Eight days after being overdue to have Maxwell the doctor called and gave the date for me to be induced to have Max. I was anxious as any pregnant lady would be to deliver and hold my new baby. After a day of intense induced labor and with no pain medication I delivered a handsome boy who weighed 8 lbs. 11oz and was 22 inches long. His sky blue eyes connected with mine within 24 hours after delivery. His smooth blonde hair covered his head perfectly. He was perfect with no indication that he had autism. When we arrived home his four siblings gathered around him to see their new baby brother and our family life went back to normal. Nine days later Max came down with a horrible eye infection. We took him to the doctor and they admitted him to the hospital. Needles were put in him as if he was a pin cushion. My heart sunk when I watched them perform a spinal tap on him. They were positive he had meningitis and felt he needed to stay in the hospital to receive an IV of antibiotics and I too had to stay because he was breastfeed.
Never did I think those days in the hospital were the start of many more visits not just to a doctors but for therapies. Max never slept and his scream was a hourly accurate. The only way to get him to sleep was to roll him up like a burrito in a large blanket and rock him. He would sleep for a hour or two and then he would have enough energy to scream for hours. He displayed behaviors none of my other babies showed. I was concerned.
Between the ages of two and three Max's favorite place to be was in our dryer, he mastered the art of darning off into the street or out our front door whenever we opened it. He could climb up on anything and he loved to sit on the kitchen table. When he was a toddler he was unable to communicate and would scream when he wanted something. He didn't have eye contact and he loved to line his hot wheels cars on the kitchen counter and if we moved them he would have a meltdown.
Max taught me how to have patience, not to judge and to love unconditionally. His habits were ones I thought I had mastered from having four older children, but I was wrong, because his habits were extreme, from the time he put his hand through our living room window shattering glass all because he wanted to go outside. He was not capable to use words to express what he wanted. He broke, shredded, dropped, and smeared anything he could. He would pull his father's ironed dress shirts off the hangers while he sat in my closet.
When Max was little he carried a horseshoe with him everywhere. If he couldn't find it the house had to be torn upside down until we found it. He loved to wear his black cowboy hat and cowboy boots everywhere. He didn't care what others thought of him with his black cowhide vest on. I thought often why can't I be like Max and be who I want to be and not like everyone wants me to be. I learned from Max that we need to dress and be what makes us feel comfortable.
I'm blessed to have Max even though its been difficult to understand how to best help him progress. He is honest, loving, kind, caring, friendly, happy, Christlike, and pure. He is truly amazing.
For those of you that have been a blessing in his life, thank you. Thank you for caring about Max and being his friend. When he was in high school a beautiful young lady in our church (ward) asked him to Morp. He thinks of her as a friend and often talks about how much fun he had going to Morp with her.
Special Olympics has been a blessing in Max's life. It helped him see his true passion with swimming. He craves the water and feels at relaxed when he swims.
The Gilbert High Swim coach give Max the strength and wisdom in improving his love for swimming. Max thinks Coach Kayes is the greatest. Then there is Max's energic SPICE teacher Mrs. King who inspire Max to work hard to achieve his dreams.
I can not believe that he is 21 now. How the years have passed so quick. I feel blessed to be his mom and have the journey of raising him.
