Flying solo

A while back, I wrote about how Aedan's diabetes may be treatable with a pill.

Three weeks ago, we began to gradually transition him from his insulin pump to Glyburide. This week, the fourth week of the transition, he is receiving a full 5 mg dose of the medication, and is actually off the pump for the majority of the day. So amazing! He is still receiving some insulin from the pump in the evenings, because his blood-glucose levels tend to be higher then.

It's hard to believe that almost 3 months to the day that he got so ill because of high blood sugar, three months to the day that we found out about his diabetes, his body is making and releasing its own insulin again.

It's been kind of scary for me, taking him off the insulin pump. We'd gotten used to it so fast. It is such a cool piece of technology, and I can see how it must be life changing for many diabetics. Now, I have to learn to trust his body again, trust that it will know when to release insulin and in what dosage. It won't be me making those decisions for him anymore!

We're still seeing low blood sugar readings, even now that he's off the pump most of the time. One of the side effects of Glyburide is hypoglycemia. It seems to happen within two hours of taking the meds...or if he's been particularly active, like playing in the Jolly Jumper. I'm still struggling with feelings of anger and loss over this. I can't just watch him jump and giggle and fully enjoy the moment...now I'm plagued with questions and doubt. Did I feed him enough before putting him in the jumper? Has he been in there too long? Is his blood sugar getting low?

My hope is that, with time (both for me to adjust to having a diabetic child, and for his body to adjust to the new medicine), this will fade and I can focus more completely on enjoying his baby-hood.