Shep woke up this morning with his tic going crazy. It was pretty much constant. One after another after another. We went out to run a few quick errands, and it continued, appearing to sometimes interfere with his speech. My post-wedding nerves couldn't take any more, and we decided it was time to go back to Children's.

I know I was probably the Psycho Mom of the Day at the ER, but I told the physician we'd really love a test of some kind. My mental health was degrading and both Tom and I were logging sleepless nights. We had been informed that it could be a full month until we got in to see neurology. If I had to wait that long for some answers, you'd likely find me rocking in some corner by the appointment date. I just needed to know for sure we weren't dealing with something that was progressive and destructive.

They offered us a CAT scan, which I jumped on immediately. The first run didn't take, since Shep was too wiggly, but the second try yielded success and a massive promise of ice cream after we left the hospital.

Good news. ALL CLEAR. No sign of tumors, cysts, lesions, or any other abnormalities.

So the best scenario is that this is an isolated incident, and once it stops, it will be gone for good. Worst case scenario, we'll end up with Tourette's. Somewhere in between is that these tics will crop up periodically, and it'll be something we deal with as they occur. No matter what, all these options are far better than any of the things that have been filling my dreams for the past few nights.

I now I can sleep, happily snoring next to my Psycho Mom hat.

It's been a long day.

Shep started doing this funny half-yawn thing yesterday. By this morning it had evolved into a full-blown facial tic, with his eyes squinting shut and his mouth popping open. He's doing it on a pretty continual basis, every 10-20 seconds or so. It was weird enough that Tom and I packed him up and headed to Children's. No need to mess around with the pediatrician, who would inevitably send us to the next level for evaluation.

Long story short, after three hours in a very small room, they've given him the diagnosis of transient tic disorder. This seems to mean that he developed some tic, they don't really know why, but they're fairly certain it will go away in the next month or so.

We have a follow-up appointment with a neurologist, which is good. I want someone who spends his whole day looking at kids with these same things to look at Shep and say, "Yup…that's what it is. He'll be fine." We've had a handful of friends with bigger issues, and it reminds me not to be complacent when it comes to my child's health and well-being.

It's hard to look at his little face contorting and moving without his initiating it. It's that helpless feeling you have as a parent. I just want to reach into his head and hit the off switch on whatever neurons are misfiring. The upside is that he doesn't seem to know he's doing it, it doesn't seem to happen when he eats and sleeps, and it doesn't seem to bother him.

I know this seems all gloomy and glass half-empty. It's really not. The prognosis seems just fine at the moment. It's just…ugh. I just want him to be back to normal so I can stop fretting.