Sleeping through the night

After Pump Visit Number Five, I felt a bit better. I now knew that this adjustment process was normal-ish.

No one had warned me that the transition from one method of diabetes management to another would be so challenging. The closest thing I got was, "It's not a panacea," which I knew.

M loves the pump. It's only I that had concerns. I had done my research. I had been reluctant to switch M to the pump, but after talking to parents, students, and medical professionals, I had decided that the switch would be healthier for M.

I usually ask good questions, but I never thought to ask if switching to the pump would be stressful and unpredictable. I figured that someone might tell me that. It took my friend the audiologist to tell me that adjusting to a new medical device is ALWAYS a challenge. But this was after my angry rant about the pump was posted on this here blog.

I seem in control to most people. When I am displeased, I say all of the appropriate things to the appropriate people. My polite words, however,  cannot hide my facial expressions. Anyone who knows me knows that I am possibly the worst liar on the planet.

At visit number five, Dr. asked M how she was liking the pump. M said she loved it, but her mom didn't. When M told Dr. that I wasn't thrilled with the pump, I tried to look like I wasn't that displeased. I could handle this bump in the road! I have a can-do attitude! Look at me, I am a capable woman! I gave a grin to Dr.

Dr. took one look at me and advised me to sleep through the night.

I guess I won't be winning any Oscars any time soon.

How can I sleep through the night? I had been told to check M's bg every three hours. Her numbers were still "out of range".

Dr. said, "It's been a long time since her numbers have been low. I think you can go through the night without checking her bg."

"But it has been high. I just want to do things right," I said.

She looked at me and said, "It's okay if she goes a little high at night."

I looked at her, a little bewildered. "You're telling me that it's okay if she goes high at night."

"Yes."

"So, don't worry about the highs."

"Don't worry about the highs."

To me this sounded like being a bad parent. So I opted instead to check her bg once in the middle of the night to see how she was doing. I felt like not taking a peek in the middle of the night might be irresponsible.

I checked her two nights in a row at 2:00 am. Her bg was 198 on night number one. It was 148 on night number two. They were between 120 and 178 in the morning. That wasn't so bad, all things considered.

So last night I slept through the night. From 10:00 pm to 5:00 am, I slept.

And guess what? We all survived.

Maybe now my students won't have to suffer next week. Maybe.

Don't mess with me, buddy. I'm on two hours sleep!