The beginning of March

I’ve written a little bit elsewhere about this, but at the beginning of March, Clara was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. After calling the nurse’s line at our pediatrician on March 2 to ask about her fluid intake and frequent urination, I took her in to the pediatrician the following morning. After her diagnosis, the doctor told us to take her to the ER at Texas Children’s Hospital to be admitted. It was so difficult on her (I don’t think the ER nurses had ever seen a child fight an IV with such vehemence – there were 5 adults working to restrain her and get the IV in and blood drawn), on us as parents, and on little Elisabeth who was shuffled around a bit and had a cold. Nathan stayed the nights at the hospital so that I could put Elisabeth to bed and cuddle on her in the mornings and we were there together most of the days, so that we could both hear what the doctors had to say.

We were so grateful that my mom could come and help take care of Elisabeth and then stayed to keep our household running while we adjusted to the structure required for Clara’s care. We were also so blessed that Clara is a strong little girl and took (nearly) everything in stride, charming the nurses (but oblivious and indifferent to their attentions) and enjoying the hospital stay as much as one could. She relished the snacks (sugar-free jello and popsicles), the meals, the fun-cart (volunteers who brought crafts, small toys, play jewelry, etc.) and the play room.

After admission to ER and then after the IV battle (this second picture breaks my heart.)

3/3/11

Daddy is here! and We are finally transferred to the Endocrinology department and our own room!

Jello!

(Once the nurses realized how much she liked it, they would give us 2-3 cups at a time)

3/4/11

I brought some paper and ribbon to make a banner to personalize her room. You can see her beads from the fun cart in this picture, as well. I think that at this point they were still in their original configuration – I restrung them several times in the hospital due to weak elastic.

She loved this little scoot car and sped through the halls with it. She told us she went all through the hospital.

Enjoying dinner

3/5/11

She (and we) were so blessed to have many visitors from our church. Her friends James and Abigail came with their families and Rabecca, Miss Tammie and Robert, and Uncle Barron all stopped by, as well. It was so encouraging and helped to break up the time. We were at the hospital from the 3rd through the 7th mostly because we were waiting to take a diabetes education class that wasn’t offered until Monday.

Taking a drive to the playroom!

Exploring new toys… It was Sunday and the whole floor was so quiet. Clara and I had the playroom mostly to ourselves.

Jello!

Practicing giving baby insulin – Nathan and I both had to be able to comfortably and accurately give her her insulin injections, so a diabetes educator came by with supplies for us to practice with. One doctor had mentioned that having Clara practice giving injections to a doll would make her more comfortable with the process, so I brought a doll from home and her doctor kit. We duplicated the procedure that she went through, taking the baby’s vitals, measuring the insulin, etc.

(Apparently baby is not following her diet plan closely and is trying to sneak a cupcake!)

3/6/11

Elisabeth visits and enjoys the balloons!

3/7/11

Happy to have our big girl home (although she told us that she wanted to stay at the hospital!)