Now - in the past I used an easy device that had the insulin loaded up and I just turned a knob to my dose, did my shot and it was over. This involves real, doctor-like measuring. I was totally nervous. Husband wanted to do the shot and I told him he needed to stand on the other side of the room. These shots are basically painless if you do them right. Doing them right involves pinching some fat (I have plenty) and sticking it in straight and quick As you can see above - the needed is very small. It really doesn't hurt. It takes a few seconds of gathering courage to do the stick then it's over. Now, the .8cc thing had me a bit freaked out. I mean, .8? It's a fraction but measuring it on my needle scared the heck out of me. When I finally figured out I had a 1 cc needle and hash marks demarking each .1 then the .8 didn't seem so scary. I drew out the insulin... and freaked. Mostly because it LOOKED like a lot of insulin in the long thin needle. Keep in mind, my previous dispensers sort of hid the actual medication - so I have no idea how .8cc compares to previous doses. I just closed my eyes, trusted my doctor, gave myself the shot and hoped for the best. I also explained over and over to my husband that if I woke up in the night and was shaking, sweating, talking-nonsense etc that he needed to get sugar in me (easiest would be some ginger ale we have downstairs) asap. He was, to say the least, a little freaked out.
Have I mentioned I'm a total hypochondriac? I don't mean that in the cute "she's nervous" way. I mean that in the "she's usually convinced she has one fatal disease or another" way. Laying in bed after that shot I was certain I'd used too much insulin. Certain. When I hadn't died after an hour I figured I was probably just over-reacting and promptly went to sleep.
This morning I really didn't feel any different. I was pretty sure, in fact, that the insulin had done nothing and maybe I had too small a dose.
One tiny squirt of insulin... and my blood sugar was 90 this morning. Bang. They will technically take anything under 100 as a "good" number. Anything under 95 is awesome. 90? It's like a dream. The other thing I noticed is after actually waking up I was a) not nauseous and b) STARVING as in I have to go eat breakfast right now or something bad will happen hungry. I have not felt this way about eating in the morning since I got pregnant in late June. I ate a low carb breakfast as per the "rules." (and my own life rules to be honest). I had light bread, swiss cheese, a tiny bit of butter and an over-very-easy egg. That's a total of about 10 carbs in case you're wondering. I'm supposed to keep it under 22. An hour later I needed my blood sugar to test under 120. An hour later is was 92. What the what?! It means my slow insulin is working. I have had constant trouble with my fasting and my post-breakfast numbers while my lunch and dinner numbers have been stellar. Has the problem been solved with a tiny little shot? Oh how I hope so.
Now because I'm a classic gestational diabetic (as opposed to a type II diabetic) I know that as my pregnancy continues I will have to increase the insulin dose as my pregnancy hormones continue to ravage my pregnancy-weary body. That's just how it goes and it's to be expected. Basically I'll go up .1cc if my sugars are high for 2-3 days in a row. For now though, total success. I'll take it.
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