disorders

Since there's only 2 hours left in today, I better get my fingers typing and tell you all about Jayden's appointment yesterday. Even though I'm tired, I'll try to get this typed.

Yesterday we took Jayden to see a child psychologist to see if there is anything we've missed over the last 3 years. We spent 2 hours inside the doctor's office retelling the story I've told many times before beginning at pregnancy, all the way through today. Detailing tantrums, what works, what doesn't work, what we've tried, what we think and doing lots of listening to the doctor's thoughts.

Basically the appointment confirmed what I have thought and what the doctor thought and that's that he has been so traumatized from all his health issues he had as an infant. He has no good memories. With all of his screaming and crying he did as an infant, he learned that got him attention. Jayden has also learned his role in our family includes grunting and tantrums. We stare at him, he stares at us, he basically waits for us to lock in to him, then the tantrum starts, then we stare at him to see what his next move will be, then he continues to throw the tantrum. Instead of locking into his stare, we need to change the way we are handling these tantrums.

Easier said than done is my initial thought, but we're game to try anything that could possibly change his future.

Jayden has been lightly diagnosed with anxiety disorder and disruptive behavior disorder. As scary as this sounds, this is good because it's not something he will have to live with forever. He's not on the Spectrum for Autism, he doesn't show direct signs of oppositional defiant disorder, but there was also talk about ADHD. The doctor wasn't ready to make any diagnosis' with that. It's just something to keep in the back of our mind. Jayden is not really impulsive because he's thinking and looking around for reactions when he does things. Anyhow, what is going on with him is actually something we can try to help by working with him. Like I said earlier, easier said than done.

There is some talk about trying a drug on him to see if it helps him, but right now for the next 4-6 weeks, we're going to try some different behavior changes. A strict and very consistent bedtime routine. Asking him what he needs or wants when he grunts the first time. Not looking at him when he's having the tantrum, but being aware what's going on.

Because Jayden was such a sick baby, our view of him has been a bit different. We never knew if he was going to make it from one day to the next. With each apnea episode, we feared the worst. After spending many long days and nights in different hospitals when we finally got home, we subconsciously treated him differently. Almost like a miracle baby, or a very special baby. This was completely normal.

Anyhow, I've gone on long enough, skipping from one thing to the next. I hope this makes a little sense. But speaking of the little man, he's waking up now, so I gotta run!