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Thursday 29 December 2011

A Christmas Crisis

Not sure we quite achieved joy and peace to all men, or babes this Christmas..

I don't want to create a misunderstanding, nothing was that bad, just a series of events which have led to this point to a sad boy, a poorly girl and a guilt ridden mummy.

We visited my sister in law, her husband and our niece the weekend before Christmas. Her poor little girl, the same age as my littlest- just 1 picked up a nasty virus and tummy bug. She was quite poorly the whole weekend that we were there, I kept my fingers crossed that our two would avoid the dreaded lurgy.
We came home, I managed 1 and a half days of work (on the busiest week of the year running up to Christmas) before the child minder phoned, Teeny Tiddler had a fever....
When I arrived he was clutching our childminder and gripping his beloved sheepey. Poor little man.
By Thursday he was quite poorly and by Friday his abscess had re-appeared and we had to take an emergency trip to the doctors. The doctors referred us to paediatrics in our local District General hospital where we arrived in the midst of chaos. The wards was full of norovirus and dehydrated children.

We were seen by paeds medics and surgeons who concluded that if Teeny was no better by Saturday (Christmas Eve) he might need surgery there and then to open the abscess.
I asked about food, even though he was vomiting he was still starving and I was told supper was at 6.30 (half an hour after his normal bedtime). The ward didn't have a bed for us so I did my best to create a calm environment in the middle of a busy paediatric admissions unit and put Teeny to bed at 6 (normal bedtime) only to be woken by the nurse to weigh him.... grrrrrr
Back to bed, another set of obs, a nappy check to check he had passed urine, antibiotics.....
He eventually fell asleep clutching sheepy, hot and bothered and I prepared myself for a night in the chair by his bed.

On shift change the nurse in charge quickly informed me that I shouldn't get comfortable because they still had to move us to his bed. At 10pm they moved him, fabulous time of night for a 1 year old who is poorly to be moved, I am afraid I got a little cross, especially when the nurse said "I'm sorry to disrupt your little routine" then promptly let him settle again and then bloody well woke him to do his obs!
It isn't as if I do not understand, I work in health care, I do understand but it seemed a crazy way to help babies get well.

We were moved into a room with a baby with a chest infection and he coughed all night, bless his heart, but both Teeny and I got very little sleep. Knackered the next day following a doctors round and surgical review the decided his surgery could wait til the New Year (hooray!) and if he ate and drank he could go home... Teeny promptly inhaled a piece of toast!

Discharged thanks to a fabulous nurse who had ordered our take home meds just in case at 2pm and arrived back to my mothers and picked up Trouble who literally clamped herself to me as I arrived and almost made me cry.

A lot of Christmas Chaos followed, a frenzy of wrapping, cooking and preparing and some wine to boot... finished just before Midnight. Stockings filled and collapsed into bed.
Christmas passed without much of a hitch, a little stress, a flopsy and tired Teeny and an over-excited Trouble who reached her peak of excitement and then gradual meltdown by about 11am!

Fast forward to 27th.....
Trouble told me she wasn't hungry at lunchtime. She ate a little with a fight but then wanted to watch Ben and Holly, I put it on and left my sister in charge of the sky plus while I took Teeny and the Towy Terrier for a power walk. I wedged Sheepey in as Teeny was crying, he immediately stopped. Off we went. Now Teeny is at the stage of "oh-oh" and dropping anything he is clutching. Unfortunately he didn't say "oh-oh" but he did cry en route. I never checked, I wish I had.

We got home and I realised there was no Sheepey.
F*ck f*ck f*ckity f*ck.

WRM got on the quad and shot off round the forestry in the dusk and failing light. I bathed the boy and it never really crossed my mind that he wouldn't come home with sheepey..... he didn't.
I left the children with my sister, we searched again by torch light. No joy.

When I got home I tried to put Teeny boy to bed... nightmare. The poor man sobbed and sobbed.
Just as I didn't think I could feel worse Trouble decided she couldn't stay up any later and had to go to bed because she didn't feel well. I hadn't paid her any attention, none.
She was in bed by just gone 6pm... Teeny on the other hand cried until 8pm and fell asleep a snivelling wreck without his beloved sheepey. It was heart breaking.

10pm, I checked the children. Teeny has woken once more but fallen asleep again. Trouble hadn't stirred. I checked her. She was not a well little bunny. I wont go into details but she also had the tummy bug and every thing needed changing, bed clothes, pyjamas, nappy, the works... a quick bath, and then she was sick.... Poor poor little girl, totally ignored by her mummy because of a lost sheepey. Double the guilt.

I didn't sleep, I fitfully dreamt of lost sheepey returned, a happy pair of well children but alas when I woke; No sheepey and a poorly Trouble.
Luckily I had the day off work. Trouble was still asleep and I left Teeny with WRM as I set off in search of sheepey, into the forestry at 7.45am.... not a sign. I walked the route twice.

As things progressed and it became obvious sheepey was not to be found we trawled the Internet for a replacement sheepey. We asked my Auntie to look where she had bought sheepey from. I tweeted and asked for RT if anybody had a sheepey, WRM searched the Jomanda Toys website and their facebook page. Not only do the company not make him anymore they are also closed for the whole of Christmas, only re-opening on the 3rd  January :(
My Auntie and WRM found a website which could deliver a lookalike sheepey by Saturday and he was ordered. Just to weather the storm until then.

Teeny and Trouble were both better yesterday and even better today, sheepey is on order, I just hope Teeny likes him so all that is left in a guilt ridden mummy..... I'm sorry my babies. I have posted my application for worst mummy of the year.

Merry Christmas, I hope that every one else had a spiffing time, here's to the New Year! ;)
See you all in 2012!

Towy Totty
xxx

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