Background Info on Ethan

I want to share some background on my sweet Ethan to start off this blog.



Ethan was born June 25, 2002. Labor was induced at 38 weeks because of my chronic high blood pressure. My blood pressure was well controlled during pregnancy, but because of my chronic hypertension, my pregnancy was considered high risk and my OB wanted to monitor him closely during labor and delivery. My first son, Christian was born by induced labor and he was very healthy and reached all his milestones on time or early.



Ethan was born without any major complications. His heart rate did drop some during contractions, so the doctor infused the uterus with fluid since they had already broken my water. This was in case he was laying on his cord and constricting it during contractions. Christian's heart rate also dropped many times during labor with no ill effects.



Ethan was a sweet little baby. We had some problems with gas that were solved with changing him to lactose free formula. He slept well at night, but did not nap well. I was very lucky if he took a 45 minute nap.



The first problem we noticed is that he wasn't sitting up when he should. He was 6 months, then 7 months, and still not sitting up on his own. We talked to his pediatrician, and she said all babies develop differently, so not to worry just yet. Then he was 8 months, 9 months, 10 months, and still not sitting up. We got him into the Early Intervention system here in Alabama, and he started receiving physical and occupational therapy at no cost to us. Still no luck with sitting up. Then the next thing we noticed is that he wasn't babbling or attempting any form of speech. When he turned one, he started receiving speech therapy through Early Intervention. We worried because of the speech delay, that he might be showing signs of Autism. His pediatrician at the time said he had too good eye contact and social interaction with us to have autism. So, we continue physical, occupational, and speech therapy and wait. We took him to a pediatric neurologist, and he said the same thing. He ordered an MRI of his brain and the results were normal.



He progressed slowly but surely with therapy, but still did not sit up on his own until 18 months, he started crawling at age 2, and took his first steps just a few days after his third birthday. He still wasn't speaking any words, but he would make mostly vowel sounds. We found out about a wonderful therapy place here in Birmingham that he started attending 2 days a week for 2 hours in addition to his early intervention therapy. His physical therapist there felt very stronly that Ethan had autism. She referred us to a psychologist that specializes in autism. He indeed diagnosed him with autism on my husband's birthday. Needless to say, not the best birthday news. My husband really struggled with denial about the diagnosis, but since has come to accept it and he is absolutely wonderful with him!



One other thing I should mention, is that he had extreme sensory issues. He wouldn't touch many things, and wouldn't eat any food with any size lumps in it. His food had to be stage 2 baby food with NO lumps. He would gag on any type of texture.



When he aged out of Early Intervention at age 3, he was eligible for services in our public school system. In our small city, the schools had just broken off from the county system and started it's own city school system. It had been planned for for many years, and is a really great school system. He started preschool there and made slow but sure progress.



He still will not eat food with much texture. He eats many types of food as long as it is pureed. He will not chew. He has had an occupational therapist working on this for several years now. He has been to feeding clinics too.



Just days after our third son Noah was born, one of his teachers called me and said she thought Ethan was having seizures. He would close his eyes like he was sleepy, and you would see his mouth doing a chewing motion. They would last anywhere from a few seconds to about 15 or 20 seconds. I had noticed this, but thought he was just sleepy. It seemed to happen most often when I was feeding him. We contacted his neurologist, and they scheduled him for a sleep EEG just 6 days after the birth of Noah. My mom kept my older son and the new baby for my husband and I to take Ethan for an all day sleep EEG. It did indeed show a LOT of seizure activity. He was placed on meds, and with occasional tweaks of the meds when needed, his seizures are well controlled.



He is now 7 years old and has not spoken to us. We hear new sounds all the time both vowel and consonant, but no meaningful words. We use picture symbols and sign language with him. He understand many signs, but will only sign two things on his own. (More and Bath - his favorite place to be!)



Because of his eating issues, he is very small for his age. He is in the 4th percentile for height and weight, and looks more like a 5 year old than a 7 year old. We made the decision with help from his pediatrician to have a G-Button (feeding tube) placed for supplemental feedings. When Ethan gets sick with even a simple cold, it can become serious very quickly. When he had head congestion, he cannot clear it himself. When he eats or drinks, he starts coughing to the point of gagging and throwing up. There have been several occasions that when he is sick that he can't keep anything down for several days. During these times, we will be able to feed him with the tube.



Well, I believe that is a very short summary of Ethan's life so far.