Our long story shortened...

20 years of being in love

14 years of marital bliss

5 years of infertility

9 months of a high risk pregnancy

2 perfect boys (at the same time)

1 heart failure

1 type 1 diabetes diagnosis

1 happy life

To see the whole story click on the "about us" tab

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I am a stay at home mom who is raising twins. One of my guys has type 1 diabetes and one does not. I am writing this blog to unite type 1 parents or twin parents. Comment on my posts or in the "what's your high?" and "what's your low?" to join the community of parents just trying to do the best we can!

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2/27/13

My people!



Like many people, I hate catty women! Or catty people for that matter. I have spent my life avoiding women who have nothing better to do than to gossip about one another. 

Above all else, I value trust in a friendship. I am fortunate enough to have found many friends throughout my life who also value trust. They can tell me the most intimate details of their lives and I can share mine. We know it doesn't go anywhere after we share.


So, when I am introduced to a new group of women, I am always leery. I wonder if it will be the kind of group where they roll their eyes at the person who just walked out of the room. The kind of group where they call each other after a get together and say "Can you believe she said that?" I hate that group. I avoid that group.

About two years ago, I was invited to join a group of moms who care for their Type 1 diabetes children. They meet for breakfast once a month. The group is sponsored by JDRF. When I considered joining this group, I did what I have done for many years. I went in with a full-armor suit of skepticism.

To my surprise, they were a delight! These women talked and shared. They instantly threw out their most scary thoughts about the past month. The group listened with compassion and not judgment.  To be helpful, they shared their own experiences. They offered positive solutions to help the struggling moms. Halfway through one of the early meetings, I whispered in my head, "These are my people!" I felt like I had found women each of whom served as a pancreas for a diabetic childWomen who knew what it was like to be married to your cell phone when your Type 1 child is away from you. They were honest about making mistakes such as giving too much insulin or not enough. Judgement calls that are made on an hourly basis. Early on, one lady had to leave early and no one talked about her after she left! This is always my telltale sign if I am involved in the wrong group. Another lady brought in extra diabetes supplies she had and gave them away -no charge!

When a cell phone rang, the group stopped everything and waited politely for the latest blood sugar reading of the child on the other end. When the mom hung up the phone, all focus was on her and her child. "Is he ok?" the leader of the group asked while we all held our breath. "He's fine! Just a kid in his class brought an unexpected birthday treat and I had to count the carbs." Everyone smiled around the table, relieved, and the conversation turned to dealing with unexpected treats. We started throwing around carb counts for everything from rice crispy treats to cupcakes.

Yes! Yes! These are my people! 

The group reminded me of a herd of elephant moms. I know, I shouldn't use that reference for a bunch of women - LOL! This was a group of mom elephants caring for their babies. In an elephant herd, when one of the children is orphaned, the other female elephants take over in caring for that baby.



sensed from the concern over the phone call that these women were my fellow elephant sisters! 

It has been three years of knowing them and meeting them once a month and I love them! I have two of them on Rocco's emergency contact list. Enter elephant care. I know that if I were ever stuck, these women would swoop in and take care of my son(s). As I would for them! We have covered the phone for someone who had a job interview, we have shared suppliesand, I am happy to report, I have never seen an eye roll yet!

When a new child gets diagnosed, we lovingly invite his or her mom into the group! We try really hard not to scare a new mom with our diabetic speak of all the scary scenarios that could happen. We show the new ladies love, because the first couple of months can be very scary.

The best part is when we get together several times a year with the kids. Seeing other kids living happy, healthy and normal existence with the disease is encouraging to newly diagnosed children. Watching the siblings of the diabetic children patiently waiting for the blood sugar number to pop up on their sibling's monitor makes this whole crazy world seem a little more normal. For everyone - siblings and all! 

So, thank you ladies for being such a trustworthy, support group for me, Rocco and Zeke! I cherish our friendship and couldn't live without you guys!  Maybe one day we can even get the husbands involved!

World, meet my people! Aren't they cute?


2/25/13

Shoes.com and Target discounts for Spring!

 
Spring has sprung! Well almost...



Nothing says spring like shoes! Great fun shoes! 


They make us think of summer lazy days at the beach or wearing linen to work! So, because you are a loyal reader of Everyday Highs and Lows, here is a 20% off coupon for Shoes.com plus free shipping! 

So, feel free to give our favorite season a little nudge and treat yourself to some shoes like these! 

I got these pictures off of their website! 


Definitely love these for capris! 


Great for work or for that upcoming baby shower! 


Love for work or your daughter's dance recital! 


These are super hot right now! Perfect for running to Target! If you want to really be in style this season. Click here to check out Target's newest designer and get free shipping on anything spent over $50! 




These are great for jean capris or simple cotton black dress! Just fun! 

Ok, enough teasers. Here is the link! 

Don't get caught looking like this in the Spring! 


Remember, anything you buy off of this site helps Rocco and I raise money for diabetes research! Thanks for helping! 

2/23/13

Type 1 diabetes and Chuck E. Cheese

Dear Chuck E. Cheese, I hate you!

 

We have been invited to parties at Chuck E. Cheese before. They didn't go so bad, so I decide to try another one. We went today. Here is how it went...

 

First of all, we had soccer practice at 9am. Rocco wakes up with a blood sugar of 177. Good enough. Feehim standard blueberry Nutrigrain Eggo waffle (my trusted friend), an egg for good measure and milk. Give him insulin. Struggle to put weird nylon soccer socks on his feet while making sure I don't get overly frustrated at their tightness and yell at the tiny human I am pushing them on. Talk Rocco into going to his final practice. Bribe him by telling him he may get a trophy if he goes. Rocco loves a trophy! Why can't my kids just like sports for sports sake?

 

Get to soccer. He runs. Runs some more. Get done with soccer. Check blood sugar - 62. Needs sugar. Burger King is right in front of Kmart, which is the place that holds the coveted Lego set for the birthday gift for the Chuck E. Cheese party. Rocco sees a mini-Cinnabon. Begs me. "Please! Please! Please! I have never had one." Look down at poor kid who feels slighted in life,with his pleading hypoglycemic eyes, and I cave. "Sure!" Look up carbs - 45. Good Lord! Eat. Give insulin.

 

Go to Kmart. Buy Lego set(s). Not one but two, because Zeke is also invited. Go to library. Get George Washington and Abe Lincoln books for Famous American book reports. Pay $13 in fees from forgotten Christmas break books. Ugh! Feel ashamed but happy to help library, considering that just one of the books we are now taking out would have cost at least $13 at Target. Would rather give money to library than Target. Choose to feel good about $13 mishap. Life's too short to blame yourself for stupid things. Moving on...

 

Come home to gather up Zeke, who has been home with daddy all morning watching TV and eating junk cereal.

 

Go to Chuck E. Cheese party. Ugh! Just the smell of the place makes me feel flu-like! Just keep moving through the germ filled stranger kids and pretend that you like this. Decide to eat at Panera next door while they are there. More quiet and close enough to helicopter over during the party.

 

Before I leave for lunch, check his blood sugar. He is 54. Soccer practice exercise starting to hit him. Crap! Give a juice box and a tablet. Yell at myself for feeding my kid crap all morning. Talk myself off the ledge while I wait for juice and tablet to kick in. Life's too short to blame yourself for stupid things. Check again in ten minutes. 110. Perfect! Time for Panera. Explain diabetes to the party mom. She has had parties previously, and we have had her son in Rocco's class for the past three years, so she pretty much knows the drill. But because of the "pretty much" part, I tell her I will helicopter back in 45 minutes when they serve the food, to give Rocco his insulin.

 

Go to Panera. Try to concentrate and write for 40 minutes. Order salad because I got a Cinnabon at Burger King too! Due to recent paczkis, shamrock shakes and Girl Scout cookies, I feel more round than usual. Think about joining Weight Watchers but thought quickly leaves my mind as I realize I already have too many thoughts of counting carbs that infiltrate my life.  Thinking of counting food points for myself seems too much for today. Just promise to eat more salads. Life's too short to blame yourself for stupid things.

 

Go back to Chuck E. Cheese. Crap! They started the food part early. 




Pizza already devoured. Something dark brown in all cups. Yep! Coke. Straight up Coke. One of the only things I sort of like about good ole Chuck E Cheese is that they have caffeine-free,Diet Coke available




Grab Rocco's cup and go fill it up secretly with the caffeine-freeDiet Coke. Come back nonchalant, so the party mom and Rocco won't notice. Feeling like crazy, over-bearing, over-protective mom - yet again. Wonder what nearby moms think of me. Decide to forget worrying about something I cannot control. Life's too short to worry about... You get the point. Diet Coke replacing regular Coke saves us 45 carbs. 


Just as I breathe a sigh of relief, I hear, "Who wants cake and...." wait for it.... "ICE CREAM!!" 



And the crowd goes wild! Roooooaaarrr!! I deflate into a person about three inches
 tall. I can handle the pizza, I fixed the Coke. I was going to super dose him for the chocolate cake with extra chocolate frosting. But the ice cream and the screaming made me wanna yell, "OH, COME ON!!!" Have visions of losing it and getting up on stage and punching the stupid mouse in the face!

 


 


So I get mad at diabetes and grab 
Rocco’s pump and try to preempt all the sugar while they cut the cake. I dose Rocco for 75 carbs, which should cover the pizza, the couple of sips of regular Coke he drank before I got there, the chocolate cake and yes, the ice cream.  




Watch him eat half of the ice cream, take a bite of the cake and then someone yells, "Who wants to play games?" Rocco jumps up and yells "ME!" and almost runs off,except I grab him and say, "You have to eat your cake and ice cream." He gives me the face like he is going to puke and says, "I don't really like it." OH MY GOSH! Any other time, I would have kissed him and the angels that guide us daily. Except now what?

He has at least 35 extra carbs worth of insulin in him. 




So, I go back to the pop machine. Throw away the caffeine-free diet and fill the cup up with none other than, wait for it...fruit punch!! Try to make him drink it. He takes three big sips and gives me the puke face again... Darn it!

 

I decide to stay at the God-forsaken place and hover. I sit in a booth and try to look busy, but my mind is racing and I’m watching for him to go low. I only have about another half hour in the stupid place, and feel like he should be ok as long as I stay. So much for writing time.  

 

As I sit, I remember I have another child who’s at the party. Zeke!




 I go over to him, try to make up for being distracted and give him a kiss on the cheek. RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIS FRIENDS.... His embarrassed seven-year-old self wiggles away. I die a little inside. Friends don't notice. Thank God.

 

Forget it. I give up. I would like to go get a one-hour, full-body massage, please! 

 

Finally, the stupid party is over and it is time to cash in the tickets. You know, those precious tickets that they "earn" while playing the games with the flu-filled coins? Pretty fun, except feeding them into the munching machine to get a toy/treat coupon takes about an HOUR AND A HALF! I see one of Rocco's friends help him feed his coins intothe machine.



 



So I take the opportunity to help my poor neglected one. Except as I get done with Zeke, Rocco returns from the toy counter with a roll of smarties, glow-in-the-dark vampire teeth and... 



w
ait for it........ COTTON CANDY!! OMG! He is so excited. I am hoping he doesn't see the look of panic in my eyes as I try to eyeball the bag for the carb count.

 

Finally get the two of them in the car while they are playing with the plastic, rainbow slinky (which breaks on the way home).  I decide to check Rocco AGAIN and to my delight he is 124! Yippee.





 He begs me to have some of his cotton candy. I cave AGAIN.




I chalk it up to a crappy food day and start to plan the vegetarian dinner we should all 


have for dinner. "Screw Weight Watchers!" I say in my head as I shove a wad of cotton candy in my mouth! Part because I feel as if I deserve some sort of treat (again) for the madness I just experienced. But then I justify it by realizing if I take a wad he won't have an extra wad to eat = less carbs for him. Thankfully, halfway home I hear the bag rustle loudly. I turn to see him closing it up. He ended up only eating about a 1/3 of the bag


,
which amounts to only about 15 carbs.  I look from the bag to his face and he gives me a groan and the puke face again. Thank God! Dose him for 20 carbs just to be sure.


I checked him an hour later as the day filtered through his body. These are the times you expect to see either a 400 blood sugar or a 40 blood sugar. Much to my delight it was neither. 


Thank God! 


At this moment you are never sure how to react to the number. Don't get me wrong, I was extrememly excited that I actually pulled off a Chuck E. Cheese birthday party! To everyone else, Rocco is a perfectly, average kid (albeit with a crazy mom that won't leave her kid alone.) Ha! That's ok, I'll take the hit! However, I feel bad that I completely fed my kid sugar and processed, crap food all day. But that's the thing about type 1 diabetes that is confusing to an outsider and even more complicated to explain. Sometimes, with this disease, sugar and processed food help keep your child alive. I know it's odd but strangely, it's just true. Life's too short to blame yourself for stupid things, right? Just keep going....




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2/18/13

Valentine's Day Party #2

  Yippee! We pulled it off! Valentine's Day, that is.  Last year, actually went surprisingly well. I have had some go not so well. So I am officially learning from each school party and helping Rocco continue his days without running too high from the treatfest.

This year, I signed up to be "food mom" and with the help of the "room mom", we planned the menu and asked the other parents to bring specific items. 

We started with a blood sugar of 177. Pretty good. So just to stack the odds in his favor, I made a carb free breakfast of eggs and sausage.




The party started as soon as the kids got in for the day. Here is the food that we served. 

As soon as I walked in, I had a treat of my own! I saw this. 



If you can't tell, someone taped the nutrition facts of the contents on the foil. 






These are powered sugar donuts with a jelly heart in the middle. Better than cupcakes. 



The best treat that all the kids loved was this! 




No one noticed that there weren't ice cream sundae bars or cupcakes slathered in frosting! The art of distraction is a beautiful gift. 





The boys had an awesome time! 

Leaving the party is the hardest part for a mom with a Type 1 child. You give your child the insulin, you wait and you pray. You pray that all the sugar that they just consumed perfectly dances with the administered insulin. You try really hard to make the treats "healthier" yet still some sort of fun because you hate with all your heart that your child has to be the one to dictate the menu. You also super hate that you have to be "that mom". You know the mom with peanut allergy, diabetes, wheat allergy, etc... Trust me, those moms do NOT want to be "that mom" either. You just do what you have to do for your kids! 

Thankfully kids today are pretty much happy and used to healthy choices. They are also used other kids in their classes with certain food limitations. Most ofthe time they tell us. "MOM! I can't take that peanut butter to school this year because Michael is allergic!" At my friend's party she texted me to tell me her daughter's Valentine's Day party had orange slices, apple slices, strawberries, popcorn and fruit punch. I jokingly texted back, "laaaaammmeee!" Lol! She said not one kid in the class said anything about it. 


I had to attend a funeral while I waited the two hours before the blood sugar check. Here is how it went:





I had to sneak my phone out in the church to text her and couldn't remember if gym or music came first! Ha! But I'll tell you what, when a mom with a diabetic kid gets a good blood sugar reading over a text, her whole mood changes. The sky's part, the birds chirp and the rainbows glow! Thank God! Another successful year!

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2/17/13

Super Deal Sunday!

  Thanks to everyone who ordered last week from this website. We raised $53.64 so far! Here are this week's deals exclusively for the wonderful readers of Everyday Highs and Lows. 

All proceeds will be donated to the Special Diabetes Research Program through JDRF. Even if you click the link a few pennies will be added! Thanks for helping us raise money for diabetes research. Rocco says thanks! 

Have any birthday parties coming up? 





Skip the crowds and do your weekly household shopping here! 


They even deliver shampoo! 


Are you a teacher or girl scout leader? Click here if you need a deal on stuff for Earth Day. 


 

If you go to work and need something from OfficeMax feel free to order it from here because you get these great deals! 


Plus it says you get a free red trimmed tote if you order over $150 worth of stuff! Type in FREEBAG at checkout! 

Ok, so I hope that helps start your week of with some deals for your daily life! Thanks for helping Rocco and I! 

Check back with us on Monday night to see how our Valentine's Day Party went! On Wednesday, come see a story about another Chuck E. Cheese party. I'll give you a hint, it's titled: Dear Chuck E, I hate you! Haha! Enjoy your week!