First Day of School

Sandis started kindergarten today. Man.....WHAT A HUMONGOUS DAY! I mean, I feel like I have been waiting for this day since well, the day he was born..! There are so many emotions that have been running through me today, and it is hard to organize all of it and then communicate it into well thought out paragraphs that are clear, but I think I am going to try! This is just too important of a day to let go by without some real documentation of my son's new beginning.

My son Sandis is six. You can see him over there in the picture with my sig. other Bob and my little peanut Gracie, who is three. Sandis's birthday is in August, and last year I held him back from kindergarten because I felt he wasn't ready. Last year I wasn't sure I was making the right decision. This year I truly am grateful for the decision I made because in all of the areas Sandis struggled with last year (attachment, ability to focus long enough to listen, social interaction with other children) this year, it is like he is a CHAMP! haha, I can hear people chuckling, yes yes, I know he is my son, and I will always be biassed towards him so it is hard to say if I am seeing him with clear eyes or not, but I do know that I walked a little boy into kindergarten today that could not have been any more ready for that day than he was today. I mean, this little boy was OOZING self confidence. It just makes me so proud of him!

I got pregnant with Sandis when I was 21 years old (ya, i BARELY got to drink....) and going to school at Clarkson University in upstate New York. I started my pregnancy care up in New York. I used to have to drive like 3 hours to Syracuse New York to go to a high risk OB clinic because in that little crap town of Potsdam, NY they didn't have any doctors who were actually qualified to be the charge for a type 1 diabetic pregnant mum (on an insulin pump).

When I was about 12 weeks pregnant I moved to Kansas City, MO to be somewhat closer to family. I had a sister that lived there and I figured she would be a good person to be close to through my pregnancy. I started my care at a residency OB clinic at a downtown hospital in Kansas City and soon discovered that I was going to have to figure out something different. On my first visit to this clinic, the resident (and head doctor), mostly unfamiliar with insulin pumps, told me that I was going to have to go back on MDI for the duration of my pregnancy. Aghast, I calmly told them no, and if that was how they intended my care to be, than I fully intended to find a different clinic to meet my needs during this prengnacy.

In the ensuing couple of weeks I called practically every endocrinologist in the KC area, actually interviewing the doctors (once I managed with whatever tactics I could to get them on the phone, VERY DIFFICULT!) until I settled on Dr. William Isley. I told him I was looking for an endocrinologist who would be willing to handle my diabetes and insulin pump therapy through my pregnancy. He was unsure at first, saying that he didn't usually do that, but after a couple more phone calls and me unabashedly BEGGING for him to help me so I didn't have to settle on OB care that would try to hitler my diabetes care into MDI, he agreed. Once he agreed to help me with my diabetes care, I chose to go to the OB clinic within his clinic system so that they could easily acquire my medical records associated with my seeing him and refer any recommendations/concerns for my diabetes care to HIM rather than to ME.

Although this was time intensive, back then, even only 7 years ago, insulin pump therapy just isn't as popular as it is now and not as many doctors were familiar with it. I was not willing to go back on injections and I was frantic to find a doctor who would feel comfortable assisting with my care during a pregnancy with a pump, and would be willing to work with my OB's to make this as smooth a pregnancy as possible. Until I had this arranged, when I went to the doctor I felt like I was FIGHTING to keep my pump, fighting with the doctors over appropriate care, and I felt it was a battle I could not win.

Anyhow, my blood sugars were FABULOUS through my pregnancy. My a1c's stayed in the low 6's throughout my pregnancy and Sandis was born August 17, 2000, an uneventful birth (mostly) and a healthy little boy, not too big, not too small. As soon as he was born, I imagined him at age 5, his next milestone, kindergarten.

Now, my crazy tiger is nothing like I imagined him to be. He loves to DANCE, not play HOCKEY. He is loud and opinionated, not cooperative and gentle. But he is fabulous. I could not have picked a better Sandis. I won the lottery with this kid! So today, as he started his new chapter in his great big life, there is sadness, but there is mostly happiness and anticipation. I feel like Ive waited my entire life to see him grow and to see him mature into whatever it is he will grow into.

Oh, and one more thing.... the other night, He stopped me before I turned out the light and said "mom! guess what? Im in love with a girl!" .....what?.... ".....and her name is EMILY!" haha, isn't that fabulous! And now he likes a girl....sometimes life just can't get any better.