Beyond The Tiara(house of Jensen Series Book 2)

Health

                                                               "The first step is you have to say you can".
                                                    -William Smith

Luckily for me my baby girl came just a week early with no health issues. She inherited my blue eyes and her father's dark hair. We took photos of her the day after she was born in the grounds of the palace instead of outside the hospital.
I felt more secure with the controlled photographers there that way nothing would happen to my daughter. Call me paranoid but I wasn't taking any chances with our lives.  I knew Emma had something to do with the article being posted along with my mother.

Diego and I decide to name our baby girl Sophia Alice Camila Balzarini. She would be know as Princess Sophia.

Sophia was two weeks old and I was still on cloud nine. As I breastfeed her I wondered how I got so lucky. Diego takes her from me when I finish feeding her and burps her. We have a crib in our bedroom despite having a nursery and a nanny for her. I like having her sleeping in our room it made feeding her easier and I wanted that skin to skin contact. Diego and I were so worried we couldn't get pregnant. We wanted our baby girl near us as much as possible.

I gave birth to Sophia naturally so was still wearing pads and still not feeling my best down there. I was grateful to have the nanny even if I was preventing her from doing her job at times.

Six weeks after giving birth I still wasn't feeling great. It got to the point the nanny was with my daughter more than me.
I was tired, peeing a lot and eating a lot more. When my vision became blurred I went to the doctor and had some blood work done. I assumed I was anaemic it turns out I was wrong I was a type one diabetic. The funny thing is my health was fine during my pregnancy. I didn't get gestational diabetes so to say I was shock was an understatement . Diego was at the hospital with me when I got the diagnosis.

There were all sorts of questions running through my mind. Like could I breastfeed, does this mean Sophia will get it?

I was refer to a specialist at the diabetic hospital(in my country we do have them) on the same day.

I was weight, my blood pressure was checked and I was shown how to inject myself correctly with insulin. This is because my body didn't make any. As well as how to calculate my insulin doses and when to take it. I now had both a nurse for my every day diabetic care and a consultant I would see every couple of months.

I arrive back at the palace feeling numb I hold Sophia and cried while Diego holds me.

"We will deal with this together as a family I already have people looking for a great specialist diabetic dietician for you. There's a private diabetic nurse the hospital recommended that will stay here for couple weeks. To help you with any issues you have around working out your doses".

"Thank you for the support I can't believe I ended up with late onset type 1 diabetes. I don't know any other diabetics", I say to Diego.

"I'm sure in time if you go to the support groups they recommended you will. You do have a cousin who got diagnosed with a life altering disease as an adult. Who understands the need to keep her weight up and adhere to strict guidelines for eating".

"I will talk to Debbie but right now, I need time to process everything and concentrate on Sophia".

"Ok but just know I'm here to talk to if you need to vent".

"Thank you".

Leila, Camila and the king all offered me support. Which was nice but here's the thing I was the ONE dealing with my new normal. Suddenly foods I loved eating were a no no, drinks I love drinking you guessed it. They became banned as well.  I acquired three items which HAD to be near me at all times or in my lady-in-waiting purse. My blood sugar testing kit to make sure my blood sugar didn't go below 4. Which could put me in a hypo and cause me to go into a coma once it hit 3 and below. My insulin which was in a cool pouch along with glucose tablets and liquid glucose juice to take when my sugar goes below 4. The juice would bring my sugar up enough for me to get a snack.

Six week after diagnosis and several trips to the hospital. My blood sugar came down to an acceptable level .
I didn't want my diagnosis to be made public but it had to be. When I went to the hospital to get my diagnosis I was papped without realising it. The editor of a newspaper then called the palace to say they will be running a story on me looking like I was back on drugs.

"Let then run it that way we can sue them after the accusations are in print. Our foundation could do with the money", I told the king.

I called my family including my sister and tell them I was now diabetic.  Dad was upset he wanted to know everything regarding my diagnosis. Debbie understood a lot of what I was going through. I didn't realise how lucky I was to have the support I do. She had no one when she was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease and had to have surgery alone too. William tried to make me see the bright side of things. He joked he still expects to eat my wonderful food when he next saw me.

Antonio knew for weeks about my diabetes and didn't tell anyone because I asked him not to. I call Emma, she didn't pick up I tried three times then gave up. I did leave her a message.

The newspaper article ran saying the palace didn't deny the story. I read comments like she was always skinny but toned. She just had a baby it's expected she would lose weight what's the big deal. Two days after the story ran there were more articles saying. I had been having parties and taking drugs I apparently did this while neglecting my daughter.

The palace put out a statement saying I was recently diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic and there has been no parties. There was a plea to respect my privacy and a reminder I was still on maternity leave.

"It goes to show there are people waiting for me to screw up and go back to the drugs", I say to the queen.

"Unfortunately honey it will always be that way. The important thing is your friends and family never once believed that story".

"I've worked so hard to lose the junkie label".

"Some people will always use that particular stick to try to take you down and to beat you with. Your job is to smile and be the best ambassador of our country you can be. When you make the world a better place through your charities and charity work you put the haters to shame".

Some weeks later Diego and I were hosting a dinner for our friends in our apartment. I was going through his bag looking for some gum when I saw it, gluco gel. Gluco gel is to be used for when my sugar is dangerously low and I'm semi conscious. The idea is to put the tube content between my cheeks and gums and rub the gel on my cheeks if I can't do it myself.

The gels, tablets and even glucose juice are in every room I frequent a lot. There was a tube of tablets in both mine and Diego's bedside cabinet. I think I'm almost back to feeling normal then I'm reminded to keep feeling normal. I need to adhere to strict eating and testing guidelines.

The nurse said I would go through a grieving process. The death of my old lifestyle of eating what I wanted and doing what I wanted. I found the gum I was looking for and went to check on Sophia. She was asleep in her crib with the nanny asleep in a bed beside her. I didn't have the heart to wake her up to go to her room. I left her sleeping in the nursery.

The dinner menu was healthy but tasty. I've learnt as long as my diet is healthy I didn't have to be too restrictive.

I find Diego checking over the place setting with a footman, he smiles when he sees me.

"Excuse me Mark", he walks over to me and gives me a quick peck on the lips.

"How was your nap?"

"Exactly what I needed".

"Everything is ready here let's go for a walk", he takes my hand in his and we head for the garden.

"Your maternity leave is over soon".

" I know it's Christmas next week then New Years then back to work. I'm looking forward to Christmas, it's Sophia's first and our first as parents. It's a pretty special one this year I wish dad and William could come".

"Unfortunately they have to stay with the Danish Royal family. Besides how do we justify not inviting your sister?"

"She has to be invited to the christening", I say unhappily.

"I know darling but as we're making Debbie and Antonio godparents it would look really bad if she wasn't there.
Security will be tight don't worry so much Victoria. We need to shower and change our friends are arriving soon. I shower and change into a white shirt dress with a black belt and black sandals, I curled my hair into soft waves. I look at myself in the mirror, I look really good. I had put on ten much needed pounds.