When Olivia was first diagnosed, I was told to check her four times a day. That didn't seem very often, but for the first 6 months or so, that's what I did. She was not quite 3 at diagnosis, so she was still going to bed quite early; probably around 7 p.m.. She'd get up at 7 or 8 in the morning. That was 12 hours without a blood sugar check. The thought of doing that now makes my skin crawl.

I started doing overnight checks for two reasons: She'd come to me in the middle of the night, complaining of not feeling well. She was invariably low. Or, when she'd wake up in the morning and would have wet her bed. I knew that she'd been high during the night. I decided to start doing a blood sugar check around midnight. I'd correct if she was over 200 or below 80. Her morning numbers improved immediately. (READ MORE)