A Quick Survey

Anybody who has slept straight through the night while wearing a CGM, please raise your hand.

Really?

I think you're lying.

Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger...

...à la Stephen Colbert.

I've got some kudos

Not the Snackbar

But (oh!) did I love to make lunch-time trades for these little devils in elementary school!

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and complaints about Dexcom that I'd like to air.

First, the complement: Before the holidays, I had two Dexcom sensors fail on me in rapid succession. One sensor lasted all of six hours! I waited a day or two to put in the next sensor because I definitely wanted some Dex coverage over the holidays. So I put the next sensor (my last sensor as well) in on the day before Christmas. This one lasted all of 3 days before it went kaput.

I called my very friendly Dexcom rep when I got back into the office after my holiday and let him know what had happened. He said: "Always call the tech support!".

So that's what I did.

I tell you, I have never (ever) had such friendly and helpful support with anything. The rep I spoke to asked a few questions, apologized for the inconvenience and sent 2 sensors out to me right away.

I was extremely impressed and feel they certainly deserve serious props

I've always wondered what that meant

Turns out, it's slang for "proper respect".

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for their service.

Unfortunately, these warm Dexcom feelings were recently washed away.

One night last week I woke up with only the faintest of sensations that something wasn't *quite* right. I look at my Dex and see that I'm flat and in the normal range (I think Dex said 130 something. I tested with my OneTouch, and (lo and behold!) I was at 42 (there's that number again, of course, I didn't panic). I tested again to make sure that wasn't a mistake and it came back at 43 (then, perhaps, I started to panic a little).

Quite a disappointment with the Dex, but it gets worse:

THE SAME THING HAPPENED THE VERY NEXT NIGHT.

In case you're curious

I've been biking to work in frigid weather (e.g., 10 degrees in the morning was my coldest ride so far). I think working so hard in the cold weather was causing these serious low blood sugars in the middle of the night. I need to figure out how to reduce my basal rates over night to hopefully prevent this from happening. (NB: I know *how* to do it, I just mean the inevitable trial-and-error of doing it *right* -- Oh, the bane of my existence).

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This time I woke up feeling a little off, I looked at Dex (it said 116 and flat), I tested and it came back at 34(!!!).

Two back-to-back scary lows with only the faintest of sensations and not a buzz or beep from the Dexcom receiver on my night stand.

Seriously:
Isn't that the WHOLE POINT of having this thing?

Dilbert on Diabetes

Well, not exactly Dilbert, but Scott Adams.
And not exactly on diabetes, per se, but something somewhat related.
And besides, "Dilbert on Diabetes" is catchy (and alliterative to boot).

I've never been a huge Dilbert fan, but I've found the comic to be entertaining from time to time. I am, however, a fan of Scott Adams's blog. If you enjoy reading stimulating (and often very funny) thought experiments on business, politics, statistics, personal finance, and economics

Of the Libertarian Variety

While I'm not a libertarian, I am an economist (or at least I play one at my job).

But I do think that most economists come away from their education with at least a little bit of libertarianism in them. It's basically the pie-in-the-sky variation of economics where markets always perform efficiently and there should be little (or preferably, no) government intervention.

Unfortunately, the world isn't as tidy as pretty supply and demand curves might lead you to believe. But it is nice to dream.

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from a smart guy who draws cartoons for a living, then you might like to check out his blog.

Anyway, I was immediately intrigued when I saw a post titled:
"Glucose Equals Free Will".

Basically, he's citing some psychology research that finds when people have low blood sugars, they have much less will power and are less able to resist temptations.

Scott starts off linking this with his productive ritual of eating before he draws a comic strip and then leaps to what an optimal food strategy might be for seduction, but what popped into my mind was:

THIS IS WHY WE

Am I being too presumptive?

Perhaps that should be first person singular rather than plural.

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BINGE WHEN WE HAVE LOW BLOOD SUGARS!

Fascinating and funny, what more can you ask for?

...One Year Later...

OK, fess up. Who's been standing on the fast-forward button??
Don't you (whomever you are) realize that throwing someone into a time warp is seriously Not Cool? These are precious moments! They shouldn't whirl by in a blur!

Anyway, now that time has approached a somewhat more "normal" speed for me, I wanted to take this opportunity (on the 1-year anniversary of my blogging absence) to: 1) let the few folks who used to read this blog know that I am indeed alive and well, 2) thank the few of those few folks who actually wrote to inquire about my well-being (which I (being a total A), never responded to (please accept my sincere apologies, please?)), and 3) give a grossly broad-stroked summary of my year.

OK, now that #1 and #2 are out of the way... on to #3!

At about this time last year...

• Last we had left off, I had just had a nice appointment with a much friendlier podiatrist. I had molds made for my feet, and a few weeks later custom-made inserts were ready for me (which I then put-off for several more weeks picking up). Miraculously, much of the foot pain I had been experiencing before has gone away. The previous Pod-guy I saw basically just wrote the pain off as "oh well, you're diabetic, you'll have these things." Apparently not. It's kind of amazing, actually, that I haven't even really noticed the lack of pain. Funny how that works, isn't it. Pain is just so much more... salient. I guess that's how it's supposed to be. But it's all too easy to take a lack of pain for granted. So I say: Rejoice! Be thankful! Don't take your health (or my health) for granted! Yeah!

• My previous post also detailed a little ugly scene I had had with my mother-in-law over a banana cake she had thoughtfully made for a struggling new family, which I rather dramatically tossed in the garbage in front of her. I'm not very proud of this, and within a small group of my family and friends this is sometimes referred to as "the banana cake incident." I am thankful that there was no real long-term damage done to our relationship. Also in that post, I made a pact with myself to not eat any ice cream, cake, pie, candy, or cookies through the holiday season. I am pleased to report that one-year later, I have not eaten any ice cream, cake, pie, candy, or cookies. I don't want to come off as bragging, but I guess I am a little, since I feel a sense of pride about this. This is not to say I've been perfect, but I'm a bit embarrassed

  My Weaknesses

  
  
  I drink about 100 fl. oz. per day of this stuff to "help" keep my sweet tooth at bay.
  
  
  
  
  
  I carry a few of these in my backpack at all times, and while I do try to limit these to treating low blood sugars, I must admit that I do eat them occasionally eat one (or two) of them when I have a serious hankering for something sweet.
  
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  to go into details.

• In the past year, I've only had 2 A1c's done. I think both of them came back at 7.2. After a year of complete obsession to get a reading below 7.0 (and privately striving for 6.5), I've basically just put that goal on the back-burner, and haven't been too worried about it. I'm doing the best I can. Period.

• I had an ophthalmologist's appointment back in July, and things seem pretty stable as far as the retinopathy goes. Some new microanuerisms here, some microaneurisms that have disappeared, but most importantly: no new vascular growths. Good news. I'm due for another check-up in January.

• I got new glasses.

  Like a New Nose

  Shopping for glasses is kinda like shopping for a new nose. The previous pair I had for ten years. The only thing I've worn on a daily basis for the past ten years in my insulin pump (and even that I probably skipped a week or so during the two times it broke and the one day at the beach).
  
  I'm not sure I like my new pair. I've only had them for a month or two, and they've certainly grown on me a little, but I don't know. I think I'm gonna shop for another pair next year. Or I'll just start being more feisty in my wrestling with the kids and expect one of them to break them sooner or later.
  
  
  
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• Along with this more laissez-faire attitude toward my diabetes, I am a little embarrassed to admit that I have basically stopped using the Excel logbook that I created (and have shared with 100+ folks who have written and asked for copies). I still get one or two requests for it a month, and I'm often woefully late in my replies, but still happy to share this little file and offer words of encouragement to anyone looking to better-track their blood sugars.

• Part of this new, non-logging, diabetic-lifestyle includes being a semi-happy Dexcom users. As many of you have experienced first-hand, and many others have read about, a CGM device is a nice tool to have at your disposal, but certainly no silver bullet. I've been able to cut back from 10 to 12+ finger tests per day to closer to 4 to 6 per day, which is nice. I also must (somewhat sheepishly) admit, that I had no real problems getting insurance coverage for the Dex. I first did a 2 week trial with Gary Scheiner, and then was ready to go for it even without the coverage. But with just a few phone calls with an awesome Dex rep, my paper work went through, and a week or so later my Dex system showed up on my doorstep. Honestly, the only hassle I had was trying to re-order sensors because the Dexcom order went through a separate account ID (with a misspelling in my name), which took weeks and several phone calls to figure out.

• And, (oh yeah!) last (but not least), there's the kiddos (the #1 reason I haven't been blogging this year). I don't know what to say, really. They're the best little things in the world to me. They've changed from ridiculously fragile, dependent little creatures into toddlers with personalities who run around the house tearing books off shelves, giggling and babbling like lunatics,

  No Joke

  
  
  
  
  
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  and generally appearing to have a grand old time. That's not to say there haven't been difficult moments with them, but they're either few and far between, or the good, nay, the great moments far, far outweigh the hard ones.
  
  E

  Little Dreamer

  
  
  
  Why are there so many, songs about rainbows...?
  
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  is a sensitive little fella and started crawling around 8 months. L

  Don't Let My Looks Fool Ya

  
  
  
  I'll run right over you!
  
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  is a little bull-dozer and started crawling a month later, but was up and walking by 11 months. E followed in her footsteps and started walking just after turning 1. Aside from the "da-da" (and occasional "ma-ma"), which I don't think they really associated consistently with either of us, I think their first words were "Na-na", which is short for "banana" and basically has meant any food-like substance. They also say words like "dyo-dyo" for "doggy", E says "Ka-ka" for (well) "ka-ka" and (oddly enough) rooster (as in: "Ka-ka-doodle-do!"), and L says "Bay-Bee!" with such crispness and repetitiveness, it would drive you insane if it wasn't so cute.
  
  Just ridiculous.

Anyway, there you have it. I'm alive, Megan and the kiddos are doing great (oh yeah, and Jorge is dealing quite well with the seriously fall in household rank). I can't make any promises, but I am hopeful that I'll find time to return to this new-fangled "blogging" thing-a-ma-jig sometime in '09.

I hope you all have a safe wonderful holiday season and a happy and healthy new year, too.

Can't, Shouldn't, Don't

These aren't happy or festive words.
But 'tis the season of holiday parties and Christmas cookies and a constant barrage of sweets, so (sadly) these are the words that have been bouncing 'round my head lately.

When faced

Embarrassing

It's really embarrassing how much time I have devoted in my life standing over such a tray and waging a gut-wrenching mental debate with myself over whether to eat something or not.

Just last week I was confronted with a plate of chocolate truffles put out as samples at Whole Foods. I probably stood there for 2 minutes at a maximum, but boy, did it feel like an eternity.

I am proud to report that I somehow turned around and walked away from this tray of chocolate morsels without having eaten any.

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with a plate of cookies at a holiday party, does the voice in your head ever say: "I can't eat those, I have diabetes."

Yeah, me neither.

"Can't" is a very restrictive word.
It smacks of authoritarianism.
Stripped of freedom and choice.
Authoritarianism sucks.
And, besides, it inspires rebellion.

A slightly less restrictive word, but in the same vein, is "shouldn't".

As in: "I know I shouldn't eat these, but... (fill in your favorite rationalization here -- my favorite has something to do with 'knowing' how many carbs are in a given delectable).

There's a bit of gray in "shouldn't".
It's soft.
As in, yeah, I know I'll regret this, but I'm willing to pay that price.
There's a judgment call involved.
Something of a quick cost-benefit analysis going on subconsciously.
It rarely works.
The sweets almost always win.

A much finer, much more effective, word is "don't".

I find that when I'm faced with temptations my inner voice starts chirping.

Silence is Deadly

Getting the inner voice to engage is a crucial first step to will power defeating sweets. The next piece (and overall point of this post) is the realization that what that voice inside my head is telling me matters.

One thing I know for sure, when there's no mantra-repeating pep-talk going on in my head, I'm sunk. Cookies consumed, ice cream eaten, candy bar devoured. Almost in a haze.

Mental illness concerns aside, the voice inside my head is a good thing.

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But phrases like:

"I can't eat that" is (like I said) way to authoritarian and I'm very likely to rebel just on principle and eat the damn whatever it is.

"I shouldn't eat this" is a step in the right direction, but it's as leaky as a spaghetti colander. The consumption of the sweet can almost always be (ir)rationalized.

Lately, I've found "I don't eat this/that because I have diabetes" to be a much more empowering sentence/mantra. There's a sense of independence and determination in it. It's a decision I've made. I'm stronger for making it. I know myself, I know my disease, I know my weaknesses, and I know what is right for me. Eventually it could evolve to simply "Cookies? Oh, I don't eat them," as if I'm talking about eggplant or mushrooms or anchovies or any other food that I'm not fond of. It has the potential to just become part of "who I am."

The Holiday Challenge (Again)

Similar to last year, I've taken an oath of abstinence from sweets through the holiday season. Last year, I was desperate to obtain an A1c reading below 7.0.

Failure

I didn't meet this goal. I know (now) that some portion of my failure has to do with stuffing my face with anything that didn't have sugar in it as a way to avoid eating anything with sugar in it (bad idea). Bottom line: Indiscriminate snacking of any kind leads to poor blood sugar control.

But for the most part I was clean -- completely off sweets for 4+ months.

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This year, I'm just kinda disgusted by my eating habits. I blame a lot of this on my sleep deprivation, but I know that pointing fingers and making excuses doesn't change or improve my eating habits.

This year, I'm doing it because I need to.

You see, I have a problem.
I'm a bit of a sugar-junkie.
I have an almost insatiable sweet-tooth.

I drink about 100 oz. of Diet Coke per day to help quench this sweet need.

If I make myself a cup of tea or a bowl of oatmeal, I put 3 packets of Equal/Splenda

They Taste the Same to Me

I can't tell the difference. Even Sweet & Low does the trick for me. And if you believe what it says on the packets, that's equivalent to 6 teaspoons of sugar!

When it's put that way it I kinda gross myself out.

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in it.

There is simply no such thing as "too sweet" for my palate.

My Achilles heel for sweets is ice cream. For quite some time now, we've had a household rule that bans ice cream from our freezer. If it's there, I hear it calling my name (it has a sweet, sweet voice, too). I wake up thinking about it. So (naturally), I have a nip for breakfast.

Megan has (mostly) been a good sport about this rule. But she too has a bit of a sweet tooth and has occasionally brought some ice cream in the house (which has lead to a few minor disputes). Our compromise has been that ice cream that I don't like is allowed in the house (e.g., coffee flavored ice cream), otherwise she goes across the street to a convenience store when an ice cream urge hits. And then there are the birthday celebrations or dinner with friends that we occasionally host and ice cream is often served. If we're on top of things we send folks home with leftover dessert items. Otherwise, the remnants of ice cream disappear

Depends on the Quantity

If there's just a little left, I've certainly been known to wolf it down. If there's 'more than a little' (admittedly, a vague measurement), I've also been known to fill up the ice cream container with water and dump it down the drain.

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rather quickly.

When the babies were born this fall, we had incredibly generous help from Meg's parents and they stayed with us for 10 days or so. On the night before they were leaving my mother-in-law baked a banana cake. I came home from work, I was exhausted, everyone else had gone to bed and I was still downstairs cleaning up, and I proceeded to eat much of the cake (it was DEliciOUS). There was also some left over ice cream in the freezer (the in-laws are inveterate ice cream consumers) that I had so far successfully avoided. When I opened up the Breyer's Neapolitan Ice Cream, thankfully all the vanilla was gone and only a spoonful of chocolate left (much of the strawberry was left, but I'm not a fan).

After this little binge, I was quite upset. Initially, I was angry at my mother-in-law, but also at myself. I dumped the ice cream down the drain (it was mostly symbolic since it was just the strawberry left), and I wrapped up what was left of the cake in tin foil and a zip lock and placed it with some of the things my in-laws were going to be taking home with them.

The next morning, I asked my mother-in-law if she wanted to take the cake home with her. When she declined, I was probably a little too harsh when I dramatically dropped it into the garbage can and told her that she couldn't just bring ice cream and sweets into our house (and I'm sorry about that).

She was a little shocked. Since then she has been worried about not being able to have that rule at her house during Thanksgiving or what we can do for the holidays when they're in town. I assured her that having sweets in the house for special occasions was fine, but that for every-day-run-of-the-mill life, I can't have it in my house. When I'm out-and-about, I'm frequently faced with food choices and tempted by sweets. And for special occasions, I can steel myself and successfully avoid eating sweets. But for day-to-day, I don't want to have to deal with these temptations

It's an Addiction

Having ice cream in the freezer and/or leaving cake/cookies/brownies on the kitchen counter isn't all that different from leaving a 6-pack in the 'fridge at an alcoholic's house.

Not cool.

I'm not ready for any sort of 12-step program, but I do realize that acknowledging that you have a problem is the first step toward dealing with the problem.

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in my home.

I know I'm only about half-way through peak sweets exposure season (aka, the holidays). I also know that abstaining from sweets is what is best for me. It's going to be hard, but I'm hoping the mental edge gleaned from this subtle phrase ("I don't eat that because I have diabetes.") helps me get through the season sweets-free.

So Much to Say

- Wow?!

- It's been how long?

- Really?

- Wow, that's hard to believe.

- Sorry 'bout that.

First and foremost, thanks to all of you who have sent your congratulations and well wishes our way. In addition, I have a few BIG THANK YOUs to shout about:

• Minnesota Nice, for the totally rocking, Bob Marleyesque hats (which have been universally complemented by all who have seen them). The little melon heads are almost big enough for them these days -- if only the 50^o and raining weather would hit the road! (and when that happens, fear not!, pictures will be taken and posted right here).
  
• Chrissie in Belgium for the awesome European rattles. The little ones have already confirmed that they taste as good as they look.
• And Art-Sweet for the bounty of sporty boys clothes that E will probably fit right into come Spring-time.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Both Megan and I were thrilled with these thoughtful gifts.

Obviously, a lot has happened since my last blog post. Most tellingly, the help from my mother and mother-in-law has left and Megan and I have been left to parent on our own. I am happy to report that not only are we surviving, but the babies are too! In fact, they're great. They're sneaking up on 3 months now and they're smiling and cooing and becoming more and more interactive each day. AND, they've recently started to sleep about 6 hours in a row! (which means Megan and I have started to regain some semblance of being cognitive humans).


(NB: Awesome silly hats are not from MN, but from Mr. & Mrs. K (thanks again!!)).

Next, is a segment from a post I started to write a month (or more) ago:

Diabetes and Parenthood: Things I Have Learned So Far

I believe that having diabetes all these years has actually helped me develop skills that have been extremely useful in my new role as a Dad.

• Be prepared. Shit happens (literally). Always have the diaper bag stocked, keep the changing stations (we have two in our house) stocked, keep extra necessities nearby. Diabetes-wise, this is akin to my obsession with always having my pockets well-stocked, and always carrying my trusty backpack.
  

• Having a schedule helps. A game plan, a check-list, a routine. These are helpful in managing diabetes as well as new born infants.

  Managing Infants

  I'm not sure the analogy holds up here. The phrase smacks of vapid business-speak -- it sounds like the title of a book that could be marketed in either the business section or the child development/family section of your local mega-bookstore.
  
  It also reminds me of the somewhat sexist phrase: "Ahhh, I see, so she wears the pants in the family." In a similar vein, the babies are not shy about letting you know who wears the diapers in the family. No doubt about it, they're the ones in charge!
  
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  Who knew?

• Constant troubleshooting. As a parent, I am constantly trying to figure out how to comfort the kiddos and keep them happy and satisfied. This isn't too different really from constant monitoring of blood sugars, carbohydrate intake, exercise regime, etc.
  

• Be flexible. While this may seem to conflict with the whole routine bit, it doesn't really. It's important to have a structure, a framework, but it's also important to be prepared to improvise. Like some many other things in life and in diabetes care, it's all in the art of striking a balance.

I'm sure there was going to be more witty and insightful things, but I was operating on very few hours of sleep when I wrote these.

Anyway.

Diabetes-wise

Things slipped quite a bit there in the weeks right after the arrival of the twins. I found myself regularly standing in front of the vending machine at around 3pm looking for a sugar jolt to keep me awake through the rest of the afternoon. Not good. I think it must have been 10 or 15 years since I last ate a "Ho-Ho". Sadly, I can not say that is true any longer.

I had an appointment with my Endo, and have resolved never to go back there again. I waited a full hour and a half before being seen. Inconsiderate at best, but for a parent with 6 week old infants at home, completely unacceptable. I walked in, told my doc that I just wanted my A1c result

7.2

Not bad, considering my meter averages:


Especially relative to my May averages when my A1c came back (unceremoniously) at 6.9:



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and to then go home. I was so angry I couldn't even hold a conversation with her. I have seriously considered not paying my bill for that appointment.

I actually made an appointment and met with another Endo a week or so later. He was OK, but I'm not sure I like him *enough*. I think I would like to meet with a few others to see if I find someone I click with better. If anyone has a recommendation for an endocrinologist in the DC area, please don't hesitate to share it with me.

While I'm not sure we clicked so well, he did give me a good recommendation for a podiatrists. I've had a chronic pain in my foot for about 2 years now that comes and goes. I saw another podiatrist, had a Quantitative Sensory Test

Quantitative my Ass

I actually went to a plastic surgeon to have this test performed. He apparently specializes in a cutting-edge (no pun intended) surgery to release the tarsal tunnel and restore sensation in the feet (similar to the surgery performed for carpel tunnel syndrome). Anyway, the test involves taking your shoes and socks off, a clinician opening up a suitcase like contraption with prongs attached to the end and giving you a button like you're on "Jeopardy" and asking you to press it when you feel the prongs touch your feet.

I'm sure that this may be useful in some way, but I felt like it was a totally subjective test, and more-over, when I got back the written letter with the test results, there wasn't a single number on it! I thought that was the whole point of the test -- to quantify the presence/extent of neuropathy.

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(QST) performed (which told me I have minor symptoms of neuropathy in my feet (no duh). And the old doc just blamed my foot pain on my diabetes -- end of story. New foot doc, was much better: Take an x-ray to check if there's a stress fracture (no), wrap it to shift weight off the painful area (metatarsal web space number 3, left foot), explain mechanics of walking and foot pressures, and make a cast mold of my feet for orthopedic inserts. Much more "let's see what we can do to make this better for you" and a lot less "Sorry buddy, you've got diabetes."

So, that's about it.

I've got another post percolating, and hopefully I'll get around to posting that before the end of the year (no promises, though). A while back, I was thinking a renaming of this blog might be in order. Something along the lines of "parenthetic (diabetic (dad))". But I must give props to Art-Sweet for the much better (and far more clever) renaming suggestion: "parent(hectic) diabetic".

It's funny 'cause it's true.

Baby Bullets

• Wow!
• We've been home from the hospital for a week now
• In the first 48 hours after birth, they test the blood sugar for infants every 8 hours
  
  
• The "normal" range for infant's blood sugars is 45 mg/dl - 90 mg/dl
• Both babies hung around the mid-40s to low 50s for the first day before pushing up into the 70s once they were getting some formula in their bellies
• They're not checking for diabetes (as a nurse kindly explained to me) because they are much too young to have an autoimmune attack kick into gear (and hopefully never will)
  
• OneTouch has pulled off a mini marketing coup
• Rather than explaining to parents that they're checking their newborn child's blood sugar, they say, we have to "do a OneTouch" every 8 hours" (and it even says this on the official medical records!)
• The machine they used was ancient though, and took a good 45+ seconds to perform the test
• As for me, I'm completely off my schedule
• I rely on being on schedule to help maintain my control
• Usually, I change my infusion sets every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings after my shower
• I occasionally waste a little insulin this way, but to know *exactly* on schedule brings me a peace of mind that is well worth the waste
• Now, I don't hardly know what day or hour it is, so I've been setting up my pump with the maximum amount of insulin it can hold and hoping I remember to change it in less than 4 days
• I haven't logged my blood sugars through any of this, so I have next to no idea how well (or poorly) things are going
• They (the doctors, the books, etc.) recommended using a log to keep track of the babies feedings/sleep/pee/poop
• I refrained from doing this for some reason
• I think it's because I'm a little OCD and wouldn't be able to really do it unless I designed a log myself
• And I just don't have the time for that!
• And besides, things have been going so well, the babies have been feeding rather well (and until recently pooping and peeing rather well -- L hasn't pooped in 24 hours, so there's a low level of concern, but E has been a monster eater and pooper)
• Logbooks are best for debugging (at least that's my rationalization for not logging their feedings, etc. (and when I'm slacking off in logging my own blood sugars))
• I also have been ridiculously over-treating my low blood sugars
• A reading of 43 mg/dl is COMPLETELY different from a reading of 43 mg/dl with an infant in your arms (diabetic parents: any suggestions for dealing with this new fear?)
• And I've found that it's increasingly difficult to distinguish between the symptoms of sleep deprivation and hypoglycemia -- not cool
• But other than that, things are going great
  
• I've been peed on, pooped on, spit-up on, I'm sleep deprived, and I've never been happier in my whole life
  
  
• Go figure