Day Thirteen: Sleeping Beauty

Last night was the first night in many many days that Katie fell asleep at 7:45 and slept all the way through the night. Even better than that, she awoke very cheerful and compliant... and we had a sail-on-the-freeway drive to UCLA and were here a few minutes early.

I, on the other hand, am going on my third month of about 3 hours of sleep per night. For whatever reason, I have been waking up several times every night... and by the time 3AM rolls around, I am up and awake for the rest of the morning and unable to get back to sleep. I have no idea why this is happening... but even the sleeping pills the doctor had given me were not keeping me asleep... so I quit taking them. Why bother? But... in my many waking hours, it was nice to roll over and watch Katie sleeping soundly and looking content. She really was a sleeping beauty to me last night.

This morning on the drive in, I very pointedly made sure Katie TOOK and SWALLOWED her medicine before we got to the clinic (chuckle). She agreed with me that not-taking her pills yesterday morning was a dumb thing to do... and she certainly won't make that mistake again.

They had another graduation today in the clinic... her friend Harriet graduated... with all the pomp and circumstance... and a feast of bagels/cream cheese, fresh cut up fruit, yogurt and juice. Katie seemed happy during the ceremony and while eating, but as I was leaving she began to cry and told me that she didn't feel well and was tired. She was unusually clingy to me... and after many hugs and kisses .... and reassuring her that I would just be downstairs and wouldn't leave without her, I literally TORE myself away and left to the family-room downstairs... my daily abode while here.

When I got downstairs, I received a call from the social worker who informed me that Katie's elementary school psychologist (the school near home) arrived at the clinic and was going to run an IEP assessment on Katie for her return back to school (whenever that will happen). We want to get the IEP (Individualized Education Plan) in place before her return... so everything will be set when that time comes. I went up and met with the psychologist at 10:00 am after the assessment was done. She said that Katie did a good job with only two meltdowns. She then handed me some forms to fill out and give back to her on Thursday when she returns to do the second round of testing.

The end of the day report was fair... Katie had a few meltdowns throughout the day, but she regained herself shortly after each one, so that shows some improvement. The drive home was good... very light traffic, and daddy was home a few minutes after we arrived. His meeting went well.

Unfortunately, Katie had a challenging evening... very angry and whiney. She didn't like her dinner and was eventually given an ultimatum to quiet down or leave the table and go to her room until she could pull herself together. She was able to contain herself for the rest of the meal, but lost it again during and after her bath... slamming, throwing and hitting things. Then after I got her settled into bed, she continued to cry... and cry.... and cry.... eventually into hysteria... complete with hyperventillation and all. She started shouting out for HELP... and both Mark and I went in to her room and sat on her bed and prayed for and comforted her as she continued to emotionally run-amuck for about 5 full minutes. Once she was able to regain her composure and settle, she laid back down and was asleep within 2 minutes. I can't begin to tell you how exhausting it is on our hearts to have to witness our child in such distress and be totally helpless.

Nevertheless, it is 8:29 PM right now and all is quiet. I need to run downstairs and ready my lunch for tomorrow... as well as Katie's and my breakfast for the car ride to UCLA in the morning. After that, it's quickly to bed to see if I can get in more than 3 hours of sleep till morning... so I can do it all over again.

What a ride!

Chow 4 Now,
Susan