Is January Cursed??

Raising children can be very difficult. You learn something new everyday. I wanted to share with you a few of the hardships my family has endured in the last two years. I swear January is a cursed month and I am a little nervous about the upcoming New Year.

Five years ago I had my fourth child. I thought,"OK, how hard can this be I have three others, I can do this." Well, I was so wrong. My son is four years old and I honestly feel as if I am raising an alien on another planet. Let me explain, for the first time in my parenting time I felt completely lost and alone. I gave birth to an amazing little boy. He was 7lb. 12.9 oz. He was perfect in every way as was all my children. But he lacked connection to me. He didn't smile at me and coo. He screamed constantly and I was entirely clueless. After about a year and a half of discussing with the doctors about my son and getting nowhere I started a video diary.

This opened the doctor's eyes to what was really going on. I was right there was a problem. On Jan. 20th 2010 my son was officially diagnosed with Mild/Moderate Autism and Sensory Processing Disorder. Life now is about learning how to cope and teaching him how to cope. I can't even imagine living life lacking the common skills needed to communicate and understand what is going on around you. Transitions are nightmares and although it is hard on me, I can't imagine how he feels. Life deals us all some tough cards and we have to move forward and keep going.

Christmas 2010

So... I did until I came to yet another roadblock. In January, which seems to be a killer month for me, of 2011 my older son Jacob was diagnosed with Tourettes Syndrome and it didnt stop there. No, that would have been easy to deal with for me. In Feb. he was diagnosed with Aspergers and in March, Cri du Chat. In a matter of three months my already crazy life got even crazier. I had to learn about things I had never even heard of and deal with a whole lot of tests and theories. I was being put to the ultimate test. Life was really throwing me a curveball and either I swerved quick or I let it knock me down. I am not the type to fall easy and this was not going to defeat me or my son.

Again as a mom I went into, what I like to cal, "Fix Mode". How can I fix him and make this go away. Many doctors later and a numerous amount of testing and I came to accept that it is what it is. This is what my son's biggest challenge was going to be and I educated him about what was going on with him. I wanted him to be comfortable in his own skin. Imagine going from a socially awkward kid that was having difficulties understanding his peers, yet seemed perfectly typical to a child who coudn't control his bodily movements and sounds that would erupt out of his mouth.

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Well, as a mom it was very hard to watch and as the saying goes it get s worse before it gets better. But... after trying medication we decided that it was not for him. His behavior got worse and he was not even abe to sleep. Some have thought it humerous when I tel them that my son was hallucinating and threw his dinner across the room cause he really thought he saw a bug crawling on it, but that is plain scary for a parent to witness. Not mentioning the fact that it creates yet another mess and is frustrating as hell. So, we dropped the meds and I did a lot of research into natural remedies. Because Tourettes symtoms are often triggered by stress and anxiety I figured I would try Magnesium.Stress can make people with tourette's tics worse, so can fatigue, excitement and anxiety, but it cannot cause someone to get tourette's. Never did I think that it would help as much as it has.

Magnesium is a natural reducer of anxiety and plays an essential role in the nervous system.It also promotes muscle action as well as proper absorption of vitamins B, C and E. Within a week of starting we could see a difference and by the begining of the school year he was a completely differnt child. Yes, he still tics but they are not as severe and definately not as noticable. There are times that it gets really bad but for the most part functionably they are much better. I also started giving him Meletonin at night which helps him sleep better and therefore he is able to cope better through out the day, and Fish oil. Fish Oil is great for brain development and Buddy does have Cri du Chat which impacts his development.

Who would have known that I would have survived all of this stress. If it was a question asked of me six years ago, I could never imagine. It is hard and we have bad days but, at least for Buddy, the hard part is over and he is a happier child. Lookng back it is my determination that got us where we are today. I pushed for answers and wanted solutions. I do wish there was a cure for Tourettes, and Cri du Chat, but my children were given to me for a reason and I will love them as they are!!!