Day 1 Swim Practice

I can finally breathe. Man, that was a stressful first swim practice! Not because of lows. Not because of highs. Simply because I didn't know what to expect. Would Maddison crash quickly? Would she feel it? How much are they going to swim? I gave Maddison her snack without insulin and what if they just sit around and blow bubbles? Then I'll have to pull her aside and give insulin in front of all the gawking eyes. Which would then cause all the kids to question. Which would then make Maddison feel different. Which would break my heart. Diabetes is so hard.

My plan worked out perfectly to start. I made sure Maddison had her lunch timed right so she wouldn't have any active insulin working from food by the time she was hitting the pool. A perfect 160 to swim, no insulin working. A flat line on the CGM. I really lucked out! My brilliant idea? Chocolate and Peanut Butter. Both work magic in keeping Maddison's numbers steady, without a spike. I bought 10c mini M&M packets the other day. PERFECT carb amount to swim. Maddison added the M&M's SO happily to her peanut butter scoop. I just had to smile. Arriving at the pool CGM reads 201. Perfect for 45 minutes of constant lap swimming. Off goes the pump. SHIT. Do I bolus the basal she is going to miss over the next hour? No. I didn't. I REALLY SHOULD HAVE! What the hell was I thinking!!??

20 minutes after strokes started, Maddison raised her hand to flag me down. She felt low. Here we go. I could feel ALL eyes on me as I walked over to the edge of the pool. There had to be 60 parents there. I could feel ALL the eyes. Every single pair. That really sucks, and, it sucks EVEN MORE that in a second they will be staring at my sweet little 9yr old as I poke her finger. My heart was palpitating. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't be low!!! 238. Nope. Must be the rapid heart rate from laps that is making her feel low. Maybe she's nervous. Maybe she's worried that she is going to go low. Stupid freaking Diabetes. You suck. Can't my girl just swim!!? Then all the kids started to ask questions. "Whats that?" Maddison's only reply was "NOTHING." It used to be that Maddison would proudly explain. Not so much anymore. Sometimes, you just want some damn privacy. My heart was broken.

Maddison had a BLAST. She swam her little heart out. That's all that really matters. I'm pretty irritated that our pump isn't waterproof, and that the CGM cant communicate if you are over 8ft away from the pump. The CGM is useless during swimming, but AFTER......I'm in LOVE.

Now, do I bolus the missed basal? Bolus half after all that workout? Maddisons blood sugar was 238 when class was over. OH. SHIT. I can see it coming. All the past summer swim chaos is flooding my mind. Now comes the high. Is it an adrenaline high? Is it the liver giving back after such a workout? Did a tiny .2 missed basal cause this craziness? Two up arrows. Do I correct in full or will Maddison crash because all that exercise? I correct in full. 268. 289. 330. The CGM shows me exactly where this is going, which helps me make the educated decision to bolus aggressively and not worry about a low at this point. No, the low will come later. Like, in 6-12 hours. As in, when my sweet Maddison is sleeping. 362 with two up arrows. Fabulous. Now Maddison feels sick. She wont eat or drink. Good move Mom. Now look what you did. !!!!!!!!

We are now at 2 hours after swimming. Ive bolused and bolused according to what the pump suggests, every half hour. 389. Can I just say I FREAKING HATE YOU DIABETES!!! So much for the plan hugh?

Tomorrows plan. Hmmmm.....I'll start with bolusing the basal that will be missed BEFORE we take the pump off. Less carbs for swimming? Bolus half? No Chocolate? Maybe a different food? How the HELL am I supposed to know? Try it again this very same way and see if anything is different? Whats the deal? Am I supposed to bolus insulin after each swim meet expecting this high? Turn up her basal? What if the high doesn't come next time? Then what? Where's the damn book on how to be a pancreas anyway? Ladies?