Friday, 13 September 2013

Toddler in Traction - A Mum's Survival Kit

I posted earlier this week about Dylan's survival kit for the four weeks we spent in hospital whilst his leg was on the mend, but now I am going to share mine.  For four weeks I slept on a pull out chair, and every night that I was there, so was Archie. As a breastfed baby he is too reliant on me to stay anywhere else and is still fed in the night so we had a rather cosy cubicle.

I could not have survived the month without my friends and family.  Every single visit, for however long made such a difference to our day and I am forever grateful to my Dad who drove up on his lunch break every single day to bring me a sandwich and let me get some fresh air.  Being stuck inside 24 hours a day means every little break is so important, even if it was just a wander up to the canteen.

I am a strong believer that chocolate is its own food group and it was my secret treat and guilty pleasure during our stay on the children's ward.  There were only a few minutes a day when both boys were asleep and I was not and I made the most of them with the help of some Dairy Milk.  Never underestimate the power of chocolate!


I was sent a beautiful baby friendly necklace from the people at Babyologie and this really cheered me up.  It was lovely to get something for me and it was perfect for keeping Archie occupied.  He has taken quite a shine to it and will happily sit on my lap for ages just playing and chewing it which was great for when I needed to do something with Dylan. 


Twitter was always there when I needed to talk to someone and I had so much support.  It was great to know that at the press of a button I could talk to an adult at any time day or night and I had some great advice too.  It can be very isolating stuck in a children's ward (especially when the other children and parents in our room didn't speak any English) so it was lovely to have this connection to the outside world.

The last part of my survival kit is my attitude.  I decided early on that there was no point stressing, wishing I was anywhere else or getting upset.  My job was to be strong for my boys and I tried my hardest to make sure that we had a good time.  I rested when I could, took people up on their offers and indulged myself whenever I needed it.  I really think that positive thinking goes a long way and despite the professionals quoting us 5-8 weeks, we were out within four and free to enjoy the rest of the summer.




Disclaimer:  I was sent this necklace as a gift from a company that sympathised with our stay rather than as a review.  I would buy it ten times over though as it is the only teething necklace Archie wants and it looks gorgeous with near enough everything!







5 comments:

  1. we all need a good survival kit to keep us going!

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  2. Sounds like a really brilliant survival kit. I hope your boy is all better now. I know from experience how exhausting it can be when a small child is ill and in hospital for so long. And Twitter always feels like an instant lifeline doesn't it?

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  3. yep never underestimate the power of chocolate!

    The necklace looks great - will look it up :)

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  4. Chocolate is the best! When my girls were in hospital a few years ago I classed a chocolate bar as a meal some days....lol

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  5. What a great idea! I need a survival kit too!

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