May 7, 2010
I don’t know if it’s all in my head, or because of my old ladyness, or what, but I just haven’t felt motivated the way I did two weeks ago.
Two weeks ago I went to New York, my former homeland, and spoke about the book and saw a ton of pals and went to the terrific ASJA writing conference. While there, I was excited, psyched, bubbling with ideas for new writing opportunities, and, of course, pumped to see old pals and meet new ones at the book event.
I came home with laryngitis, a sore throat, and three days after I got home, my right eye began tearing. It was effing annoying, all of it. We also had our first kid birthday for Preschooler L, complete with a rented gym and pizza and birthday cake, party favors, the whole shebang. Less than 24 hours after I drove myself home from New York.
Did I also mention I’d been up til 5am for the two nights before I went to New York, just because I had deadlines I needed to meet before I left town?
So for two weeks since, I’ve been completely unmotivated to follow up on most of the editors or story ideas I came up with at the conference. I haven’t felt like de-cluttering the many corners of our house that need it. For a day or two, I’ve just flopped on the couch and caught up on a lot of DVR’d television.
I never do this. During the week, when Preschooler L is in school, I consider it terrific and precious crucal time to Get. Stuff. Done.
I will say that the week we got back, we had to bring Preschooler L in for an EEG for some weird moments when he seemed to be off somewhere else. The episodes haven’t happened again, and the EEG came back entirely normal, but we had to keep him up late one night and then wake him up early the next day (sleep deprivation is a crucial part of the EEG) and honestly, who do you think helped deprive him? Which only added to my own feeling of health deprivation.
Almost two weeks later, my eye finally stopped tearing up and itching, which means it is no longer swollen. It also means I can stop wondering if a good antihistamine would help me feel better, even though the eye doc says “I’d skip it during pregnancy.” Oy, pregnancy.
And my voice is basically OK now, and I finally don’t have a trace of a sore throat. The laryngitis business used to happen every time I went back to college after a semester’s break. I’d get excited to see people, I’d talk up a storm, and sure enough, I’d lose my voice.
But these days, it’s really annoying to be sick, with a kid, with another one on the way (eight weeks and five days today) and not be able to network at a conference or do a phone interview or even follow up on things via phone (email doesn’t work for everyone) because my voice is shot and my throat is sore and my damn eye is leaking all over the place.
Ugh.
Hooray for being past that whole mess. I always think people who write about how sick they are are being completely boring, and I find the question “how are you?” to be a mere pleasantry, not a real probe on the state of anyone’s health, but damn, it is annoying to be sick.
Showing posts with label The Book. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Book. Show all posts
Monday, July 19, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Happy Birthday
April 9, 2010
Today is my son’s third birthday. It’s also the day my publisher starts shipping copies of my book to people who have pre-ordered them.
It’s also the day I am four weeks and five days pregnant.
I had another blood test yesterday to see if my HCG levels are doubling. This is a common way to know if the pregnancy is sticking and your body is doing what it is supposed to do while nurturing an embryo. Once again, I drove myself to my infertility clinic and dragged myself into the waiting room. The place has excellent wireless Internet access, so I always bring my laptop and fire it up while I’m sitting there. When the phlebotomist called my name, she smiled.
“You are always working while you’re here,” she noted.
I have had this woman draw my blood countless times over the last year or so. Having done two fresh IVF cycles, as well as other tests to try to figure out why those cycles weren’t successful, this woman knows my face, if not my entire story.
As she swabbed the crook of my arm with alcohol, she told me I should make a recommendation to the staff of the infertility clinic that they should set up study carrels in the lobby. For people like me, as well as for all the husbands and partners who sit there and wait while their wives or girlfriends are in some lab having blood drawn.
They should listen to me—I’ve been there enough times to have my own parking space. (Even though the parking in this particular clinic is free, thanks to the joy of a suburban location).
Because who am I if not always working? If I’m not trying to get something done so I can bill the time and meet a client’s deadline, I am always wondering where my blood sugar is, what time I last ate, and calculating what I ate and how many carbs was in it. Yesterday was no exception.
I’ve started to keep daily logs of what I eat and how much insulin I take, despite having a CGM. My overnight sugars, while steady, are consistently above where they should be. I bolus correction factors all night long, and nothing budges. I’ve noticed this for three days and changed the correction factor so that I get more insulin, but no dice. I need to email my doc and ask her WTF? And instead of writing this up at 5am, I am supposed to be on the elliptical we have at our house so I can jumpstart my sluggish blood sugar to start dropping back to where it should be. The slowness of insulin is one of my biggest complaints: If I am high now, why should I have to wait two hours before I start coming down? Knowing I am high and that a correction insulin hit will take a few hours before I am down, annoys me.
(Just checked the CGM, and apparently the hit of insulin I took 30 minutes ago is starting to work. So do I still go on the elliptical, even though I might come down quicker, but them bottom out? Should I try it for ten minutes?) Usually, if I eat and go straight up before an hour after a meal (the joys of a CGM with the trend arrows), I can go on the elliptical and, after about 20-30 minutes, reverse the sharp increase. Now that I am apparently trending downward, slowly, would a burst of exercise help me trend down a little faster?
Let’s see—will be right back. Ten minutes is all I’ll do, promise!
Okay, I’m back. My CGM says I’m still trending down gently. In the meantime, I watched the local news and just got angry about some dumbass flasher in the kids’ room of the library where I grew up—a place I happened to visit this week to return a book. What is the matter with people?!
Focus, focus.
So yesterday, I got the call in the afternoon about the results of my blood work:
HCG level was 556, more than double my result on Monday.
Progesterone was greater than 40, which is good.
My TSH level, something that had been low when I saw my endo about a month ago, has jumped up into the normal range, at 0.579.
Since the HCG level was so strong, I asked if I could be carrying twins. The nurse said I had to wait until the first ultrasound, but that a high number didn’t necessarily mean multiples. But wouldn’t that be the ultimate irony, huh?
But the HCG levels of my last two fresh cycles have always started out low or near normal but never doubled right. So the fact that this round had a strong starting number (comparable to what it was when I conceived Toddler L, who, let’s face it, should now be called Preschooler L) and has more than doubled makes me hopeful.
Now if I could only wrangle these overnight blood sugars down.
We’re off to celebrate my son’s birthday today: annual family portrait, a trip to the local kids’ museum to see Curious George, and tonight, dinner at an Italian restaurant near the Boy’s daycare program. Every morning when we drive by, Preschooler L asks if we can go to the restaurant and get “a kids’ menu.”
“Dude, we just finished breakfast,” I tell him. “Plus, the restaurant isn’t open this early.”
“I want to go to the (NAME OF THE RESTAURANT REDACTED) and get a kid’s menu!” he insists. He doesn’t want a hot dog or grilled cheese at that hour. He only wants to look at the menu that is all his own. Just before the preschool dropoff, though, I can usually divert his attention once we pull into school parking lot.
But tonight, my son shall have the kid’s menu of his dreams. Happy 3rd Birthday, Fabulous Boy!
Today is my son’s third birthday. It’s also the day my publisher starts shipping copies of my book to people who have pre-ordered them.
It’s also the day I am four weeks and five days pregnant.
I had another blood test yesterday to see if my HCG levels are doubling. This is a common way to know if the pregnancy is sticking and your body is doing what it is supposed to do while nurturing an embryo. Once again, I drove myself to my infertility clinic and dragged myself into the waiting room. The place has excellent wireless Internet access, so I always bring my laptop and fire it up while I’m sitting there. When the phlebotomist called my name, she smiled.
“You are always working while you’re here,” she noted.
I have had this woman draw my blood countless times over the last year or so. Having done two fresh IVF cycles, as well as other tests to try to figure out why those cycles weren’t successful, this woman knows my face, if not my entire story.
As she swabbed the crook of my arm with alcohol, she told me I should make a recommendation to the staff of the infertility clinic that they should set up study carrels in the lobby. For people like me, as well as for all the husbands and partners who sit there and wait while their wives or girlfriends are in some lab having blood drawn.
They should listen to me—I’ve been there enough times to have my own parking space. (Even though the parking in this particular clinic is free, thanks to the joy of a suburban location).
Because who am I if not always working? If I’m not trying to get something done so I can bill the time and meet a client’s deadline, I am always wondering where my blood sugar is, what time I last ate, and calculating what I ate and how many carbs was in it. Yesterday was no exception.
I’ve started to keep daily logs of what I eat and how much insulin I take, despite having a CGM. My overnight sugars, while steady, are consistently above where they should be. I bolus correction factors all night long, and nothing budges. I’ve noticed this for three days and changed the correction factor so that I get more insulin, but no dice. I need to email my doc and ask her WTF? And instead of writing this up at 5am, I am supposed to be on the elliptical we have at our house so I can jumpstart my sluggish blood sugar to start dropping back to where it should be. The slowness of insulin is one of my biggest complaints: If I am high now, why should I have to wait two hours before I start coming down? Knowing I am high and that a correction insulin hit will take a few hours before I am down, annoys me.
(Just checked the CGM, and apparently the hit of insulin I took 30 minutes ago is starting to work. So do I still go on the elliptical, even though I might come down quicker, but them bottom out? Should I try it for ten minutes?) Usually, if I eat and go straight up before an hour after a meal (the joys of a CGM with the trend arrows), I can go on the elliptical and, after about 20-30 minutes, reverse the sharp increase. Now that I am apparently trending downward, slowly, would a burst of exercise help me trend down a little faster?
Let’s see—will be right back. Ten minutes is all I’ll do, promise!
Okay, I’m back. My CGM says I’m still trending down gently. In the meantime, I watched the local news and just got angry about some dumbass flasher in the kids’ room of the library where I grew up—a place I happened to visit this week to return a book. What is the matter with people?!
Focus, focus.
So yesterday, I got the call in the afternoon about the results of my blood work:
HCG level was 556, more than double my result on Monday.
Progesterone was greater than 40, which is good.
My TSH level, something that had been low when I saw my endo about a month ago, has jumped up into the normal range, at 0.579.
Since the HCG level was so strong, I asked if I could be carrying twins. The nurse said I had to wait until the first ultrasound, but that a high number didn’t necessarily mean multiples. But wouldn’t that be the ultimate irony, huh?
But the HCG levels of my last two fresh cycles have always started out low or near normal but never doubled right. So the fact that this round had a strong starting number (comparable to what it was when I conceived Toddler L, who, let’s face it, should now be called Preschooler L) and has more than doubled makes me hopeful.
Now if I could only wrangle these overnight blood sugars down.
We’re off to celebrate my son’s birthday today: annual family portrait, a trip to the local kids’ museum to see Curious George, and tonight, dinner at an Italian restaurant near the Boy’s daycare program. Every morning when we drive by, Preschooler L asks if we can go to the restaurant and get “a kids’ menu.”
“Dude, we just finished breakfast,” I tell him. “Plus, the restaurant isn’t open this early.”
“I want to go to the (NAME OF THE RESTAURANT REDACTED) and get a kid’s menu!” he insists. He doesn’t want a hot dog or grilled cheese at that hour. He only wants to look at the menu that is all his own. Just before the preschool dropoff, though, I can usually divert his attention once we pull into school parking lot.
But tonight, my son shall have the kid’s menu of his dreams. Happy 3rd Birthday, Fabulous Boy!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Two Book Events
I'm thrilled to announce a few new book events to support Balancing Pregnancy With Pre-Existing Diabetes: Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby. I would love to meet you if you're a book fan or a blog reader.
First up is at Isis Parenting in Brookline, MA on Wednesday, June 23 at 7 pm. I'll be speaking on a panel about diabetes and pregnancy that includes the directors of the diabetes and pregnancy program at Boston's Joslin Diabetes Center/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Florence Brown and Tamara Takoudes, as well as an exercise and diabetes expert from Joslin, Jacqueline Shahar. Isis is a terrific resource for expecting and new parents, and I'm a giant fan of the Joslin/BIDMC pregnancy program. (Drs. Brown and Takoudes co-wrote my book's forward, reviewed every word of it for medical accuracy, delivered my son, and are all-around awesome. And Ms. Shahar is an excellent exercise resource who also contributed great pearls of wisdom for my book.)
Isis is asking for people to register for this FREE event here either by calling 781-429-1500 or by going online (look for the June 23 event).
I'll also be speaking solo about the book at the Framingham MA Barnes & Noble on Wednesday, July 14 at 7pm. I'll give more details as things get closer to the date, but mark your calendar now!
And stay tuned for some new blog posts early next week--it's been too quiet around here for too long!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Back Into It
Last week, I spoke about my new book to a group of women from ACT1 Diabetes, a support group for women with diabetes based in New York City. They are great, and it would be wonderful if there were similar groups or affiliates around the country. We all need as much support as we can find, and the in-person component to such groups is really something. While online support is also fantastic, being able to chat with other women with diabetes in person is a whole other experience.
I was in New York for the ASJA conference as well, but Thursday night was all about meeting some friends before the talk (I have a NYC-based group of pals with type 1, and three of them were able to meet for dinner beforehand. One skipped out on actually eating because of a high blood sugar, but it was great to see all three of them and catch up. I haven't been in NY as a single woman (i.e, without my husband or son) in a long time, and it was nice. The three of them hadn't seen each other in awhile either, and we all gossiped about our former endocrinologist and showed off pictures of our kids.
Then it was off to NYU for my book event. I pushed my old-school granny cart with two boxes of books (something I haven't used since I lived in New York, because, really, everywhere else it's easy to drive and park), and two of my friends came to the talk. There was an interesting mix of people at the talk: my pals, a woman I'd gone to diabetes camp with thirty (!) years ago who is affiliated with ACT1Diabetes, a blogger I've known for years but never met in person, a woman I interviewed for my book but had never met, and a bunch of other Act1Diabetes women who came, some with their fiances or husbands, who wanted to hear more about the book.
Allison at Lemonade Life and Annie at Sweet Child of Mine have both posted their reports of the event, and I'm glad they came away from it with solid insight and good feedback.
I've been sort of lax about maintaining my blog, but meeting with people last week and knowing how active the online world is made me think I should get back to it. So here's a public announcement that I'm going to try to blog semi-regularly again.
The rest of my weekend was filled with seeing other NYC-based pals, and getting all fired up about writing and working after meeting with other writers and editors at ASJA. The only downside to the weekend: talking myself silent. I'm now recovering from laryngitis, and it's hard to network and meet people when you can't speak.
I was in New York for the ASJA conference as well, but Thursday night was all about meeting some friends before the talk (I have a NYC-based group of pals with type 1, and three of them were able to meet for dinner beforehand. One skipped out on actually eating because of a high blood sugar, but it was great to see all three of them and catch up. I haven't been in NY as a single woman (i.e, without my husband or son) in a long time, and it was nice. The three of them hadn't seen each other in awhile either, and we all gossiped about our former endocrinologist and showed off pictures of our kids.
Then it was off to NYU for my book event. I pushed my old-school granny cart with two boxes of books (something I haven't used since I lived in New York, because, really, everywhere else it's easy to drive and park), and two of my friends came to the talk. There was an interesting mix of people at the talk: my pals, a woman I'd gone to diabetes camp with thirty (!) years ago who is affiliated with ACT1Diabetes, a blogger I've known for years but never met in person, a woman I interviewed for my book but had never met, and a bunch of other Act1Diabetes women who came, some with their fiances or husbands, who wanted to hear more about the book.
Allison at Lemonade Life and Annie at Sweet Child of Mine have both posted their reports of the event, and I'm glad they came away from it with solid insight and good feedback.
I've been sort of lax about maintaining my blog, but meeting with people last week and knowing how active the online world is made me think I should get back to it. So here's a public announcement that I'm going to try to blog semi-regularly again.
The rest of my weekend was filled with seeing other NYC-based pals, and getting all fired up about writing and working after meeting with other writers and editors at ASJA. The only downside to the weekend: talking myself silent. I'm now recovering from laryngitis, and it's hard to network and meet people when you can't speak.
Thursday, April 08, 2010
It's Here!
My editor emailed me to say that "Balancing Pregnancy With Pre-Existing Diabetes: Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby" is officially published!
If you pre-ordered a copy, it'll be on its way soon.
If you haven't yet...Dude, what are you waiting for? Get yours now!
More details about where I'm speaking about the book, and life in general, to come.
In the meantime, have you become a Facebook fan yet?
If you pre-ordered a copy, it'll be on its way soon.
If you haven't yet...Dude, what are you waiting for? Get yours now!
More details about where I'm speaking about the book, and life in general, to come.
In the meantime, have you become a Facebook fan yet?
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Some Early Praise...
So it's nice to finally hear what other people have to say about a project I've been immersed in for so long.
Despite pulling an all-nighter the other day to get all my corrections back to the publisher on time (and once again, missing that deadline by a few hours when my fax machine worked about as slow as someone dealing with low blood sugar...), and wondering just when the work on this book would ever end, it's all worth it when I read something like this:
"This book is going to become the bible for women with diabetes (particularly type 1's). It's like 'What to Expect When You're Expecting with diabetes'! Only waaaaaay better."
From her typing fingertips to the book-buying public's ears!
Despite pulling an all-nighter the other day to get all my corrections back to the publisher on time (and once again, missing that deadline by a few hours when my fax machine worked about as slow as someone dealing with low blood sugar...), and wondering just when the work on this book would ever end, it's all worth it when I read something like this:
"This book is going to become the bible for women with diabetes (particularly type 1's). It's like 'What to Expect When You're Expecting with diabetes'! Only waaaaaay better."
From her typing fingertips to the book-buying public's ears!
Friday, February 12, 2010
Want to Hear Me Read?
Thanks to all who commented on which pic to go with. Between the comments here and on Facebook, I had no idea so many people would weigh in.
So now it's on to more publicity.
These days, publishers don't schedule book tours unless you're already a giant name. So I'm putting the word out there to see if anyone would be interested in me coming to do a book reading/signing near you. The book is officially out on April 1, 2010.
Events for "Balancing Pregnancy With Pre-Existing Diabetes: Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby" are more likely to be based at a medical center, hospital, university with affiliated medical schools, and the like. (Though a bookstore that features health authors would be terrific, too).
If you live near a medical center where there's a diabetes and pregnancy program, or even a team of docs who worked with you through your pregnancy with pre-existing diabetes, email me and let me know where you are and what the med center is. If you run or know about health-themed bookstores that welcome niche book writers like me, get in touch.
Or if you just really want to have me come and do a reading near you, let me know.
I'm based in Massachusetts. Depending on how things work out, I'll know if I can travel far to do events after I see what kind of interest there is.
Email Lyrehca AT gmail DOT com or check out my page on BookTour.com.
Thanks!
So now it's on to more publicity.
These days, publishers don't schedule book tours unless you're already a giant name. So I'm putting the word out there to see if anyone would be interested in me coming to do a book reading/signing near you. The book is officially out on April 1, 2010.
Events for "Balancing Pregnancy With Pre-Existing Diabetes: Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby" are more likely to be based at a medical center, hospital, university with affiliated medical schools, and the like. (Though a bookstore that features health authors would be terrific, too).
If you live near a medical center where there's a diabetes and pregnancy program, or even a team of docs who worked with you through your pregnancy with pre-existing diabetes, email me and let me know where you are and what the med center is. If you run or know about health-themed bookstores that welcome niche book writers like me, get in touch.
Or if you just really want to have me come and do a reading near you, let me know.
I'm based in Massachusetts. Depending on how things work out, I'll know if I can travel far to do events after I see what kind of interest there is.
Email Lyrehca AT gmail DOT com or check out my page on BookTour.com.
Thanks!
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Author Photo: The Final Decision
Apologies to the curly-haired supporters, but I went with a straight shot.
Now which is better? I've got to decide this TODAY, Tuesday the 9th....
Black shirt or scoop neck?
Now which is better? I've got to decide this TODAY, Tuesday the 9th....
Black shirt or scoop neck?
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Blog Poll: Potential Author Photo
I didn't keep up with writing about all my fertility stuff because work got busy, but we had the embryo retrieval and transfer last week.
Now it's a waiting game, amid work deadlines, freezing cold weather, family stuff and ever-shrinking bank accounts.
My latest question occupying my mind is an author photo and hair texture: curly or straight?
I'm having a photo taken this week.
I've never run pictures on this blog for anonymity, but the truth is, people can find my photo online if they look hard enough.
So I'll make it easy.
Should I go straight, which requires more prep time, looks sleeker, and is what I did often before I had my kid:
Or do I go curly, which is my typical style these days, and maybe makes me look more like an "I can relate to her!" fellow mom with diabetes who has a child and doesn't spend an hour on her hair:
Of course, I'll be standing up straight, dressed appropriately, and not at a party (unlike these two shots) when the author photo will be taken.
And agewise, the curly shot is closer to how my face looks now, save for whatever retouching magic my photographer can wrangle.
What's your take?
Now it's a waiting game, amid work deadlines, freezing cold weather, family stuff and ever-shrinking bank accounts.
My latest question occupying my mind is an author photo and hair texture: curly or straight?
I'm having a photo taken this week.
I've never run pictures on this blog for anonymity, but the truth is, people can find my photo online if they look hard enough.
So I'll make it easy.
Should I go straight, which requires more prep time, looks sleeker, and is what I did often before I had my kid:
Or do I go curly, which is my typical style these days, and maybe makes me look more like an "I can relate to her!" fellow mom with diabetes who has a child and doesn't spend an hour on her hair:
Of course, I'll be standing up straight, dressed appropriately, and not at a party (unlike these two shots) when the author photo will be taken.
And agewise, the curly shot is closer to how my face looks now, save for whatever retouching magic my photographer can wrangle.
What's your take?
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
The Fan Page Is Live/Hello, Low
Balancing Pregnancy With Pre-Existing Diabetes: Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby now has a fan page on Facebook.
Become a fan, won't you?
In other news, I'm on to the stim part of IVF, where I inject a drug that amps up the follicles on my ovaries to create some good eggs. I've gone for two blood and ultrasounds already, and things are progressing as they should, IVF-wise.
WTF? I just tested and my blood sugar is 41. This is after drinking two juice boxes because I felt a little off and noticed my CGM said I was 85.
Great.
This is where I want to eat the entire bag of goldfish that we buy in bulk for our kid.
But from past experience, those little golden cheesy fish taste OK going down but they will send me soaring into the 300s a few hours from now. And the irony is that I don't even like goldfish all that much.
My mom just bought me a bunch of holiday-themed Lifesavers in packs that went on sale immediately after Christmas. I haven't used Lifesavers to treat insulin reactions in awhile but since I have a fistful handy, I'm now chowing a bunch down.
I can't remember a recent post when I've blogged while low, so hopefully this will be intelligible later on after I've posted it.
But yes, back to the fan page. If you're on Facebook these days, do become a fan. For no other reason than to make me happy when I check to see who supports my book and my efforts to illuminate the world about what it takes to do pregnancy with type 1 or type 2 diabetes.
I just thought about that Flo Rida song Low and now wonder if that guy has diabetes. One of the lyrics in the song talks about "Shorty got low, low, low, low, low, low, low." I always thought he was talking about some illicit sexual activity on the floor of some dance club, but now I see clearly how it can apply to an insulin reaction. Get Shorty some Lifesavers! Or a juice box!
(See the brilliance that comes out when my blood sugar plummets?)
Now my CGM is merely reporting a LOW with an arrow pointing right, rather than straight down.
What I've consumed to treat this low:
--Two Fruitables fruit/vegatable juice boxes, 20 grams of carb.
--One handful of goldfish, no idea of the carb count since it comes from giant bag of the stuff we bought at a local warehouse club and I'm not in the mood to figure out how many carbs are in the handful.
--An entire roll of LifeSavers, approximately 11 candies, about 34 grams of carb.
This is way more than the recommended 15 grams of carb you're supposed to take when you first flirt with the low end of normal, which in my pre-pregnancy state is anywhere under 100 or so before bedtime.
Lemme test again....Ah, 66. On the way back up.
And I'm starting to feel somewhat normal again.
My CGM, on the other hand, just alerted me that I am LOW! BUZZ! BUZZ! VIBRATE!
Thanks for sharing.
Now I'll wonder if I'll go super high in an hour from that handful of pesky goldfish. Should I take a small hit of insulin now to counteract the extra carb? Even though I still don't feel quite right. I mean, am I going low again despite all the food?
Now my meter tells me I am 93.
The CGM? Still holding steady at 60.
Technology: why can't it be accurate? I'm only relying on all this stuff to KEEP. ME. ALIVE.
OK, the CGM is noting an upward trend of 91.
Off to bed. I'll hold off on the extra insulin for now.
(Though I just Googled it, and it doesn't appear, on first glance, that the rapper Flo Rida has diabetes. HOWEVER, he has some other song out called Sugar.)
Coincidence?
Become a fan, won't you?
In other news, I'm on to the stim part of IVF, where I inject a drug that amps up the follicles on my ovaries to create some good eggs. I've gone for two blood and ultrasounds already, and things are progressing as they should, IVF-wise.
WTF? I just tested and my blood sugar is 41. This is after drinking two juice boxes because I felt a little off and noticed my CGM said I was 85.
Great.
This is where I want to eat the entire bag of goldfish that we buy in bulk for our kid.
But from past experience, those little golden cheesy fish taste OK going down but they will send me soaring into the 300s a few hours from now. And the irony is that I don't even like goldfish all that much.
My mom just bought me a bunch of holiday-themed Lifesavers in packs that went on sale immediately after Christmas. I haven't used Lifesavers to treat insulin reactions in awhile but since I have a fistful handy, I'm now chowing a bunch down.
I can't remember a recent post when I've blogged while low, so hopefully this will be intelligible later on after I've posted it.
But yes, back to the fan page. If you're on Facebook these days, do become a fan. For no other reason than to make me happy when I check to see who supports my book and my efforts to illuminate the world about what it takes to do pregnancy with type 1 or type 2 diabetes.
I just thought about that Flo Rida song Low and now wonder if that guy has diabetes. One of the lyrics in the song talks about "Shorty got low, low, low, low, low, low, low." I always thought he was talking about some illicit sexual activity on the floor of some dance club, but now I see clearly how it can apply to an insulin reaction. Get Shorty some Lifesavers! Or a juice box!
(See the brilliance that comes out when my blood sugar plummets?)
Now my CGM is merely reporting a LOW with an arrow pointing right, rather than straight down.
What I've consumed to treat this low:
--Two Fruitables fruit/vegatable juice boxes, 20 grams of carb.
--One handful of goldfish, no idea of the carb count since it comes from giant bag of the stuff we bought at a local warehouse club and I'm not in the mood to figure out how many carbs are in the handful.
--An entire roll of LifeSavers, approximately 11 candies, about 34 grams of carb.
This is way more than the recommended 15 grams of carb you're supposed to take when you first flirt with the low end of normal, which in my pre-pregnancy state is anywhere under 100 or so before bedtime.
Lemme test again....Ah, 66. On the way back up.
And I'm starting to feel somewhat normal again.
My CGM, on the other hand, just alerted me that I am LOW! BUZZ! BUZZ! VIBRATE!
Thanks for sharing.
Now I'll wonder if I'll go super high in an hour from that handful of pesky goldfish. Should I take a small hit of insulin now to counteract the extra carb? Even though I still don't feel quite right. I mean, am I going low again despite all the food?
Now my meter tells me I am 93.
The CGM? Still holding steady at 60.
Technology: why can't it be accurate? I'm only relying on all this stuff to KEEP. ME. ALIVE.
OK, the CGM is noting an upward trend of 91.
Off to bed. I'll hold off on the extra insulin for now.
(Though I just Googled it, and it doesn't appear, on first glance, that the rapper Flo Rida has diabetes. HOWEVER, he has some other song out called Sugar.)
Coincidence?
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
It's The Hormones, Duh
Yesterday, I made the decision to try to eat more fruit to round out my diet, and was pleased by the two clementines I had for a midmorning snack.
My sugars were good most of the day. I didn't think twice about what I ate.
Today, I just demolished a bag of chips. After my sugars have been high all morning.
What happened?
I started my first Lupron shot last night.
Googling "Lupron" and "food cravings" didn't bring me anything definitive. While writing the infertility chapter for my book, I only got people to say that "maybe" some of the IVF drugs could affect your sugars, and maybe they wouldn't. (Though I believe progesterone is linked to higher blood sugars). Needless to say, based on my own history over the years, I would say these drugs do something to make my body crave certain foods and to make my sugars act erratically.
I'm actually always surprised when I manage to note some kind of trend that shows that, hello! It's not just me: hormones are powerful things! Craving crap and thinking certain things about my body nearly always comes the day or two before my period does. My sugars are often so much more reasonable when I'm, say, off birth control versus on it.
Why should IVF drugs be any different?
My sugars were good most of the day. I didn't think twice about what I ate.
Today, I just demolished a bag of chips. After my sugars have been high all morning.
What happened?
I started my first Lupron shot last night.
Googling "Lupron" and "food cravings" didn't bring me anything definitive. While writing the infertility chapter for my book, I only got people to say that "maybe" some of the IVF drugs could affect your sugars, and maybe they wouldn't. (Though I believe progesterone is linked to higher blood sugars). Needless to say, based on my own history over the years, I would say these drugs do something to make my body crave certain foods and to make my sugars act erratically.
I'm actually always surprised when I manage to note some kind of trend that shows that, hello! It's not just me: hormones are powerful things! Craving crap and thinking certain things about my body nearly always comes the day or two before my period does. My sugars are often so much more reasonable when I'm, say, off birth control versus on it.
Why should IVF drugs be any different?
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Catching Up
Writing a book has a way of taking over all your free time. But now that the manuscript is in, I can get back to actually blogging again.
It's a bit weird now, because more people I know are aware of this blog, but with the book coming out based on my blog writings, it makes sense to keep on keepin' on.
This month also marks the fourth anniversary of when I began blogging. I sort of miss my blogging heyday when I had stuff to say regularly and lots of people left comments. I miss those comments, people! Then again, writing sporadically over the past few months if not two years will explain the (mostly) radio silence.
There's actually an upcoming event that lends itself to blogging: we're gearing up for another round of IVF.
Though I haven't blogged about it at all, we've been trying for kid number two for ages. People I know who have had their second children months ago conceived after when we first began trying. We did an IVF cycle this past summer, which got me pregnant, but things never progressed properly. The embryo stopped growing around week 5, and soon after, I had a D&E and was just eager to try again. Pregnancy loss that early is quite common, and it took me longer to chase my insurance company for reimbursement for certain out of pocket expenses I paid for up front than it did to recover from the entire experience.
(Jaded much? What can I say--nothing's ever straightforward when it comes to conception and me.)
We also did a frozen embryo transfer in the fall with two embryos that were created back in 2006 when Toddler L was conceived. We had sort of high hopes that since Toddler L is so fabulous, some of his embryonic siblings might be equally great. Alas, not to be: the FET yielded no positive pregnancy test. Our fertility doc told us that our the success rate for an FET is about 15 percent for a woman my age and with my health history, compared to about 30 percent for a fresh embryo transfer. So despite the fact that we still have a pair of 2006 embryos in storage, it's back to IVF.
The fertility doc put me on Metformin, with my Kind Endo's blessing, because he claims the Met helps my hormones stay in order. All I've noticed is that my blood sugars seem a lot less rollercoaster, particularly after meals and during the night. I'm loving Metformin, and I plan to ask my Endo if I can stay on it. Any other type 1 gals out there on Metformin?
Fittingly, my box of IVF meds *just* arrived as I am typing this post.
I'm not sure how many rounds of IVF I'm willing to do after this one. I'm at the point where I fully appreciate the son I have and wouldn't be crushed if he were my only child. I consider myself an IVF vet by now, but I'm pretty weary.
Let's hope the third time's the charm.
It's a bit weird now, because more people I know are aware of this blog, but with the book coming out based on my blog writings, it makes sense to keep on keepin' on.
This month also marks the fourth anniversary of when I began blogging. I sort of miss my blogging heyday when I had stuff to say regularly and lots of people left comments. I miss those comments, people! Then again, writing sporadically over the past few months if not two years will explain the (mostly) radio silence.
There's actually an upcoming event that lends itself to blogging: we're gearing up for another round of IVF.
Though I haven't blogged about it at all, we've been trying for kid number two for ages. People I know who have had their second children months ago conceived after when we first began trying. We did an IVF cycle this past summer, which got me pregnant, but things never progressed properly. The embryo stopped growing around week 5, and soon after, I had a D&E and was just eager to try again. Pregnancy loss that early is quite common, and it took me longer to chase my insurance company for reimbursement for certain out of pocket expenses I paid for up front than it did to recover from the entire experience.
(Jaded much? What can I say--nothing's ever straightforward when it comes to conception and me.)
We also did a frozen embryo transfer in the fall with two embryos that were created back in 2006 when Toddler L was conceived. We had sort of high hopes that since Toddler L is so fabulous, some of his embryonic siblings might be equally great. Alas, not to be: the FET yielded no positive pregnancy test. Our fertility doc told us that our the success rate for an FET is about 15 percent for a woman my age and with my health history, compared to about 30 percent for a fresh embryo transfer. So despite the fact that we still have a pair of 2006 embryos in storage, it's back to IVF.
The fertility doc put me on Metformin, with my Kind Endo's blessing, because he claims the Met helps my hormones stay in order. All I've noticed is that my blood sugars seem a lot less rollercoaster, particularly after meals and during the night. I'm loving Metformin, and I plan to ask my Endo if I can stay on it. Any other type 1 gals out there on Metformin?
Fittingly, my box of IVF meds *just* arrived as I am typing this post.
I'm not sure how many rounds of IVF I'm willing to do after this one. I'm at the point where I fully appreciate the son I have and wouldn't be crushed if he were my only child. I consider myself an IVF vet by now, but I'm pretty weary.
Let's hope the third time's the charm.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Book Submitted!
After nine months, 289 pages, 85,111 words, and the latest of many late nights, I just emailed my book manuscript to my editor. Woo Hoo!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Checks
Oh, how I have fallen off the blogging bandwagon.
I was reading some of my old posts last night and marveled at how frequently I wrote and how long the posts were. Clearly, those were my pre-child and pre-book days.
Things are the usual over here. Our son is two and totally keeps us hopping. He is a total chatterbox, loves to go to the ATM (which he calls the AEM). Every time we drive or walk by an ATM, or he sees the Bank of America logo somewhere, he shouts "AEM! Checks! Deposit!"
It's a big treat for him to walk with me to the ATM and watch me deposit a check. I wish I got as many as he seems to think I have.
Next week he starts two days of a local summer camp to go along with the three days of daycare he's already in. This is so I can have solid time every day to work on my diabetes and pregnancy book. It's moving along, but my deadline is fast approaching, and currently, I'm not writing fast enough to meet it. August is going to totally suck.
The book, when I finally sign off on a chapter, feels great. However, there's always something else I can be doing, and I always have something hanging over my head. Sort of like diabetes itself, I suppose.
Along those lines, I had a bit of a freakout last week when Baby L (who should really be called Toddler L now) slept really late one morning (I mean, 'til 9:30 am, which is unheard of). His diaper, no surpise, was soaked. Since I had such a great specimen, as it were, I took out a Ketostix and pressed it into the diaper.
The result was Trace.
Oy vey.
I immediately called his pediatrician's office and asked to speak to a nurse or a doctor about it. I explained my history, my reasoning for why I even have a bottle of Ketostix by my son's diaper changing area, and was promptly put on hold.
I did a quick Google search on Trace Ketones in Toddlers, but didn't get much back. Instead, the hold went on and on and I hung up. Toddler L was clamoring to watch Sesame Street on my laptop, his latest favorite thing. I set him up with Elmo and Abby Cadabby, changed the lancet out of my kit and gave everything a good swipe with alcohol.
I didn't want to do it, but I figured I could find things out quicker on my own.
I pricked his finger and tested his blood sugar. He cried and said "No More!" when the lancet went into his finger. I felt bad.
5
4
3
2
1
His result was 78.
I was thrilled.
I kissed his head and immediately called back the doctor's office and finally got a nurse on the phone. She assured me, as this office has in the past, that he didn't seem to be showing major signs of diabetes, and actually had the nerve to say the Ketostix for home use aren't always accurate. (But they're accurate enough for pregnant diabetic women to pee on them every morning, but I digress.) As long as his blood sugar was 78, the trace ketones could be explained away because he slept for so long, he hadn't eaten in a long while and ketones sometimes appear that way.
It seemed reasonable to me. But I will absolutely continue to check his urine if it's easy to do so.
Just as I'll keep writing with my eye on the deadline down the road. And with any luck, people who don't know me will actually buy this book.
And hopefully that will bring me some more checks so my son and I can entertain ourself depositing them at the AEM.
I was reading some of my old posts last night and marveled at how frequently I wrote and how long the posts were. Clearly, those were my pre-child and pre-book days.
Things are the usual over here. Our son is two and totally keeps us hopping. He is a total chatterbox, loves to go to the ATM (which he calls the AEM). Every time we drive or walk by an ATM, or he sees the Bank of America logo somewhere, he shouts "AEM! Checks! Deposit!"
It's a big treat for him to walk with me to the ATM and watch me deposit a check. I wish I got as many as he seems to think I have.
Next week he starts two days of a local summer camp to go along with the three days of daycare he's already in. This is so I can have solid time every day to work on my diabetes and pregnancy book. It's moving along, but my deadline is fast approaching, and currently, I'm not writing fast enough to meet it. August is going to totally suck.
The book, when I finally sign off on a chapter, feels great. However, there's always something else I can be doing, and I always have something hanging over my head. Sort of like diabetes itself, I suppose.
Along those lines, I had a bit of a freakout last week when Baby L (who should really be called Toddler L now) slept really late one morning (I mean, 'til 9:30 am, which is unheard of). His diaper, no surpise, was soaked. Since I had such a great specimen, as it were, I took out a Ketostix and pressed it into the diaper.
The result was Trace.
Oy vey.
I immediately called his pediatrician's office and asked to speak to a nurse or a doctor about it. I explained my history, my reasoning for why I even have a bottle of Ketostix by my son's diaper changing area, and was promptly put on hold.
I did a quick Google search on Trace Ketones in Toddlers, but didn't get much back. Instead, the hold went on and on and I hung up. Toddler L was clamoring to watch Sesame Street on my laptop, his latest favorite thing. I set him up with Elmo and Abby Cadabby, changed the lancet out of my kit and gave everything a good swipe with alcohol.
I didn't want to do it, but I figured I could find things out quicker on my own.
I pricked his finger and tested his blood sugar. He cried and said "No More!" when the lancet went into his finger. I felt bad.
5
4
3
2
1
His result was 78.
I was thrilled.
I kissed his head and immediately called back the doctor's office and finally got a nurse on the phone. She assured me, as this office has in the past, that he didn't seem to be showing major signs of diabetes, and actually had the nerve to say the Ketostix for home use aren't always accurate. (But they're accurate enough for pregnant diabetic women to pee on them every morning, but I digress.) As long as his blood sugar was 78, the trace ketones could be explained away because he slept for so long, he hadn't eaten in a long while and ketones sometimes appear that way.
It seemed reasonable to me. But I will absolutely continue to check his urine if it's easy to do so.
Just as I'll keep writing with my eye on the deadline down the road. And with any luck, people who don't know me will actually buy this book.
And hopefully that will bring me some more checks so my son and I can entertain ourself depositing them at the AEM.
Monday, March 02, 2009
Diabetes and Pregnancy: THE BOOK!
This is the news I've been waiting to share for four years, and the reason I began blogging in the first place.
My book, "Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby: Balancing Pregnancy With Pre-existing Diabetes," sold last week to Demos Health, a division of Demos Medical Publishing.
I'll be writing it this year and barring any problems, it will be published in early 2010, under my real name and byline.
It's the book I wanted when I was planning to get pregnant, and then was pregnant, and couldn't find: a book about what it was actually like to be pregnant with diabetes, written by someone who knew, firsthand.
It will include the insights of *many* other women, with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Maybe even you.
If you're pregnant now, or thinking about getting pregnant, or have been pregnant in the past, and would like to be interviewed, please email me at Lyrehca AT gmail DOT com and I will be in touch.
If this book is something you'll want to buy, let me know, and I'll keep you posted on when it's available and where you can buy it.
Thanks, everyone, for reading this blog, for your comments about pregnancy and diabetes, and for your support. I can't wait to show you this book when it's complete.
My book, "Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby: Balancing Pregnancy With Pre-existing Diabetes," sold last week to Demos Health, a division of Demos Medical Publishing.
I'll be writing it this year and barring any problems, it will be published in early 2010, under my real name and byline.
It's the book I wanted when I was planning to get pregnant, and then was pregnant, and couldn't find: a book about what it was actually like to be pregnant with diabetes, written by someone who knew, firsthand.
It will include the insights of *many* other women, with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Maybe even you.
If you're pregnant now, or thinking about getting pregnant, or have been pregnant in the past, and would like to be interviewed, please email me at Lyrehca AT gmail DOT com and I will be in touch.
If this book is something you'll want to buy, let me know, and I'll keep you posted on when it's available and where you can buy it.
Thanks, everyone, for reading this blog, for your comments about pregnancy and diabetes, and for your support. I can't wait to show you this book when it's complete.
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