A friend of mine asked me recently if I still get up in the middle of the night to check our children’s BG numbers? My answer was only if we feel there might me circumstances that happened during the day that might add to the possibilities of them running low.
SInce she asked me that question I have been dealing with another thought that I cannot seem to shake out of my brain:
So that means that I’m no longer afraid of them dying while they sleep….right?
When Kaitlyn was much younger I once crossed my wife in the hallway at about 3 a.m.–I was later than my usual 2 a.m. check and she was earlier than her usual 4 a.m. check. Turns out for over a year we wer doing ‘our thing’ and didn’t know our partner’s routine.
You see, if I checked and needed to treat a low, I did—-I guess I was supposed to write down what I was doing…….Duh (as I said a million times as Diabetesdad, no one has made more mistakes than I).
I eventually got it correct and did as I should have been doing all along.
But now at this almost 20 years, and now with 2 kids with T1, have we just accepted the fact that they will wake up in the morning? Is that wrong? DO we finally have it down to where we think we understand diabetes? Is that a dangerous way to feel; are we playing craps with their lives?
Last time I was home I got up at 2 a.m. to check if they were breathing…….at age 22 and age 17; they were not in bed yet.
I wish I could go back to when they were kids. I knew what I was doing then……..or did I?
Do we ever REALLY know?
I’m a Diabetesdad.
3 replies on “Why Do We Get Up in the Middle of the Night?”
I don’t think that I’ll ever stop being afraid of him dying in his sleep. I don’t think that it will ever get easier in that regard. I’m a DiabetesMom.
I agree with Diane above, 10 years after diagnosis my son just left for university. I’m not sleeping through the night and insist that he text me every morning, just so I know he made it through the night. (I also confirmed his roommate is diabetes-educated, residencer services knows his condition, another teen with diabetes is in his dorm, a CDE and endocrinologist are following up with him, etc…). Once a parent, always a parent!
Well thats a pretty hard question. Wells since my daughter was diagnosed at age 8 and she is 21 now i still check on her. Sometimes i just sleep thru all night but 5 nights out of 7 i go in her room and shake her awake around 2 or 3 a.m. She a pump user and i dont feel any more secure with it oppose to shots . Now i do miss her being a little girl but now at her age she knows how to treat herself better with lows. Sometime when i get up tocheck on her she up treating a low go figure. One thing i never want her to move out . That will make me go nuts ill be calling her like at 2 .am and if she dont answer you can bet i drive over there. Thats just me being Dad thats why she my little girl.