

What a perfectly wonderful day at the Arboretum! You know we'll be back soon!

Parking It

The Boys and I had big plans to head to the Science museum...

until we set foot outside.

It was gorgeous! A picture perfect day! So after a quick call to a great friend, we set out to explore a new park.

This is how Nosy spent the first hour of our play date. He ran head on in to Chrys as soon as we arrived. Usually, he politely says, "'Cuse me," without being prompted. Not today, I am afraid. After being asked to excuse himself several times and refusing, Noah warmed the bench for over an hour while watching his friends have a wonderful time. Every few minutes, I would mosey over and ask if he was ready to say, "Excuse me." He would reply, in a little sing-songy, ornery voice, "Not yet!" and grin. After about an hour, Chrys wandered over to Noah's bench to sit down. Nosy looked her in her eyes, said, "'Cuse me!" with an angelic smile and asked if he may jump down to play. How can I help but fall more in love with this stinker of a child every day?

Sweet T

O and O played in the sand almost the entire time. I had a few cars in my purse that they constructed roads for, and they had the very important job of moving piles of sand from one side of the sandbox to the other. Such hard workers!

Dear Friends

Chrys and her Boys had to take off for naps, but my crew can not resist unexplored trails. We headed out for a good walk before succumbing to exhaustion ourselves.

Easter Gatherings

In our family, there is never any lack of celebration. Between seeing my side of the family and Jeremy's, we enjoy a busy, fun-filled day!

The first stop after church was the Cody house for a delicious lunch.

Reading books with Gramps.

Opening Easter baskets with Yaya. Owie got a super fun stamp pad set.

Even Auntie LouLou put together Easter baskets for the Boys. Among other goodies, they each received a crazy hat. O's is a monkey...

...and Nosy's a parrot!

In the Easter eggs at Gramps and Yaya's house were Chuck E. Cheese tokens and a promise of an exciting day there in the near future. What a great idea!

After quick naps, we headed over to Gigi and Papa's house for more eggy fun!

Ally looks so grown up!

Oliver is ready with his basket.

Mia shows off her loot to Cousin Owie.

Check out O's face when he discovered Papa hid an egg in his back pocket!

Will may be the littlest cousin (At least for a few more weeks!), but he knows just what to do!

I love Clayton's chick basket.

All eight crazy cousins.

This blurry picture makes me smile every time. All these Halpin boys are blurry because they move SO FAST!

Such handsomeness!

The kids all love playing tunes on Gigi's piano. Maybe one day it will actually sound like recognizable music? At least they have a blast performing their concerts!

What a wonderful day to celebrate our risen Saviour!