Thank you to everyone who has liked/shared Archies page. It means the world to him and us... To those who has asked why they have had no idea, or think its fantastic but why now? There is a few reasons. Was I ready to put out our extremely personal details and feelings? No. Was Adam. Definitely not. But take a step back and think about it Nat. Its not your story. Its his. You are just there with him every day of his tough journey. And he needs all the support & understanding he can get. Another reason is that Archies story is long and painful. Putting it out there means I dont have to tell the same story over and over again. And if I ever get his page completely up to date it means when I have conversations with people they already know where he is up to, what therapies he is doing and how he is progressing. We can then chat about other stuff! Archies delay in development is also becoming more profound and its obvious that he is delayed in a lot of areas. How is raising a brain injured child different to a normally developing baby? There are any differences. Every brain injury is different and has different effects on each child. Archies temperament makes it difficult to socialise a lot. He gets extremely overwhelmed very quickly esp in larger groups. Archie will only allow myself, Adam or my mum hold him. It was explained to me this way... Deep down he knows he cant move adequately should he need to defend himself. He feels safe and supported with us. He also requires a lot of effort to eat or drink. So being in unfamiliar surrounds may mean he wont eat or drink the whole time we are somewhere. Even when its just me him and Oscar home I cant leave the room. He needs to be able to see me at all times. Hence why Adam and I eat dinner at 8 most nights now! Cooking and cleaning are difficult, as with most families with 2 young babies. When Archie wakes up, he screams for you. No baby talk. No hanging out. Full blown screams. His world is very confusing. He has improved immensely from when he was first home. He now finds comfort here which I am happy about. When Oscar was born I remember ringing Adam from the hospital the first night yelling - Hes holding his hands together! We were shocked that babies did that kind of stuff without learning it. We had NO idea the differences we were and are encountering. I cant get Oscars nappy on sometimes because he moves around so much. Archie never moved an inch. Oscar wakes up and has a chat to himself. He hears himself and he loves it. He already makes more noises than Archie, although Archie is responding with a lot more sounds now too! Oscar lies under his play mat and goes nuts. Archie had to think about it and then take a swing. Think about it and move a leg. Babies put their hand in their mouth for comfort. Poor Archie couldnt get his hand to his mouth as his muscles were too tight. I had no idea how tough it was for Archie as I didnt have a lot of experience with babies. Almost every movement he made had to be retrained to his brain. And he did it all. In his own time and way. Thats what makes him the most determined kid ever. And Oscar, he is a determined superstar too!!! I love both of my babies so much its ridiculous! There are good and bad hours. Not days. Generally there are no bad days, the storm always passes. Normally when one baby has a nap! hahhahaa. Occasionally they even nap at the same time and I get to eat lunch and have as many coffees as I can drink in my quiet time! I will upload videos of Archie this week. So those who dont know him can fall in love with him too xx
Posted on: Mon, 25 Nov 2013 10:32:03 +0000
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