So many times I've correlated caring for a diabetic to caring for a newborn. The first time I felt this was when we brought Grace home from the hospital after her diagnosis. It felt like having a newborn in the house again, from the nervousness and fear to the sleepless nights and new feeding schedules.
This feeling came to me again last night while fighting a stubborn low. It was 1 in the morning, and I was gently, yet desperately, trying to get a sound asleep Grace to drink juice from a straw. Her little lips would purse and suck, suck, then go slack as she'd succumb to the depths of sleep. She looked so much like she did as an infant, when I would try to coax her to nurse just a little bit longer, in the hopes that I could get a few extra minutes of much needed sleep. I used to rub her palms with my thumbs to stimulate the sucking reflex, so there I was last night, rubbing her palms to see if it would still work. (It didn't. I think she's so used to me grabbing her hands for a blood sugar check that she reflexively pulls away.).
She eventually drank the juice and her numbers came up. She won't outgrow this phase of her life as she outgrew being a baby. But as with every child, it's my job to take care of her and keep her safe until she's able to do it herself.
Measures that Matter
20 hours ago
I use that analogy ofetn, Pam, when someone asks what life is like for us now. I tell them I feel like I just brought home the ugliest, most demanding and completely insatiable newborn baby who will never grow up!
ReplyDeleteI was giggling about the 'rubbing the palms' thing to get your baby to wake up to eat. I used to pull the little sock off her feet or pull her leg out of a sleeper in order to get her to wake enough to eat. :)
Catch up on your rest this weekend . . . or at least try!
Choosing Joy in 2011, Amt
What a great analogy. I use it frequently when discussing our sleep patterns in the Maher Household. Joe chews glucose tabs in his sleep...sometimes, when he is stubborn with eating the sugar...I rub his sweet, chubby cheek and say "chew buddy...you are low"...and he does.
ReplyDeleteLove to you and Grace, Pam. xoxo
As mothers it's fascinating to me how we can see those little things. Sometimes I look at my sleeping children and completely feel as though I'm looking at their innocent new faces for the first time.
ReplyDeleteMotherhood is glorious.
Our children are precious.
And we will continue to remain on vigilant watch until there is a cure.
I was sitting here thinking this as I feel my eyelids so heavy from lack of sleep. (((hugs))) d mama friend we are all in this together.
ReplyDeleteSo very well put my dear Pam. But we are all here together. And I understand.
ReplyDeleteYou nailed it. It is like having a permanent new born in the house. Ellie is on auto pilot in the night when she has to drink the juice. Bless her she tries to drink laying down...if she could without choking I'd let her, but we just aren't made to drink laying down! I hate lows at night. They bug me...
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