Scarlett: It's so hard to hurt your children

I was heavily pregnant when my husband and I noticed our 3 year old, Scarlett, drinking large amounts of water and being very tired. I knew increased thirst was a sign of diabetes but I never thought it could happen to us!

Scarlett with sister and brother, dressing in blue for World Diabetes Day

A few days before she was diagnosed I ended up having my baby 3 weeks early and by emergency c section. While recovering in hospital I made an appointment for Scarlett to see the doctor as we knew something wasn’t right.

Sure enough, her blood glucose was reading HI and my husband had to take her to hospital. Her glucose was in the 30’s.

Scarlett and Dad ended up in the children’s ward, a floor below me and our newborn son. Our 17 year old daughter was home alone and our almost 2 year old daughter was with my mum.

Scarlett was amazing. She took everything in her stride and loved the wonderful nurses and doctors in the children’s ward. After 5 days in hospital we were all back at home together and starting our new life of finger pricks and needles with type 1 diabetes.

It’s been a hard and stressful year, but Scarlett has never complained!

And thanks to the generosity of our family and friends donating money, we were able to raise enough to pay for 8 months worth of the Dexcom sensor which has been life changing!

It’s so hard to hurt your children multiple times a day with finger pricks and we are forever thankful to our loved ones for supporting us.

We can’t wait until everyone with diabetes can access a CGM and the benefits they provide.