The Dawn

Tomorrow is the big day.

Pump day.

Tonight, after bedtime snack, I gave the girls Levemir for what should be the last time. Levemir is the name of their long-acting insulin. It is supposed to last 24 hours and keep their sugars at a good basal rate. However, some people believe that it doesn't last the whole 24 hours, like it is supposed to. Since their diagnosis, over 1 & 1/2 years ago, we have been injecting them with two different types of insulins. Levemir at bedtime and NovoRapid at meal times. NovoRapid is a fast acting insulin that helps to bring their sugars down at meal time...when they are eating carbohydrates. But after tomorrow, when they are on a pump, they will only be getting one type of insulin - fast acting. The pump will be giving them little tiny amounts throughout the day, kind of like an intervenus. And then at mealtime, we will tell the pump how many carbs they have eaten, and it will give them insulin to cover them.

I don't know how well I am doing at describing this. It's hard to explain. Two years ago I didn't know anything about this. I used to think that an insulin pump had to be surgically inserted into the body like a pace maker. I guess I've come a long way.

A few months ago I made friends with a fellow Mom of a diabetic kid. Thank God for her! She is really helping me by answering my questions and reassuring me that everything will be ok. She promises me that we will be in love with the pump before we know it. In other words, it's all good. :) Just the other day, Lisa (my new BFF) was describing to me how she changes her son's sight. I had been under the impression that the needle was the thing that stayed in the belly, under the skin, for 3 days at a time. I believe I even blogged about it in my last entry. Turns out that the needle is only used to insert a teeny, tiny, soft plastic tube. So much better! Technology really is an amazing thing. I don't think I am doing very well at describing the process. Perhaps I will get better once I actually know how to do it myself. LOL. That might help. Did I mention that the needle is only as big as the one we use on their insulin pens? Like 5mm long. Very small. Gone are the days with the long four inch needles and flicking away air bubbles. No big scary needles here.

We have to be at the hospital and have the girls admitted by 9am. Then we should start getting trained on how the pump works and how to use it. Hopefully, by lunch time, we will be hooking the girls up. I'm praying for it to go smoothly. I'm scared that if it doesn't go smooth the first time round, that the girls will change their minds. Especially Abby. However, I've been told that the site change shouldn't really hurt anymore than when I give them insulin in the belly, and they're already used to that. So I remain optimistic. We will stay at the hospital all day tomorrow, all night and will probably come home some time the next morning. Samuel is going to stay at Mom's. He's excited to be having a sleepover of his own.

It's going to change how we do everything....all over again. We'll have to teach Mom plus there's the whole school thing. The teachers and T.A.s will have to be briefed. Sometimes my brain feels like it is going to overflow with thoughts. Hard to harness them.

But it's all good.

Now if I could only get some sleep.......