There have been quite a few yawns at the Schusted household this past week. For some reason, Cole's sleep habits are on a rapid decline. We've been fighting the sleep battle for quite some time, but it's now getting to the point where it's out of hand.
We used to have a problem getting Cole to sleep. It was not unusual for us to have a two hour ordeal just to get him to stay in his bedroom and fall asleep for the night. We endured that for several months before trying Melatonin. Melatonin is a natural sleep aid that our doctor recommended to us. It has been a miracle worker for us. We grind up the pill each night, put it inside a Mint Oreo cookie and a half hour later, Cole is laying in bed and out for the count.
The down side of Melatonin is that it will get Cole to sleep but it doesn't keep him asleep. For the past 4-6 months, Cole has been getting up multiple times during the night. Usually he wants us to change the movie in his DVD player. I should back up here. Cole needs to have a movie playing in order to sleep. We were desperate prior to Melatonin and one night offered him a movie to fall asleep. Cole called this 'movie rest'. It took one night and now Cole needs his movie rest every night, all night long. This is one of the tough things about Autism... you do something one time and there is no breaking away from it. Believe me, if we could, we would.
The past month or so, Cole has literally been getting up 6-12 times per night. Pat and I 'graciously' take turns changing Cole's movie, getting his juice, etc. We are lucky that he usually rolls over and falls right back to sleep. Only a few times has he turned on our light and said "Good Morning Mommy" when it's 1:18am. Regardless of what Cole needs or does when he wakes up at night, Pat and I are not sleeping. We are exhausted and frustrated. It's getting harder and harder to function.
This past Monday topped the cake. Cole went to bed well and we soon followed. It didn't last long. Cole was up for the "day" at 11:30pm... yes 11:30pm. We could not get him back to sleep no matter how hard we tried. We took turns changing movies, snuggling, turning off his light, asking him to stop kicking the wall, etc. It was nearly impossible to remain calm and patient. And it lasted until 5:45am. Pat had to work the next day and I was volunteering at Connor's school all day. Cole himself had a full day of therapy. I couldn't believe this was happening. Cole finally fell asleep around 5:45, but I had to get him up for the day at 7am. He cooperated and went on Care Cab. His therapists said he had a good day, I'm not sure how. I felt and looked like a walking zombie.
I called Cole's Autism doctor right away in the morning. We finally connected on Tuesday. He agreed to give us a prescription medication that should help Cole stay asleep. The good thing is we can crush this medication into the Melatonin pill, so Cole should take it with ease. He has taken it for two nights now. The medication takes a little time to actually work so the verdict is still out. The past two nights have gone better. It's amazing how getting up only 2-4 times a night is a good night's sleep! Lets hope the new medication does what it's supposed to, with no negative sided affects.
On a positive note, Cole has made us smile so much this week. Here are just a few things that we cherished from this past week:
-COLE WILL CELEBRATE HIS SIX WEEK ANNIVERSARY OF WEARING UNDIES ON SATURDAY!!! Way to go Cole!!!
-His Youtube.com typing skills continue to improve. Just tonight he typed in "roller coaster big hill", without any assistance!!
- He also knows how to work Skype better than we do. Thank God or we would not be able to successfully Skype with Katie in the Netherlands!!
-Cole has had so much fun listening to music with his rocker brother, Connor. Connor taught Cole how to count into a song (1,2,3,4) before it starts, and to play the air drums.
- I checked on Cole while he was going poop in the potty. I came in to make sure he flushed, etc. He said to me, "Uh oh, toilet is BIG. Toilet is BIG." I looked and he had clogged the toilet (Pat would be proud!). I laughed and told him, "That's ok Cole, Mommy will fix it!"
- We've been reading his daily progress reports from MAC Therapy. Cole is making huge strides at MAC. We are so proud of him and can't wait for his progress meeting in a month or so.
- Cole has a date with his PCA, Alli, on Saturday. He only gets to see her once a month and he is beyond excited. He has grand plans for the day. He knew he would see Alli in March. He has asked me every day since March 1st, "Cole see Alli today?!"
- Cole has been asking for Heath to pick him up from MAC. Heath is a worker from Cole's respite house. I was happy to hear this, it tells me Cole is likes his respite house and is looking forward to his stay there next week!
-Cole sat on the couch tonight and snuggled me for about 15 minutes- there is nothing better than that!
-We had a successful family night at Chuck E Cheese last weekend. Cole did so great. He chose his own games and put the tokens in himself. He was so well-behaved and easy to keep track of. That is huge progress for us. 18 months ago, we swore we would never go there again. We also took him to the fireplace store (with the help of my mom). We were able to be in the store for nearly an hour!!!
As you can see, we truly cherish the little things with Cole. He brings such a beautiful perspective to life and we acknowledge and appreciate all of his accomplishments, both big and small. Thanks for being you Cole, you make my heart fill with immense joy and pride. I love you to the moon and back (and then some).
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