Dr Ashley Ng

Life with two little kids has been keeping me plenty occupied. Some days, I look at these two little girls and am brimming with love and adoration for them. Other days, I’m in tears feeling like incompetent and like an absolute failure. It’s wild. On top of this, diabetes never fails to let me forget its there. Whether it’s my pump running out battery at 3.30am the one night both girls sleep through the night, or having to manage a nasty hypo while wrangling two kids out on a walk, there’s never a good time for diabetes. But these are just the one-offs.

There’s the day to day things like letting my sugars run a little higher than where I’d normally sit just in case. Or constantly forgetting to bolus for meals or snacks cos…kids…and don’t get me started on the endless snacking. If it’s not eating the scraps from the kids’ meals, it’s the post kid bedtime chocolates or chips.

Thankfully with the CGM subsidy in place, I can afford to keep my Dexcom running because I don’t think I’d be finger pricking as often otherwise. I’m able to catch those pesky ongoing highs and treat the surprise lows that sneak up you. I’m grateful for my insulin pump because it makes it easier to bolus for food. Actually, one of the things that I didn’t like about the Omnipod was having to carry around a separate PDM device because I’d often leave it somewhere and forget about it.

I’m also really glad to have found a really good supportive mums and bubs gym group to motivate me. Some days, just turning up to the gym would be an achievement. Getting a workout in would be an added bonus. Keeping active has been good for me physically and mentally as well. It’s one of the things I will miss about being on maternity leave; the time to exercise.

Understandably, I was a bit nervous going into my first endo appointment after seven months after having my second baby. I was nervous at what the blood results were going to be but also motivated and prepared to discuss strategies to get my health back on track. I was surprised when the only thing that was slightly concerning were my cholesterol levels for which my endo was reluctant to start me on statins as I’m still breastfeeding.

With an A1c of 6.0%, my endo was impressed and more than happy to let me manage things on my own, trusting that I will ask for help when and if I needed it. They made sure I had support systems in place like a diabetes educator and a regular GP I could rely on. My favourite part was when my endo said I should have an asterisk next to my A1c stating that I did this with two young kids and that I should be really pleased with it.

I’m lucky to have a really encouraging and understanding endo. But this was a good reminder that everyone has stuff they’re dealing with that impacts on their diabetes. Life doesn’t just revolve around diabetes and sometimes that can’t be helped and it may mean that diabetes gets pushed down the priorities list. No one deliberately goes out of their way to damage their own help. There’s always a reason for the choices people make and their behaviours. It’s just a matter of finding out what they are before you can start to tackle the diabetes side of things.