JUDGEMENT DAY

Back to school this week for Oscar and so far so good. Surprisingly enough we haven't been late yet! I have had to wake him most mornings though but as the term goes on I will let him sleep in. It is lovely dropping him off at school knowing he's happy and not completely exhausted like last year.  Actually Oscar had an amazing sleep last night. The first in many months. He is still itchy in the same places, although it's not getting worse or any better at this stage. 

Harry had a lovely couple of days feeling well. What a relief for us to see him playing, interacting with his brothers, smiling and singing! It's been a long time coming having a wee break through. He even woke up with white legs yesterday! They have since turned red again. It's amazing to watch how quickly his skin can change. A little girl at Oscar's school yesterday asked what the red was on Harry's legs. I said he has itchy ouchy skin and she replied telling me he looks sunburnt! She's so right! I sadly had a run in with a parent at Kindy yesterday too. A lady I met for the first time, a lady who absolutely has no idea how hard we have worked over the last five years to get our children well,  how many thousands of dollars we have spent on private specialists, dieticians, naturopaths, magic potions, supplements, creams, how many sleepless long nights we endure... How many tears we have cried for our boys- and how much we love our children.  Her complete ignorance to our situation shocked and upset me. From the moment we are pregnant we become a target for society to criticise and categorise us. The terrible mother who ate sushi while pregnant, the way in which we choose to birth our babies, the mother who offends the public by breastfeeding in the mall, the mother who didn't try hard enough to breastfeed, taking the supposed easy option of bottle feeding. Why are we so quick to judge other parents when it is none of our bloody business! I guess for the first time in my life I'm possibly looked upon as the neglectful mother, the uneducated irresponsible mother for not taking doctors orders! Topical Steroid withdrawal isn't recognised in NZ. This is a fact, however it doesn't mean it's not real.  There is so much overseas research happening right now into TSW which is fantastic, The USA are as always leading the way with research and development. I only hope it will be recognised here in NZ sooner rather than later, although pharmaceutical companies wouldn't agree with this statement.
We are all entitled to our own opinions and beliefs and if you don't believe in what we are doing is right for whatever reason, I accept that. However I do not accept rudeness, nastiness and right now with everything we have going on, we do not need the stress of this or to be challenged by anyone about what we are doing, whether it be family, friends or self opinionated mothers at kindy. We only want what's best for our boys and believe we are doing the right thing. We are under a specialist who knows we have chosen to not use topical steroids any longer and the boys doctor knows we are not using topical steroids, and we are working closely with Lisa Welbourne who runs an eczema clinic in Auckland called Rough Patch so we do have medical support. We are the experts of our children. Not a GP or specialist that sees us for a five minute appointment every few months. We will get our children well. We are not taking the easy road to do this but it is certainly the right road for our boys long term health.
A final thought for the day...
Don't judge what you don't understand.
Ok not so final words as I can't miss out telling everyone...
On a positive note we have had a proud parent moment that has to be acknowledged. Charlie has mastered riding his two wheeler bike for the first time. It was very precious watching his big smile and listening to his excited giggle. Harry has also figured out the balance bike too-sleeves and all!

We will have our own wee biker gang in no time!

Harry working out a new scratching technique....

Stoked to have mastered two wheels!!!

Harry learning the basics, sleeves and all!!