I need a little help from the DOC!

Due to some major computer problems (Santa should have brought a new hard drive), I can not access our pictures from Christmas. So I thought I'd take the opportunity to blog about what's really on my mind- that damn diabetes (pardon the language, but as long as my kiddo has diabetes, there are a few choice words that I can't seem to get out of my vocabulary).

Basically this post is a cry for help from my friends in the diabetic online community (the DOC), so if you don't know anything about basal rates, feel free to skip this post and come back later when I have pics of my little darlings at Christmas!

All right, so here's my frustration...NIGHT time basal rates. Killing me. I try VERY hard to keep diabetes in the background of our lives. We quietly go about our d-routines, not making a big deal out of it. We work hard, but try not to let our kids (and others for that matter) see our stress and worry. But at night times, diabetes RULES our universe. Here's the run down:

Day time basal rates, IC ratios, and corrections all seem to be dialed in almost to perfection. A few highs and lows here and there, but nothing out of the ordinary for a small kid like Robby (he's two), but at night time, there is not one ounce of predictability or regularity. We had three good months of fairly stable numbers, day and night, but these last two months have flipped everything upside down. He'll hit 350 with multiple corrections for several nights in a row and then for no reason at all, three nights later, he'll be low and we'll be feeding him several times to bring him back up. His insulin absorption rates seemed to have changed (much slower than normal), and he even metabolizes carbs slower as well.

We are frustrated beyond belief. A good night's rest doesn't exist. Thankfully, the Dexcom allows us to get a few hours of sleep here and there, but I'm exhausted and close to tears most nights. We feel like we've tried everything. We've dialed basal rates high, and then we've tried adjusting them lower, but with no predictability as to which nights he'll run high and which nights he'll be super low, it's impossible to get it just right. We even tried leveling out the entire night time basal program to .05/hour (he usually has three different rates throughout the night) to see if we could recognize any natural patterns or rhythms. Nothing. Nothing was ever the same. The only thing we know is that he's either SUPER high and seemingly insulin resistant (we'll give multiple corrections, set a higher temp basal, and on a few occasions have had to resort to a shot to bring him down) or he's drifting low all night (that's running on the same basal program. No changes). He's never in the middle. One night he'll use almost a total of 7 units at night and the next night, he'll use barely 3 units.

What gives??? What am I doing wrong??? How in the world can I get some sleep???

I know that there are a bizillion factors that can effect blood sugars, but sheesh! We eat early (about three hours before Robby goes to bed) and our meals are typically similar in their carb/fat/fiber make up. He's has had quite a bit of illness- one ear infection, two colds, one bout of the stomach flu (for sure without the Dex, we would have ended up in the ER with that one...mercy!), and just yesterday I noticed he's getting at least two new molars. During those times of illness, I expect crappy numbers, but even on days when he seems to be feeling well, we still can't seem to get any predictability with our night time numbers. Is this just the nature of the beast or is there something different I could be doing?

Help. This tired mommy needs a good night's rest.