Christmas morning gift
A quick post about Christmas morning. After a rough night and another MB-12 shot, I was not really anxious for Christmas morning. We were visiting my family in another state; so the sensory issues were already high.
About 4:30am, Kyler lie awake in his crib (we were sharing a bedroom with him). He was cooing and happy. I was panicked because I knew it was early; however, I thought it was more like 6am. Then, I heard my nephews in the other room. They must be up checking out what Santa left for them. I decided to peek out our bedroom door and sure enough, the boys were flinging wrapping paper around and enjoying the Christmas morning moments. I decided to go ahead and grab Kyler and take him into the other room.
As you know, transitions, odd timings, and off schedules can cause great chaos in the life of an autistic child much less a completely new environment. I expected crying. To my surprise, my beautiful little boy became a “normal” little 1.5 year old for about one hour of our Christmas morning. It was pure joy (and utter shock). He smiled with a big gummy and teethy grin at everyone who was around. He looked everyone in the eye. He babbled and clapped and was just so happy. I forgot, for all of a few minutes, that there was anything atypical about him. God, it was nice. He watched the boys play with their toys. He chased the cats. He hugged me. He looked me straight in the eye and showed me his big pearly whites. Bliss. It was short and sweet but it was a very meaningful Christmas gift for me.
About Kyler’s Mommy
Hello! I am 31 yrs old and stay at home with my one year old son, Kyler. After giving birth, I suffered from moderate postpartum depression. My son was born a few weeks early and had a few minor issues early on (colic, herniated belly button, breastmilk jaundice). He is now a beautiful one year old on the move!!! He has a speech delay at the moment that we are beginning to treat with weekly therapy. During Kyler’s first year of life, we made two residential moves including one across the country.
I wish that I had started this blog much earlier; however, I am still going to write about the issues that we faced early on and those that we struggle with today. Postpartum depression is something that I would like to write about for my own healing as well as to help others. The everyday life with a toddler is comedic and chaotic…so I feel I must blog about it if for nothing else but to remember it. Bare with me and my posts because I have a lot of catching up to do and many stories to tell!!
EDIT: Over the past few months since starting this blog, we have come to the realization that our child is not JUST speech delayed. Unfortunately, he shows most signs of autism. He has not been diagnosed. Although I really wanted to focus this blog on postpartum depression, it seems so pale in comparison to the struggles and pains that my son suffers daily. So, I will be focusing on his journey and his path to recovery. I do hope, however, that anyone with postpartum depression will find some relief or laughter in my earlier posts and know that you are not alone.
