I guess I would have to say that our life with diabetes started when I was pregnant with Ashton. During my pregnancy, Chadd was head of his department for collecting funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's annual walk. (He works for Ford Motor Co. which is a huge supporter of JDRF and has donated tons of money for research to develop a cure.) I did some fund raising (though I didn't put too much effort into it, I must admit) but I did learn a lot about the disease. We participated in the walk, which took forever because I was 7 months pregnant and pretty much stopped to take a break at every bench we passed. After that, I simply forgot about it.
Fast forward approximately a year and a half later. Ashton was cranky- really cranky. He didn't want to eat. I thought that maybe he just had some kind of persistent tummy ache. Maybe he was teething. Then Ashton started being so sleepy. He was very tired. I remember being at my best friend, Jillian's house, for a BBQ. I had Ashton sitting on the counter trying to get him to eat a potato chip. What kid doesn't want a potato chip? I said to Jillian, "He has all these diabetes symptoms. I don't know if I'm simply just freaking out because I'm a first time mom and know about this disease or if there is actually something wrong." Ashton took an amazing 4 hour nap that day. I ignored that uneasy feeling inside of me; he must have been exhausted from the BBQ.
Ashton was so thirsty. I remeber that he once went through a gallon of milk in 3 days. I spoke to a nurse at the pediatricians office and she told me that because it had been so hot, he might just need the extra fluids. It had been really hot, so I chose to go with that answer and once again ignored that uneasy feeling. A few days later he woke up and his diaper had leaked- a lot. That must be natural, he is drinking so much that it has to come out. The next morning it happened again, but he was completely soaked in urine, and I noticed that it was sticky. I knew at that point I had to stop ignoring that uneasy feeling. I got him washed up and tried to get him to eat. Even though he had slept solidly through the night, an hour after waking up, he started to fall asleep on me. I immediately called the pediatrician's office and said, "There is something wrong with my baby." They got me right in. My mom went with me. The doctor ordered blood work and we went over to the hospital to have it drawn. Ashton still hadn't eaten that day and he looked miserable. We walked by the cafe and my mom said, "I want to get something for him. Do you think he'll eat a cookie?" I said that they didn't look good (which they didn't) but I was thinking in my head, "my baby has diabetes. He can't have a cookie."
At 10:30 that night, Chadd and I were already in bed, when the phone rang. It was Ashton's doctor. He told us that Ashton had diabetes and that his blood sugar was very high and we had to get him to the hospital immediately. We didn't know how to get to the hospital that the doctor wanted us to go to (they had pediatric endocrinologists), and he didn't want to take the chance that we would get lost, so he sent us to the hospital we knew of, the one where Ashton was born, and waited for transfer by ambulance. I called my parents and told them about Ashton and that we were on the way to the hospital. They showed up right behind us.
Ashton's doctor had called the hospital and told the emergency staff to expect us, and they were ready when we got there. They hooked Ashton up to I.V.'s and tried their best to comfort us while we waited for the ambulance to arrive. I went into the bathroom and threw up.
That was June 16, 2005. Ashton was 19 months old.
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