How it all began...

It was that time of year when I go away for a mountain biking weekend in Waterville Valley with my sister. Our "sister weekend" as it has been named, is one of my favorite things to do every year. On Sunday, August 2, 2009, I came home from an awesome weekend of sleeping late, eating good food, and just being with my sister.

While I was away my husband took our two girls to his parents' place on a lake in Maine. There was a pancake breakfast, trip to the candy store, and a birthday party all in that one weekend up there. Sunday night our 7 year old, Taylar, continued to come downstairs at night to use the bathroom. She had started doing this during the two weeks prior, but not as bad as this evening. She was constantly asking for a drink of water and in turn, constantly going to the bathroom. Because her bedroom is upstairs and the bathroom is down, we would hear her every footstep and she would leave the light on. It got very annoying.

The next day I mentioned this situation to my Mom out of frustration of having my precious sleep disturbed. With much hesitation, because that's how Mom is, (she would never want to "butt in". BUT I would never think of it that way anyway! My Mom is the best and would listen and take her advice any day of the year.) my Mom asked me if I thought Taylar's situation had anything to do with the fact that my husband's grandmother has diabetes. She thought some of the symptoms sound like what Taylar is experiencing.

I had no clue. I never thought of that. I just thought the girl was driving me crazy! On Tuesday, August 4, 2009 I made a doctor's appointment for Taylar because the constant drinking and urinating continued. I made them aware of the symptoms and they wanted to see her right away. They took a blood sample by doing a finger prick and her blood sugar level was off the charts...somewhere around 550. Thank God my Mom said something to me.

The doctor looked at me and said, "What you suspected is correct. Your daughter has diabetes." I froze. I completely froze. I didn't have anything to say and I certainly didn't know what to do. How are you supposed to react when someone tells you that your baby has a chronic disease?

Before I knew it the doctor was on the phone informing Children's Hospital Boston that we would be arriving within the next two hours. "You can make it there within two hours, right? Expect to stay for a couple of nights." My world was slowly being turned upside down and my heart literally ached.

I called my Mom on the way home from the doctor and told her the news. She instantly teared up as I could hear in her voice and just kept saying, "Oh no! Oh no." over and over again. I didn't cry. I was still frozen and just going through the motions.

After an immediate call to my husband at work, and as soon as he arrived home and I was able to grab the bare necessities for a hospital stay, we left for the hospital and were admitted through the emergency room. Our younger daughter stayed with my parents through all of this. The rest of the story is a whirlwind.