Preparing for Quinn, however, took a lot of effort. I am not talking about a lot of trips to Babies R Us. I am talking about being physically, mentally and environmentally ready for Quinn to join us. Because I already had Kai who has an autism spectrum diagnosis, I had to take as many preparations as possible to ensure that the things I could control were under control: my body and the environment in which Quinn would live. This was important. Kai's blood tests and urine toxic metals test showed elevated levels of mercury, thallium, tin, aluminum, and arsenic. This meant that Kai's body could not naturally detox itself from all of these chemicals we all come into contact with daily. If there was any chance Quinn's would be the same, we were going to take every precaution to make sure his exposure was significantly minimized.
I visited the holistic doctor who was then treating Kai. I tested myself for toxic metals and even did several rounds of chelation. Gasp! My levels were normal or as the doctor put it, I " had as many metals as any human being who had been walking on this earth for thirty-something years had." We slowly changed our way of living to exclude harsh chemicals from our daily lives and got used to doing things differently. We started in the kitchen. We reduced the use of the microwave, stopped storing items in plastic, got rid of aluminum foil, started using glass and wax paper. More importantly, we changed our diet to consist mostly of organic foods. Quinn would have glass bottles, and everything else would be BPA free and free of anything else that would be considered toxic.
We painted his room in a zero VOC Sherwin Williams paint and allowed daily periods to air out anything left in his room by opening the windows. Additionally, we invested in several air purifiers to put in his nursery and throughout the house. His crib was made of solid wood and painted with non-toxic paint. We passed on any area rugs for his room because those tend to be highly toxic to any environment.
Once that was done, we found ALL ORGANIC fitted sheets, crib mattress, swing, bassinet, bassinet sheets and the bassinet mattress! Phew! That was a pain to search for and choose! It's not that we don't want him to live in the real world. He is going to be already exposed to all of the crap in our environment every single day. Why add even more environmental insult to a potential genetic predisposition we can somewhat control?
As for me, I took my prenatal vitamins, avoided ALL fish (no matter just how low the mercury levels were) and stayed as healthy as I could. I had a fantastic pregnancy with no complications and somehow only gained 13 pounds (maybe the extra 10 I had going into this was a factor?).
One of my best friends held a baby shower for us: a gorgeous, glorious green-themed shower and that set the tone. We were now officially ready to meet Quinn. Will he beat the odds and escape autism? I don't know. I do know that I will do my damn very best to try! I will journal his journey in this world. His quest, against all odds.
