My kids have their first visitation today and this is killing me

Today is a really going to be difficult for me because the kids have their first visit with their mom since she moved out. Actually, they already left for their first visit. Don't get me wrong, I'm so glad that they can visit her because it's so important to have both parents in their lives. I truly, firmly believe that. At the very same time, I'm sitting in an empty, broken home and needing to stop my brain from trying to figure out what the fuck is happening. It sucks and I really wish things were different. I'm going to use the time to get some things done around the house and try to keep busy. The more I do that, the less time I have to think about my…

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It sucks but we’re doing okay-ish

Last night, we sat down with the boys and their therapist to tell them what was going on. They already knew that mommy had moved out but they hadn't heard from her what was going on or been able to ask questions. Doing this in the presence of their therapist made sure that they had all the support they needed. All things considered, it went well. The kids are kind of a mixed bag at the moment. It's still very new to them and it's really important that we get visits started ASAP. They're going to spend the night tomorrow and as far as I know, they're all excited about it. That's a good thing. 😊 We had a decent day today and I'm grateful for that. I kept pretty…

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“Blanket wrapping” is the new weighted blanket…

What is SafeBlanket?We use "safe blanket" in our hospital to help comfort children and adults with several "blanket wrapping" techniques. The SafeBlanket is a durable, functional heavy blanket used to wrap your loved one. The comforting and soothing effects of the pressure help calm patients quickly. We also use it to hold unusually combative patients during routine medication administration (e.g., injections, blood draws). I need your help to gain feedback. As a passionate member of the autism community, I could use your engagement. Please visit our website and drop your email to remain informed of our progress and leave direct feedback. www.safeblanket.comPeople are talking:"That sounds amazing. I have a medical condition that, combined with ASD, had me shaking and shaking. The only thing that would get it to stop was…

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Working to become the leader my family needs me to be

I know I'm so far behind and I'm not keeping up with this blog. It's never my intention to back away because it's an important part of helping me manage the stress in my life. Since the beginning, writing about our life, specifically from my perspective, has been therapeutic for me. I was able to write what I was feeling and then walk away, without having to carry the weight anymore. It's been largely successful and I'm so grateful that it also helps provide comfort to other families going through similar situations. There's a great deal going on in my life right now and writing is becoming more difficult for me on a number of levels. I'm trying to force myself to get back into the habit of writing a…

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Gavin did something pretty amazing tonight

I wanted to touch base and let you know that things are going pretty good at the moment. Gavin's appointment with immunology went well and he's had a pretty good day. In fact, Gavin's had an awesome day. The kids had therapy tonight and while we were there, we were trying to work through a disagreement with Elliott. It got a bit heated and Elliott expressed himself in a way that wasn't very respectful. We know he was frustrated but we still need to be respectful. It's a little bit harder for him but we just need to keep working on it. Elliott's rough time went on for about half an hour before Gavin, who was on the other side of the room with Emmett, just sorta snapped. He stood…

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#Autism parenting is all about progress not perfection

It's not a huge surprise that Gavin's appointment with his immunologist went well. These appointments rarely go poorly because he's monitored so closely on a weekly basis. Gavin sees his immunologist because he has Common Variable Immunodeficiency or CVID, which put simply, means he lives with a severely compromised immune system. This is a life threatening condition that has no cure. In order to stay healthy, he requires IVIG infusions twice a week and we do those at home. Today's appointment is a follow up. We have to physically check in about every six months and have special labs run. That assumes there aren't any problems between appointment. Anyway, everything went pretty well and Gavin was even able to answer most of the questions on his own. I only spoke…

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We’ve made it to immunology

Gavin and I made it to his appointment. We actually arrived thirty minutes early because there was absolutely zero traffic issues. That almost never happens. Usually, we leave early enough to allow ninety minutes for travel time. Today it only took about an hour because there was simply no stop and go traffic. Who'd of thunk it? Anyway, Lizze is home with the boys and hopefully Gavin and I will be on our way home before too long. I have a couple of stops along the way but we should be back in the early afternoon.

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