Our first year.

Today is a bitter sweet day for me. Bitter because we still wake up every morning and Avery still has diabetes. Sweet because its has been 365 days since we found out about his diagnoses and I never thought we would make it through the first year. I was told many times within the first couple of weeks that the first year is the hardest, but once you get through the first year it becomes just a part of your daily life and you hardly notice it anymore. On one hand that's true but on the other it couldn't be farther from the truth. Is it easier now? Oh yes! Do I hardy notice it? Oh no! Like Ive said before Diabetes does not define us but it sure runs our lives most days! I notice it. Avery notices is it. Every day. Before May 19th 2009 Diabetes was something I knew a little about but thought nothing of. Most of the time you don't think about things like that until they punch you in the face and we got punched in the face pretty hard. I know a lot of you don't know how we found out Avery was diabetic so Ill share it for you again.

I had been noticing for a while that Avery was drinking like crazy! At first I thought nothing of it. I actually thought it was nice for a while that my kid drank so much water when other kids hated it. We were potty training him at the time and I couldn't believe how much he was peeing. I thought he was just excited about using the potty so he just wanted to go all the time. One of the biggest things that happened that made me think something was wrong was how mad he would get when he couldn't drink. We were at wal-mart (the Monday before he got diagnosed) and he was telling me that he was thirsty. I kind of got upset with him because he had just downed almost a whole bottle of water in the car so I was thinking there was no way he was still thirsty! I told him no and he flipped out. He then took it upon himself to go get a bottle of water out of those cooler things that they keep at the end of the isle. He opened it, took a drink and started to get upset again. It was frozen. You would have thought the word was ending with how he was acting. I gave him another bottle of water and he gulped the whole thing down in a matter of seconds. At that point I think I already knew what the answer was and remember being glad that I already called to make an appointment for the next day.

We went in and they took Avery's blood and had him pee in a cup. The doctor came it within just a few minutes and told me that Avery had Type 1 diabetes. My head was spinning and it took me a second to say anything. Even though I thought that was what she was going to tell me, it didn't make actually hearing it any easier. We talked for a minute and then she told me to go home, pack a bag and head to Primary Children's Hospital. Long story short we spent 4 days learning how to take care of Avery with this disease. I compare bringing home a diabetic with bringing home your first new born baby. Its scary. Its new. And you are ALWAYS checking on them and you don't want them out of your sight for too long. The first week home was insane but we made it. The coming months were also a bit crazy but we took it one day at a time and we made it. I still just take it one day at a time. Its all I can do to keep my myself from going crazy thinking about all the "what ifs".

I look back now and it breaks my heart thinking about what his little body was going through and we didn't even know it.                            

                  Was he always this skinny??

                        Why was he acting out so much??

                      He just wasnt himself..

He was so amazing at the hospital. The nurses couldn't believe how well he was taking everything. I was grateful for that. I still am.

                                  
This was us at the hospital. Little trooper...

The day we got home from the hospital he was back to his same hyper self! Its amazing what a little insulin will do for the body huh?? His cousins came over and they played and played! Just what he needed..

I grow more and more proud of Avery every day. He is my hero and I'm so lucky to be is mommy. This has been a tough year but we take it day by day and we get through it. He makes me a stronger person, and going through all of this has made me be a better mother and wife. I hope we will continue to teach Avery all that he needs to do to take care of himself. I hope he will be as proud of his dad I one day, as we are of him!

We have a lot coming up in the next few months that I'm very excited about! Our very first Walk To Cure Diabetes will take place on August 21st and Ill post some more information about that too and what you can do to be a part of it! I hate that Avery has this but I'm thankful for the lessons that this year has taught me and for the friends that we have both made because of it. Thank you to everyone who has taken those steps with us day by day! We are going to celebrate Avery today and the little hero that he is!!!