Well what a crazy year. Our year started on one massive high moving to Central Otago. This had been something we wanted for the last few years so for it to become a reality is fantastic for our family. It didn't take long for things to go downhill though for two of our wee men. The hardest thing for me this last year has been watching the boys in pain and not being able to take it away for them.
2015 is now in the past which means a new year, a fresh start. 2016 provides hope, this is something I will never give up on. This year will bring a year of happy, healthy children in our family- a year of feeling like a normal family!
I will reflect on a few things from the year. The compassion and empathy of friends, family and even people we don't know has been very touching. I have had many messages from people I don't know wishing the boys well and encouraging us to not give up. Oscar has even had little presents sent in the mail by very thoughtful and caring people.
2015 has challenged me to breaking point.. But I didn't break! I can whole heartedly write that there have been many nights where I wanted to give up, walk out the door and not come back. There were nights where I couldn't handle the boys scratching and itching, the noise would infuriate me to the point of yelling at whoever it was I was patting. Some of you might be thinking how could you yell at your child when they are not well and can't help being itchy. Night after night of listening to that dam hacking sound being as sleep deprived as we are, In a way is a form of torture...similar to the sound of scratching down a blackboard! Perhaps only a parent who has gone through this with their child will completely understand what I mean by this. In the big picture yelling at my children isn't really all that bad.. It could have been a whole lot worse!
I have learnt so much about my children. All three boys are resilient little fellas. The amount of hazy school days Oscar had and according to his teacher you would have never known that he had only a few hours of sleep. Far out- if that was an adult you can imagine the complaining they would be doing. Considering the year we have had I think we have three mostly happy and grounded wee boys.
2015 has proved to me how strong our marriage is. It feels like Andrew and I lead seperate lives. I know our children's health has to come first but when you don't even sleep in the same bed as your husband for over a year, I imagine this could take it's toll on some marriages. This has become our norm and it will be very strange when the time comes for us to sleep in the same bed again.
I started this blog in the hope of helping one other itchy family. If I could achieve this then it would be worth it. I have had many messages this year of people asking for advice or needing support. I'm certainly no expert and can only draw from our experience but being there for others on the same journey makes it not feel so lonely.
Thank you to everyone who has given up a little bit of their time to read our blog. It has meant so much to me that people are genuinely interested in wanting to know how the boys are doing.
A few acknowledgements to make-
Lisa Welbourne from 'Rough Patch'- Your support, knowledge and guidance has been huge in this journey. You have given up so much of your time for us. You are so caring and kind- thank you for everything and for caring about our boys.
I feel so lucky to have such an amazing husband. I wouldn't have been able to stay strong without you Andrew and most likely I would have fallen apart a long time ago! What a great team we are- We really would kick arse in an adventure race being so accustomed to no sleep! Xx
Oscar, Charlie and Harry-Aka 'Porka', I feel very blessed to have you little monkeys in my life. Some days I'm sure you tag team to try and drive me insane. It really would be so helpful boys if you tidied up your toys after pulling them out and leaving them scattered throughout the house and if you would all agree on a few meals that the three of you like-I just can't get meal times right no matter how hard I try! I love you boys so much. I'm looking forward to a fun year together. A year of healing so that we can move forward and continue to create happy childhood memories.
Happy New Year everyone -I hope it's a good one.
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