I'm only a little exhausted tonight. Somehow, the Thanksgiving weekend is still chasing me. An air mattress with a slow leak led to two nights of poor sleep, plus there were the usual difficulties of traveling with a toddler who needs a night to get used to any new place, then gets overexcited from new people, new pets, lack of routine, and too many cookies, and a house that's not toddler-prepared like our own. Not that we can ever leave her alone completely (it's amazing how fast a toddler can find trouble!), but we don't have to be "on" her constantly the way we do in someone else's house. Between that activity and avoiding wheat, I didn't have any trouble keeping my blood sugar down - in fact, I had to keep close tabs to keep it from going too low.
Don't get me wrong, we had a wonderful time (Thanks, Aunt Linda!). Seeing family and friends and touring Brooklyn at the holidays was fun. We (especially the two-year-old) had a blast at the Transportation Museum, too. And who can really complain next to the work that was put into a meal for 26 people (a relatively small gathering this year, too). Or the worry that my sister- and brother-in-law went through, having just had a not-very-big (though beautiful and perfect!) baby the Monday before Thanksgiving, and been dumped at home with no pediatrician available (except for "emergencies," which they couldn't quite figure whether they were in), as the baby nursed seemingly constantly.
I tried to offer my most useful advice (knowing that I was not their doctor or any kind of real medical professional; I only write about such things). I certainly hit that exact same point, about three days after giving birth, when the baby suddenly got hungry, yet I didn't quite have what she needed but my baby was almost twice as big at that point. As I understand it, that's exactly what helps the real milk (as opposed to colostrum) come in. I distinctly recall that point when I was nursing for an hour and a half, only to have baby H demanding more a half hour later (or even sooner). But because of my C-section, I was still in the hospital. For better or worse, I had all the advice of the nurses and lactation consultants (often directly contradictory advice), and I got the sense, by the time I went home, that the "norm" has a wide range - in terms of both how often a baby feeds and how the mom's body responds. I also got the sense that, while a lot of variation is normal, many things can go awry in little or big ways, and you have to cope with new things at each point; it's like boot camp for the ever-changing state that is parenthood.
Despite my daughter's big size at birth (9.5 pounds), she lost more than 10% of her weight in the first few days. I think it was almost entirely water weight, because both I and she were so bloated! Nonetheless, the 10% mark is a line that must not be crossed: It triggered a SWAT response from the nurses, who swooped in with a strange device consisting of an enormous syringe containing formula, connected to tubing, which I was instructed to stick into my nursing infant's mouth (yes, you get tie picture). I had to push the plunger of the syringe down slowly while holding my baby (with the extra-large head) and nursing, all of which was entirely new to me (of course, technically I have plenty of experience in pushing a syringe plunger).
As I understand it, most babies lose about 10% of their weight in the first week, and then rapidly regain it, but some don't regain it without a lot of help - hence the SWAT approach. And the nurses make it seem as if you are the first people this has ever happened to (or, in my sister-in-law's case, she wasn't told anything about it, as far as I can tell - or if she was, she was in no state to remember it and should have received written information).
I'm also glad I was still in the hospital because my blood sugars were so low. I didn't use any insulin at all for several days, and for a very long time afterward I was using far, far less than usual. It was comfortaing having doctors and nurses on hand to watch over that and to provide helpful calculations to guide how much insulin I would need - although I ended up needing even less than the small amounts they recommended. My sister-in-law doesn't have that issue, but any new mom has plenty to deal with and needs more support than she had for those first few days.
So, Thanksgiving held a lot to be thankful for, but also a lot to recover from!
Meanwhile, on Tuesday I got trained in my new CGM (see previous post). There's a lot to love about it, but I have also some critiques (some things that are no different from the previous generation, even from a different manufacturer). The device really does give pretty accurate readings, especially when I "calibrate" it with my regular finger-stick blood sugar readings. This is a vast difference from the previous device I used. Perhaps it was because I was pregnant (even though I was in excellent control), but that device only showed the general trends, and often would beep to signal low blood sugar when I didn't have a low. Now, I know the new device is still not meant to be used to calculate insulin boluses, but it's nice to know that it's pretty accurate.
My main complaint, at the outset, is that the device (my insulin pump) beeps if it loses its wireless connection with the sensor that's in my abdomen. I don't mind it beeping during the day - but when I'm asleep I don't want to be woken up for that reason. My sleep is far more precious to me than knowing what my blood sugars were for a few hours during the night! Since I don't have a particular problem with hypoglycemia unawareness, I'd prefer the option to turn off that alarm while I sleep; maybe it could be set to resume after a certain number of hours, to ensure I don't forget to turn it back on.
At least the alarm isn't very loud, unlike the one with the previous device. You have no idea (but my husband does) how annoying it was to be awoken, most nights, with an alarm right in my ear, especially the many times it was a false alarm! But I used it for much of my pregnancy, because I had temporary hypoglycemia unawareness, and I was terrified both for myself and for the growing life inside of me.
It's so wonderful to know my daughter now, of course, and to realize how healthy and happy she is, even if she's got a constantly running nose because of a month's worth of colds, followed by two-year molars, and even when she throws a fit because she can't watch Elmo anymore after two hours or can't eat a fourth cookie. (Am I going to get in trouble, years from now, for stating this publicly? Probably. I'm sorry, dear, but take comfort that Elmo is Elmo precisely because of the millions of other toddlers before and after you who have thrown fits when they couldn't watch him. Ditto the cookies.)
Phew! TGIF; no kidding.
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