The Verdict

I'm quite sure these last few days were delivered from hell.

Christian was doing so well! We were moving along, even working on some things that were never even attempted before that are now a possibility! And then Wednesday hit. Oh, Wednesday.

I last reported that Christian was crying every time he wasn't held. This turned into an all night thing. And then by Thursday, it was all day and all night to the point of being inconsolable

There was no fever, no throwing up, no warm foreheads, no snotty noses. Just crying and moaning and tears and carrying on...for hours...non stop. (At times like this I often wonder if scientists have ever done studies on the sanity of mothers and fathers who listen to nonstop crying for days and nights on end.)

We weren't sleeping. We were up at three and four in the morning. I was delirious. I didn't feel like I could leave the house. It was hell.

Yes, I love that Christian is responsive enough to cry. But this was different. This wasn't just an "I'm tired/I need to be snuggled" cry. This was a "something is wrong" cry.

Being the mother to a nonverbal child is little like being a detective. We have to look for a sign, any sign to figure out what the heck is going on. Seizure-wise he was doing okay, surprisingly. But he did have a few more than usual yesterday.

As a Keto-Mom (I was referred to as a Keto-Mom by another Keto-Mom and I like it so I'm adopting it), I am looking for signs in the diet to show me what went wrong. Because when you obtain any type of seizure control it is so fragile. A single gram of this or that, too many calories, too little calories, not enough medication, too much medication, you get the idea, can disrupt months of hard work.

Christian took his last dose of Sabril (his seizure med) on Tuesday. He's decreased by 2mLs every week until he was to be done. Just 2mL's! Not 10, not 5, just 2! So Tuesday is when this crying started so I immediately thought it was the 2mLs of Sabril. Really? IT'S JUST 2MLS!!!!

So I gave it back to him for a day. It seemed to sedate him enough to get some sleep. I also gave him some Keto-friendly Tylenol (half a tab of plain ol' adult Tylenol crushed w/ water) to help with any pain he might have.

We finally got some regular sleep Thursday night. And I don't think I communicated our issues correctly. It wasn't so much about the sleep as it was the sleepless nights, sleepless days, and crying through all of it that was the issue.

Yesterday, he was finally okay enough to venture out of this house. We went to a play date at the park and whoever thought play dates were for the kids just isn't in the know. Because I'm pretty sure play dates are for the sanity of the parents involved.

We had a great night sleeping last night, pretty much back to normal. He's not crying and carrying on anymore, other than some whining before bed last night.

So what's the verdict?

I was sure it was those pesky 2mL's of Sabril. I was certain of it! I mean I don't want him to be med free just to say Oh, us? Yeah, we're med free! If he needed meds, he needed meds. No big deal. Will it make him comfortable? Okay, sign us up!

But that wasn't it. And sometimes the answers are literally under our noses and very, very simple.

See, Christian has a gigantic mountain of a molar rising up under his swollen little gums. So normal. So simple.

I thought is maybe was a molar early on, but couldn't tell because Christian's gums are always swollen due to his mouth being open and not chewing food and all that. So it was hard to tell.

I guess after falling asleep with him on my lap almost every night this week and waking up in the wee hours of the morning with a soaked shirt courtesy of Christian's drooly mouth should have been a dead giveaway, huh? (I'm not exaggerating. My shirts were soaked through with drool from collar to bottom seem.)

This morning I rubbed his little mountain of a molar in the back of his mouth and he bit down on my finger and looked as if to say, "Awww, thanks Mom, that's what I needed."

Sorry I didn't figure it out sooner, son.