So, here we are. My child is 13 pounds at her first birthday. The tests begin. The experst look at me - another "expert" and ask questions I don't know the answers to- Why isn't my child growing? Why is she still wearing 0-3 month old clothing?

And then there is her energy. She never sleeps. I know, all new parents tell you that their kid doesn't sleep. But this one? NEVER sleeps. When I finally wrestle her into bed at night, she sleeps for maybe 2 hours and then wakes and begins howling. Her naps...45 minutes tops, once a day. Her pediatrician asks "So, when she nurses, she gets sleepy?"
"No", I respond,"It only seems to energize her more"
Oh, and she never poops. For an exclusively breast fed baby - never poops. I have to give my child gylcerin enema's to make her poop.

Emily crawls at 6 months - Walks, full on running at 9 months. There aren't shoes small enough for her feet. Remember, she is maybe 10 pounds when she starts walking. She is in constant motion. Even when she nurses, she wriggles and moves, latches on and off.

We see pediatric gastroentorologists, pediatric endocriologists. We start to live at Datmouth Medical Center. We have bones scans, x rays, and vials and vial of blood taken from my SCREAMING thrashing child, as I hold her down so they can take 6 vials of blood at a time. We exclude from her diet, we include into her diet. She is tested for CP, celiac disease, and every other thing known to the medical world.

Finally, when no demon is exercised from my daughter. We call a halt to it. She's small, we decide. Stop this torture. Mommy and Daddy can't do it anymore.

But things still seem different about Emily. She is super intense and her tantrums can go one for hours. She is afraid of odd things, but fearless about others that she should be fearful of. Moving things - like an robot, or thing that talks or moves sends her into a panic and she roots to the spot, refusing to walk any further. Other children love Rainforest cafe...my kid runs screaming hysterically in the other direction. Her appetite is huge, but for odd things. She gags easily. Anything without a smooth texture makes her gag and puke. I call her the pukey puppy.

As she gets older, we just chalk it up to her being Emily. Her coordination stinks, although she is in constant motion. She won't color or write her name. She doesn't play with things like legos or anything with small pieces. She is already in speech therapy since she talks so fast no one can understand her and it is garbled.

Then we take her to be assessed by the OT, when at 5 she can't write her name, or refuses to try. She also puts her mouth on EVERYTHING and throws her body on everyone in a 12 foot radius. The OT asks me questions about her diet. Does she gag easily? Does she refuse to eat anything but beige foods? Does she like odd spicy things? Does she continually hang on my body? Does she lick or suck eveything? Does she cry easily?

Holy shit. Yes, Yes, and Yes.
Sensory Integration Dysfunction. Emily is sensory seeking. The more , the better. Hot water, she wants it hotter. Blankets - they could be heavier. She watches TV with her head turned upside down ( which she is actually doing right now with both legs up in the air, kicking) At rest, she is in motion. When she eats dinner, she sits on a yoga ball, so she can bounce her way through the meal.

But this is just the beginning of the journey.
Tomorrow...part three....