The Beginning Of Our Journey

I know I posted an introduction of who I am, but let me tell you how we began our journey into the world of Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD).

As a first time mom, I just thought I had a REALLY needy baby. Zach wanted to be held ALL the time. I had to carry him around in a carrier to get anything done during the day. Even basic needs like brushing my teeth. After the first couple months this wasn't really possible for me because he was too heavy for me to do this with because of my own health issues. Zach wanted almost constant attention. As a couple, my husband and I hit that one day where he came home from work and asked the question, "What did you do all day?" It was a bit of a sore spot with both of us. When Zach was 4 months old I had my wisdom teeth out, and my husband saw what I did all day. I was then he truly understood after almost 4 solid days of basically being a single dad, since I was down and out from the wisdom teeth procedure, that Zach just did not let you get anything done.

Enter the toddler years. Zach was a very physical baby. He learned how to climb before he could even walk. Talking was still in caveman grunts and points. He was in a home daycare setting at this point because I had to go back to work. This is when we really noticed how physical he was. He pushed, shoved, bit, hit, you name it. Whatever it took to get his own way. The pediatrician said it was just a phase and he'd outgrow it as his language skills developed. I had my doubts. I just had a feeling he was different.

During the preschool years we had the same issues. Also at this point we had to factor in environment. We had just relocated to a new area, I was back to being a SAHM, and my husband was deployed. Zach had been a Daddy's boy since birth, so this was especially hard on him. It was at this point I FINALLY was able to get a referral to a child psychologist. Our family doctor finally agreed with me that this was more than just a passing phase.

This is where we start attending group therapy, which will be my next post. The point of this post is to tell you our story and also to tell you parents to trust your instincts. I knew around 15-18 months old Zach was different than other kids even though he was my first. It took us until he was 3 1/2 to finally get a referral to the specialist we needed.