Trust Your Instincts

As a parent, you want more than just alright for your child.  You need to be able to trust those who are around your little one. You must be vigilant about who cares for your child.  Not just for childcare should you use it.   This vigilance includes who provides therapy for them, who their teacher is, especially who their one on one is, who your pediatrician is, do you know what their area of expertise and interest is?   Does your child’s doctor share the opinion that parents know their children best?

This is a simple but amazingly important thing!  It is important for all parents, however when dealing with children with disabilities, special abilities and especially children who have limited communication it is critical.  You have to trust that your doctor trusts you!  Even when you can not put a finger on it.

Do you know your child?  Probably.  More than you even realize.  Do you know when your child is getting angry? Before it goes full steam?  Sometimes you may not, it comes on fast and strong, but often I bet you do!

Can you tell one cry from another? Probably.  If not, don’t be hard on yourself.   I am certain there are things that you are aware of that no one else is!  Just start noticing additional things now.  They can become very important! As a parent, you probably already feel a million ton’s of pressure some days and on occasion, it is knowing those little things that can make all the difference in the world.

Our Story of Trusting your Instincts

I remember when my daughter was 4.5 months old.  My husband was working out of town and she woke up in the middle of the night crying and vomiting.  I thought oh poor baby she’s got a stomach bug!  I walked the floor with her and she settled down and fell back asleep.  As soon as I sat down with her she started again.  This happened several times but, eventually, she slept.  She woke up early and had what I can only describe as an eerie cry.  I knew right then something was different and really wrong! I put her in the car and headed to Children’s Hospital, about an hour away.   I called my husband and told him something was definitely not right and he needed to come to meet us.

About 2.5 hours later she was in emergency exploratory surgery.  The only thing we knew was that they saw a mass in her abdomen (on the ultrasound) and they didn’t know what they would find.

My husband had childhood cancer at the age of 7 and all I could think was not my baby girl.

It turned out that she had an ovarian torsion which is extremely rare, she had a partial hysterectomy immediately as the ovary was already in necrosis.

IF I had not trusted my instincts she would not be here today!  Additionally, her pediatrician told me if I hadn’t taken her to a children’s specialty hospital, instead of our regular hospital she wouldn’t have made it.

Lesson Learned

This is an extreme example.  True none the less.  There are many times we know there is something not right.  It has taken me a few days, for example, to figure out that when she was acting out she had an ear infection.  Sometimes even fluid on the ear’s for a person with exceptional hearing can cause issues.  Often we have found that constipation and other issues are the cause.

I am a huge believer in the fact that you know your child better than anyone.  That you should always trust your instincts and surround yourself with people, and especially professionals, that believe the same.

Love your child, know your child, advocate for your child!  Listen to others, get as much information as you can, but in the end, the decisions that you make are yours!

Love Mom