A Mother's Reflection

 

 

As my extended maternity leave comes to an end I have been reflecting on all the things that our family has been through in the last 16 months! My maternity leave started April 2013 just a few weeks before Quinn was born. In those weeks I was able to enjoy lots of 1-1 time with Landon. On April 19th Quinn Renee was born and I became a mother to two beautiful children. Quinn was not the easiest baby in her first 6 months. Not a great sleeper, hated the car, and could be known to get pretty fussy at times. BUT she did have some good nights where she slept, eventually enjoyed car rides, and started to enjoy doing things as she grew older.

In October our little man was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. As a mom this was the hardest news to hear. I had prepared myself for a while that he was Autistic but when those words are actually spoken to you, it is a hard pill to swallow. We promised to help him in any way I could, we started ABA therapy, weekly speech, weekly OT and the quest for ECE as soon as he turned 3.

In November after many sleepless nights and new issues with baby foods with Quinn I took her to the doctor, allergist and GI specialist. We again were hit with some BIG news. She had a milk protein allergy as well as an allergy to soy and eggs. She was put on expensive new formula and started a very slow process of healing her gut!

January came and so did a new year! Quinn was still having feeding issues, sleep issues and now I started to notice some developmental delays! Landon started school and was also starting to make some great progress with his language development.

February rolled around and Quinn started OT, Speech, DT and Nutrition services through EI. We were bound and determined to help our baby girl.

In March we attempted a long family vacation to Marco Island Florida where it would be Landon's first time flying since he was diagnosed and Quinn's first official plane ride. We had a nice family vacation with some great memories but our trip was saddened with the passing of Quinn's godfather.

Before I knew it April was here and we were celebrating our baby girl's 1st birthday!!! She was making progress but we still had some minor setbacks. She was back at the GI for a run of test and ides of what was causing such poor weight gain. After MANY doctor visits we came to the realization that our little girl had no major health issues just a weak GI system that still needed more time to heal from all the milk she had in her first 7 months of life. It officially took Quinn over 6 months to heal her gut and start to make some gains in her developmental milestones. She may still be delayed but she is sure catching up!

In June we moved into our beautiful new home and started to enjoy summer! Before I knew it the shelves were being stocked with school supplies and I started to dread August 26th!

Landon started his new school, longer days with a bus trip to school. He has made amazing gains and has come such a long way since he was diagnosed. Every day I am so proud of him and am grateful to hear him speak and answer questions. I waited 2 years to hear him call me "mama!" and it is still music to my ears!

As I look back on all that we have been through I use to tell people that God had a plan for me during my maternity leave and I could not have been more grateful then to be home to help my children as they experienced life changes. I am grateful to my parents and my husband for all of their support and help through this last year. Without them I am not sure how this would have gone. I love my children and I am one lucky mama to have been able to be a SAHM for a long time. I will miss my kiddo’s everyday but I know they will survive while I am at work.