Three years of beating the odds

William (Liam) Francis Xavier Routhier was born at 10:38pm on August 20, 2007 by emergency c-section. He required resuscitation and had APGARs of 1, 7,and 8.

After a rough start, Liam development took off, except for poor sleep and a strong preference for Mommy.  He met all his milestones on time and was even ahead. He had zero red flags for autism at 12 months and 15 months.  At 18 months, he was behind a bit on adaptive skills and his language was average (instead of being ahead)....and had 1 red fla, not answering to his name, but everyone chalked that upto "being a boy" and not wanting to respond.  At 24 months, he was behind on language, adaptive skills, and motor skills, but ahead conitively.  He had several red flas: toe walking, not answering to his name, lack of eye contact, and strange obsessions.  I put this out there because people seem to assume that they know at 4 months or 12 months that their child isn't on the autism spectrum.  That wasn't the case with Liam, and the red flags he had were so subtle that his own pediatrician didn't believe he needed a referral for evaluation.  Just because a child is *behind* on language does not in itself mean anything, and an 18 month old meeting all their milestones could still end up on the spectrum. In retrospect, our only warning signs early on were sensory issues (sleep and preference for Mommy).

Now a look at the last 3 years to illustrate.......

3 months later he was a chubby, bouncing baby boy.....who would only nap if he was held, nursed for 60-90 minutes every 90-120 minutes (meaning I sometimes got a 30-60 minute break between session and sometimes nursed non-stop for 3-4 hours, and cried if anyone but Mommy or Daddy held him

At 6 months, Liam was around 17 pounds, could sit up (and had been sitting for a month), could roll both ways, and was already babbling.  He was now napping without being held, but still needed to be swaddled. He still didn't like anyone but Mommy and Daddy.

At 9 months, Liam's sweet, silly personality was showing itself.  He was still refusing to eat solids at all, despite having 8 teeth. He had finally stopped sleeping without a swaddle, and was napping for longer than 30 minutes for the first time ever, but at night,  he woke every 30-90 minutes all night long and continued that pattern until 12 months.  We used to laugh about how he desperately wanted to figure out the world. He had an intense focus on his toys and would play for hours, as long as he was touching me in some way.  He was already pointing and was commando crawling.

At 1 year, Liam was 31 inches long and 21 pounds.  He was finally tolerating being around other people, but we just thought he was shy and sensitive. In his twelve month, he broke 8 more teeth for a total of 16!  He barely ate any solids,but had one on nursing strike (and I was now pregnant with Ben).  He survived on about 40 ounces of formula daily and a handful of cheerios.  He was finally sleeping through the night and suddenly seemed much easier.  He hated his 1st birthday party and freaked out when we made him touch cake. 

At 18 months, I was overwhelmed. Bit by bit I watched my happy baby be replaced by a toddler that screamed constantly for seemingly no reason. He hated going to the store, he took 45 minutes to warm up at playdates, he freaked out getting dressed, and he became frightened by laughter.  I watched his language go in spurts...he had 4 words at 13 months, and maybe 7-10 at 18 months, but he'd go months without using any words at all  and somewhere around 14 months stopped saying "mama."  Somewhere just after 18months (maybe around 19 or 20) he began walking on his toes.  He was 27 pounds and 33.5 inches:

At 2 years, I was terrified about Liam's development. Physically, he was fine: 32 pounds and 36 inches.  But, we was not yet using two word phrases,not saying "mama" yet and not using language to communicate. He could recognize all 26 letters and count to 13, name zoo animals, and give the sounds common animals make.  But he couldn't tell me why he was screaming in front of the fridge or what he wanted out of it. He had gotten to the point where he wouldn't leave the house. I was feeling defeated and hopeless, and wondering why other people had normal babies.  Early Intervention had agreed he qualified for speech therapy and occupational therapy.  When I mentioned whether he should be evaluated for autism, I expected them to say "No, not Liam!  Not that sweet, sensitive little boy."  But they didn't,and my journey of the real hard work started.  Did I mention that when Liam was 19 months, his baby brother Ben was born and had severe reflux?  I don't miss those days.....

Today at 3 years old, Liam is a different child from a year ago.  He is still 32 pounds, maybe 30 pounds after a good poop, but is now 39 inches tall.  He speaks in sentences for the most part (tonight he told me "I tired, I go night-night.  I yawn" then insert a big fake yawn).  He doesn't understand pronouns, especially he/she.  He still has alot of echolalia and doesn't understand much of what is said.  The meltdowns are gone, though they have been replaced by extreme sensory seeking behavior.  On a good day, he passed for neurotypical; on a bad day, people often just think he is a spoiled brat.  On a really bad day, I remember why he got the diagnosis of PDD-NOS at 26 months.

Liam has come a long way.

Happy 3rd Birthday to my sweet, surprising, sensitive little boy who made me a Mommy.