So thankful..

I definitely have so much to be thankful for, way more than 22 days of November leading up to Thanksgiving worth.   I did want to jot down a daily thing I am thankful for.  Instead of clogging everyone's Facebook feed,  I thought I would blog it instead.

11/1-           As I am typing this before I leave work—I thought it would be appropriate to say I am grateful that Kris and I have jobs.  Not just jobs, but jobs with good companies, good people, and a place we can enjoy.

                       

11/2-            My car.  Thankful to have a working car to get me all the places I need and want to go.

11/3-            Sleeping in.  This is something I will have to give up on when the baby comes.  I am thankful for these Saturdays when I can sleep in. 

11/4-            Family dinners—every Sunday we have dinner with Kris’ family, or the first of the month with my family.  We love getting together to eat and catch up.  It is a bonus all (minus one sister) of our immediate families live in the valley. 

11/5-            My insulin pump.  Although it has  very frustrating technical errors, and I wish I didn’t have to deal with Juvenile Diabetes at all,  I am grateful for what there is available today.  I can eat cookies, pizza, and cake because of my pump. 

 11/6-            Free agency.

 11/7-            I am thankful for my home.  I’ve seen a lot of aftermath from Hurricane Sandy,  and I am just so thankful for a roof over my head. 

11/8-            Family.  My family members are also my closest friends.  Kris and I both have large families, and  I love that. 

11/9-            Air conditioning & heaters—both in home and cars.  How did people survive without these?  This is a luxury I take for granted. 

11/10-          What better day to say I am thankful for my mother than on her birthday?   I always thank my Heavenly Father for giving me the mother he did.  She is the most unselfish person I know, and I hope I can be half the mother to my little peanut as she is to me.

 11/11-         For the country I live in.  
 

 11/12-         Rebel basketball games.  Always fun to watch.  (Not too thankful for Kris' facial hair here..)

11/13-           The convenience of this city.  We live close to grocery stores that are open 24 hours.  There is so much available if we need it.  When I lived in St. George, that was something I missed.     

11/14-           Being an Aunt.  I LOVE all my nieces and nephews, and I am happy when I get to see them.  I think having so many has prepared me for my motherhood.  Plus they are all so sticking cute.

 11/15-         Baby kicks & movement.  I always wonder how my little guy is baking in there.  When he kicks and moves it reassures me that he is OK. 

 11/16-         Free lunches.  Besides the Bistro food at my work. I’ve been spoiled with EAT, Rubios, Nacho Daddy, Pizza, and Panera Bread this month.  

 11/17-          My husband and our marriage.  All around good guy, and I feel so lucky to have him in my life. 

 11/18-         Friends.  Old and new.  A friend of mine in the Navy sent us  gifts from our registry.  She went above and beyond, and I was so grateful.  My friends have such kind hearts. 

 11/19-         My church and all the blessings I receive from it.  I am thankful to know that I am a child of God and I chose to come to earth. Also for the power of prayer, and for the wonderful people I know and have met.

11/20-           Food!  I would be grateful for just being able to eat, period.  But, being able to eat things we enjoy is a blessing I take for granted.  The first types of foods that come to mind are all incredibly unhealthy, but  I’ll blame it on the pregnancy hormones.  Watching the crazy stuff these people eat on the history channel—yuck!  I am a spoiled American Girl.  Yay for Fries- Bacon- and Southwest Chicken Salads!

11/21-           Grandparents.  I adored my grandparents, and was thankful to have them.  I am sad this little guy will not have his biological grandfathers part of his earthly life, but thankful he has 2 loving grandmas and a grandpa Bob. 

 11/22-         Cameras and other gadgets. Technology is crazy, and I am happy there are so many ways to capture moments and keep precious memories. And even with the ease of it all, I often don't take as many pictures as I want.

Favorite Thing Friday

My sister does a cute blog every Friday where she posts one of her favorite things.

I'm not going to copy permanently, but wanted to do something today.

So for one of my favorite things this Friday...

Childrens Hand Made Art/Letters

Around my desk at work I have a lot of pictures, and one cute letter my niece wrote to me.

This was last February, right before Valentines Day.  She was 7 at the time, and I was with her at my Mom's house.  She wrote:

" I know it's almost Valentines Day and I wanted to ask you a question.  Will you be my Valentine?"

On the other side is a picture of a butterfly and a heart.  It says 'BFF-I Lvoe You- From: Karli To:Kari"    

So sweet.

Diamond Jubilee

My mom turned 60 on November 10th!   Earlier this year she got her ears pierced with my niece, and wore diamond earrings for her diamond jubilee.  I wish I had a picture of her wearing her diamond earrings, but below is the day she pierced them.

She said she did not want a party, but I knew something special had to be done for her 60th.  I saw an idea on Pinterest, and knew right away it was perfect for my mom. 

I put together a letter that I sent to my moms friends, friends from the past, family members, and old ward members.  It was explaining that it would be great if my mom could open "60 memories for 60 years".  Each memory would be put in an envelope.  

It turned out great.  She loved it, and was very surprised!

At first it was hard to track people down.  My mom's generation isn't as addicted to facebook and email like my generation is.  Tracking down all these people without the help of my mom giving me phone numbers,  emails, or addresses was very hard.   But we did it!  Plus, she has 6 kids, and we each did a memory, (some of us two)  and that was 1/6th of them done!

Some were really funny, some really random, and a lot of  them were really sweet.  There were things I learned, and things even my mom learned.  She apparently didn't know her little brothers bugged the living room so they could listen to her talk to her dates. 

I wanted to have the memories jotted down in two versions.  So I also filled a notebook with them.  The notebook had a map outlined as the design, and I titled it "Linda's Trip Down Memory Lane" That turned out easier to read at first, because we read a good chunk over dinner at a public restaurant. 

She said she went home and opened every envelope, and finished reading every one.  She loved it, and said she felt so loved, and she is! 

One sweet memory was written by my mom's Aunt Laurelle, her mother's sister.  She sent her handwritten letter to me in the mail, and the handwriting reminded me of my late grandmother.  She said how she loved living with baby Linda,  and how cute she was as a baby.   

I am just glad she has these, and can now read them over and over if she wanted to.  It is something I hope she keeps forever, and even posterity can read it years from now. 

Happy Jubilee Mom!

Fortune Cookie- Jan 18th due date?

Today my fortune cookie at PF Changs said, "Remember three months from this date for an exciting time."  

My prediction is, I go a month early on January 18th! haha. :)  The fortune cookie said so.

We go to another visit to see our little monkey next Tuesday.  I love going to ultra sounds.

The picture below is about 3 weeks ago.  His feet are up in his face.

I have been feeling him move a lot lately.  Kris has felt a few times, but not too many.

I know I did this survey before-- but here it is 1/2 way through my pregnancy.  I might do it once more mid January.

How far along? 21.5 weeks

Total weight gain: oh my, about 18.  I was one who said "I'm only going to gain 25 lbs..."  I think that dream won't come true.
Maternity clothes? Yeah I have a bunch, and I am more comfortable in them.  I still wear a lot of shirts that I already owned, and jeans but no way can they zip or button, I have to use a hair tie.
Stretch marks? No, I have 3 different creams to see if I can prevent that.
Sleep: I sleep well.  Rolling over is starting to become a challenge.
Best moment this week: Getting our Baby registry done (BabiesRUS and Amazon.com) then relaxing on a cruise for a long weekend!
Miss Anything? My face when it had less acne.
Movement: Yes. Many times a day.

Food cravings: Not really. 
Anything making you queasy or sick: No, chicken and eggs in first trimester. 
Gender: Still a boy. :)
Labor Signs: No

Symptoms: Tired. Achy hip and a few headaches.  -- Nothing I didn't sign up for.

Belly Button in or out? In, BUT it looks different.  Pretty sure it will pop.

Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody?  This is the same-- I'm like a baby. Happy most of the time, but when I'm tired or hungry I am moody as can be.  Sorry hubs. 

March 11, 1998

I applied for this cool program called Jimmy Insulin.  It is a great program for Type 1 diabetics to mentor & coach others with Type 1.  I applied to be a mentor, and had to submit my "diabetic story", which is below.  I thought I would put it on here too.  Some of the references you can see are now updated (last paragraph about trying for children).  I wrote this letter at the beginning of 2012.

This is a picture of me one month before my diagnosis.  I was drinking water like crazy, all day, every day.

My story started in 5th grade, and just like any other kid, I loved to play outside, run around, and had a wild imagination.  Things slowly started changing and these strange symptoms were starting to worry my family and teachers.  I started drinking water excessively, which led to frequent bathroom trips.  My skin was so dry and dehydrated that I started getting rashes and bleeding from my knuckles.  The weeks before my diagnosis, I would take afternoon naps, which was not normal for me.  One afternoon while napping in my parent’s room, I wet the bed. Ten years old is too old to wet the bed, and my mom decided to take me to the doctor.  It was March 11, 1998.  My mom took me in and out of school 3 times that day to get various tests done.  I first went to get my urine tested, then pulled out again to get my blood tested, then pulled out once more when the blood results came back.  She picked me up from school, and while wiping her tears, said, "It is official, you have Type 1 Diabetes."  I might have cried myself if I really understood what it was.  In the car I remember asking my mom, "So what happens today? I just have to go home and look for sugar free things in the cabinet?"   I thought diabetes was simply a disease where you will be fine if you don’t eat sugar.  I did not know how complex it would be.

I was in the hospital for one week. I remember my first insulin shot the nurse gave.  The needle was much bigger than the ones I would use at home, and it was in the stomach, which is my least favorite spot to inject.  After the shot, I looked at my mom and simply said, “I don’t want to.” We both cried. 
My mom and dad were so sincere during this time, and often said if they could take this disease from me they would.  I would ask why this happened to me, and they said, “You were given these challenges because you are strong enough to live this life, and Heavenly Father knew that”.   I took that as a compliment, and remember that being the first smile related with diabetes. 

The first few months of diabetes, was almost fun. It was my “honeymoon stage”, and in a weird way it was new and kind of exciting. That didn’t last too long. I wasn’t bad the next few years, but I was growing, and often found that at times when you do everything you are directed to do, you might still get a high and low sugar reading.  I had two low blood sugars at school, which required attention from an ambulance within a few weeks.  I was later told that one teacher made ignorant comments about how she wasn’t surprised it happened twice, because I do not take care of myself.  That comment made me livid, because those were the days I was trying really hard, and I think that was the start to my rebellious days.

Most diabetics go through a stage where they are too cool for diabetes.  I had the theory that if I felt fine, I was fine, so why would I test?  It lasted several years, and I had several episodes because of it.  I didn’t listen to people trying to help me, because I didn’t feel that anyone understood.  I often thought to myself, “Well, let’s see you deal with diabetes, and see how you would do.”  My left eye today has a blind spot, which I will never get back, even after having Lasik eye surgery.  Ironically, I think losing some sight in my eye is what made me wake up and see how poorly I was treating myself.  I just hope that is the worst result from my rebellious days. 

Today, I work full time in the administrative field, for a company who offers amazing health benefits.  I am active, and often go to the gym.  I was married last year, and my doctor gave me the clearance to try for children.  My husband and I will be hoping for a baby in the next few years.  I would love to be there for a young diabetic who can complain to me about their troubles and I can listen, understand, and most importantly, help them.


I was accepted as a mentor, but this program is still new and growing.  They dont have as many young kids looking for a mentor.

Walk to Cure Diabetes- 1999.  Me, Matt, Megan, and Mom. 

Diabeetus

I swore to myself that if I ever got a blog, I wouldn't make it a diary to journal my angry feelings or to vent.  Well, I will try hard, but this one might come off angry here and there.

I'm not sure who reads my blogs, but I bet most people who do, know the differences between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, and know how frustrating both can be.  I am writing this more for me than anyone else.

Type 1:  (This is what I have!!)
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) can occur at any age, but is most commonly diagnosed from infancy to the late 30s.  In this type of diabetes, a person's pancreas produces little or no insulin.  T1D occurs when the body's own defense system (the immune system) attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.  People with T1D must inject insulin several times every day or continually infuse insulin through a pump.

While it's causes are not yet entirely understood, scientists believe that both genetic and environmental factors are involved.  It's onset has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle.  There is nothing you can do to prevent T1D, and-at present-nothing you can do to get rid of it.


-- A type 1 Diabetic is very sensitive to insulin.  Having to continually calculate how much insulin is needed based on many factors, being off by even one tiny unit of insulin in your injection, can cause a high or low blood sugar.

Type 2:  (Most people mistake me for having this, majority of diabetics are type 2) Type 2 diabetes typically develops after age 40, but can appear earlier, and has recently begun to appear with more frequency in children.  In this form of diabetes, the pancreas still produces insulin, but the body does not produce enough or is not able to use it effectively.  Treatment includes diet control, exercise, self-monitoring of blood glucose, and, in some cases, oral drugs or insulin.


Gestational Diabetes
About 2 to 10 percent of pregnant women develop high blood sugars during pregnancy. Although this type of diabetes usually disappears after the birth of the baby, women who have had gestational diabetes are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life.

Common myths that frustrate me:

- "I can cure my diabetes by diet and exercise".  Really...?  I was active in high school and a personal trainer for years.  There were a few years where I was very strict with my diet, too.  If this myth were true, I would be cured by now.  Believe me.

- "I got my disease by eating too much sugar/junk as a kid"   Truth: Bull crap.  We couldn't afford sugary foods.  Yeah, my mom worked and still works in a bakery, but grocery store bakeries are nasty. I still find that food repulsive, and have never enjoyed it.  Sorry to the store owners.. I just don't like that food.  Plus, if that were true, do you know how many more kids would have it?  I was the kid with tuna on wheat bread at lunchtime.  I was jealous of the kids with Lunchables/ Capri Suns/Kool aid squeezies and Hostess snacks.  It was just a luxury we never got.


- "I cannot eat any sugar or fast food"-- No I do, and I enjoy it, and my sugars are great.  It is hard, yes.  I wish the only worry for me when eating fast food were things like: "Will this give me love handles?", and "Will it rot my teeth?".  If given enough notice, I can test my sugar and give the proper amount of insulin (which is a LOT--but often worth it) and enjoy the same food all of you do.

- "I need to look at the amount of sugar grams on every label"  -- I rarely look at how much sugar is in something.  However, it is important that I do look at Carbohydrate grams.  Carbohydrates break down into sugars when you eat them, and that is the most important thing to me on food labels.

"Diabetes Management is a full time job that I didn't apply for, didn't want and cannot quit.  It involves what, when, and how much I eat, while also factoring in exercise, medication, stress, blood sugar monitoring, and so much more--each and every day"  

I hope type 2 diabetics do not get offended reading this.  They have their own struggles, and it also sucks.  Just because they are not required to test as much, or often don't need nearly the same amount of medication, it is still frustrating for them.  It is possible for type 2 diabetes to run in your family.  They can get type 2, but not be considered "obese", while other bigger and more unhealthy people just get lucky.

But honestly, I would trade for type 2 in a heartbeat.  They are just so different.  If my pancreas could make just a little bit of insulin, dealing with diabetes would be much easier!

Diabetic Etiquette Cards -- would never get these, but I wish  I could pass them out.


So please, do not judge me, or think I am not taking care of myself by eating a cookie.  I love cookies and if I get a chance to eat them, I will.

Also keep in mind, the amount of insulin I am told to give changes often, especially during pregnancy.  Your body changes as you grow, especially a woman's body.   My body needs more insulin now than it did as a kid, and needs more now that I am pregnant.  But this is all figured out by sugars starting to trend high or low.  That means a lot of highs and lows.

With that said, I can do everything right by the books, do everything I am told to do exactly when I am told to do it-- but occasionally I will still get a high blood sugar or low blood sugar, just by the body changing.  Please don't ever think to yourself, "I'd be able to handle it better" or "Is it really that hard to take care of yourself?"--- because yes, yes it is.

OK, sorry with all the venting -- I will try to end on a positive note.


Below is a picture of my grandpa's older brothers and sisters.  We believe the older girl died from Type 1 Diabetes-- it was before insulin was founded and there was not enough knowledge to take care of it.   I am happy to be alive when I am!

- I am very very thankful for the love and support from my family.  Especially from my husband and mother who have both dealt with the many mood swings my diabetes contributed to.

- One time I went low during class, which totally sucked, but it was during a test I wasn't ready for.  I had to retake the test the following week.  The bright side -- I got an extra week to study. 

- I have met great people along the years.  As a child, I attended "Diabetic Camp".  I know, sounds way cheesy, but it was so much fun, and those are some great childhood memories for me.

The best part of this picture is the shirt.  I was just making fun of my sister for wearing this in an old picture, and here I am making my debut at Diabetic Camp with a hard core, sunflower, ying yang shirt- AND it was a third time hand me down. hahah. 

- I do take care of myself.  I always wonder if I didn't have diabetes,  would I not treat my body as good as I do now?  Would I care how much soda I drink or how many cookies I eat?  Maybe I wouldn't, and with not having to worry about what I would be putting in my mouth, maybe I would have no limit of what I put in it.

When I lived with my nieces, they would love to watch me get ready and do my make up.  One night before I started getting ready, I tested my blood sugar and had a very frustrating and unexpected reading.  I was sad and my emotions were showing.  My niece came up, saying nothing, and simply kissed me on my head.  I asked her to do it again so I could take a picture.  I hope I never forget that night.



Famous people with TYPE 1 diabetes
Click here for low blood sugar symptoms.
And here for high blood sugar symptoms