Thanksgristmas

Christmas officially arrived at the McMomma House on Thanksgiving resulting in a new holiday:

 

Thanksgristmas

 

I finally gave in this year and figured everyone else does it, I might as well join in.

 

We have a fake tree (I'm a practical gal if you haven't figured that out already) so we popped that bad boy up the morning of Thanksgiving and I hung up a snow berry wreath scented ornament for all of you out there whose immediate response was:

 

But what about the SMELL???

 

As far as experience, my kids think a pop-up pre-lit tree is way cool. Maybe all of you out there who drag your kids to a real Christmas Tree farm are the ones missing the fake tree experience.

Ever think about that?

 

She can decorate and throw sass at the same time

Thanksgristmas Outfits


And then it was time to give thanks...by wearing politically incorrect paper feathered headdresses, painted macaroni noodle necklaces and eating way too much turkey.
My girls have yet to appreciate Thanksgiving food, so it was pretty easy to bolus for a dinner consisting of olives, cucumbers, turkey, grapes and frozen peas. YUM.

I'm thankful for an awesome wife...and my ability to grow facial hair.

 

 I'm thankful for Tickles who caught multiple mystery lows Thanksgiving week...and that Movember is almost over.

 

I'm thankful for frozen peas and diet Hansen's soda...and that Movember is almost over.

 

I'm thankful for raisins...and that Movember is almost over.

 

 In all seriousness, what am I thankful for? Well, in addition to what I've mentioned before, I'm thankful that we're on THIS side of the year...10 months into life with diabetes and not on the other side of the year...brand new to diabetes and overwhelmed by the enormity of it all.

 

To wrap up the Thanksgristmas season, we made salt dough ornaments COVERED in glitter.

Which made an absolute mess.



 

She's very careful with the placement of glue

 

Livie is not so careful...with anything...here she is shaking the glitter off of her cookie and onto the floor that Domestic Divo had just cleaned...it also somehow ended up in her hair...and pretty much all over her...

 

 

But the finished product made it all worth it.

 



 

Home-made gifts are the best, I say. Especially when they leave little bits of glitter around that remind you of the holiday season all year long.



Ain't nothin' but a G4 thang, baaaaabay!

One, two, three and to the fo'
UPS man is knockin' at the do'
G4 ready to make an entrance, so back on up
[Cause you know we 'bout to rip 'betes up]

Gimme the receiver first, so I can get it charged

Dexcom and Omnipod together, now you know we livin' large
Ain't nothin' but a G4 thang, baaaaabay! To make this Momma go craaaaazay!

 

Our Dexcom G4 Platinum arrived Monday.

Ella ripped it open like a package on Christmas Day

And immediately named it....Tickles...after its color "Tickled Pink."

 

I have yet to figure out how to make this appropriate in public.

 

Example:

"Mom....Tickles is vibrating and I feel high"

 

Yeah...

 

Anyhow, as soon as Tickles was charged up, we slapped the new transmitter on her and anxiously waited 2 hours for Tickles to go through her wetting phase...

 

Yeah...

 

 

Some of you will remember that we tried out the Dexcom7 (aka G3) but very quickly learned that we didn't work well together. She was wrong...a lot. Which lead to more blood sugar checks. And Ella was always leaving her here or there so she always gave me the "out of range" reading. I think we used her for about 2 weeks before we packed her up and put her out of sight.

 

So obviously I had reservations about paying $399 to upgrade to the G4, but I figured I had 30 days to try it out and return it if I didn't like it. Plus once Ella saw they had a pink one, she was "tickled" - nice marketing scheme, Dexcom.

Too bad you don't offer it in lime green or I might get one for myself just cuz.

 

We've been bonding with Tickles (Yeah...) for about 5 days now and I have to say I am in love. 

 

Here's my top 5 reasons why:

 

1. Accuracy - Other than some minor drifting that was happening around 8pm at night, Tickles has been darned accurate when Ella's in-range or high. There's still a lag when Ella's in the hypo range, so we set the hypo alert at 90 which is working better for us.

 

2. Range - Ella was HORRIBLE at keeping the G3 within 5 feet, which is probably why it was always so inaccurate. Tickles can be left on the kitchen counter and Ella can wander through the house and it will still pick her up. Right now I'm downstairs and she's sleeping upstairs and I'm watching a post-pizza high come down rather nicely on the color screen. G4 range is 20 feet, we've had it still working at around 50 feet when in an open area like at a park or outside.

 

3. The pretty ring tones. Seriously. I love that I know if Ella's high or low based on the pretty ring tone that either goes up or down.

 

 4. Size - the G4 receiver is much smaller and far superior to the egg-shaped G3 receiver. But would someone PLEASE make a rubber cover for Tickles (Yeah...see what I mean???) so I don't live in fear of Ella dropping it on the tile floor?

 

5. Ella loves it because it's pink and it looks cool...like a nano. Which makes me less likely to have to nag her about where it is.  

 

It's like this and like that and like that and uh
It's like that and like this and like that and uh
It's like this, the G4's the CGM with the most.
So jus' chill, 'til the next blog post.

 

PS - I blogged about my love affair with the G4 all on my own. I wish Dexcom would pay me for this...or at least send me a few free sensors on the side.

 

PPS - This is just our own unique experiences with the G3 and the G4. My results were not obtained via a well-designed and statistically significant clinical trial and most certainly would not qualify for a peer-reviewed scientific journal article. If you're interested in real results, I suggest you start here.  

 

PPPS - My sincere apologies to Snoop Doggy Dog and Dr. Dre

Tegaderm for Cheap Shoes, Dexcom G4 & Pump Peelz

Tegaderm + Cheap Shoes = Heaven

 

I was cruising through K-Mart the other day and found some super cute shoes for $7. Yeah, you heard me right. SEVEN BUCKS. They just happened to have one size 6 left.

 

 

I wore an outfit today that provided the perfect opportunity to wear these. The problem was that when I put them on and walked around, the back of the strap was rubbing my ankle. I was about to pop matching yes-I-bought-cheap-shoes bandaids on my ankles when all of a sudden it dawned on me that I had something better: TEGADERM!

 

I cut one in half, popped one half on the back of one ankle, the other on the back of the other ankle and I walked around ALL DAY LONG in complete comfort in my $7.00 shoes. I got several compliments on my cheap-o shoes and, thanks to tegaderm, nobody knew how cheap they really were.

 

You know the best part? If you're a size 9 and act fast, you, too, can own these for $3.99! $3.99?? Are you kidding me?? Don't forget the Tegaderm!

 

Dexcom7 G4: I'll give it a chance

The other great thing that happened today was that I found out Dexcom finally got FDA Approval for G4. My love affair with the G3 didn't last long. Why? Here's my top 5 reasons:

 

1. The 5 foot radius. Ridiculous. We spent more time out of range than in range, which I believe probably contributed to reason #2.

2. Inaccuracy. That thing was > 20% wrong > 75% of the time.

3. More finger pokes. Because of Reason #2.

4. More nagging. Because of Reason #1. I was constantly saying, "Ella - where's Dexa?"

5. More, rather than less, time managing/thinking about diabetes because of all of the above.

 

So I basically have a BRAND SPANKIN' new Dexcom G3 sitting in a box with a 3 month supply of sensors. So why the heck would I pay the $399 for the upgrade to the G4? Top 5 reasons:

 

1. 20 foot range

2. 19% improvement in overall 

3. 30% improvement in accuracy in the hypoglycemia range

4. Pretty color choices

5. 30-day trial

 

I placed my order for a pink one and I'm hoping we like it better than G3.

 

And really, if I continue saving money by buying cheap shoes, I'll eventually be able to pay it off. 

I suppose I'll have to wait a little longer for Hatsy. Sorry neighborhood kids. No snow cones for you.  

 

Pump Peelz

And finally...last, but not least (I just had SO MUCH to talk about today!): Pump Peelz.

 

Denise at My Sweet Bean and Her Pod posted about Pump Peelz.

We used to bling out Ella's pod with rhinestones and quickly learned her hair got caught in them. Then we moved on to stickers but they always fell off.

Then we started having issues with the pod sticking so now we wrap it in leg and arm bands.
Because of this issue, pump peelz aren't something we could use on a regular basis, but we can use them on special occasions!

Like Halloween. How cute would this be with Ella's Midnight Fairy Costume?

There are lots of other Holiday and Every Day Pump Peelz to choose from, so head on over and shop!

Remember: A Naked Omnipod is a Sad Omnipod.
 

CGMing Cuz I'm Cool Like Dat

Most people I chat with think the worst part about my kiddo having diabetes is dealing with the pokes.

Oh - she has diabetes? But she's so young. Poor thing. Wow - I don't know how you do it...my kid hates shots.

There are a MILLION things I could say in response to this but I'm trying to stick to the subject here so I'll stay on task.

For me, the worst part about diabetes is not the shots or the pokes or the lack of sleep or the massive amounts of medical supplies that have taken over both my bathroom cabinet space and my purse.

My worst part is that even if I follow all the dosing rules and calculate her carbs down to the gnat's ass, I still have no clue what the ultimate result is going to be. There are times when I have fed her chicken and green beans and she's in the 200's and then I feed her a cherry icee, corn dog and cinnamon roll from the fair and she's 130. Go figure.

I cannot tell you how often I think, "I wonder what her BG is right now." I restrain myself on a daily basis from poking her precious little digits every hour...and not necessarily because I'm worried that she's high or low but just because I have this need to KNOW and CONTROL.

(I'm Type A if you haven't figured this out already)

I truly believe if left unchecked, I would require some form of intervention for CBSC (chronic blood sugar checking). And while a week at a rehab clinic in Malibu hangin' with Lindsay Lohan or Amber from MTV's show Teen Mom sounds fantastic right now, I just don't have the time.

Enter Dexcom

 Today was the day we slapped the GCM on Ella. She was so excited. I think she was mostly excited about the new hot pink SPIbelt I got her to wear Dexa in (Dexa = Ella's name for the Dexcom receiver...it's a girl, of course). She thought the SPIbelt was super cool. I think it's pretty cool, too. Like a cool fanny pack (who knew this existed?). I might order one up for myself. Cuz I'm cool like dat...I'm cool like dat... 

The insertion went so much better than expected.

That was it? I didn't even feel it!

And then I had to wait 2 hours to enter the calibration blood sugars to get Dexa going. This was torture...like waking up early on Christmas morning to see all the presents under the tree but you have to wait for your Mom to take a shower and put on make-up so she looks pretty for the photos. And just when I think I can't take it anymore...

MOM! Dexa fuzzed against my stomach!

(Ella speak for Dexa is vibrating to alert us that it's time)

I've never been so excited to do a finger poke in my life. 2 in a row, enter into Dexa and watch the magic.

84...is it 84 going up or 84 going down? Oh, Trend Arrow - how long will you take? Again with the waiting!!! And just when I thought I would burst at the seams with anticipation...

There she was. That beautiful trend arrow.

Dexa was pretty much spot-on all day long with her blood sugar readings and I was in blood sugar data heaven. Until 8:00 at night when Dexa was reading her 2 hours post dinner at a steady 145 (completely reasonable after 30 carbs of pizza for dinner) and Ella said, "Mom - I feel low."

A quick blood check confirmed Ella at 88.

Oh, Dexa - why must you disappoint me so in our first 24 hours of knowing each other? I know, I know - patience, Krissy, patience. She's only 6 hours old! Ella and Dexa are still getting to know each other...still workin' things out...

Patience is a virtue, but it's just not one of mine.

So I re-calibrated Dexa, tossed Ella 3 cups o' popcorn and 2 hours later she was 122 per Dexa, 128 per Accu-check Aviva.

Dexa + Ella = the beginning of a long, wonderful friendship...provided Dexa remains Cool Like Dat.

 Sleep in heavenly peace, my sweet Ella.

Disclaimer: I am most definitely not as Cool Like Dat as Dese Cool Cats: