So, as most of you are probably well aware by now, I’m 31 weeks pregnant today. Just 8 weeks until we get to meet our Miss Brianna. I feel like the pregnancy and getting ready for baby has been on the back burner the last 2 weeks or so though. Our life has been turned upside down in the last 2 weeks, however, we are better now because of it.
We have been dealing with behavior issues with Kira for about the last 4 or 5 months now. Some of the things we knew were just the normal toddler issues, but some… some seemed very disturbing to us. She was extremely unfocused and had trouble listening, she also had impulsive behaviors that would get her in trouble even though you could tell she didn’t want to do the things she was doing. We spoke with her pediatrician about her behavior and they sent us a referral to have her evaluated to be seen by therapists. I was happy someone could give me some insight maybe.Â
I waited for a call, and waited… and waited… and played phone tag with the lady from the agency. I’m not a patient person to begin with, and add all the stress we were going through with Kira and my hormones still being crazy from being pregnant and I was even LESS patient to get things checked out. I must add here, I have self-control to be nice and considerate to the people from the agency, since I do understand the world doesn’t revolve around me, my family, or my problems… however, to myself (and possibly my family at times) I was very short-tempered just hanging on to hope that they would get in touch with us and set up an appointment soon.
I had a Dr appointment, and after we had to pick up our fur-child from “the sitters” (My father-in-law) and while we were there Kira threw a 30 min fit in Nicks arms kicking and clawing and screaming and crying. It was then we realized even more, something HAD to be done. A couple days later we got in touch with the agency and got her info meeting set-up, and they were quick to get us in for an evaluation too.
I had this feeling she wasn’t going to qualify for therapy, and, she didn’t. The therapists were extremely impressed by everything that she was able to do and how smart she was. They also told us she was very strong-willed (Um, DUH!!! That has been part of the issue here… lol). They were very nice and helpful in giving me suggestions (I’ll share those in another post this week) and I felt like at least part of a solution was in the works, however, we still had the issues with impulsive behavior, aggression, and such to figure out.
After Kira went to bed that night, I started researching diet changes. Quite a few friends and family members had spoke with us about it being a possible food sensitivity, and after I big gulp and a plea for help from a group on Facebook I recieved THE most amazing advice EVER!!!
It was the day before Halloween and the ladies in the group told me to try cutting out High Fructose Corn Syrup, and Artificial flavors and dyes from her food. I went into our kitchen and looked through the cabinets and refrigerator to see what I could start feeding her that didn’t have those chemicals on the ingredient list. I found some cereal, some tortillas and cheese for quesadillas and figured I’d throw together some sloppy joes with canned tomatoes and such for dinner. We cut out juice and gave her only milk for the day, and Nick even made popcorn for a snack and shared it with her. I wasn’t at all ready for the EXTREME change that took place that day.
The morning was amazingly smooth. It didn’t feel like a chore to deal with her, she stayed focused on toys about 4 times as long as she use to, and she even played some WITH me. When it was nap time, she lead me to her bedroom door, walked into her room and then waited by her crib with her arms up to be picked-up and placed in her crib for her nap. She slept about 2.5 hours (about 30 minutes to an hour longer than normal). I was SHOCKED to say the least, and figured our Halloween plans for that night were doomed since we had, had such a good morning, it was sure to go down-hill by the evening.
When she got up from her nap, she was happy, and she spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the holiday events with her father and myself. We watched 3 Halloween specials while Nick and I got our pumpkins ready to carve and carved them. She listened about 90% better than normal. She even got to color some and get in her Halloween costume to hang out around the house and I was able to get a few pics. We had 2 tiny meltdowns that day which are to be expected for that age, but they only lasted 5-10 minutes tops and considering all the excitement of the day I was VERY pleasantly surprised. We ended the evening watching The Great Pumpkin and eating popcorn before Kira’s bedtime.
I had tears in my eyes as Nick put her to bed, we had an awesome holiday with no meltdowns, and I didn’t feel like I had whiplash trying to keep up with our daughter. It was the most enjoyable day we had had in a while.
Now, I will say when I reported this to the group that helped me figure this out, I was warned that it could be a roller coaster ride for a week or 2 while she is “detoxing”. We have seen some slight up and down, but overall her behavior over the last 4 days has been MUCH improved from what it was. We have our sweet, funny, loving little girl back and that makes me so very happy.
So, that is why I have been behind on everything lately. I will be updating on the pregnancy later this week (after my ob appointment Wednesday). I am also going to post about our new diet change, and some of Kira’s new schedule we have been working on. Looking forward to sharing this journey with you all.
thefineartofjugglery 