Meet Paige

1 week old

I’ll never forget that moment I learned of Paige’s existence. I was sitting at work when I got the call from our Foster Care Agency. A newborn baby girl was being discharged the next day from the hospital and was in need of a foster home. I was given little information on this baby and that was that. I called my husband to let him know. Then I called my good friend who was already a stay at home mom and had my freak out moment. “Help, what do I do, what do I need?!” She came to the store with me later that evening and I picked up a few essentials. Most moms get 9 months to prepare for their baby. I had less than 24 hours. The next day, early afternoon, Paige was brought to our home. A brand new baby girl, our first foster child experience, and another moment I will never forget. She was the tiniest, sweetest little baby I’d ever seen! We didn’t know how long she would be with us, but I knew I was going to enjoy every minute with this girl. When Paige was one, we finalized the adoption. Little did I know then how she would forever change my life and everything I thought I knew about parenting.

1yrs old

Paige was born drug addicted. She spent the first 8 days of her life in the NICU with secretion in her airways and multiple experiences of respiratory failure. It took us nearly a week to get the tape residue washed off that was all over her body. During her first month with us she was so ridgid, always clenching her fists till she was white knuckled, holding her knees up to her chest, fussy, had to be held in a certain position. That first month was rough as we watched her go through withdrawals. Early on I began taking her to get zoned (similar to reflexology) what a blessing that was! The color came back into her and she started stretching out more, becoming more relaxed, and wasn't as twitchy. Getting past the withdrawal stage was rough.  For a while, every two months, she would get really congested and get this horrible barking cough. It was like clockwork. It would last a couple weeks, with that lingering cough. She wasn't sick or contagious, but she would always get it. She spent many nights sleeping upright in a swing next to our bed.  To this day she still gets this congestion and that barking cough,but the time in between episodes is not as frequent.

Just before turning 3yrs old

Paige has always been an anxious child and very easily over stimulated. Coming down from that stimulation is rough. I remember so clearly the first time I noticed this - she was about 6mos old and my sister was in town visiting. We had some friends over for an evening of dinner and games. That was too much for Paige's little body. She became very agitated and fussy that evening and woke up crying about every 20 min.throughout the night. She just could not settle down. Busy social settings were hard for her. When she was 3yrs old, we started noticing the behavior issues that we were warned about that drug addicted children may start to develop. She also suffers from night terrors which I will talk about in a later post.

4yrs old

Early this year we got her in to The Children's Center to have her assessed.  She was diagnosed with anxiety disorder. We were told "this is the way she is wired, everything she feels in on such an intense level" and oh boy, is this ever true! She has it in her head the way something should be, and if that expectation is not immediately met, things turn ugly VERY quickly! Her world is turned upside down when she is not in control. When she is happy, she is HAPPY. And when she is upset, she is UPSET! she is like an erupting volcano, with no warning. She is either at a zero, nice and calm, and in under a split second, she has erupted to a 10. We put her in preschool as early as we could to get her socializing and to help learn how to socialize appropriately. We currently see her therapist twice a month and she attends a Therapeutic Preschool 5 days a week. She does really well when she is in a very structered setting. some days go well and other days can get rather overwhelming trying to keep up with her mood swings. I'm so thankful for her therapist and the tools we've been given to help her better express her needs and emotions. It is hard work every day keeping up with her emotions. she is such a sweet little girl with so much personality. I love when she shows us that sweet, loving, caring side of her.