Autistic boy and mother kicked off flight!!!!

Here's a link to the story...
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=6223045

I am not sure why this particular incident has me so upset but I imagine its because I know that could have been me and David so many times! I know how hard it is for everyone on the plane when there is a child who is not behaving well but that has never been an issue until the last year or two when suddenly some flight crews feel that they have the right to judge and punish those who are not behaving perfectly.

From what I have read, I don't think the mother disclosed to them that her son was autistic. That MIGHT have made a difference but probably not. The flight crew sounds like they probably wouldn't have cared. This whole situation just has me all worked up. I have been thinking back to all the times I've flown with David that this could have happened to us. We've been blessed with kind or at least tolerant flight crews in our experiences but that doesn't guarantee that will always be the case.

I can think back to the first time David flew... He was 4 1/2 months old and he screamed the entire flight! I tried everything I could think of: bottle, diaper change, pacifier, walking and bouncing, shushing, etc. He would not stop. He wasn't even slightly affected by my attempts. In fact, now that I know he has Fragile X, he probably was just made more agitated by my efforts. Finally a woman on the flight came up and asked if she could take him for a bit. I gladly let her have a go at calming him. Then a woman across the aisle from me told me she would have done the same but she didn't think I'd let her have him since I didn't know her. My response was, "Well, I'm exhausted and besides, where's she gonna go with him? We're on a plane in the air and I can see him from my seat." She agreed that was true and we talked a bit about flying with a fussy baby. We were flying to Utah for Hogi Yogi corporate training. The flight home was mostly uneventful.

The next experience I can remember vividly was when David was 19 months old. We were flying from Fresno to Salt Lake City for Doug's sister, Bente's wedding. It was December so it was cold and snowy in Utah at the time. We were seated in the very last row of the plane, right next to the lavatory. Now most people would think that was the worst seat on the plane but to be completely honest, it was extremely convenient. David was restless on the flight but we had tons of toys and books and snacks to try to keep him occupied. The flight was relatively short at 2 hours but that's a long 2 hours with a fussy toddler! Until just a few years ago, David was always vomitting when he felt anxious or upset. He also did it when he got crying or laughing too hard. We had to really be careful with that but sometimes we couldn't stop him. So the flight attendant was so nice and kept coming back to check on us and him. She brought him extra snacks (cookies) to make him happy (a huge mistake in hindsight) and he seemed to be doing really well until the last 30 minutes or so. He went from fine to total meltdown in about 5 seconds and was crying and screaming so hard that we were just trying to calm him down in fear that he would throw up all over the plane. He was already in his spare outfit after a previous accident before the flight so we had nothing else to put on him if his clothes got dirty. Well, he eventually did vomit all over himself and the seat and his booster seat and everything. It was horrible! I felt so embarrassed! The flight attendant was right there with large garbage sacks for us to put his clothes in and his booster seat in. She helped me clean up the seats and everything while Doug cleaned up David and stripped him down to his diaper. We changed his diaper and then wrapped him in a blanket, which did not escape the vomit completely but enough to be wiped off and used to keep him warm until we could get our suitcases and dress him again. I was amazed at the compassion from the flight crew and also the other passengers. They could all have easily looked at us with scorn because of what had happened. Let me assure you, the smell spread all the way to the very front of the plane. It was that bad! But everyone was so kind and helpful. We were blessed that way. We did get some odd looks from other patrons once inside the airport. Afterall, we had an 18month old baby wearing only a diaper and a blanket wrapped around him in December in Salt Lake City!

I know that we've had some people give us nasty looks or make rude comments over the years, not just on flights but also just out in public together but for the most part we've experienced a lot of kindness too. I really feel for the mother of that autistic boy. They should not have been treated the way they were. They flight crew is supposed to "ATTEND" to their guests on the flight and HELP them, not yell at them and humiliate them and kick them off the plane! There's just no excuse for the behavior of that flight crew and I hope that they realize just how wrong they were. I understand that it's important to try to control your children and keep them quiet out of respect for other passengers on the flight but that is not always withing a parent's control, not completely at least. You just do your best. I hope that people will learn from this incident and that they can learn to be more caring in the future.

I WON! I WON! I WON!

I won the contest on Jenna's blog For the Love of Baby! I'm so excited to receive my prize!!! Thanks Jenna!!!!! Big fat cyber hugs to you!!!!!

Avon "Berry Nice" Feet Giveaway!!!!

You can go to my friend Jenna's blog at http://kelsiesmommy.blogspot.com/2008/06/berry-nice-feet-giveaway.html and enter her giveaway to receive this awesome foot pampering giveaway! There are several ways to enter! Good luck to all!

The time has come for more LOLcats!

I know my addiction to these is somewhat disturbing but I can't help it! They are so cute and funny!!!! Enjoy! If you want to see more go to http://www.icanhascheezburger.com/!

Speaking of first born...David's 9th Birthday!!!!

Happy Birthday David!

He's getting to be so big and grown up! How much progress we've made! We had two celebrations with him this year plus he got a party at school too! Thursday afternoon, the day before his real birthday, grandma and grandpa, Meagan and Nathan, and Mandy all came over to give him their presents for him and to have birthday cake. He loves his presents! He got a brand new bike which he is excited about, we just have to see if his special extra heavy duty training wheels will fit on it! He also got a couple of new outfits and Spiderman & Wolverine walkie talkies from Grandma & Grandpa! He and Nathan have been running aroung with those ever since although they haven't figured out that they have to push the button if they want to talk to each other and they have to let go of the button if they want to hear each other talking! LOL! We had ice cream cake and he even let us sing happy birthday to him! We asked him if it was ok if we sang quietly and he said sure so we did and he handled it great! He didn't cover his ears or cry or anything! He did so great! Here's pics from Thursday!

Then on Friday, May 30, we had a family celebration. We made David's favorite dinner, chickens and french fries! LOL! Then we opened presents. He got a new outfit from mom and dad and 2 new games. Nathan gave him a racecar computer game. Jonathan gave him an atm machine that counts his money when he puts it in except he keeps putting all the money in and then opening it up with his atm card and taking it all out(which does not zero out the total) and then putting it all back in again! He had around $7 in change and he had the total on that thing up to almost $80 by the end of the night! LOL! He also got his much anticipated Ben 10 omnitrix "watch"! He was so excited! He's been waiting for it since Nathan got one for his birthday back in February! We had a Superman cake and he loved it. Again, we asked if we could sing Happy Birthday to him and he said "yeah but soft ok?" We said ok and that's what we did. He smiled, he posed for pictures without putting things in front of his face! It was a wonderful birthday! I feel like this is the first time he has totally enjoyed his birthday completely. That's a wonderful feeling as a mom to know that your child has enjoyed his special day! Enjoy all the pics!

First Born

I've been tagged, yet again. Thanks a lot Nicki! :)



1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? yes and no, sorta but not exactly

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? yes

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? excited, then panicked(see question 6)

4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU? never even entered my mind, no way

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 20 (21 when he was born)

6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? home pregnancy test, I had been sick with diarrhea for several days and was taking all kinds of medicines to get rid of it and I finally realized I was late so I took a test and it was positive.

7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Doug. I wanted to do something really fun and cute like wrap up a little baby toy and give it to him or something like that but he came home from work early and as soon as I saw him I just blurted it out! LOL!

8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? I always thought I'd want to wait and be surprised but once I was actually pregnant, I couldn't wait to find out!

9. DUE DATE? June 6, 1999

10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? does constant diarrhea count? If so then yeah I had that for about the first 2 months. I had to eat the most bland foods during that time to keep it under control! TMI sorry!

11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? watermelon, strawberries, applebees oriental chicken salad and chocolate shakes

12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? One of my coworkers who overheard me on the phone with a family member and decided to share MY news with the entire office! I was not happy with her for that!

13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? boy

14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? Well, Doug's brothers kept insisting that "we don't have girls in this family" so I was really wanting a girl just to prove them wrong so I was a little disappointed at first but then I was excited. I really didn't care that much to be honest.

15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT YOUR PREGNANCY? 30lbs exactly

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? I think I had 3, 2 before he was born and 1 after he was born.

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? I knew about all of them

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? I had some spotting and contractions around 28 weeks. The dr put me on partial bedrest and that was about it. I also got a horrible stomach flu at one point and had to go the hospital to get fluids and nausea meds. Not fun!

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, Utah and dang it I missed out on their brand new birthing suites by only a few weeks! Oh well!

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? Started contracting weeks before but I was induced on May 29. They started the pitocin around 7:30am and I labored, including pushing, for almost 9 1/2 hours, when I finally got to meet my prescious baby boy at 2:52am. I will always remember that time for some reason, it just sticks with me. I think I looked right at the clock when he was born and I just have always remembered it exactly. 2:52am.

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? My sweetie of course, Doug, who, by the way, the nurses kept bringing him meals while I was in labor and starving and he was such a picky eater that he'd send it all back, untouched! I was so jealous!

22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Doug (and the dr and nurses of course), my mom and Doug's mom, Lana were right outside the door and came in as soon as he was born though!

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? natural, tearing and all. fun fun fun.

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? I was dead set against having an epidural. I was young and had it in my head that women have been giving birth for thousands of years without it so I could too and I was gonna do it. I was gonna prove to Doug (who was skeptical of my decision based on the fact that I am a complete wimp) and to myself that I could do it. However, I did not expect to progress so incredibly slowly and I did not expect any contraction to last 5 minutes OR 10 minutes like the few I experienced. AFter 12 hours the nurse asked me again for about the millionth time if I wanted and epidural. I finally said ok but I asked her to check me one more time before they did it. I had been at 4cm for hours and I was thinking in my head that if she said I was even at a 4+ I would wait but I was still at 4cm, no change in hours so I let them do it. I was so exhausted and in so much pain that I just didn't even care about the whole thing. It helped although it didn't take all the pain away which I later discovered I liked better than not feeling anything at all. My friend asked me later what it was like before versus after the epidural. The best way I could think to describe it to her was that I went from feeling like I was being run over by a semi truck to being run over by a pick-up truck. Don't know where I came up with that analogy but that's what I told her. I later learned that I preferred feeling something because it was so satisfying to feel that urge to push and to feel the pushes doing what they were supposed to do and to feel myself pushing that baby out of my body. Giving birth is horribly painful and yes so incredibly magical.

25. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 8lbs 2oz

26. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN? May 30, 1999 at 2:52am

27. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? David Isaac Wright (named David after his deceased grandfather David Lee Wright) and if I do say so myself, never having met my father-in-law, only heard the stories, I think my sweet boy does his Grandpa Wright proud!

28. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? David will be 9 years old on Friday(less than 2 full days from now) So that makes him exactly 8 years, 11 months and 28 days old. Now I'm crying dang it! I can't believe he's getting so old and so big! He's gonna be taller than me before I know it! ~SIGH~


OK. I am tagging:

Beth AKA FXSmom
Melissa Dixon
Danika Park
Mom AKA Laura Pace (time to finish your blog mom! love you!)
Melissa Pace
Sarah Sorrill

Love you all and want to hear your stories!

Tales of stress fractures and hospital visits

Well, it's been a very busy couple of weeks for me. About 2 1/2 weeks ago I started to feel a certain pain in my right calf and there was a noticeable lump there. At first I thought of Deep Vein Thrombosis but that I thought that was a bit extreme to jump right to that conclusion so the I got thinking that maybe my Fibromyalgia was just progressing and that this was a new symptom I hadn't had before. However, after about 4 days it didn't change at all and there was still a lump in my calf that I could feel, it wasn't getting better, so I decided to call the dr and try to get in to see him. They couldn't get me in until the next day. Dr was thinking it might be a blood clot or a cyst of some sort so he ordered several different blood tests and and ultrasound. All the blood tests came back normal and the ultrasound did not show anything abnormal either so he then ordered an x-ray and an MRI. I had the x-ray and it was perfect. Then I had the MRI on Wednesday morning this week. They said it would take about 2 days to get the results back to the dr but, while I was at David's triennial IEP meeting, the dr's office called and talked to Doug. He said the good news was that they knew what was wrong with my leg finally. Turns out that the MRI showed a stress fracture about 2-3 inches below my knee. We saw the ortho dr on Thursday and he confirmed the stress fracture. None of us can figure out how this happened but it's there so I guess it doesn't really matter at this point. Due to the location, he said a walking cast (boot) wouldn't help at all and might even cause more damage because it would only go up to just below my knee which would not be high enough to help the fracture due to it's location. He even said that it might even make it worse because the weight of the boot could cause the bone to grind together rather than healing. The alternatives were either a full leg cast that would go almost all the way up almost to my hip or to simply use crutches or a walker and stay off of it as much as possible for at least 3 weeks. I am supposed to go in in 3 weeks to have a new x-ray done. He said that it didn't show on the x-ray because it was too "fresh". He said that it won't show on an x-ray until it starts to heal a bit so he said that if it doesn't show any healing or enough healing at that time then we will have to talk about doing the full leg cast. Yay. (note sarcasm)

So I went and had to get some crutches but apparently I do not have the coordination to use both of them so I just use one on the side that is injured and it helps to keep the pressure off of it.

Then this morning I woke up around 3:30 or so with really bad stomach pains, kinda like cramping but it was constant. I had to get up and get the kids ready for school and get Jonathan fed and everything and I barely made it through all of that. I thought maybe if I ate soemthing it would go away so I ate a bowl of Rice Krispies but that didn't help at all. I think I actually felt worse after that. I got David on the bus and drove Nathan to school. I had some crackers in my car so I tried eating some of those and it was ok but I was still in a lot of pain. I put Jonathan in his crib with a bottle and his crib toy and he was happy to play until he got tired. Then he just drank his bottle and went to sleep.

Doug had been over at the new house working on the tool/garden shed. He called me around 10:30am and I was in so much pain that I was in tears. He asked me if I needed to go to the hospital and I said that I thought I did so he headed home. Meanwhile I started making phone calls trying to find someone to watch Jonathan and pick Nathan up at school and then meet David's bus and watch them until we got home. Amanda came and took JJ and then went to pick up Nathan then she came back to our house and met David's bus.

So at the hospital, they gave me an iv and I think I must have been a little bit dehydrated because they had a hard time finding a good vein and they have never had a hard time with that for me before. They started fluids and gave me some meds for nausea because the pain was so intense it was making me pretty woozy. Eventually they gave me some dilodid (nice!)for the pain and that helped a lot. They also drew a ton of blood for tests. All the tests came back normal so then the dr added a few more tests for me but those were normal too. So, the dr said that he was going to send me home and said that if the stomach pains came back to come back and they would do a CT scan. I thought they should have just done itw while I was aleady. I got a nice little nap so that was nice. So since they couldn't find anything wrong, they were sending me home with instructions to drink plenty fluids and to rest. The dr said that if the pains come back to go back and they would do a CT scan. Hopefully they are gone and we will just wait and see wha happens. The dr gave a new prescription for pain meds for my leg.

Exciting, I know. They gave me another dose of dilodid before I left so I would feel a little better. Anyway so that's what's going on here. So far the stomach is feeling tons better. Lana comes tomorrow and she will help me with everything. Thanks for reading! Anyway, I'm fallig asleep so I'm off. More later...