Today was kinda crazy, but a good day. Woke up at 8:30 when Gabriel started making noise. He doesn't wake up and cry, he just fusses a little bit and then is quiet. I love that he knows he just has to let me know he's awake and I'll come get him. He always has such big smiles for me too. We cuddled and played for a while. We had to be up and get the beds stripped down by 9am. I assumed they'd start on 1st floor, so I wasn't too worried. They must've had a lot of volunteers though, because they were knocking on our door at 9:05! So we watched them take down the beds. Dawson kept saying "Oh no, broken!". It was raining when we left. Dawson isn't used to the rain, lately it's been starting when we're already at the hospital and is done before we head back! He totally froze up once he stepped past the porch. It took some convincing, but he finally did follow me out to the van. He kept saying "owie!" and I told him it was just wet. So all the way to the hospital he was talking about the "wet rain". Dawson did good with some volunteers and he was able to stay in Sibling Play the whole 90 minutes without them needing to call me about something.
Gabriel has been sleeping through the night, it's so nice! Tyler did also around 2-3 months old. I'm so glad he's such a content baby. Everyone at the hospital keeps saying how much he looks like Tyler and that it's bringing back memories. I'm glad I'm not the only one who's thinking about it. Gabriel is only a week away from the age Tyler was diagnosed. We shared a few stories of Tyler when he was that age. It's nice having so many people who care so much that they remember such details from 2 years ago! I'll often get comments like "oh I remember that shirt!". Gabriel is in the size Tyler was in when he was diagnosed. It seems like every outfit has a memory attached to it. His first chemo, diagnosis day and other hard times. Many of them you can even see the pin mark from where his line was attached to his shirt.
I got a call from the school district today. She knows about our situation, but wasn't sure how long we'd be gone. She said we can get him into school where we are, but I told her we'd decided not to do that and just work with him myself. She was very happy that he's in speech here and was so excited to hear of all he's learned since April. We have already met many of his IEP goals.
I've been searching for some ABA (behavioral) therapy, but not having much luck. I contacted the Autism Society which is nearby and they don't do ABA. I found a behavioral psychologist who specializes in Autism, but their wait list is 9 months out. I had them send me the paperwork anyway. I have a few more to contact, but I have a feeling the wait lists will be long. We've been on the wait list at home for about 9 months now, they said it would take about a year. I haven't even been contacted to make an appointment yet, but they assured me we are on the list.
We left the hospital early to eat at RMH. It's also Bingo night, which is always fun. I got to talk to some other parents too. It's nice talking to people who are going through the same things. It's frustrating that most people just don't understand what we're going through and many don't even try. Wednesday I was so stressed out that I had a horrible headache and so many physical symptoms that I actually thought I was coming down with something. After a good night's sleep, it all went away. Those first admission days are always so hard. Seeing them give him so many things and then going to bed just knowing he's going to feel like crap the next day. I just get to dreading it so much that it always gives me a headache. He actually surprised me by having an awesome day! He was cheerful and had so much fun playing with everyone. It was a huge relief.
I ended up going home today. Some things need to be fixed on the van, so we're going to swap vehicles again since I just need 2 carseats for a while. I also have some important mail and things to take care of, so hopefully I'll be able to get everything done quickly. It looks like a lot of paperwork and a lot of phone calls to gather records. I stopped by Dan's work and stuck a little note on the car for him. He's gonna be pretty excited that I came home tonight instead of tomorrow morning as planned. I just figured since Dawson sleeps better at home, it would be less hassle and we'd all get more sleep that way. Plus there's less traffic in the evening. He was excited to come home and settled right in.
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