Managing Baby and T1 Diabetes at home alone...

So the past few months that our precious baby girl has been with us have made me realize just how dangerous staying home with a newborn and managing Type 1 Diabetes can be. I decided to write a quick list of things I wish I had thought of before I had a few scary low blood sugar incidences while home alone. I have realized that everything from lack of sleep to excitement and hormone changes can mean some pretty wacky blood sugar once baby is finally here! With that in mind, here are some tips for other T1D mommies out there!

1. Bring supplies with you everywhere you go, even in the house. I can't tell you how many times I have gotten stuck feeding a fussy baby somewhere and having to stop to find my meter, get a snack, find more test strips, etc. I started carrying a little tote (from Thirty-one pictured below) around the house with me everywhere that holds snacks, candy, my cell phone and sometimes even the baby monitor. It's awesome to have everything in one place if you decided to go outside, run to the basement to get some chores done, or anything like that. I love being able to just grab my little tote and throw it in the stroller for an impromptu walk. You have enough preparing and packing to do for the baby, make diabetes supplies one less stressor by having them always ready!

2. Check your blood sugar before glorious surprise naps. So you are supposed to sleep when the baby sleeps....but if you have diabetes, an unexpected nap can mean an unexpected low if you were planning to eat or end up sleeping longer than you mean to. Ideally, you want to sleep as long as the baby sleeps and not wake up sweating and freaking out because your sugar is way too low, trust me on this one.

3. The first few weeks you are home alone, turn your insulin pump WAAAAY down. As in less insulin so that you aren't going to pass out alone with a baby. Of course, ask your doctor about this, but for me, shooting for 3 digit numbers after 9 months of militant obsession with lower numbers was hard to get used to.

4. Remember to eat. ESPECIALLY if you are breastfeeding. Duh right? Except when you are so consumed with taking care of the baby, sometimes strange things happen, like bolus-ing for your lunch, getting interrupted by your little one and forgetting to finish eating. The result? A whole lot of insulin covering NOT a whole lot of carbs. Trust me on this one too, unless maybe I'm the only one who forgets to eat....? I started bolus-ing for half my meals at first and then doing the other half if I finished eating. One-handed snacks are also wonderful, like granola bars, cheese sticks, breakfast burritos, the list goes on.

5. Have someone check on you! This last tip is something my hubby and I just came up with recently after I had a few scary lows during the middle of the day. Our plan is that I text him at 9am, noon and 3pm and if he doesn't hear from me during those times he calls me. I suppose if I don't answer, the next step is to call our neighbor to come make sure we are okay! This seems silly and almost paranoid at first, but really it is one of the most important ways to keep you and baby safe! I pretty much realized early on that my ability to be home alone without any one checking on me was never going to happen. So I embraced it and enjoy the extra time to connect with loved ones throughout the day!

That is all I have so far but, it's only been 4 months! I hope that some new mom with T1D somewhere can benefit from this and stay safe at home with those new little cuties!