My Life as a COMMA!

It’s interesting to me….because I never really knew what the term “rainbow child” truly meant. I don’t think it is ever something I had even heard of…  Even as I was bringing this child into the world and putting Noah’s ark items into his nursery….I still didn’t know this was a “thing”. 

I just knew that he was God’s promise to me. A promise to me that I was still “good enough” to be a mom here on this earth. A promise that I could be trusted with another child. A promise that I would get to see and experience things with this son I was unable to experience with my first three sons. A promise….that He was still in control. A promise that….if I would just trust in Him…He would guide my path….into motherhood once again.

I didn’t know the term was “a thing” later on in his life. I most certainly felt like he was heaven-sent….and God’s way of easing my soul… He was never a replacement of the boys I had lost…but merely an addition to my life. He has enriched my life in ways I can’t explain in mere words. He is a part of me….so closely woven into my heart that when he hurts, my heart aches. So much intertwined into my soul that his very smile can make my heart leap and his hugs can melt my heart all at the same time! 

This beautiful child of mine…is truly not a child any more. Just this past week he started his senior year in high school. In less than a month, he will take on his final year towards his associate’s degree. But his biggest challenge to date…was faced this past summer.

Last semester was tough for him. I don’t know how to describe it…but he just wasn’t always his normal self. But it wasn’t until the end of school and first of summer we noticed his drop in weight…without trying. His mood was somber at times and he “just wasn’t himself”. Finally…we got into a doctor to see what was wrong with my sweet boy.

Well…..we were hit immediately with a high hemoglobin and high blood sugar. The doctor wanted to send him by ambulance to Children’s hospital ER but allowed us to drive him if we promised to go straight there. We did….and it is quite surreal when the doctor meets you in the waiting room! They warned us he would be hospitalized for at least 3 days….but to our surprise (but not God’s!) we were able to go home later that night. Those things became the first in our “Small Victories” page.

Type 1 diabetes. This was our new normal. 

Yes, I’m aware it isn’t “as bad as it could have been”. But what I’m also aware of is the fact my son’s life had to take an immediate 180 degree turn and it will never be the same! The next morning we were at the hospital again spending hours finding out what the new normal would look like.

10 prescriptions, calculations out the wazoo, how to give shots, and dizzying thoughts…..we were sent home to this new reality. As Bryce so bravely sat in the dining room going over all the new things he had just learned with his sweet girlfriend, my husband and I were in the back room sobbing. The reality hit. The pain of the life he had known was something in the past. It hit hard. Sobs from my husband as he talked about having to give his son shots….of the harsh new reality hit….were a lot for me to handle.

God reminded me though…of a time when Bryce was in pre-school…and my prayer over him being SO LITERAL….came back to me. I remembered I prayed….”Lord, I know that Bryce thinking in such a black and white way…will someday be an awesome thing and a strength for him to have….but right now help me…because it is literally kicking my ass!”. And I thought….maybe this is it! Maybe…since he knows he has to be vigilant…this will be the strength he needs to conquer this.

That prayer was answered and confirmed just a few days ago when we went for a follow up visit. That  someday is now! At his diagnosis his A1c was 14. This is a 3 month average of his blood sugar…and basically meant he had been living at a 400-600 average for 3 months. At his visit this week….not even 2 months into his diagnosis…his A1c was 7.8!! That is phenomenal! The doctors said they’d never seen it come down so quickly and been so well managed right off the bat! I knew then….this was part of his story. 

It hasn’t been easy. As we were on our family vacation just a couple short weeks after his diagnosis I think it hit him. The reality that we were on vacation..on a getaway…but he still had to check his sugars, take shots…. it’s like he realized this was his new reality. This was something he was NEVER going to be able to take a vacation from. And that hit hard! 

On top of that….his “literal” mind kicked in and when his numbers weren’t in range…he was hard on himself. His literal mind was that of perfection. And with this disease…there is no such thing. And as his body is learning to deal with great numbers….it is not feeling well. His body has been so used to the high sugars…it feels like good numbers are bad! He is having great numbers…but actually feeling worse! 

It’s going to take a while for his body to adjust. He is having to rely on grace….in a very real way. Grace for himself….just as God’s grace has already covered him. He is having to give something truly BIG to God….like he has never done before. It’s hard. It’s hard to give something like this to God and not want to take it back sometimes. Even I struggle with it! 

And it has been a burden I’ve felt like I’ve had to carry. I have tried to learn everything I can….to help him manage and learn. So that as I send him out into this world…..he will be able to manage and cope with this new reality called Type 1 Diabetes. But he will be 18 next month. Next year he will be leaving my home for college. It isn’t my burden to bear. I, too, am having to learn grace and to give it all to God. 

It’s hard ya’ll. Having to watch him go through difficulties I wish, with all my heart, I could take for him! Having to trust that God’s got this son of mine is His hands….and He has great plans for him outside of my home. It hurts my heart and makes my heart burst with pride…all in the same moment…watching how he is managing diabetes and not letting it manage him! Watching him grow into this young adult…watching his successes and failures….all make me one proud momma.

A friend shared with me this thought the other day…which totally touched my heart. She said, “When they are little they step on our toes…their feet are constantly on ours as they learn to dance. But as they grow into adulthood, their footprints instead are on our hearts. Both hurt and feel good, all at the same time!” 

It is so true. His footprint is on my heart. As God takes his path to new territories…that don’t include momma’s house…he will always have my heart. I will always be his biggest fan. And God will always be faithful….in His promises.

The pics below are from his first day senior year. The one is of him…the other is of God’s promise that showed up that evening as I was driving home from work. 

He is amazing. Both God….and my son. I am oh-so-thankful for both of them in my life. For their love….for their grace…and the promises they both fulfill in my life.

I pray you always trust God. Look for the silver linings in the clouds….and trust His promises to be true. ~c

1 Samuel 1:27-28 “I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now, I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.”