The Party That Just Keeps Going!

Ah, yes.

The Birthday Party.

I have this one down pat.

Unless, of course, there's unexpected pizza and piles of candy bars everywhere.  Oh, and I've been known to crash slumber parties...but, for the most part, birthday celebrations seem to go off without a hitch over here.

So, when the invite showed up for a pool party, I figured pffftttt....I got this, BABAY!

Except I didn't know if they would be serving food.

Just one minor detail to figure out.

When I RSVP'd, I asked.  She hadn't completely decided on the menu.  I'd check back.  Good plan.

Then I forgot.

And then, when I remembered, she missed the call.

And I forgot again.

And then it was the morning of the party, so I had to wing it.

Hmmm...POOL PARTY...

Making an educated guess based on all my years of birthday party experience, I decided there would most likely be 1 of 2 options:

1) The grill -- hotdogs, hamburgers, etc.

Or

2) Pizza.

So I packed up the car...

And I packed up my purse....

I figured that I'd bring along a gluten-free hamburger bun -- it could double as a bun for grilled cuisine or a crust for pizza.  Thinking along those lines, I also brought some pizza sauce and cheese, completely planning to snag a sheet of tinfoil before tossing it in the oven for 20 minutes, if necessary.

See?

I'm prepared!

And....................they served a party sub.

Plus, the pool wasn't at a house stocked with tinfoil and an oven.  

It was at a community pool.

Plaster smile to face, deep breath, ignore palpitations, quickly come up with Plan C, and press on.

I had all three Rosebuds, and they were off swimming in the blink of an eye.  

Splash. Splash. Kick. Kick. Test. Test.

Then swim some more.

I was feeling pretty confident when she got out for lunch a few hours later, and her meter showed a beautiful 135 ( #thankyouverymuch)!

I improvised lunch, and we made due with some chips, veggies, fruit...and a regular orange soda.

I bolused for about half the carbs, planning to keep her pump on while she was out of the water, yet anticipating more swimming without the pump later.

If only I could be a Pancreas.

Before she could finish her fruit and chips, it was time for a WATER BALLOON FIGHT!!!!!!

Yippee!!!!

I hovered.  Standing close,  I held the soda can and kept handing it to her to take a few random sips every chance I had.  That soda, after all, was the bulk of her bolus. 

She kept playing.

And I kept soda-hovering.

Then she took the soda, and walked away...

Except....

Yeah.

So much for my confidence.

I ended up chasing post exercise lows all night.

With temp basal reductions and juice, I managed to keep her in the 80's through the night.

At her morning school snack around 10 am, she was 140.

HOLLA!

Then 2 hours later, I got a call from the nurse to let me know that she had been in the office for almost an hour, and was still sitting in the 70's - 80's after 90 (Um, yeah -- *NINETY*) carbs.

Ah, lovely.

Stinkin' depleted liver glycogen stores.

Anyhoo...it worked out.

After crawling over 200, a bolus that turned out to be too hefty in an attempt to prevent a massive spike, and chasing insulin for another couple hours...she has now settled, once again, at 135 with ZERO active insulin on board (IOB).

It was a splendid 24 hours, and we have now come full circle.

Sending a child with diabetes and celiac to a pool party is no easy task...but I'm honored to be her mother, and I wouldn't trade those smiles for anything.