TOILET!
My three-year-old's announcements had become more imperative than declarative over the last week. She was more like a drill-sergeant calling her troops to "At-ten-TION!" than the brainy preschooler she is proclaiming "Eureka!" Each bathroom visit I struggled - does she really have to go to the bathroom again, or is she tired of grocery shopping/wants to check-out another public bathroom/needs my attention? And each time, well, she didn't just trickle...and no wonder, when I started tracking her fluid intake, she was consuming 90-100 oz of water a day.
After two days of charting her fluid intake and urination, I called the nurse at our pediatrician's office. "I have noticed over the last few weeks that our daughter has been drinking alot more, about 90-100 oz a day and consequently making more bathroom visits - like 15-16 a day, picking up to a rate of every 20 minutes around bedtime. She is a pretty intense kid, so I don't know if this is an attention-getting/obsessive behavior or a health issue, but I am concerned." "That's alot of fluid...How is her appetite?" "Fine," I answered. "Has she lost weight?" "I don't think so," I replied. "Well, the onset of juvenile diabetes is characterized by increased thirst and frequency of urination, but children with diabetes also often lose weight. In any case, you need to bring her in tomorrow."
I wasn't shocked. My mom was a nurse and had mentioned diabetes, as had my husband, who had googled "frequent urination." As much as I didn't want diabetes to be the diagnoses, I wanted an answer. The constant filling of her cup and rushing to the bathroom were wearing. They interrupted her activities and were affecting her sleep. I was exhausted as well - newly pregnant with a thirteen-month-old that wanted to be held constantly made each bathroom trip a juggling act for both my patience and my body. And bedtime wasn't the end -despite potty-time before and after bath, and immediately before bedtime, she would call out "TOILET!" at least two more times.
The night before her appointment I read about Type 1 diabetes and I knew. This was it. Life was not going to be the same.
