What a Whirlwind of a Weekend!

Happy Birthday to Reiss!!!
He is four years old today.

This past weekend came and went and happened nothing at all like I had envisioned it would in the weeks leading up to it. Well, Friday was much like I thought it would be, if not better, but the rest of the weekend was literally life-changing.

Friday evening we met up with my favorite aunt and uncle who came for a visit from Albuquerque, New Mexico. My aunt is that one person I think of when I think about who I'd like to be like when I grow up. Well, I can aspire, but I'm afraid she will always trump me in her ability to make everyone around her feel special.

My aunt, uncle, sister, sister's boyfriend, my nephew, and my family met at a park that we have gone to for three years now for this annual gathering. My uncle, who is great with kids, got Milla to warm up to him in no time. She's a little daredevil and it's a darn good thing my uncle - who is 70-some years old - is in as great shape as he is because she definitely had him chasing after her.

My uncle is simply an amazing man. Really, there is no other word for it. He is still working the same job he started at fresh out of college over forty years ago and he bikes to work every day. I'm not sure of the distance of his two-wheeled commute but it's not some piddly ride down the street. And it's in Albuquerque no less - so we're not talking about some drab, flat-as-a-board terrain here like Indiana tends to be.

My uncle helping Milla off the big kid slide at the park.

Reiss holding the camera case and "taking a picture of Daddy."

Reiss climbing the rock wall at the park playground. Who says children with autism have poor muscle strength??? To be honest, he is slightly delayed in his physical agility but he is much less apprehensive than he used to be when playing on playground equipment.

This is the same playground where Reiss received a mysterious leg injury the day before Milla was born. I say "mysterious" because he could not walk after going down the slide and having his shoe skid on the side of it, yet doctors could not find anything wrong by x-ray. Finally, they ruled it to be a sprain but we will never know for certain.

My uncle helping Milla at the top of the big kid slide.

Our visit with my aunt and uncle was awesome, as always. We definitely do not see enough of them and I hate it but what can ya' do?

Saturday morning started out like every other Saturday in our home. We had Pancake Saturday and Reiss helped James make our special GFCF pancakes.

Saturday was my dad's birthday. He and I do not have the best relationship in the world but I will give him credit, he does seem to be making more of an effort to make amends in recent days. He called Saturday morning to see if we would like to go to a dinner my step-brother was having for him. I told him we would maybe stop by but things were really busy and I totally forgot that we had discussed going with our neighbors to the church's Saturday evening casual service.

Saturday afternoon we had just gotten naps for Reiss and Milla started when Reiss came out and told James he needed to go pee. He sat on the potty in the bathroom with Daddy and started making noises with his mouth. James asked him if he needed a drink and he said he did, so James went and got him a cup of juice. He took a drink and then our lives changed. He started flinching, so James took him and put him in his bed. While all this was going on, I was lying in bed with Milla while she slept.

James came and got me and said something was wrong with Reiss. When I got in there, his eyes were looking to his right side. I picked him up and tried to get him to talk. He said, "I know, I know, I know, I know..." And then nothing. Reiss has never had a seizure before but I knew almost immediately when I saw his eyes going off to the right that he was seizing.

James grabbed Reiss and I got Milla and we headed for the hospital, which thankfully, is very close to our house. We ran stoplights, honked the horn almost non-stop, and at one point, even gave someone a yard job (in order to get past some people who had gotten in a fender bender) all in order to get to the hospital. By the time we got there, Reiss was not conscious and my heart was pounding.

Reiss seized for an "unusually long time" as we were told by the emergency room staff. I've never felt my heart breaking so entirely so quickly. I hate to think what could have been had we not recognized the level of seriousness of the situation or had we - God forbid - gotten in an accident ourselves on the way to the hospital. Or had we even called 911 and waited on an ambulance, rather than drive ourselves. Time really was of the essence here and none of it could be wasted waiting on others.

Without giving the minute details of the entire situation, suffice it to say that James did not have the best Father's Day.

Today is Reiss' birthday. Our big boy is four years old. Today has not been the ideal day of what I had planned for his birthday. Originally, we were going to take Reiss to an indoor waterslide park until I researched a few of them in the area, only to learn that Reiss does not meet the height requirement for getting on the waterslides. He could have played in the toddler area but when we factored in the cost and the limited attractions he would be allowed to play on, we decided perhaps next year would be a better time to take him to such a place.

We then decided to take Reiss to a part of downtown Indianapolis that has been restored to serve as a family-oriented tourist attraction. Indianapolis has an old canal that runs partially through the city. We were going to take Reiss to walk along the canal and go for a gondola or paddle boat ride. Saturday evening I was going to make Reiss a special gluten-free, casein-free cake that would serve as his birthday cake.

None of the plans I had happened.

Yesterday, Reiss was unable to walk on his own. His speech was slurred. He was so tired and cranky from the physically draining seizure ordeal, all the medications pumped into his little body, and lack of sleep that he cried almost non-stop Saturday evening and Sunday. In the wee hours of Sunday morning, Reiss was still awake until 3:30am, when we finally okayed the administration of Benadryl to relax him. They would not sedate him and they do not use or approve of our natural method of using melatonin in aiding sleep. We didn't really want them to sedate him or use Benadryl to get him to sleep but he was not going to go to sleep any other way. Total and complete exhaustion was not making him fall asleep.

Fortunately, Reiss is doing much better today. James stayed home from work as a precaution though. Reiss is walking fine, talking fine, and with the exception of being a bit more hyper than his normal self, he is back to being the Reiss we know and love.