The First Time

Binge viewing videos about Dexcom sensor insertion eased my anxiety, but the person for whom it was being inserted was still pretty nervous about the whole thing.  Understandably.

Once I felt prepared, I gave her the choice of whether to start right away or wait a day.  I expected her to wait, but she decided she was so nervous about it that she'd rather get it over with.  So before we knew it, she was reclined on a pillow, belly exposed.  With one hand she had a vice grip on her stuffed rabbit.  With the other she was scrolling through pictures on the ipod.

The first obstacle was that she's very ticklish.  So every attempt to come near her, even with an alcohol wipe to clean the area, was a met with flailing hands (rabbit included) and giggly yelling.

Once we'd chosen and cleaned the area, we unwrapped the inserter.  We peeled back the adhesive and stuck the contraption to her skin.

This is when she balked.  "No!  I'm not doing it.  I can't."

Negotiations ensued.  See above for her arguments.  Mine included: 'We've gotten this far...we can't turn back now.'  'Let's just get it over with.'  Less helpfully, 'This thing cost us a lot of money...we're not wasting it.'  More helpfully, since it made her laugh, 'If you don't let me insert it, I'm going to leave the whole thing stuck to your stomach and you'll wear it that way for a week.'

We spent 20 minutes sitting on her bed, her with the giant applicator taped to her stomach.  At one point, she thought it might be easier if she pushed the plunger herself.  Ultimately she decided she'd rather close her eyes and strangle her rabbit.

Finally she did just that.

I pushed the plunger, heard the two clicks, and pulled the collar up for two more.  Except in super slow-mo. I'm guessing my hesitancy and wanting to be sure I did it all right caused it to be more painful than it will be once we get the hang of it.

"Did it hurt?"  I asked.

"YEAH, it hurt."

"Did it hurt as much as you were afraid it would?"

A half smile.  "No.  I guess it didn't."