Introduction

I am starting this blog to help sort out my feeling as we begin the process of guiding our daughter newly diagnosed with Autism. I hope this blog will help me to learn to deal with and accept this new journey and perhaps serve as a resource for others on the same journey.

I'm Martha a married stay at home mom of two girls Gracie who is 3 and Elizabeth who is 17 mos. Gracie is newly diagnosed with Autism. Since I'm not sure where to start I'm going to start with Gracie's story.

We planned to have a baby and in Dec 2008 we started trying to conceive, I was delighted when we got a positive pregnancy test at the end of January. Most of the pregnancy was uneventful, except for the fact I was measuring small the entire pregnancy. Finally at just before 35 wks I had another ultrasound which revealed that Gracie had only .9 centimeters of fluid but she was also breach. After a few days of stress tests and ultrasounds I had an emergency c-section.

Gracie was born at 5 lbs 5 oz and 18 inches long. We were lucky that she was able to room with me and never spent a moment in the NICU. The only problem we had was jaundice. Gracie was under lights for 3 days but in the end was able to get the levels down and started to develop normally.

We didn't notice anything different about our daughter. She did things about the same time her cousin did who is 7 months older. She learned her body parts, followed simple directions, and smiled at everyone who talked to her. I did notice that her cousin was more in to Gracie than Gracie was into him but I thought maybe he's just too overbearing for her.

In December of 2009 we started to consider moving from our Salt Lake home to just outside Baton Rouge to be closer to my step sons from my husband's previous marriage. We also found out we were pregnant again in March of 2010. We decided to go ahead with our move I figured it was much easier to move pregnant than with a newborn.

We arrived in Watson LA in May 2010. It was a month full of changes, I was now officially a stay at home mom, we were getting used to a different culture, food and customs. Gracie was a relatively easy child, and my pregnancy continued uneventfully and to term. Elizabeth was born at the end of October in a VBAC. I thought it odd that Gracie didn't acknowledge her sister and continued to live her life like an only child. She never hugged her sister, wanted to help, and would sit on top of her to get my attention if Elizabeth was on my lap.

I thought it was odd as most other 2 yr old big sisters her very strong feelings about their baby siblings, but was relived at least there didn't seem to be any sibling rivalry. I also noticed sleep issues, Gracie simply has a hard time falling asleep at night. I compensated by allowing her to bring some toys to bed. She was also a little rigid in her routines but I thought all toddlers loved their routines.

I noticed other 2 yr olds were speaking in sentences and learning shapes, letters, numbers and colors, and Gracie could do none of those things. I knew something was "off" but she seemed to fit many ADHD symptoms. She had sleep issues, huge meltdowns, and trouble focusing. I knew 2 was much too young for an ADHD diagnosis but I felt better thinking I knew what was wrong.

On a family vacation to Salt Lake City in July 2011 we were miserable. Gracie had several meltdowns a day and even little things like going out to eat resulted in hours of screaming. My sister in law pulled me aside and mentioned that her son has ADHD and he behaved nothing like Gracie.

I brought up my concerns at her 3 yr check up and was given a referral to a diagnostic pediatrician. In the mean time I started to do some more research on the internet and was surprised to find she fit many of the autism symptoms. I felt sick as I realized my lovely little girl is Autistic. I felt so silly for not noticing before and kicked myself for not getting her early intervention.

We finally got an educational diagnosis thru the school district and we are waiting for our medical evaluation. Right now Gracie seems to be regressing and losing things she once did like even more speech and pretend play. We hope to start therapies soon.