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March 4, 2003
OBSESSIVE/COMPULSIVE DISORDER AND JAIDA
I have noticed for a while now that Jaida has a preference for certain toys or things at certain times. She colored a picture while we waited at the clinic on Friday. She has carried it everywhere since we got home. If she leaves it in another room, we must all stop what we’re doing to help her find it. She sits and looks at it, sings and dances with it and takes it to bed with her. At least I was able to get her to leave it on the nightstand instead of trying to hold it while she slept. It can get nerve-wracking at times.
Last week, it was a particular dinosaur that she absolutely had to have at all times. If she laid it down and Jarod so much as breathed on it, heaven help us. The crying, screaming and whining can escalate to decibel levels that only dogs can hear. After she rips the toy from Jarod’s hands, then his crying starts. It’s enough to make me want to scream too. Last week, I found myself reluctant to go home. This upheaval disturbs my peace so much, I find myself holding on by my fingernails until bedtime.
I only confided this to my friends and fellow diary writers in our email group. I was ashamed to admit that I felt this way about my own children. I thought the purpose of having kids was to enjoy them but these days I rarely do. I’m sick of the arguing, fighting and Jaida’s immaturity. She behaves more like a toddler lately than Jarod does. She’s the biggest child in her class but she acts like a baby most of the time and I find it extremely annoying. Maybe it’s just my hormones, I don’t know.
I’ve tried to get her to play in her room but she wants to be in the middle of whatever is going on in the den. That way, Jarod can easily reach her play area. I have also tried to get Jarod interested in something else but that rarely works. It’s only Murphy’s Law that he wants what she has. Has anyone else experienced anything remotely like this?
THE COPPER/ZINC IMBALANCE SAGA
We started the MT3 when Jaida’s appetite returned to normal last week. The first thing I noticed was more outbursts. I asked Dr. Corbier about this on Friday and his reaction was one of pure excitement. He noticed a difference in Jaida too. Usually when we see him, Jaida will sit quietly in her chair and barely look at him. Afterwards, she will talk excitedly about seeing him. This time, she was practically in his lap. She was in her chair for all of five seconds. Roan was there and Jaida was playing with her most of the time. Then she went and stood next to Dr. Corbier.
She tried to take his otoscope and she played with the pens in his breast pocket. He was smiling and laughing as he commented that this was the most animated he had ever seen her. She was asking him questions about the equipment in his coat pocket and what he was writing. She was a regular one-woman show. When I told him about the outbursts, he said it might take another week or two for that to stop. If not, he instructed me to call his office and get some suggestions to stop the unruly behavior. I looked less than enthused when he said her reaction to the MT3 was a good thing. The fact that she was having this type of a reaction was a good thing, he said. It meant that something was being stirred up in her body and he was excited. I should have offered to let him take her home. :o)
It wouldn’t be so bad, except that we never know what will set her off. Friday morning, she was in a rotten mood. She had lost the toy that she took to bed, (or so we thought, it turned out she left it in the kitchen after she took her medicine), and couldn’t find it. When I saw she was dressed, I told her to come into my bathroom and brush her teeth. Suddenly, she turned on me and screamed, “I HAVE TO GET MY HAIR COMBED FIRST!!” I didn’t say a word; I just went about my business and got dressed. She went to the den so Mom could fix her hair. Then I heard yelling coming from the den. I went to investigate and found her hitting Mom. She was refusing to sit down and I had had enough. Mom could sense I was teetering on the edge and she told me it was okay and I should just go back to my room and finish getting ready. Those are the moments when my self-restraint is failing fast.
As the weekend wore on, Jaida was having fewer outbursts but still saying inappropriate things. I ignore her and she calls my name. When I answer, she will say something silly about my butt or what she plans to put in my butt. It really grates on my nerves and I just ignore her even more. She’s also more touch-feely than usual too. I have had to pull her off Jarod several times. She will grab his hand and press it against her face as hard as she can. Other times, she will fall on top of him and try to flatten him with all 43 pounds of her. I can’t take my eyes off her for a second. I caught her pushing her fist into his stomach earlier today. Needless to say, my nerves are shot.
DID I SPEAK TOO SOON?
It seems Dr. Corbier was right (again) about the adjustment being brief. The outbursts have almost disappeared and Jaida has a new maturity that is hard to describe. She says the most interesting things to me. Today for example, we were getting in the van after school and she saw the Moses basket I plan to use for the baby. She figured out a few weeks ago that a baby is on the way. Anyway, she said, “Mommy, when is the baby coming?” I told her it would be a while. Then she said, “I’m gonna come to the hospital and help you push it out.” I laughed and told her I would have to do that all by myself but she could come visit me after the baby was born. As we rode along, she asked, “Mommy, will it hurt to push the baby out?” I hesitated and said, “Yes, a little bit.” She seemed satisfied with that answer and started talking about the pictures she had colored at school that day. I really need to cut back on A Baby Story, Birth Day and Maternity Ward, huh?
I’ve also noticed that little things are changing about her day to day behavior. There was a time that turning left in traffic instead of right would have caused a tantrum. I was beginning to loathe taking her anywhere. Even if I told her where we were going, when I deviated from the route we usually take I would still end up explaining for 10 minutes. I know it’s pointless to argue with her but I can’t help it. But tonight as she was using the potty, she told me a story about something that happened at school.
Jaida: “Somebody put too much tissue in Ms. Anne’s potty. Tyler did it.”
Me: “Really?”
Jaida: “Uh-huh, and the water came out all over the floor. It was a mess.”
Me: “It overflowed?”
Jaida: “Uh-huh.”
Me: “Who cleaned it up?”
Jaida: “Ms. Charlene.”
Me: “Ms. Anne didn’t clean it up?”
Jaida: “No, it was too hard for Ms. Anne to do by herself.”
The detail and recall was stunning. She never would have told me something like that a few months ago. She doesn’t talk about what happens at school much. If we pushed for details, she would get upset so I usually waited until she wanted to tell me. Now if I could just do something about her and Jarod’s gladiator-style battles…
JAROD’S STRIDES IN SPEECH THERAPY
Beth came today and was full of praise like always. Mom has been keeping notes on all the sentences Jarod says and she showed it to Beth. She told Mom that Jarod has passed his age level for sentences and vocabulary! I’m so proud of him; it makes me want to cry. It’s just more confirmation that he is not on the spectrum. Beth told me that when the ladies at his preschool asked how she knew him and she explained she was his speech therapist, they were confused. They said, “Speech therapist? He talks all day long.” If only they could have seen him last August. I think saying he had 10 words would be stretching the truth.
I have been slacking on documenting his vocabulary but I’ll try to remember what his latest ones are. When we get ready to leave a room, he will look at me and say, “Finished?” When I say yes, he will try (in vain) to reach the light switch. When the credits roll at the end of a show he says, “Going off?” Of course, it sounds nothing like that and I have to translate for other people but I’m not complaining at all. His newest obsession is asking to use the potty and I’m trying hard to encourage this one. “Un potty!” While I run bath water, he sits on the toilet and tries to go. He has learned which muscles to use and I can see his little tummy contracting and squeezing in. Then I have to give him some tissue (which he asks for) and let him flush. He gets a kick out of going in the tub too, much to Jaida’s horror. I think it may be time for separate baths.
OTHER NEWS
There is nothing new to report with Lambchop. I am 13 weeks now and feeling better every day. My nausea which was minimal in the first place is nearly nonexistent now. I am starting to notice some lower back pain and my feet are beginning to spread. How attractive! I’ve decided to have Lambchop at a different hospital than the one I used before. This one which I'll call JH, is well equipped with the highest skilled and best paid nurses in the city. Jaida and Jarod were both hospitalized there before and I loved the treatment and care they received. The food was pretty good too. When Jarod was in BS for RSV, the difference in that place and JH was like night and day. I vowed that if I ever had another baby, it would be at JH.
Well, I should get to bed. I skipped Hynobabies practice tonight to pay bills and do some other stuff. Strangely, I feel like I skipped studying for a test or something! This week I’m working on Creating Anesthesia and Hypnotic Deepening. I am a natural-born skeptic but I swear its working. When I hear the cues on the tapes and use the techniques, I can feel something drain out of my body. I even start to tingle sometimes and other times I feel warmth rushing through me. I’ve never experienced anything like this before. As Kerry (the instructor) likes to say, “Nothing happens in the body until it happens in the mind” and she’s making a believer out of me.
Until next time,
Kim, Jaida, Jarod & Lambchop
PS~ I have started a little baby name poll on my TTM board. Please give me your opinion, I'm feeling neglected. :o) Oh and the names are based on the assumption Lambchop is a girl!
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