Holiday Recap

A belated "Happy Holidays" to everyone!

I'm back at work today, feeling sleepy and wishing our holiday break was longer. My husband and I had a delightful Christmas. We decided to stay in San Diego this year and have a quiet little holiday. It was wonderful! We went to Midnight Mass on Sunday night, saw two enjoyable films: "The Nativity Story" and "The Holiday." I absolutely LOVED "The Holiday," so, so cute! We had ham, baked beans and these delicious twice-baked potatoes for Christmas dinner and enjoyed many holiday movies at home. It was so relaxing, and we didn't get all caught up in the consumerism of the season, which felt good.

So, my husband and I both work in professional offices. As administrative staff, we each received lots of goodies from our co-workers, most of which came in the high sugar, carbo-loaded variety! Wow, so much chocolate. I indulged a bit, and my blood sugars responded as we'd expect. I chased a couple highs (especially after enjoying Chocolate Babka with our morning coffee!) which luckily came down pretty quickly, but nonetheless were bothersome.

Then today, I did a site change. I changed the reservoir and tubing last night (since I was down to just a few units) but figured I'd wait until morning to change the site, that way I didn't have to worry about a bad site overnight. I dragged myself out of bed this morning (we slept in every day this weekend!) and ate my Cherrios. Since I'd given my breakfast bolus through the old site, I didn't want to pull it right away in case that might cause some absorption issues. Instead, I inserted my new site, switched the pump over and kept the old site in until a couple hours after breakfast. This was the first site I'd ever pulled out at work, so I went to the restroom to remove it. I was met with my very first "gusher!" Oh man! I'd heard about these, but in my three months of pumping hadn't yet experienced one yet. It wasn't all that bad, but it is a little disconcerting when it just won't stop bleeding! It must have taken 3-4 minutes for it to stop gushing (man, I hate that word!)

The worst part is that now I have a red blood stain on the bottom edge of my white sweater... lovely. Well, now that it's dried, it's really more like a rust orange stain... gross!

I'm really glad this is a short week at work! My best friend is coming down on Friday, so we're trying to iron out our New Year's plans. The three of us will probably do one of the dinner packages at a local club/restaurant. With our baby plans for '07, this might be my last chance to really "go out" for awhile, so I'm going to make the most of it!

Once 2007 is ushered in, I will be 110% focused on my thesis!! This is a must since my deadline is April 2nd. I'm very easily distracted lately with thoughts of babies, but I've got to push that aside and get my project done first! (Can you tell I'm trying to pump myself up for this?!?)

Oh, wish me luck!

Diabetes and Life

Hi Everyone!

My latest epiphany regarding diabetes care is that blood glucose control can be greatly improved with a bit of effort. Major realization, I know.

Last week my blood sugars were elevated due to a combination of fighting off a cold and my period. I keep coming to the conclusion that I need to up my basals a little late. Next month I'll just set a higher basal during my period and see what happens.

This week I've been doing some basal tests overnight (meaning no snacking before bed), exercising, and logging consistently. The difference in control is incredible! I also set my target BG in my pump to 110 mg/dl instead of the conservative 120 mg/dl that the pump trainer set for me. This alone made a pretty big difference. I'll be setting this down to 100 mg/dl shortly, and then eventually 90 mg/dl next month.

Why the big change to my target? Well, in mid January I have a "pre-conception consultation" with the Diabetes and Pregnancy Group at UCSD! This meeting will be to advise me on the kind of control they'd like to see during pregnancy. Luckily my last four A1c tests have been under 6.3, so I'm good to go to try to conceive. We're excited!

However, before a little one can arrive, I need to finish my master's thesis. I'm pretty far along in the process, but I need to do a final re-write in the next few months. My deadline to complete the study (in order to graduate in May) is April 2nd. Wish me luck!

Other big things are coming up too:

My sister and her fiance both graduate from Cal Poly (her with a Masters and him with his Bachelors) in mid-June.

Their wedding is mid-July at our family ranch in northern California. They're expecting 400+! WOW! I'm the matron of honor (I can't believe I'm a "matron" already, but whatever!) and my husband is a groomsmen. We plan to take over a week off work to help out.

The shower that my mom and I are throwing for my sister will likely be sometime in June, but we need to plan it around the graduation.

Then, my brother is getting married at the end of July! Their wedding will be at a winery in St. Helena, which is near Napa, California.

WOW! I'm tired just thinking about it all. However, they're all joyous occasions, and I'm really looking forward to all the time with my family. Especially since my husband and I are having a quiet little Christmas just the two of us this year.

So, amongst all the things I have on my plate, I need to have the BEST diabetes control I've ever had. I'm feeling okay about it though. My new little machine makes achieving this kind of control much easier than injections.

In the end my body and the baby will have to come first, no matter what needs to be done!