Trusting my Mommy Instinct

When I put the boys to bed tonight, I noticed that the tape holding Eric’s site in place was peeled back from his skin. A little warning bell went off in my head, and my Mommy Instinct was saying, “the site has gone bad! change it!” I ignored it. After all, he didn’t go into the tub tonight, so why would a good site just randomly quit all of a sudden? (usually, these sites only pull loose if he messes with it in the tub.) My Mommy Instinct remarked, “Better safe than sorry,” but the stodgier part of my brain was reminding me just how many sites I’ve wasted recently by screwing up the insertion, and wouldn’t it be better to wait till I was sure there was a problem before using up another insertion set? Particularly since Eric and I were both so very tired and ready for bed. So I just peeled the tape off and replaced it, and let my Mommy Instinct grumble all it wanted.


Eric took a while to settle down and kept asking for drinks of water. Another warning bell went off, but when he wasn't gulping the water down or drinking large amounts each time, I dismissed it again. It *is* a little dry in his room, and I wanted drinks of water too. Being thirsty doesn't *have* to mean high BG, after all. "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar," as Freud once said. Mommy Instinct sighed, and said, "You know you're going to pay for this..." Again, I didn't listen.

Then at 1 a.m., he started fussing. The warning bell got louder. I tried to settle him down, he wouldn't settle... and finally, I smartened up and took his BG. 520!!!! A quick check showed 0.7 ketones - not horrible, but still "over the legal limit" and far more than he should've had. Damn, damn, damn... I got a syringe and gave him the 1.5 units of insulin the pump said he needed for correction, then set about starting a new site. Which is why I'm up blogging at 2 a.m., and Mommy Instinct is being smug and saying "I TOLD YOU SO."

OK, Mommy Instinct. You were right. I didn't listen, and now I'm paying the price. I will try to remember this and listen to you from now on. Satisfied?

Don’t worry, you are not alone… It has happened to me before and probably will again unfortunately. Mommy instinct is there for a reason, but then so is my stubbornness . DOn’t feel too badly. you corrected and he will be fine. I do get mad at myself when I don’t follow the instinct though !! Hope you were able to fall back asleep.

I’ve been there too! I’ve had a gut feeling about something but waited, or in the middle of the night not caught a problem because I was in deep sleep mode and too sleepy to think straight! Don’t beat yourself up…next time you’ll listen closer and you’re doing a great job caring for your little guy. Hope you got back to sleep also!

I’ve had this happen to me… be REALLY tired one night, lay down, realize i forgot my usual Novelin N (No, i can’t spell haha) and go on to sleep. Wake up half way through the night at 350 something or 4 something. Happens to everyone :slight_smile: