09/05/2021
So I guess I should start off with how it all began. I was 19 years old when I found out I was pregnant with Riley. I had an extremely difficult pregnancy. I had pre eclampsia and I stayed sick 24/7. By the time I was 36 weeks they decided Riley couldn’t wait any longer and it was time for him to make his way into the world. After being induced and in labor for about 7 hours Riley finally made his way out as a beautiful,healthy and perfect baby boy! The next few months went by so fast, aside from the fact that Riley never wanted to sleep(and trust me that hasn’t changed lol) He was always the happiest baby, always smiling and giggling, and always absolutely amazed by the TV (especially Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) so when we went for his 1 year old well child checkup, you could imagine how flabbergasted I was when the P.A. at the time mentioned that she thought Riley could be on the Autism Spectrum. I’ll never forget the emotions I felt standing in that room that day. I was scared, upset, angry, heartbroken and nervous all at once. I didn’t know what this meant for my sweet baby or how I was going to ever deal with all this at such a young age and as a new mom. We had to wait until he was 15 months to be “observed” at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and 18 months for an MRI of his brain and to officially take the ADOS and MCHAT tests to determine where he was on the spectrum. I promise you I have never felt pain like I did the moment they told told me that they was certain he was level 3, low functioning on the spectrum. And I know that sounds terrible, but at the time I didn’t really understand what this meant for my boy and his future. Hell, I still don’t know what his future looks like, but at that moment, for me and I assume for many others it’s a life changing sentence that you really are never prepared to hear. I cried the whole 6 hours home, but once I got there and had a long talk with my mom and best friend, I realized that the diagnosis wasn’t a bad thing. Riley was still my sweet happy babyboy, and if anything this would open many doors to get the help he needed in order to succeed in life. And We didn’t waste anytime when it came to early intervention, we started with First Steps and then transitioned into headstart at 3 and Speech and OT at McDowell ARH(wonderful staff btw) and we have been there now almost 8 years. Everyday it seems there are new mountains to climb with Riley. But for as long as I breath I’ll make sure to keep on climbing them.
