Monday, April 17, 2017

Middle of the Night Alarms

I live in Michigan where the weather can be a mixture of April snow (two weeks ago), 80 degree days (two days ago) and seasonal nights.  While my allergies do not love this practice, to me, there is nothing better than opening a window at night and enjoying the first fresh air after a long winter.

Last night, I did just that.  After opening the window and then, tossing a bit as the unfamiliar noises became familiar again (why does a chirping bird sound louder than a dryer tumbling tennis shoes??), I finally drifted into a deep sleep.  And to be clear, this moment of sleep is so fantastic, that I feel completely calm and relaxed, even on a eve of a very busy week.

Well, as the law of parenting with T1D happens, sleep is just not meant to be.

Suddenly, a deafening scream shot me straight out of bed.  Panicked, I raced into our youngest daughter's bedroom, opened her phone to check the CGM and at the same time checked her little finger with the meter.  124 mg/dl.

Shoot.  Wrong child. In our world, it is a 50/50 guess when you are completely out of it and forget to check your own phone before running down the hall.

Swiftly walking into our oldest daughter's room, I repeated the same series of steps and again, a great but slightly surprising number shot back, 178 mg/dl.  What in the heck was that noise??

Thinking I imagined the noise, I tiredly crawled back into bed, checking my phone to ensure the volume was on and tried to fall back to sleep again.

The scream came again and this time it brought along a series of shrieks and crying.  Sounding almost like a baby, I worriedly again hopped out of bed but this time, went straight to window.  Ridiculously peering out but in the dark, knowing that looking for anything, and really a baby??? - how would that even be possible.

The sounds didn't last too long and eventually my tired brain sorted out the reality that it was most likely a coyote, and well, probably a mating coyote at that.

However, for everyone that finds it easy to sleep through CGM alarms, might I suggest this to be a new sound for both Dexcom and Medtronic?  Guaranteed there will be no sleeping in!

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