Like a Hungry Baby

My diabetes is up all night. Hungry.

Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, I awoke at 1:40am, suddenly alert. Blood glucose was 47, so I sucked down an 8 oz. juice box and lay down again. At 5am, alert again, I checked my blood glucose (50) and drank another juice box.

The previous night, similar pattern.

Why is the baby so hungry? She is fed adequately during the day. I have her on a pretty good routine, and, if something out of the ordinary happens — like when she gets intense exercise twice in one day, instead of once — I feed her some extra calories, knowing she’ll be burning that fuel. On such busy days, she also eats a bedtime snack with carbs and protein.

I try to do everything by the book, and still that baby won’t sleep through the night.

I thought I would be different from other parents: more organized, more compliant, more thoughtful. I thought my baby would be peaceful, happy, and predictable.

She’s not. Although she is dependent on me for her care and feeding, still she seems to have a mind of her own.

—–

The photograph, “Baby & Bottle,” is by sunsurfr on Flickr via a Creative Commons license.

Jane Kokernak
Jane Kokernak

Jane Kokernak teaches in Northeastern University’s College of Computer and Information Science as communications specialist, working with graduate students and faculty on writing and speaking to different audiences. She lives with her family and dog near Boston. In 1992, as an adult, she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes; in 2003, she switched from multiple daily injections to an insulin pump and has stayed with it. A contributing writer to ASweetLife since 2010, she is especially interested in how having a chronic illness affects self identity and perceptions of health.

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theresa
theresa
13 years ago

I had this problem to a lesser extent, until we finally lowered my long-acting evening insulin (levemir). BUt, it took a week on a CGM to figure this out. I also unfortunately still go to bed with numbers a bit higher than ideal because I am still afraid of going too low overnight. 

Jane Kokernak
13 years ago

I am on the pump, since the fall of 2003. Life has improved and hypoglycemia reduced, but sometimes the unpredictable still happens.

Vegfaery
Vegfaery
13 years ago

Are you on the pump?  Since my partner got the pump this doesn’t happen anymore.  Something to think about.

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