As a parent of a child with type 1 diabetes, also known as an insulin dependent diabetic, I would like you to know about the dreaded hour of most parents of the younger children...it is the 2 o'clock hour. At 2am, most parents of a t1d will have their alarm clock go off so they can get up, drag themselves to their sleeping child and proceed to check their blood sugars... Right before entering we each feel our heart skip a beat, our blood pressure rise, and we will hold our breath in fear that this time when we go in, we will not see our child's chest rising up and then down. Once we go in and thank God that our child is still well, we will bow out the air we were holding and then proceed to check our child's blood sugar. Depending on the outcome of the test they will do one of 3 things... 1) Think Holy smokes! What did I feed that kid when they see a blood sugar of 200+ and then proceed to pray that while they give their child a shot, they do not wake up. 2) Think Oh Crap! What did I do wrong now when they see a blood sugar of 70 or less. And then proceed to try, yes TRY to wake up their child to feed them sugar. 3) (and the least likely) Go back to sleep and think I got it right tonight! YAY! We both get to sleep!
Thankfully for some, technology has brought us a long way. We now have things like our CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor). It has let me sleep more easily on good nights and alerts me of bad nights, and then I am up 5+ times a night. But, I am so thankful to know of the bad nights and I am even more grateful for the full nights of sleep.
