Going through miscarriage has been made even more traumatic due to the restrictions put on attending antenatal appointments and scans during the pandemic. A new book of poems, Healing After Miscarriage by Vicki Renz, aims to help process the feelings of grief and loss after such a difficult event, when it can be hard to… Continue reading Poetry for healing after miscarriage
I’ve been a bit quiet over the last month or so on here because I’ve been suffering for the last three months with urinary tract symptoms that simply won’t go away. It’s become debilitating and wearing being in constant pain, and not being able to treat it properly, and has led me to discover how… Continue reading Chronic UTIs and the scandal of poor testing
It’s the start of Baby Loss Awareness Week today and also a couple of weeks since I found out that I was in the group that received the endometrial scratch as part of the SiM trial I took part in in mid-2016. This means that the procedure could have helped sustain my pregnancy with Gus,… Continue reading Scratching the surface
This one is tough. I don’t really rationally believe that the boys prefer my husband but I sometimes can’t escape the feeling that they do. They are both daddy’s boys and despite me being the main caregiver, spending most of my time with them, planning their days and activities, worrying about what they should eat,… Continue reading When the kids prefer daddy
Both my births were traumatic in different ways. My first son was born after a very long back-to-back labour, I didn’t dilate past 7cm and eventually his oxygen levels plummeted to the point where I had to have a category 1 c-section. I was whisked into a make-shift theatre because the labour suite was in… Continue reading Blog series post #5: Birth trauma
At the end of the last school year, I received Herbie’s report to find that, along with a true reflection of his kind and inquisitive nature, his teacher had to add a piece of paper with a set of scores – from 1-3 – which depict whether a child is emerging, attaining or excelling in… Continue reading More than a score
Today marks the end of the second UK Maternal Mental Health Week, led by the Perinatal Mental Health Partnership. World Maternal Mental Health Day on Wednesday’s focus on ‘The Village’ emphasised the importance of giving access to the information and help that new mothers need. Much of the work needs to start with how we… Continue reading Maternal Mental Health Week 2018
These last few weeks have seen our four year old Herbie’s behaviour become more and more challenging in relation to his baby brother Gus. He will not stop deliberately hurting him, with acts of frustration such as pinching feet, hitting him on the head, ‘accidentally’ kicking him and crushing his hand. We’ve been at our… Continue reading Sibling rivalry
It’s World Mental Health Day today and a chance for us all to help break the stigma. Nearly all, if not all of us, will struggle at some point in our lives with a mental health issue. In fact, it really should be a given throughout our lives that we get the support and knowledge… Continue reading World Mental Health Day 2017
My Beautiful Diary of the Amazingly Mundane 