BiographyIsabelle is our rainbow baby. She has two older brothers (Corey and Felix) who are both autistic and dyslexic and Felix also has ADHD. She also had a sister named Pippa who sadly passed in Nov 2021 at 20 weeks, she was due March 2022. Finding out I was pregnant with Izzy when Pippa was due felt like fate.
Sadly the pregnancy wasn't much fun, I was older so my body didn't cope well and the stress of losing her made me an absolute wreck. I didn't enjoy it at all and suffered massive panic attacks even at the thought of going to appointments. I had to be monitored and have scans monthly but thankfully Izzy was fine! I ended up being booked in to be induced as they were concerned about pre eclampsia (I've had it every pregnancy and every labour I've had has been traumatic), and was induced 3 times over 3 days before they finally broke my waters and within 20mins of them doing that she had arrived. It was horrible, they let us hold her for a moment then whisked her off to NICU and hooked her up to this machine. She spent a week in NICU on breathing machines, antibiotics etc and had to have her stomach pumped. But she was a fighter and we finally came home!
She was an absolutely tiny little thing! Very very snuggly and smiley and just content to watch the world around her. As she grew so did her personality which is big! She's very very high maintenance, she can go from quietly watching the world to fully demanding everything is her way or no way. But she is very very loving, very happy and just such a sweet little thing. She loves her dad and loves animals. She loves singing and nursery rhymes. She's very girly!
I first noticed things when she was coming up to the age of one. She didn't speak, she started to repeat words you said but never used them independently and I felt like this was echolalia. She would play very repetitively and by just putting things in containers. She would have melt downs when things weren't her way and we very quickly noticed she had routines and systems for how she wanted things done or how you played with her. As she got older she still didn't speak, she babbled and said the odd word but didn't speak but would mimic songs. She would watch people and then mimic them scarily perfect. We call her high maintenance but she is very very controlling and particular with how she interacts or does anything. She started lining up toys, she started zoning out a lot, her melt downs increased to the point she would just drop and not even attempt to stop herself, resulting in injuries like chipped/broken teeth etc. she kicks off when we leave the house until she knows where she's going, she runs away, she won't hold hands or let me touch her unless she has asked for it. Her beautiful hair is a nightmare as she cannot bear anyone touching it let alone brushing it. She doesn't really eat much and what she does eat is very strict, she pulls food apart a lot and also doesn't seem to drink much but will drink milk till it's coming out her ears! After having two boys on the spectrum I had a gut feeling but it was difficult to explain as she's very different to them. We went to our two year check and thankfully the health visitor could see what I meant and even noticed things I didn't.
She now sees a speech therapist who also helps with her socialising. She sees an occupational therapist. She goes to groups and she goes to the children's development department. They have said autism but we are going through the motions to see if there's anything else (my middle son has ADHD as well as autism).
So yeah that's our Izzy! She's gorgeous, knows what she wants, has melt downs that will question a lot of your life choices!! But she also is the most caring, loving little girl you will ever meet with a smile that just lights up the room!
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