NaBloPoMo Day 28...All In The Family

Today is a special day, today has been declared Special Sib of a D kid Day.  Type 1 diabetes is oh so consuming, it infests itself into every aspect of your life.  There is not one situation in our day to day life that we are not trying to figure out what adjustments need to be made to keep Cara safe and diabetes at bay.  The 24/7 care is stressful and many times overwhelming and some days you just want to curl yourself up and hide under your nice warm blankets and drift off into dream land where things are happy and so less complicated. 
BUT there is no time for hiding.  In this very busy, very demanding family I have 5 other children that need their mother just as much as Cara does.  I have meals to make, homework to do, clothes to wash, hugs to give, books to read, laughs to enjoy and tears to comfort.
AND  I'm so thankful for all of it!!

Type 1 diabetes has taken it's toll and has changed this whole family in many ways.

Kailyn: 

she loves to take pics in the mirror

Kailyn is my oldest daughter (13), she is smart and mature beyond her years.  She is my biggest helper when it comes to the kids, she is the "2nd mom" around here, if I'm busy (which I am most of the time with diabetes stuff) I tell the kids "go ask Kailyn". Chris works a lot and a lot of crappy hours and Kailyn is my "right hand man".  We have always given her a lot of responsibility in this family, as soon as she turned 12 Kailyn was babysitting her 5 siblings. Now with diabetes in the mix, it has only added to her work load.  She knows how to take Cara's blood sugar and understands all the in's and out's of dealing with low's and how to read carbs.  At school she is responsible for taking Cara's blood sugar every afternoon snack.  Kailyn has saved the day on more then one occasion at our old school.  When the school called to inform me Cara's head was on her desk and she was very lethargic what do we do? the first thing that came out of my mouth was "get Kailyn in there".  When a nurse was sent to Cara's school who had no idea how to work Cara's meter they called Kailyn.  She may not like it but she is my go to girl in any situation.  Kailyn is Cara's and The We CARA Lot's biggest supporter, she has run fundraisers all by herself, she educates about T1 and she advocates for Cara. Now if I could only figure out how to stop all the auguring...life would be grand :)
   

Connor:

Connor is my oldest boy (9).  He is funny and caring and he does not stop talking...I'm telling you, this kid can talk!! He has always and hopefully will always be a rule follower.  Things are black and white for this kid, if you tell him something that's it, it's the RULE!  He also has been my worry wort and because he knows all the rules if you break them he knows all the consequences and because he is my talker, he will tell you and explain it to you and tell you some more.  On hearing of Cara's type 1 diagnoses Nana (my mother-in- law) took Connor to the library to learn a little bit about T1 in order to help explain what was going on with Cara.  That kid came home sounding like a doctor, he absorbed everything, he knew the whys, whats, hows of T1 and of course ALL THE RULES!  This is very important because Cara is a sneaker, she loves to sneak food and Connor knowing the rules will rat her out, in a loving big brother kinda way, as soon as he sees what's going down.  Type 1 diabetes has stressed this little guy out he is always on his toes watching for signs of lows or make sure Cara is following all the rules and I wish I could take this burden away from him...I think that I'm starting to see grey hair's :)

Kylie:

Kylie is 3rd in line, she is 6 years old and has red hair and the most amazing blue eyes.  She is an attention seeker.  Well with eyes like her's she does not have to look for attention it finds her.  She is very stubborn, she hates to say sorry and she has a bit of a temper.  Ya that sounds just right for a 3rd in line red head!!  Cara's dx has been very hard for Kylie and she is still trying to figure out where she belongs in all of this.  Cara and Kylie once were very close, best friends attached at the hip.  Kylie took the lead and all attention in this relationship and Cara was very happy with that. Cara loved to be the side kick to her outgoing beautiful big sister.  But that all changed the day we came home from the hospital Cara was now the center of attention, with blood sugar checks around the clock and counting carbs and one eye always on Cara, Kylie was not liking this one bit.  Kylie did not want anything to do with Cara and changed her focus onto Connor.  Now Connor and Kylie are the best of pals, they love playing with each other and they really get along quite nicely, but I long for the relationship that Cara and Kylie once had and only hope that they find it once again.

Kirstin:

Kirstin is Cara's little sister, she is 3.  She is funny, imaginative and just fills my heart with smiles and love.  For Kirstin diabetes is just the way life is for Cara.  Kirstin does not remember anything different.  Anytime that Cara and Kirstin are playing, diabetes enters the game, every barbie has diabetes, every toy is made into a diabetes tool.  The unfortunate part of having a big sister with type 1 diabetes is that Kirstin gets blood sugar check too.  She is the same age now that Cara was when she was diagnosed and I feel like I'm just waiting for the next diagnoses.  Every time that she is extra thirsty, extra tired, extra hungry it's time to check blood sugar.  Type 1 diabetes is no biggy to Kirstin, it is what it is and she rolls with her big sister and D.

Cody:

Cody is 2 and my little buddy, everywhere that I go Cody is right there with me because of this he knows everything diabetes.  He's just too little to realize it!  He is my baby and he always will be.  Just like Kirstin, Cody has the down fall of having a older type 1 sister, he too must under go some blood sugar test when I "see" something that mimics a symptom of type 1. Also just like Kirstin Type 1 is our normal, he knows no different.

All of these siblings of a D-kid have been effected by this disease.  Most of all it has taken a little part of their parents away from them.  The extra time that could have been theirs has been stolen by diabetes and because of this I'm so sorry.  You kids are amazing, strong, caring, funny, tough and loving children and I could not have asked for a more complex, supportive and phenomenal family.

AND CARA COULD NOT HAVE ASKED FOR BETTER SIBLINGS!