Diabetics Doing Motherhood with Lindsay Power

[00:00:00] Rob Howe: Welcome to the Diabetics Doing Things podcast, where we explore the amazing stories of type 1 diabetics around the world. I'm your host, Rob Howe, Diabetics Doing Things founder and 11-year type 1 diabetic. Help raise awareness for diabetics doing things by sharing this with your diabetic friends. We're also on Facebook and Instagram. Tag a type 1 friend today. This week, we're joined by Lindsay Power from Plano, Texas. Lindsay discusses adjustments to being diagnosed as a teen and shares intimate details on the pressures and obstacles associated with diabetic pregnancy in our most captivating interview to date. We're here with episode 5 of Diabetics Doing Things and joining me today is Lindsay Power. Lindsay, welcome. Welcome to the show.

[00:00:46] Lindsay Power: Thank you. I'm very glad to be on the show.

[00:00:49] Rob Howe: So we've been at this for a little while now and we've interviewed some really great diabetics from all over the world. And today you're going to talk to us a little bit about what it's like to be a mom with type 1 diabetes. So let's talk a little bit first like how we know each other through the world famous Dallas Comedy House. One of four, at least four improvisers at DCH who are type 1 diabetics.

[00:01:17] Lindsay Power: yeah we actually met we became troupe mates and I became your TA all in the same week pretty much

[00:01:25] Rob Howe: yeah we got to you were the TA of the first class that I taught yes and a very great group yes of

[00:01:31] Lindsay Power: people and also we may be the shortest and tallest improvisers at DCH so right just to show that

[00:01:38] Rob Howe: like diabetes affects both the short and the tall. Yeah. All types of people.

[00:01:44] Lindsay Power: Yes.

[00:01:44] Rob Howe: So tell us a little bit about yourself and your diagnosis with diabetes. Let's take it from the top.

[00:01:51] Lindsay Power: Okay. I was diagnosed with diabetes when I was 15 years old. I was actually supposed to go to London with my high school theater club between my sophomore and junior year. I had been saving all year to go and I lost all this weight and I was thirsty all the time and I was peeing all the time and my mom's really smart. And she said, I feel like you have diabetes, even though it does not run in our family.

[00:02:15] Rob Howe: So she just knew what the symptoms were.

[00:02:16] Lindsay Power: She knew. She's very in tune medically for someone who's not medical. And she took me to the doctor. They found out that I was showing large ketones and sent me straight to the hospital to await my blood tests. and really I wasn't that devastated when they told me it was diabetes. My question was, can I still go to London on Sunday? It was Wednesday. I said, can I still go to London on Sunday? And they said no. And that's when I cried.

[00:02:47] Rob Howe: So you, I mean, obviously when we're 15 and we have all those expectations built up for trips like that, I think it's hard to put it in perspective. But what was going through your mind when they said that you probably have diabetes?

[00:03:02] Lindsay Power: All I could think of was Stacy from the Babysitter's Club. Okay. And she's a horrible misinterpretation of a type 1 diabetic.

[00:03:10] Rob Howe: So I don't know anything about Stacy. Oh, yeah. Okay, how do they misinterpret diabetes?

[00:03:16] Lindsay Power: Basically, she just eats really healthy. Like if the rest of them are having cookies, she'll have an apple.

[00:03:22] Rob Howe: Okay.

[00:03:23] Lindsay Power: And so, you know, what you discover when you become diabetic is, yes, an apple is a healthier choice, but it still has fructose. right you're still gonna have to you're still gonna have to factor in about 15 carbs and do insulin and uh since stacy was the only representation of diabetes i had the common misconception that like just don't eat unhealthy food uh don't eat candy don't eat cookies right

[00:03:45] Rob Howe: and then you know um when you're in the hospital like hey you can eat whatever you want as long as you count it right right yeah um talk about where were you uh where were you living when you

[00:03:56] Lindsay Power: were diagnosed? I was living in Plano, Texas, and I was actually diagnosed at the Medical Center of Plano. I think it was HCA at the time. My pediatrician walked over to wait the blood test results with us, and he told us go to Children's Medical Center in Dallas because they have a really good nursing team, and they're going to be able to take care of you, and so my mom, who has her own health problems, does not drive on the highway, and my dad was in Florida for my grandparents 50th anniversary and she was freaking out because she didn't she didn't know what to do and my blood sugar was over a thousand oh wow and so she he said don't go home don't just get there and I remember she called her best friend whose husband was a urologist and he realized the seriousness of it he said come home they lived in our neighborhood he said come home and pack a bag I'll be there just call me when you get home so we did and um He was driving us to the hospital, and he told us he was on call, and he actually was not supposed to leave. But because he was a doctor, he understood ketoacidosis, blood sugar over 1,000. And I kept trying to fall asleep in the back seat, and he kept reaching back and patting my knee saying, you know, stay awake, stay awake. And, you know, I didn't understand it at the time, but he was afraid that I was going to – if I went to sleep, I'd go into a coma. So we got to the emergency room, and they checked us in and told us to sit down. And I just remember he walked up to the counter and said, she's in ketoacidosis. Her blood sugar is over 1,000. And she's just been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. And they said, no, no, no, don't sit down. Don't sit down. Get back here right now. And that was kind of all of that together was when I was like, wow, this is serious.

[00:05:38] Rob Howe: It's funny the way that that story unfolded. It's almost exactly identical to what happened when I was diagnosed. Really? My mom knew something was wrong. She's always, even though she doesn't have a medical degree or any sort of practitioner's license, she's very medically in tune. She's like, something's wrong. Took me to urgent care. They said, you've got diabetes. They did the test. You definitely do. Go to Children's right away. Do not go home. So, I mean, I think, you know, Children's Hospital, obviously, I give credit to a lot of the reasons I was so well prepared and well adjusted, even after week one of diabetes. how when you got there did you have the same type of experience yeah they were great and

[00:06:19] Lindsay Power: I went to children's endocrinology for my endocrinologist in my appointment so they were amazing and I remember they have so they give you all your basic education I remember they had me give both my parents a shot to show my parents that the needles weren't that bad and to allow me to practice before I did my first shot. And when it came time to do my first insulin shot, some friends were visiting, which, which kind of worked out because I didn't want to wimp out. I didn't want to wimp out in front of them. So I did it. But then two weeks after you get home, they have you come back for a class. Did they do that for you? I don't remember exactly if I had

[00:06:56] Rob Howe: to come back for a class. I was there for about five days. I'm sure, I'm sure that I did. The classes and you're about at me though. And I think by that time I was like so well adjusted to it. I don't know if you were the same way, but once I learned what to do, I felt pretty confident that I was going to be able to do it really well.

[00:07:16] Lindsay Power: Yeah, and they don't put you on Humalog right away. It's like, for breakfast, this many carbs, this much insulin, this time. So I mean, I got on such a good routine, which I was on, I guess, for about the next year or so.

[00:07:28] Rob Howe: I think mine was very similar. You have your list of what you should eat every meal, how much insulin. You're not even worried about ratios, and you're just really tracking all your levels. And I just remember, I'm sure, I mean, your blood sugar was more than double what mine was when you got diagnosed. But I just remember immediately feeling so much better when I got insulin in me. You know, just sitting there on the gurney, basically, with IV of saline for hydration, and they put insulin in it. I just remember immediately like, oh, I feel good again, finally, after all this time. Do you have something similar to that?

[00:08:02] Lindsay Power: No. They told me that they didn't want to give me too much insulin because they didn't want me to crash. And I just remember I had not been hungry and I got hungry, which was probably the blood sugar coming down. But it was horrible because I don't, and I don't remember this, but I guess I was like begging for mac and cheese. This is what every, and so, and then they let me go to sleep, which was nice. But when I woke up, they brought me some grilled cheese and said, you know, we don't have any mac and cheese, but we have this. And I had no idea why they prefaced it by telling me we don't have mac and cheese. I was like, okay. And they were like, you were like begging for mac and cheese. Like you were freaking out. And I do remember they had to do two IVs. They did a saline IV in one arm and they did a hep lock in the other arm so that they could drop blood. And I did not like needles. And I was kind of freaking out. And they said, if we don't do this, we're going to have to stick you every hour to three hours. And I just kind of went, oh, okay. And they were right. By day four, my vein had collapsed from them taking blood out of it. and they had to get very creative.

[00:09:08] Rob Howe: Has your, I mean, obviously you give multiple shots all the time. You were on a pump. How long did it take for you to adjust to needles?

[00:09:20] Lindsay Power: Shots never really bothered me, if I'm remembering correctly. Once I did it once, you know, but I remember two or three weeks in not wanting to test my blood sugar anymore. Just that hurt the finger sticks. and I remember crying and asking my mom to do it for me because I couldn't bring myself to push the button. And she said, well, they said we can do it in your toes or your earlobes. And I said, no, it's not. You can do it in my fingers. I just can't do it myself right now.

[00:09:48] Rob Howe: Yeah, and I think it takes a little while even just like that anticipation of like because you're always pulling away and then you do a couple pricks and the blood doesn't come out and you get mad.

[00:09:57] Lindsay Power: Yeah, well, and those old glucometers, you needed so much blood on those old glucometers. Now it's microscopic.

[00:10:04] Rob Howe: Yeah, it's great. And that's another thing. When you were 15, I don't want to date you here, but what year was it?

[00:10:11] Lindsay Power: 1996, wait for it, 1998.

[00:10:15] Rob Howe: 1998. So really only eight years before I was diagnosed, but at the same time, or seven years. um how has technology changed from that day to where we are now and how your treatment has like

[00:10:31] Lindsay Power: evolved over time well i remember a 45 second test i remember my OneTouch meter had a huge circle for you to put blood on and it would take 45 seconds and then it'd get there and say not enough blood sometimes which was like disheartening and when you feel like you're crashing That instantaneous result is desirable, of course. Also, I remember my first pump. I hated it. It jammed all the time. And after a year or so of wearing it, I went back to shots. Because it wasn't worth it to me. I was acting a lot at the time, and it would jam during shows and alarm, and I just couldn't do it. So I switched back to shots. And then when I started trying to get pregnant, they put me on the Omnipod pump, which is totally wireless. nothing like the experience of having my cat chew through my tubing and waking up in ketosis and I mean just the adjustments for the basal rates the background rates have I feel like they've changed my life I feel like they allowed me to be pregnant I work on my feet I work retail I don't have a lot of time to test my blood sugar or take care of my blood sugar so just being able to suspend my insulin rather than chugging some orange juice or, you know, it just, it's changed

[00:11:45] Rob Howe: my life. And you, um, a couple of times you mentioned just now, uh, being pregnant and it's kind of what we're going to talk about a little bit more today is like to your personal story. Uh, you're a mother to two amazing, uh, super talented, adorable young, uh, young men. Um, what, uh, obviously as a type 1 diabetic, like there were, you know, you had to be cautious and had a time did you talk to your doctor talk a little bit about what that was like for as a

[00:12:10] Lindsay Power: process um well I've always known that I wanted to be a mom I have four sisters I have a big family and I love kids I've been babysitting so that's how I saved money for London was babysitting uh I was a professional nanny in my you know early adult years so kids were always on the table for me and so when I was I think about 19 was the first time it ever really came into my consciousness is that diabetics don't have babies or something along those lines. And I remember asking my diabetes educator, and she said, yeah, you can have kids, but have them young. And that was scary for me at 19 to sort of have a biological clock thrown down. And she said, I'm not saying, you know, run out and get pregnant now, but you are going to want to have your first child before you're 30 because 30 starts to get into a second risk area, and you don't want to play that game. And I feel like that contributed a lot. I actually was going to an acting school in Indiana, a really good school where people make it. And I dropped out. I moved back home. I really put a lot of focus on having the kind of life that would be conducive to finding someone, getting married, having kids. And then even telling that person, you know, now my husband, but just saying, you know, I don't want to wait more than a year after we're married before we start trying. It's always been in my consciousness. And then, um, having his family say things like, well, you know, you can't have kids cause you're diabetic. They're older, they're old school, but they're, they are medical. Uh, his father's a doctor, his mom's a nurse and they both told him and told me, well, you can't have kids. Are you interested in adopting? And it's hard. You're, you know they're your future in-laws you don't want to go no you're wrong I know you went to medical school but you're wrong uh but just kind of going okay thanks for that well let's let's

[00:14:10] Rob Howe: talk about that for a second because I think initially you said you know you'd always dreamed of having kids and always known you wanted to be a mom and um I think a big part of the mission of what we are doing with Diabacs doing things it's like yeah you have diabetes but you still can do whatever it is you dream of doing and follow your heart. And I know it's big in my life. So I think misconceptions, what have been some, you know, let's talk a little bit more about this one, but then also, you know, what are some other misconceptions that you've sort of been labeled either unfairly or just, you know, flippantly by people?

[00:14:45] Lindsay Power: Well, I think sometimes people think, sometimes people think you're weaker than you are, but also sometimes people think you're stronger than you are, if that makes sense. You know, I'm pretty good about if my blood sugar crashes, I catch it fairly early. I usually have pretty tight control. So I feel it early and I treat it early and I often don't even have to stop what I'm doing. I just drink a soda or something.

[00:15:08] Rob Howe: But and you're honestly you're a way better tester than I am. You're you're you're a really a model of testing discipline. Thank you.

[00:15:18] Lindsay Power: But yeah, I mean, I just I try to I try to catch it early enough that I can keep going. so when I do need help I think sometimes people don't realize how weak I am at that moment that I can't um I'm I am in a management position I'm I'm in charge at my work and sometimes I'll say I'm I'm taking a minute my blood sugar's low and people still want to ask me questions and it's like you don't understand I imagine yourself trying to answer a very important work-related question after a night of heavy drinking or something like that it's not working right now I can't think straight, you know, or, uh, if there's a deadline of some sort, you know, I need to get the money counted and in the drawer by 9am and my blood, I wake up in ketosis or something, uh, which happens. And you're like, I'm not okay. I'm really not, but I'm the only person who can do this. And, um, so sometimes I think there's almost a perception that you should be okay when you have good control, but then there's the perceptions like when your blood sugar is crashing and somebody will smack candy out of your hands. Don't eat that. You're diabetic.

[00:16:17] Rob Howe: Has that happened to you?

[00:16:18] Lindsay Power: Yes. Like literally smacked candy out of my hands in high school. You know, I was friends with theater kids. They're, we're all dramatic, but yeah, like Lindsay, no. And it's like, no, actually my blood sugar is 37 and you're killing me right now. You're like literally actually could end my life. Um, so there's that.

[00:16:38] Rob Howe: Also, give me my candy.

[00:16:39] Lindsay Power: Also, yeah. Also, give me my sour punch straws, please. But, you know, also, I think not even the perceptions, but the way that everybody lives in their own little movie. I remember a time at college in the cafeteria where I had tested my blood sugar, done a shot in my stomach, and I was cleaning everything up, you know, zipping my glucometer up, bending the needle down. A girl lost her shit and said, oh, my God, did you just do a shot? I'm phobic of needles and I just watched everybody rush to comfort her and shoot me dirty looks and it's like first of all she didn't even see me because I'm good at this and I'm subtle right how dare you all look at me like I've done something wrong I'm not going to go to a dirty bathroom to like I hear a lot of women actually sort of correlates with the motherhood thing people expect women to like breastfeed in the bathroom like don't you understand that when people are doing these sterile things going to a bathroom is disgusting i don't want to go and also to do a shot in the bathroom you can't sit in a stall and do it really because you need to

[00:17:44] Rob Howe: open your glucon you need to have something to put your stuff yes and it's like i uh if you go

[00:17:51] Lindsay Power: to a bathroom somebody's gonna walk in and think you're shooting up drugs i i agree i think like

[00:17:56] Rob Howe: bathroom bathrooms have a negative connotation for any sort of you know drugs or medicine and i think um at children's my you know the education team was like yeah you can do this in public and really if someone like tells you that you can't it's sort of discrimination and you kind of should

[00:18:12] Lindsay Power: take offense to it yeah my best friend um mindy shout out to mindy i've known her for a long long time and she's amazing she is truly needle and blood phobic um she i mean i i've we've gone to some horror movies together and I've seen her like almost blackout and she does she has a condition there's a name for it but like she will faint when people stick a needle in her and I remember one night at her house uh testing my blood sugar and her sister came in the room and said oh my god Mindy doesn't that bother you and I looked at it had never even clicked how much this would bother her and I looked up and she was a little pale and she was looking away and she was like it doesn't matter she's got to do it and I mean those are the people this girl who I spent the bulk of my time with between probably sophomore and senior year and ended up being the maid of honor at my wedding um she looked away she didn't like watch me but she never said a damn word about her own personal phobias because she knew that this was not something I was doing for attention this was something I was doing that well I just I have to because otherwise I'll get very sick or die

[00:19:20] Rob Howe: Mindy sounds like a ride or die I think we all have our own Mindy's yeah she's she's amazing and that's we if we don't then you got to find your who your Mindy is yeah and Mindy if you're

[00:19:29] Lindsay Power: listening to this take a damn improv class so I can see you more because you're an amazing person yeah we're gonna make sure Mindy hears this yeah but yeah I mean there I have a lot of those people in my life that have never it's just to me that was such a wonderful moment to realize that there are people who love you enough to put their own personal you know this is not somebody who just doesn't really like it. This is somebody who will faint at the sight of blood and who never said a

[00:19:54] Rob Howe: damn word. That's a good friend. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so I want to shift back a little bit to, you know, the pregnancy aspect. So during your two, you know, you carry your two boys, um, talk about maybe some highs, lows, any interesting blood sugar stories or reactions or, you know, things that you went through from a diabetic standpoint. Sure. Uh, well, I actually miscarried my first

[00:20:16] Lindsay Power: pregnancy, which is something I try to talk about because they say one in four women has a pregnancy that ends in a miscarriage or stillbirth. And when it happens, you feel really alone because most people don't talk about it. So you don't know who you, and I was lucky in a sense because my mom has had several miscarriages and I had her, but it was because of a blighted ovum, which is super common in the first trimester. It just means the baby didn't cook right and it's not going to make it. But everybody, and I mean everybody, assumed it was because I'm diabetic, which is insulting. Because when you're pregnant, you will never watch your blood sugar so closely. And to have people just straight up say, oh, because of your diabetes. And it's like, no, this happens to everyone. It had nothing to do with my diabetes. And that also, to me, in a way, puts fault on a person. Because there are diabetics who don't take care of themselves. and I'm not one of them and it was really upsetting. So when we got pregnant with Brady, who's my oldest, it was scary. We didn't tell anybody because we didn't want to go through that again. Like a lot of people look at a miscarriage. We kept it a secret for a while. And I probably tested my blood sugar 20 times a day. And in your first trimester, your blood sugars are usually pretty normal. In fact, I think I crashed a lot because I was nauseous a lot. and I'd do insulin and then I'd eat and realize that I couldn't keep it all of it and yeah so there was a lot of balancing but um there was one day that I was at work and my blood sugar got really high I want to say it was about 400 and I was treating and treating and treating and it wouldn't come down and I was about 21 weeks along um and so I went to the hospital and it got out like I don't want to say that my blood sugar got out of hand but it was really it was another one of those moments of like oh shit this is really serious because they treated me in the ER and then they actually sent me to the ICU because nobody understands diabetes including medical professionals so they said the ICU they're the only people that can properly treat you not because you're an intensive care patient but because they know diabetes so anyway as it turns out when you're diabetic your placenta grows when you're anyone who's pregnant your placenta grows but it blocks the insulin which is why some women around 21 weeks develop gestational diabetes for type 1 diabetics your body just almost stops absorbing insulin and I remembered my doctor telling me that around 24 weeks I would have to double my insulin levels which I this was my obstetrician not my endocrinologist so I kind of remember rolling my eyes and thinking yeah right that's a lot of insulin and then as I'm laying there in the hospital going oh oh this is the moment got And I went through and I reprogrammed all my basils and doubled everything. And I started bolusing. I had been bolusing one unit for 10. I started bolusing, I think, one for seven. And that leveled it out. But it was a really scary night laying there in intensive care and just not being able to get my blood sugar down, having to be put on an insulin drip. And then I saw her again and she told me, yeah this is going to happen again in about your 32nd 33rd week so doubling it again from the previous interesting and so I by the time I had my baby I had gone from one unit for 10 or one you know one one for 10 carbs I was down to three wow for 10 carbs yeah that's a boatload of insulin wow yeah um and the other scary thing is she said when you give birth the minute that placenta comes out you will crash so so get ready get ready the other thing is that sometimes because you are using so much insulin it actually physically weakens the placenta so if you are diabetic and you are late in your pregnancy and you start to see a blood sugar crash that means your placenta is not doing its job anymore and the baby needs to come out and it happened to me in my 36th week, halfway through my 36th week, I was actually laying there getting an ultrasound and my perinatologist said, he's not moving very much, normally your baby's very active and I said he hasn't been moving much but I thought that was normal towards the end because they don't have a lot of space.

[00:24:49] Rob Howe: Right.

[00:24:49] Lindsay Power: And she said, well don't forget, you're not quite at the end, you're going to be early because he's big, because you're diabetic and he has this space and it was crazy. right when she said that, I said, I think I need to test my blood sugar. And it was, it wasn't that low. It was about 67, but it all came together in that moment. I started drinking a Sprite. She got me a can of Sprite. And then she said, hold on, I'm going to go call your obstetrician. She came back in the room and she said, you're getting a C-section at 530 tonight. Don't tell them you're drinking that Sprite or they might not do it. They might not let you do it. But so, I mean, it was like the one blood sugar crash. They were just like, no. So sort of

[00:25:28] Rob Howe: like as with every other diabetic instance it's like everything's in the balance right you know and you gotta be willing and ready to act on a moment's notice that's that's crazy yeah and it

[00:25:40] Lindsay Power: was a really scary six and a half hours they sent me to a room and they hooked me up to a fetal heart monitor because diabetics actually are still one of the groups that has a lot of stillborn babies everything goes okay till the end and then you don't catch those blood sugar crashes or something like that and your baby dies so they hooked me up to a fetal heart monitor and we my doctor was in Plano we were living in Fort Worth at the time so my husband being a husband freaked out wanted to do what he could and said we have we packed a bag but we didn't bring it it was just a doctor's appointment should I go home and get it and he was making me nervous so I was like yes get get out of here just go away you kind of get the husband's out yeah just go away But then he left and I'm just laying there listening to that, uh, the baby's heartbeat on the monitor. And the nurse kept coming in saying, let me turn this down so you can rest. And I was like, no, I want to hear the heartbeat. Uh, but it was neat. Slowly my family filtered into the room and I had, um, my mom and dad, my sister and brother in law with their baby who was three weeks old at the time. Um, my sister Carly, who was turned out to be Brady's God mom. And then my husband, of course. so when Brady was born they did the c-section and then when they're sewing you up they actually take the baby out of the room so while they were finishing up Brady was with my family and my dad we're Catholic he makes rosary beads and he made a set for Brady and while they were doing my c-section my whole family said a rosary on this set of beads which I have now and I haven't decided but he'll get it either on his first communion or confirmation so and he did the same for Patrick too. Oh, so good. Yep. And Brady was perfect, but I did not fare well after he was born. My blood pressure spiked and they put me on magnesium and I didn't hold him very much for four or five days. So it was pretty bad. And a couple of that on top of having to adjust

[00:27:32] Rob Howe: your insulin levels and, you know, I mean, that's, that's gotta be a challenge just in itself.

[00:27:39] Lindsay Power: Yeah. The first time I got out of bed and tried to change him when he was about four days old, my blood sugar crashed to about 53 if I remember correctly and I had to walk away from him well he wasn't wearing a diaper and you know infants will just go and fortunately my husband and mother were both in the room but I just remember I I had a little bit of a meltdown of like how can I be a mother I can't even change his diaper I can't even um it was a it was actually kind of a dark moment for me it was really scary because you know I just started thinking about what if I'm home alone with him and he's this helpless little infant and what if I have him somewhere like on his changing table and I pass out or die and there he is just laying there or what if he's a little bit older and he's capable to roll and he I mean just the horrible things that go through your head so they actually ended up treating me for postpartum depression after that which is very common in diabetics interesting yeah I mean I think you know with

[00:28:39] Rob Howe: your endocrine system in such imbalance and like you know highs and lows and the way that you feel i think i you know i get some of those as well just um you know when you're when you're high for a long period of time maybe you don't know it or just don't you just feel off just so it is

[00:28:54] Lindsay Power: depressing it's really depressing um and it's helpless you feel helpless because there's i mean you can take really good care of yourself and still sometimes yes it's just roll the dice

[00:29:05] Rob Howe: some days, right? So, uh, you know, now fast forward a few years. Um, what do you tell your sons about that? I mean, what do you tell Brady and Patrick? Um, not much to be

[00:29:15] Lindsay Power: completely honest. I mean, I just talk about it when it's appropriate. Like today, um, today when I was getting ready to come to improv rehearsal, Brady was following me around and, um, I had to put on a new pump and, you know, just like, you know, whenever I, something like that happens, I'll say to him, because of my diabetes, I have to do this and they're interested like he he's seen me do it a few times today was the first time he ever actually asked he said can I take off your old one and I said yeah and I let him peel it off and throw it in the trash um you know uh he knows what my glucometer is he calls it a blue commoner um but I'll say can you go get my glucometer and he'll he'll go get it um bring it to me or uh if I tell him my blood sugar's low he'll ask if I need um something from the fridge you know and I'll I'll tell him what I want if it's orange juice or Sprite and I let him help me because I figure someday I might need him to help me um my youngest you know he's only he'll be three in March and I don't think he quite gets it yet um but you know they just I don't ever I don't ever like oh I'm not going to test my blood sugar in front of them because they'll freak out or anything like that or I try to explain to them that I'm not okay because of my blood sugar um and it's funny when Brady was like two or three Brady's kind of a hypochondriac he kind of likes the attention that comes with being sick if he costs one so he'll be like mama we need to go to the hospital because he had his tonsils out and he loved getting all the attention at the hospital but so um one day he just like flopped on my bed and said mama I don't feel good I think my blood sugar is crashing you know and I just thought oh god do I look like that am I that dramatic when it happens also just a drama kid

[00:30:59] Rob Howe: 100%

[00:31:00] Lindsay Power: absolutely you know but his yeah his pregnancy went my pregnancy with my second kiddo went way better but he didn't make it as long I only made it to 36 weeks so he was a month early and I ended up with Patrick being in the NICU for five days I think the white boys don't do well when they're early I don't know why no offense

[00:31:23] Rob Howe: I was a little bit early not that early they call them

[00:31:26] Lindsay Power: wimpy white boys

[00:31:27] Rob Howe: because Oh, that's true.

[00:31:30] Lindsay Power: Yeah, yeah. So he wouldn't suck. First he had some breathing problems, then he wouldn't suck, so he wouldn't eat. So we were almost facing the eventuality of going home without our new baby, but fortunately it kicked in at the end. But, you know, I had a lot of guilt with that because everything went perfectly for me the second time. I almost died when Brady was born. He was perfect. Then with Patrick, I did great, but he, I mean, he wasn't ever, like, near death, but I felt really guilty. So, you know, we've decided not to, I always wanted a really big family, but we decided we should probably feel lucky that we have two healthy kiddos.

[00:32:10] Rob Howe: Hilarious kiddos.

[00:32:11] Lindsay Power: They're really funny. They're really funny.

[00:32:14] Rob Howe: So I think, you know, as an example of somebody who's, you know, been very successful as a diabetic and has a beautiful family, what would you tell, you know, anyone with diabetes looking to start a family?

[00:32:27] Lindsay Power: that you can do it, but it's, it's harder. And I, I don't just mean the pregnancy. I was telling you earlier, uh, I was trying to get out of the grocery store the other day. And I think most moms can relate. Like I had one of those carts with a little car in the front. Those things are horrible, huge getting through a store, but the kids were pretty good. Right. As we get to the checkout line, they start fighting. They're punching each other or yelling at each other. And I'm just trying to pay and get out of there, but I feel really weird. Um, so I think up to this point most moms with a two-year-old and a four-year-old would be like oh girl I have been there it's crazy and it's it's awful because you just want to leave but you're at the mercy of this guy who's checking you out and you're trying to get your wallet out and then I realized you know it clicked I was like oh I feel this way because my blood sugar's crashing and like you know I the cooler was right there I grabbed a coke and paid for it and I'm drinking but so I'm trying to get them out it was freezing and it was raining and I'm trying to bundle them in their coats and I'm trying to pay and all the normal mom stuff that I think any mom would tell you this is a pain in the ass but I'm doing it I think my blood sugar was right around 60 you know but I hadn't crashed in a while so I just felt like sitting down on the floor and crying you know and it wasn't because of the boys and it wasn't because of the blood sugar it was just all of it and so you know you can do it but I think you know if you're ambivalent about having kids well this is advice for anyone if you're not sure don't do it if you know if you have that choice but if you have diabetes and you want to have kids I think you have to be very prepared to commit harder than anyone who commits to having kids because your pregnancy is going to be hard during your last month or two you will be going to the doctor twice a week if if that rarely I mean anytime there's anything that other people they would say you know all the baby's not moving oh lay down and do a kick count if I called and said the baby's not moving, I would have to go in. I'd have to get hooked up to a fetal heart monitor. I'd have to do a non-stress test, which is basically laying there for a while, counting heartbeats and kicks and everything. I mean, it's intense. And I think if you're somebody who doesn't enjoy being around kids or being involved with kids or who loses their patience easily, being a diabetic mom is probably not for you because like I said, it's just going to be a little bit harder because we all have those days where we don't feel it. Our blood sugar's crashing our blood sugar's high or it just takes a lot of maintenance and so do kids you know um but the other thing is if it's what you want to do then do it because you can do it and your babies are going to be perfect don't let any old people tell you that diabetics can't have kids that is that's utter bullshit and it's a horrible thing to tell somebody um if you can't have kids it's not because of your diabetes there's something else going on and you know go to fertility specialist and they'll help you. But, uh, and the other thing I would say is get a really good partner in your obstetrician because nobody, not your husband, not your mom, not your sister who has seven kids, nobody's going to know what it's like. And frankly, I had two different endocrinologists with each of my pregnancies and they kind of sucked. They were very like, they saw me and they helped me, but it was my obstetrician. Can I say her name? is that okay dr katrina walsh in plano um she is unfreaking believable with high-risk pregnancies actually another friend who went through a different high-risk pregnancy with her and she saved her life and my sister went through a high-risk pregnancy with her and she got her through it really well but with the diabetes i mean like i said she know like she just said oh at this week you're going to double your insulin at this week you're going to double it again. If this happens, this is what it means. I mean, most doctors who are not endocrinologists do not understand diabetes. Dr. Walsh, I mean, she's amazing and also just like the best bedside manor ever. She called me from Hawaii to check on me because she had to leave for vacation the day after I delivered a baby. She called me on the 4th of July weekend because she wanted to check on me and she wasn't on call that weekend. I mean, she's unbelievably involved and she got me through it with minimal fear and minimal questioning. So, you know, and the other thing I would say is prep for your pregnancy. You know, get your blood sugars in control first because you're going to feel like shit that first trimester if you're like most pregnant women. Not all, but most. And it's just too exhausting to have to deal with that on top of everything else.

[00:37:02] Rob Howe: Right. that other thing that you've always got to deal with. And that's sort of a consistent theme across all of the people that we interview. It's like, you know what? I do what I love, and I have a real life, and I'm a real person, and I also have diabetes on top of that. Yeah. I think that's just – it's cool to see that that is a common theme that, like, diabetics are going to bond over, and I think we all sort of understand that and just kind of getting everyone else to sort of appreciate that as well.

[00:37:29] Lindsay Power: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, you can do, maybe it sounds cheesy, but you can do anything anybody else can do except stop taking insulin, I guess. But you do, I think most diabetics I know have a certain level of maturity about them because we had to grow up young. No matter how old you are when you're diagnosed, if it's three months old or 13 or 15, most type 1 diabetics, not all, but most are diagnosed at a young age. and you have to at some point embrace, I can't be like my friends. I have to be a little more careful with me. And there comes a certain maturity with that, you know. I didn't drink at a young age or party because I was super concerned about my blood sugars. And I was afraid that, like, my blood sugar would crash and they would smell beer on my breath and I would just die. So I just didn't do it, you know. But I don't think that's a bad thing.

[00:38:23] Rob Howe: No.

[00:38:24] Lindsay Power: You know.

[00:38:24] Rob Howe: Certainly not.

[00:38:25] Lindsay Power: yeah so I just I think you know like you said you just you have to prepare for what you want to do and you have to be more careful and yeah that sucks but also with it comes more gratitude I mean I oh my god I look at those boys oh they're just the most perfect they're just perfect and I know that 50 years ago I probably wouldn't have them and um I would have a doctor who just said don't do it you have diabetes and um oh my god I can't even imagine my life without them because they make me so happy and they're so sweet and they're such good boys and um I'm freaky about looking at them I check on them like 50 times at night I just peek in their bedroom and I could just watch them forever and I do definitely have those moments of just like there were people who thought I couldn't do this and there were times in history when I wouldn't have been able to do this and I did it and they're my everything

[00:39:28] Rob Howe: well it's so beautiful and thank you so much for sharing your story with us and for coming on the show I'm really glad to I know we've been trying to schedule this for a while I'm really glad that we finally got to sit down and do it thank you so thank you Lindsay Power for joining us today thank you Rob Howell for doing this well we are glad to have you so check us out We're also on Instagram and Facebook, Diabetics Doing Things on both. And then check out our podcast on iTunes, Diabetics Doing Things. Thanks a lot. Thanks for listening to Diabetics Doing Things. Subscribe to our newsletter for weekly emails and behind-the-scenes content. And if you or someone you know has an amazing story to share, send an email to rob at diabeticsdoingthings.com. Diabetics Doing Things is also available on iTunes. Subscribe to us in the podcast app to have weekly episodes automatically downloaded to your phone.