• Facing Life: Meeting My Diabetic Baby •

When I was pregnant with Peyton, I had that feeling that he was my last. I tried to enjoy every single part of it, but for the first 3.5 months I was sick. It got better & my the end I had gained a good 45 lbs! Little did I know that 45 lbs was just going to be on me. Peyton was delivered at 38 weeks. He came tiny, but fighting! You can read about his birth here. 

From day one I wondered what I could have done different. There were so many moments sitting in the NICU thinking about the things that could go wrong. 6q24 Transient Neinatal Diabetes Mellitus is one of the scariest phrases I've ever heard to describe my baby. Here is some information about it. My grandpa has Type 2 Diabetes. All I knew before Peyt was that my grandpa couldn't have to many candy bars or he would be sick. I compared Peyton to a roller coaster a lot in the NICU. His glucose levels were out of control. Low one minute, high the next, leveled out to normal & then he'd spike or drop again. It was always a small victory if we could stay within his range two or three times in a row. If babies could talk, I tried to imagine what Peyton would say. Would he cry "ow" every time they pricked his little heel? Would he scream " mommy,daddy don't leave me" every time we walked out that door to our 2.5 hour drive home? Would he be able to know the difference in a high & a low to tell the nurses how he was feeling? 

I had a lot of time to think sitting & rocking my baby or coming home without a newborn. I had a hard time getting to sleep every night without him. I would call to check on him every single night & tell the nurse to give him an extra squeeze for me through a couple tears. That never faded away. Even when I brought him home I would kiss him before I laid him down & got teary eyed sometimes.

When I would walk into his NICU room, it was like a piece of my heart was returned. I never felt whole because my other boys weren't with me. The day I felt whole again was April 22, 2014. We brought Peyton home & I was extremely nervous. I was so excited to know he was healthy enough to come home, but hopeful & praying that we would have no emergencies. 

We made it 3.5 months with monogenic diabetes & survived! Luckily for me Peyton was on specific amounts of formula so I never needed to count grams of sugar & all that. The poking, the final 3 heartbeats in the 3 seconds waiting for his meter to read, was worth it. He is a healthy & striving baby boy! 

I have learned so much from this boy, patience mainly! I had no idea what stress was until this boy came along. He is demanding & usually gets what he wants. Which means mama holds him a lot. I have learned time management, anytime he lets me put him down to play I hurry & get a room cleaned. I have to or my house would be a wreck! 

He turned 1 year old today & is my hero! He is 1 of 24 in the world with his condition. He's pure heaven! 

Happy

Birthday

Peyton

Your mommy and daddy love you forever! We hope you continue to fight in life & be the tough & strong person we know you are capable of being!