Failure To Thrive

Failure to thrive: epilogue

I haven’t written much about my son Ben’s medical problems because they are his, not mine, and I am mindful of his future privacy. I have, however, been writing over the last year about my worries about him and my increasing sense of desperation as he continued to slip down the weight charts. So it [...]

Onwards but not upwards

One month ago today my dog died. Today I got a call from the vet telling me that our surviving dog is showing signs of having the same disease that Brin died from. On Tuesday I will be taking her to the same referral vet in Bristol that called me with the devastating news about [...]

Overcoming failure-to-thrive

Every year Matthew is home for the twelve days of Christmas. It’s a tradition in our household and we spend it doing family things, visiting friends and family and on twelfth night we take down the Christmas decorations and put up our eldest son’s birthday party decorations. It’s a good way to round off the [...]

Obstruction

The baby starts screaming. I pick him up quickly, holding him in our practiced way under his thighs, feeling his body convulsing and shaking as he cries in pain into my shoulder. I reassure him, swaying gently to soothe him, knowing that trying to distract him will make him cry more. We stay like that [...]

A belated Christmas story

The lead up to Christmas was massively exciting this year with two preschoolers to whip each other into a frenzy over Father Christmas and all the attendant excitement that the holiday season brings. We read Christmas stories by candlelight before bedtime. We made advent calendars. We coloured in one hundred and three Christmas colouring book [...]