Yes, you heard me right! She started her period! She will be 10 in 2 months and at our October Endo visit, he told us that Kacey was at the start of puberty. I noticed that she'd really started to develop up top but had no clue that her period was so near. I guess her Endo is more experienced with "seeing" it in her numbers than I am. She's been running really high and we've been increasing basals, making corrections EVERY time she tested, changed her carb factor and then he just made those changes this week. I knew he was going to start being more aggressive with her insulin since nothing was bringing her down and keeping her down.
Now for the story.... (those of you that can't handle TMI then STOP reading because I'm putting this in writing for her so she'll have it when she's older)
We had just come home from school. It was a little after 4pm and we were ALL happy it was Friday! I was pretty much emotionally exhausted from the meeting with Kay's principal and both girls were tired from a long week. When we got inside, Kacey put her things away and Kayleigh hopped on the computer. About 10 minutes later, I was talking to Kayleigh about what happened at school when I heard a yell from the bathroom.... "MOMMMMMMMM! COME HEREEEEEEEEEE!" I went running to the bathroom because it wasn't a normal call from Kacey. As I stood in the bathroom doorway, there Kacey sits with pink stained toilet paper in her hand. "Mom, I think my period is here!" I literally felt like my knees were going to buckle under me! It can't be! Did you poop? Maybe it was a hard poop? "NO MOM!" My reply was "OH MY GOODNESS!" Kayleigh came running from the other room cuz she'd heard me and so here we are....all 3 of us in the bathroom. LOL! I giggled thru my tears and told Kacey she was always going to remember this day and all of us in the bathroom. We're going to laugh when she is older about it. Kayleigh and I use the same pads but they aren't going work for Kacey so I put a pantyliner on her and told her we would go to Walmart when Daddy got home. I had to laugh because here I am trying to put it in her panties while Kayleigh stands there in the doorway and they giggled together and Kayleigh says "Welcome to the life of a big girl!" That made me cry even more :(
So then came tons of questions!
Do I keep this pad on all the time? Do I have to wear it for the rest of my life? Do I have to wear it every day? Will I get sick? Will there be alot of blood? My tummy hurts....will it get worse? I have a headache. Does Sissy feel like this when she gets her period too?
HOLY COW! I didn't realize that even as much as I prepared her, there is still TONS of unanswered questions for her! I'm REALLY glad I did have the "talk" with her about her body. After her Endo visit back in October, and he said she was starting puberty, I felt like it was better to prepare her early than to let it go and her be scared to death if she saw blood for the first time. I'm just amazed that her Endo could see it in her numbers. I guess he's been doing this long enough that he could see what was happening.
She wasn't scared at all but after everything settled down, she sorta broke down. I think it was a major mix of emotions. I hugged her while her sister sat there and talked to her. I gave her some Motrin and all 3 of us shared a piece of chocolate since her blood sugar rang in at an 80!
Now for a funny... Once Frankie got home, he got a shower and while we were getting ready to go to Walmart, we were talking about different sizes of pads. Kayleigh and I both use the overnight ones all the time because we're both so self conscious about "leaking" so to make sure we have "coverage" we use those. They are too big for Kacey. We tried pantyliners and those are too small. So I told Kacey we would look to see what different sizes they had since it's been so long since I bought anything different that what I usually get. She looks at me with this serious look and says "Mom, I don't have to try them on at Walmart do I?" HAHAHAHAHA!!! I couldn't stop laughing and she was just as serious as she could be!! So we had to explain that there are some things that you just don't try on.
She started a diary called "My Pearid Book" (spelled exactly how she wrote it) *sigh* The spelling is just another reminder of how she's still teeter tottering between a "little" girl and a "big" girl body. It's bad enough she's got the responsibility of diabetes on her shoulders at 9 years old....now her period!
Not sure how the next few days will go but I'll update how we're handling it soon!
WOW! What a year 2009 was for the West household! We've had so much happen and I thought I'd just do a brief recap of some highlights of 2009. To read more about most of the events mentioned, you can scroll back through my blog by month over at the right. I hope everyone has a very safe and happy new year!
Kacey saves every single test strip (unless one disappears...we all know they grow legs!) She started saving them when she was diagnosed and she was making pictures with them all. She hasn't made pictures in a while but she was still saving.
For the last 9 months she's been putting them in a JDRF can and... her can was FULL! 
We had to find something else for them to be dumped into so I found this metal pitcher that she could use. 
She's planning on making more pictures soon. I was shocked at how much that little can held! We haven't counted them yet but I'm sure she'll sit and do that before she makes her pictures. As I looked at the strips, it made me really sad. Every single strip is a finger prick. I'm surprised her fingers don't hurt more than she says they do. I'll post test strip pics as soon as she does them!
She tested her and Kayleigh barely got stuck. So Kacey cranked it up to a 3 and used the other hand...LOL! 
She got her that time! 
Personally, my heart kind of did a flutter when I was watching them interact. Kacey took charge and was saying things like "Sissy, it's ok, I do this 10 times a day and it gets easier." and "Sissy, don't be scared. It won't hurt too bad." Just listening to the caring and compassionate nature in her voice reassured me that she's going to be one of those RN's or CDE's that REALLY make a difference in the life of another child with diabetes. This was also one of those moments that they will remember forever. The Sister Bond. Years later when they are having coffee and watching their kids play and Kacey says "Hey, you remember when I checked your blood sugar for the first time?" they are going to sit back and laugh. 
