Nice End To A Long Week

Last weekend, my in-laws were very gracious in offering to watch both the girls so Mike and I could enjoy a weekend in Las Vegas. All of us knew from the beginning that this was going to be really hard on Raquel being away from not only her parents but also the comfort of her own home, and we did our best to make it as easy for her as possible. Mike's parents spent most of the week baby proofing their house, buying new toys to keep things interesting, and stocking up on her favorite foods. I brought her boombox so she'd be able to play her music, and felt pretty confident that Gabby would be able to distract her if and when needed.

Unfortunately, it didn't turn out as well as we had hoped. She didn't want to nap, which meant she didn't want to sleep at night. She had meltdown after meltdown and by the time we picked them up on Sunday afternoon, everyone was exhausted, and his parents kept commenting on how much work she is. Thanks Mom & Dad for doing this for us. We know how hard it was on you and really appreciate it.

I kept Raquel home from school on Monday to try to get her settled back in a daily routine. She was very happy and content, and seemed to really enjoy being home and having things back to normal.

Then Tuesday came. I took her to school and it started out just like a typical morning ... until Nurse Janice called me at 10am to ask me to come get her. I was really surprised because even when Raquel has had meltdowns in class before, the room is equipped with all kinds of stuff - the ballpit, padded barrel things, etc. - which allow them to easily deal with it. Nothing they were doing seemed to work so she was forced to call me. We were asked to pick her up early on Wednesday to help try to wean her back into a school setting, letting her go a little longer each day until she was able to tolerate the entire class period. That sounded good at the time.

But Thursday was much worse. The meltdown started as soon as she got to class and I received the dreaded "come get her" phone call at only 9:30am, right after I got off the phone with the drug store pharmacist who informed me that her medication was ready to be picked up.

After speaking with Janice - as well as getting a lot of feedback from Raquel's ABA Team regarding Depakote and other kids they know of who are on it - I stopped at the store on the way home from school to pick it up, and immediately gave her a dose once we walked through the door. Then I basically just watched her for any adverse reactions.

I have to say that it did seem to slightly calm her. She took a 2-hour nap and slept really good last night. She's been in a great mood and today was able to stay the entire time at class. This weekend we should really be able to see how its affecting her.

I am still struggling with giving her traditional medicine and worry about the possible side effects. But then I think about what if this works, that maybe this is going to bring my girl out of her shell and how wonderful it will be to have her functionally communicate. When I look at it that way, what kind of mom would I be to not even try what a neurological specialist was recommending? It's frustrating because after everything we've experienced over this last year - all the tests, the appointments, the therapy, the sleepless nights - it comes down to giving her a pill twice a day. Again, if I knew then what I know now...

So glad we made it to Friday and that she seems to be settling down a bit. Looking forward to the weekend and am very hopeful that I'll be noticing positive changes in her over the next few days and weeks.