Day 1: A Day In the Life With Pictures of Dexcom G4 Platinum Share

Dexcom Share - #CGMInTheCloud x2

We officially have one full day of #CGMInTheCloud under our belts.  As a family of four users with two parental "Followers" and two teen "Sharers", we mutually agreed it was fantastic!  Oldest daughter enjoyed her downplayed status of just 'checking' her iPhone while youngest daughter embraced it as a chance to share during an informal show and tell with teachers and classmates.  One grumpy text came through from oldest daughter as I politely asked for her to eat a snack.  We talked about it and I have a feeling we will talk about it as we go on.  I am NOT going to overshadow her desire for freedom but the truth is, sometimes it is safer.  We will find a balance and the good view is that we are each open with our needs.  That is half of the battle.

As a family, we also agreed that we need to make a few additional changes within each of their pump settings.  While we frequently download insulin pump data, we rarely extract CGM numbers. The rainbow mess of zig-zags can be difficult to decipher and slightly deceiving.  A smaller, shorter spike is not necessarily a reason to change as it could be simply a recalibration point.  In some cases, a spike occurs due to forgetting to pre-bolus, which again, is not cause for alarm.  There are also the times that CGM reflects what is naturally happening within our child; excitement, sadness, happiness or mad at parents!  Nah, that never happens, right?

In today's cloud observation, it was immediately clear that we had missed the mark on an I:C ratio for breakfast.  After our youngest daughter came home from school in the afternoon, it was discovered her steep breakfast increase had somehow changed to 9:30 am instead of 7:30 am. Youngest daughter thought she might have fat-fingered the time on Sunday while she was looking for the setting to change day-light savings time.  Understandable and because of our sharp eyes on the #CGMInTheCloud, we fixed the issue before it built up.  

The second situation was also one that occurred at school.  Oldest daughter negotiated a lighter breakfast to include only milk with chai tea.  Her junior high lunch hour is at 10:40 am, a time when many people are still digesting breakfast. We agreed that a light breakfast was fine, followed by her early lunch.  Our only stipulation was that an early afternoon snack had to be added.  Immediately upon entering school, oldest daughter was on the lower side of BG.  We opted to slightly adjust her basal rate and asked that she add in a small bit of protein to her meal.  Asking around the DOC, we found a few suggestions, one of which was to try a pre-package Chai drink that had 14 grams of protein.  After school, we went to our grocery store and picked it up.  Bonus? She loved it and agreed to try it tomorrow. 

To illustrate our new discoveries, here is our 24-hour day in pictures.

Monday Night at 11:16 p.m. - It works!!!

Tuesday When Everyone Else Is Sleeping at 12:31 a.m.  - One kid is immediately inducted into the 100 mg/dl club!!!

Tuesday Morning's Recovery from a Low and Watching a High on Tuesday Morning at 8:57 a.m. - Oh man.  Need some changes. Forgot to capture the earlier picture of oldest daughter at 70 mg/dl and arriving at school with Chai Latte.  Thinking this little bit of carbs is not going to hold her.  Sigh.

Tuesday LunchTime For Oldest at 10:29 a.m. - Oldest daughter heads to lunch and I resist the urge to text.  Meanwhile, staring at the 298 mg/dl and wondering why... morning ritual is to wake youngest daughter, check her blood sugar while she lays in bed and pre-bolus before her feet touch the carpet.  Makes no sense at all.  Sitting on my hands and hoping she gets to the correction.  

Lunchtime for Youngest Daughter Tuesday Morning at 11:30 a.m. - Youngest daughter heading off to lunch shortly and I know she will make the correction simply because this is the first time that I have witnessed a high like this.  By the time she comes home from school, numbers are perfect again.  

Tuesday Afternoon at 1:48 - Youngest daughter disappears from the radar.  Suspecting that she didn't have a full charge on her iPhone before she went to school.  In my excitement, forgot to move charger into her bedroom.  Old rule was cell phones not allowed in rooms at night.  New rule is cell phones allowed in room at night so mom and dad can see their follower app.  Parenting mind melt... now to hope neither girl fools around on phone late at night.  

Tuesday Afterschool for Oldest Daughter and resulting text from number dropping into 70s at 3:18 p.m. - She's a bit grumpy because I text during her afterschool yearbook club which is also a social hour.  I get it; #TeenT1d.  We discuss boundaries later and apply a few rules to the situation.  Mom won't text as long as number starts to go back up within 30 minutes.  Daughter won't wait to eat or reduce basal rate to avoid mom from texting.  Seems like a fair trade.

Afterschool for Youngest Daughter on Tuesday at 4:20 p.m. - Yes, my phone died.  

Tuesday night, post dinner at 7:07 p.m. - Both girls working on homework and no one wants to talk about T1d.  All earlier blood glucose settings changes have been entered into their insulin pumps.  I discreetly check and love the numbers.  Silently high five myself.  

Evening hour and bedtime close by at 8:44 p.m. on Tuesday -  Again, silent stealth like APP check and laugh... my twins.  Never fails.  #Naturallysweetsisters 

Check back again tomorrow as we further review our Dexcom Share and provide insight on a multi-user family!