Seriously

Just a sampling of photos of glucose meters out on the market.

Do other parents of diabetic kids find these photos as hilarious as Gary and I do? A good day for Chase would be to have ANY of his 5+ finger pokes to be under 200.

The insulin pump has been a God-send in helping to regulate some of his highs and lows, but what we are impatiently awaiting is the continuous glucose sensor.

Cons: It is currently not covered by our insurance. The transmitter retails for $1,000 - which could be doable - but the glucose sensors that go with the transmitter cost $35 each and need to be changed every three days. It would also be one more piece of equipment Chase would have to wear on his body (it's about the size of a quarter).

Pros: We'd sleep much, much better during the night. The transmitter would send his blood sugar reading to his insulin pump every 5 minutes. His pump would beep if he was going too high or too low and we could take action. We'd also be able to track any trends like growth hormones at night which make him ridiculously high (300-400) in the morning.

Last night would have been a wonderful night to have the monitor. I tested Chase at 8:30 because he was loopy, loopy, loopy. His number was 169 (look at the pictures above...now they're funny, aren't they?). I figured it was a good bedtime number, so he just had popcorn for a snack. We decided to do one more check at 10 pm, though. His blood was 58! Thank God we decided to check him one last time. We convinced him to eat some yogurt and an apple and then let him go to bed. Then Gary and I tag-teamed checking his blood throughout the night. Granted, I'm eight months pregnant, so I'm up every two hours anyway, but it still never gets any easier.

In hind-sight, the easiest thing about Chase's diabetes has been Chase. There are two 2 year olds at Chase's day care that are so much fun to talk to and to watch grow (one just happens to be his girlfriend so he tells me...everyday). I really enjoy listening to their language develop and how they try to communicate. It hit me this week that Chase was at that stage when he was diagnosed. It just doesn't seem possible. How'd we make it this far? It also makes me want to put every two year old in a plastic bubble. Gary once told me that I couldn't do that to Chase, but I'm still exploring that option.

Oil changes

Regression has set in.

During a haircut yesterday my hairdresser asked me if we knew what we were expecting. I told her that we were expecting a girl in July. She commented that it will be a whole new experience for us after having raised a boy. She said that she was one of three girls in her family and her dad never did any "boy things" with them. She just recently went fishing and four-wheeling with her boyfriend for the first time. I kind of felt sorry for her.

Flash back to the time when my dad taught me how to change the oil on our pick-up. He never treated me like a "girl". He pretty much had our butts outside helping him out no matter what. My parents were great about not letting our gender get in the way of who we were.

Now, fast forward to 2007. Did you know that you can go to Jiffy Lube, get your oil changed in under 20 minutes, drink free coffee, read People magazine while watching the Today Show, AND not get your back or hands dirty? Sorry, Dad.

Happy Birthday, Sis!

Happy Birthday, Kathryn!

Don't worry, I won't tell everyone that you are 38 today.

Now, quit reading this and go make John buy you something pretty!

Once, twice, three times - she's still a little lady

I went in for a 3rd ultrasound yesterday. Since I have uterine fibroids (like 80% of the female population - yippee me) I had another ultrasound to make sure they won't interfere with the delivery. The technician did a scan and she is still a girl. That's good, because we are selling all of Chase's baby clothes on Saturday!

I thought I would be the one having difficulty parting with Chase's things. Instead, if Gary had his way, we'd be keeping 50% (or more) of Chase's outfits. It's amazing how much has accumulated in the last 3.5 years. I'm beginning to see why Gary wanted a larger storage shed so bad last year.

I have 5 more doctor appointments before my due date. I'm hoping to be able to cancel the last appointment since I'm shooting for a 07/07/07 baby.

I really don't like the thought of my exposed belly on the Internet, but I thought I'd show how excited Chase is getting about his little sister. He likes to kiss my belly and feel her kick. Little turkey.

Happy Mother's Day

To all the moms out there, Happy Mother's Day. It is the hardest job in the world, but there is also nothing else like it. I truly felt like a mom when Chase was a about 14 months old. He came up to me and said, "Here you go, Mom." He then proceeded to hand me a booger. He's still trying stuff like that, but I'm a little more cautious what I take from him.

We've been bad at "Keeping Up the Chase" lately because of the beautiful weather we have been experiencing lately. If I'm inside I feel guilty that I should be outside. If I'm outside I feel guiltly that I'm neglecting indoor projects. I like days that rain, because then I don't feel so tortured.

Chase loves to be outside. He latest antic is to escape outside, run the front door, ring the door bell, and then pretend to hand me a pizza. I swear that other people come to our front door than Dominoes.

Again, Happy Mother's Day. And to my mom, you are the best. I'm glad I inherited your sense of style, too. I'm afraid that Dad may still own that jacket and pants from 1974.

Happy Birthday Ben!!!

My nephew Ben turns 8 today.

Happy Birthday Ben!

(I love you even though you are a Vikings fan.)


Now, quit reading this and make your mom go out and buy you some football cards.

Practice makes perfect

Chase attended a sibling class on Saturday. Boy, if only they would have had those for my brother and sister when mom was pregnant with me...things might have been different growing up.

He practiced diapering and wrapping up a baby doll. He also got a tour of the maternity ward at the hospital. I pulled out my circa 1984 Cabbage Patch doll and some newborn diapers for him to practice here at home. He seems to be getting pretty excited. He talks about sharing his toys and apples (?) with the baby.