Without the option of getting off. That’s what I feel like right now. I just gave birth two weeks ago, and surprisingly, I am adjusting pretty well. It’s everything else that has my head spinning! Just because you have a baby doesn’t mean life slows down so you can keep up. I wish!
Within the first week of bringing my little one home, he had his first pediatric appointment, my older son had his med check appointment, and don’t you know school started today so the last two weeks were spent scrambling around and getting supplies, uniforms, shoes, and attending orientations and open houses.
My daughter will be online schooling, so her setup is slightly less rigorous than her brother’s. So lets talk about him for a minute. A few months ago I wrote a post about his ADHD diagnosis which can be read HERE. He started medication a few weeks after that and we were nervous to say the least.
However, I noticed some other symptoms my son was having that were not associated with ADHD at all. He was making noises, everything from a coughing to humming, and he’d been doing this for about a year. I didn’t make much of it at first. But then I realized he kept jerking his head back for the last 6 months, and when I’d ask him about it he’d tell me he had no explanation as to why he did it, he just couldn’t help it.
I brought this information along with us to his first med appointment. Of course, I googled first, and his symptoms suspiciously sounded like Tourette’s Syndrome. And of course those suspicions were confirmed at his appointment. His doctor informed me that it wasn’t really something they treated if it didn’t really interfere with his day to day life. It just so happened that the medication they were starting him on for ADHD was a non-stimulant and often used in treating people who had a dual diagnosis of ADHD and TS.
It was a lot to take in, you just don’t give birth and ever once consider that these might be issues your child will be battling as they grow up. Once he started the medication, I anxiously watched over him. At most it made him really sleepy in the beginning. However, he seems to have adjusted to that part. I noticed the coughing and humming tic stopped, but in it’s place he’s begun whistling. You win some and you lose some I suppose. While it’s a bit annoying, it’s certainly not the end of the world. More importantly, his emotional outbursts seemed to have calmed down quite a bit. Looking forward to seeing how he does this school year as today is my lil guy’s first day!
I know that life is going to come with many more challenges, because that’s life! And that’s definitely life when you’re raising a family. The goal is to navigate this journey with the least mount of damage to everyone as possible. Seeing my kids smile is fuel for me to keep going, even if I’m operating on fumes these days. All things in due time. I know we’ll find our rhythm soon, so for now we’re dancing to our own tune.
Until next time!
AP Young Blog 