Curve Balls and Roller Coasters!

I guess the thing about having kids is that you never really get to settle into 'normal', right?  Like, when you're pregnant you have all these grand delusions about how relaxed and fun life is going to be and then you have the baby and you're all sleep deprived and crazy. But you think it's okay because it's temporary and soon enough life settles into a routine and here comes that relaxed fun 'movie' family that you were picturing. 

And then babies become toddlers and the balance shifts, and toddlers become pre-schoolers just when you think you've got them figured out. So you get through that and you get through the early school years which are kind of intense and all of a sudden you've got high school kids on your hands and you think 'I've got this now, I'm a PRO!'. 

Except you're never a pro because the life rollercoaster never stays in neutral. 

Emily is in hospital this week and talk about curve balls! The child who never gets sick, never gets injured, never really makes us stress is in hospital and won't be home until Friday. 

She had been feeling okay but had a couple of issues that were pretty consistent and we thought were a bit weird for a 15 year old so took her to the doctors. Doctor ordered a couple of blood tests and Em went to school as normal the next day. Except then I got a phone call from the doctors office telling me that the blood test people were a bit concerned so thought she should be seen again that day. So I was a bit stressed out but nothing too bad and made an appointment for that afternoon. 

Then not half an hour later they called back and this time it was a little more stressful! The doctor had reviewed all of her test results and was extremely concerned and said for us to immediately pick her up from school and take her to the children's hospital (an hour away). They didn't say much except that her blood sugar levels were very high and we should go to the hospital. 

So you can imagine how that phone call went down! I cried a bit, called the school, made arrangements for the boy and Penelope to be looked after later in the afternoon and we picked Emily up. She was of course rather stressed out but we all tried to stay calm. Once at the children's hospital they tested her blood sugar levels which were so high they didn't even register a number and they took her straight through to see a doctor and specialist. 

She was given the diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes and given insulin and told that she'd be in hospital for about a week. Just like that we went from an ordinary Friday where she was excited about a friends birthday party, to having to process a gazillion pieces of information and trying to comprehend the lifelong changes that needed to be made for her. 

Of course there was also the parental stress of having to leave her in hospital an hour away by herself, and not being able to be there with her all of the time. 

So flash forward to four days later and we've been spending our time going between the hospital and home, seeing medical professionals and trying to maintain some kind of normalcy for the younger two kids too. 

At this stage she'll be home Friday afternoon and we have two full days of education at the hospital ahead of us before then. Today I'm home, supposed to be cleaning because umm, the house is kind of disgusting, but instead I'm vegetating like a sloth and I think that's okay. On the plus side though, Penelope will be spending the day tomorrow with the Eldest One and that means Samantha gets to listen to Doc McStuffins on repeat, not me!! I literally hate that show so much. 

So now I'm off to PinterestGoogle 'diabetic friendly Halloween snacks', because after all Halloween is right around the corner! 

Oh, and for the record, I think if I ever did actually have that 'movie normal' family I'd be bored stupid and probably even more batshit crazy than I am 😂.