Walkers Hoops & Crosses

What a lovely surprise we had when we got home from our holiday.

We found this cheeky monkey in our porch, and he'd brought with him a lovely sample of walkers new Hoops & Crosses for us to try.

Well Brandon claimed the monkey straight away, where he now lives happily in Brandon's bed with the multitude of other cuddly toys. I really don't know how he manages to sleep.

Onto the Hoops & Crosses. As I'm diabetic I have to be really careful with what "treats" I allow myself to have. On reading the info about these though I think they're something that I can happily treat myself to once in a while.

They're made from 56% wholegrain and only 85 calories per bag. The flavours are beef (the flavour I tried), prawn cocktail and salt and vinegar (all suitable for vegetarians).  The beef flavour tastes exactly like the beef monster much (my favourite flavour), and the bag is absolutely packed with tiny hoops and crosses. No half bag measures here.

Brandon had a taste, but I think the flavour was a bit strong for him. I like a lot of flavour though, so I happily ate them.

Overall I think they are a healthier alternative to "normal" crisps.








Please note. I was sent these for review purposes, but all views are my own.

Pre School & Potty training.

So my little baby started pre-school this week. When we put his name down it seemed so far away, but the time has just flown by. Cue panicking from me for the last two weeks about how he (I ) would cope.

I potty/toilet/whateveryouliketocallit trained him before he started as I just really didn't fancy anyone else changing his nappy.

Now I'd tried a couple of times before but he obviously just wasn't ready. I know some people say that once you start not to give up, but I really couldn't see the point when he wasn't interested. Plus I've done this twice before so I knew he'd get it eventually.

This time when I decided to try again I told him that big boys that go to school don't wear nappies, and he got it this time in a day. Literally. I didn't keep asking him if he wanted to go to the toilet, as this just annoyed him. In the end I put on track suit bottoms or something loose that he could pull up and down himself and he'd just use the potty when he wanted to.

The only setback we had was when we put pull-ups on him for a day when we went out. The next day he didn't want to wear pants again, so we've never used them again. He's also dry at nap times and through the night, which has really pleased me.

So back to pre-school. I've only got him in for 2 days a week, 9-11.30, which I think is enough to start off with. Plus the fact that 2 hours a day walking is absolutely killing me lol.

Tuesday was his first day. We walked and he was happy holding my hand and counting all the lorries, buses, cars etc that went past. He also says "good morning" to everyone that walks by. That makes me laugh, he's like a little old man.

I took him in, showed him his coat peg and he was off. No crying. No goodbye mummy. Just gone.

When I picked him up they told me he'd had a brilliant time. He'd even had toast at snack time, something he rarely eats at home. He's one of the youngest there, as most don't start until after they're 3, and the teachers said they can't believe how he's just settled in.

I didn't think it would be a problem, but the only time he's ever been looked after by anyone else it's been his big brothers, and that's usually just a couple of hours while I go to the hospital (such an exciting life). But he's settled in like he's been going there forever.

Aww my baby is growing up.

Daily Routine

My life at the moment consists of taking medication, testing my blood sugar and injecting myself.

A typical day at the moment goes something like this:-

Wake up and prick finger to check fasting blood sugar levels.

Take Levothyroxine with water (at least half an hour before eating or drinking anything else.

Have a shot of insulin (currently 32 units of fast acting) 15 minutes before breakfast. I was taking it with breakfast, but due to having a lot of mid morning hypo's I've been advised to try this.

Eat breakfast and 1hr later prick finger to check blood sugar levels.

9am shot of Clexane

Another shot of fast acting insulin with lunch. As long as I'm sensible with my food I only need around 8-10 units. An hour later another finger prick to check my blood sugar levels.

After lunch take 2xMetformin and Aspirin

Take another 8-10 units of insulin with dinner and the prick my finger an hour later to check sugar levels.

After dinner take another 2xMetformin and Cholecalciferol(for vit D deficiency).

9pm another shot of Clexane.

Bedtime take a slow acting insulin to work overnight for my fasting levels. Currently taking 24 units.

As you can see my day revolves around lots of timing. Thank goodness for the timer on my iPhone :)

Finally

Well we eventually did it.

18 months, 4 miscarriages, a mountain of medication, a lot of injections and many hospital appointments later and I'm pregnant!!!

Yes really pregnant. 14 weeks tomorrow and we've had 2 scans and everything is looking good so far.

We are so thrilled to finally be here. I know I've got a long way to go, and as my consultant put it "its going to be a long hard pregnancy, but we'll get there".

My due date is 27/09/2013, but as I'm already diabetic I will be induced around 38 weeks, which is right around 13th September (my 43rd birthday).

I'm on a lot of medication and a lot of injections, but I'll go into that in another post. For now please keep your fingers crossed for us.

Oops

Wow it's been a really long time since I wrote here. I find that the longer I leave between blogging, the harder it gets to just start again. I'm the same with phoning people :) Anyway just a quick update. My thyroid levels became worse again and so my medication has now increased to 125mcg per day. I've also been on insulin for a few weeks now. Still haven't got the levels right, but I have to keep increasing the insulin until I hit the targets, so it's a bit hit & miss at the moment. Hope everyone else is ok. Xxx

One Day...

I'll have good news to post, but not yet. I've been avoiding here, like I always do when I get bad news. If I don't write it down, then it hasn't happened (obviously).

So here goes. I had another pre-conception appointmet with the diabetic consultant on Friday (14/09), and as usual it wasn't good news.

My HBA1c had gone up from last time and that's with the Metformin. He said "right, let's start on insulin". I just said no. I think it was just a reaction lol, but the look on his face made me laugh. He said that "you'll have to go on insulin when you get pregnant anyway", but as I pointed out, I'm not pregnant now! If I thought it was for the best I would have agreed, but I would like to try a bit harder first before I start with more injections. He said to start taking 4 Metformin instead of 2 and I need to be stricter with my diet and exercise. I said I would try very hard, and I will.

I thought my blood sugars (when I prick my fingers myself) weren't too bad but he said for pre-conception it needs to be really tight control, as good as someone who isn't diabetic, whereas I thought it was good diabetic control.

Sooooooo I have another 8 weeks to kick my ass into gear and get these blood sugars as perfect as I can before I have to start injecting insulin. He said to check 4 times a day, and if the control is good we can start trying (to get pregnant) again in 8 weeks.

Also had a blood test for my hypothyroidism to see if he needs to tweak that medication.

My next appointment isnt until 4/01/13 (unless my diabetic control is good and I get pregnant before that).

You never know. Fingers crossed.

Thyroid Medication

A few things I've learnt off the internet about taking thyroid medication that my Doctor didn't tell me.

1. Take at the same time of day

2. Take an hour before food or drink (apart from water) OR at least 2 hours after eating.

3. If you're taking a calcium supplement (I am) - leave at least 4 hours after taking your thyroxine, before taking your calcium.

4. Soy is a thyroid depressant, so limit your intake of soy foods.

I don't know why it doesn't state these things on the instructions. I'm not sure if it makes that much difference, but I need to do all I can to make sure that my thyroid levels are as good as can be, so I'm following the above guidelines.