Hooray we’re home!!
For the last three weeks, our poor little Ella has been hanging upside down from a hospital bed, in traction to fix a broken femur, and meanwhile Mr B and I have been living out of a bag doing 24 hourly shifts at the hospital to be by her side.
But, at last we’re finally home from our stay in hospital, and although it’s certainly had its moments and been fraught with stress and anxiety from this and all the other things we have going on at the moment in the Midlife Mummy household (Tough Times), I can quite honestly, hand on heart say it’s not all been bad!
Don’t get me wrong – is was no five star hotel break, but it could have been a whole lot worse. So instead of dwelling on the negatives, we stayed as positive as we could and ‘made the most’ of the time we spent there! I mean, why be gloomy – it was a situation we had to just get on with, so we did!….
Whilst there, Ella was looked after superbly by the nursing staff and fully entertained by the dedicated Play Team who are also based in the children’s ward.
She did sticking, and she baked cakes – which we heard made the nurse team ever so happy when we gave them to them for their tea break!…
She did lots of painting; nursed her sick animals, and even had a visit from a magician/balloonist. She also played with practically all the toys I think they actually hold in the ward!…
She’s made dens. Every day!!….And incessantly asked us if we wanted to join her
Mummy, are you coming?
She made salt dough trinkets and even a handprint plaque to bring home with her as a moment of her time in the ward.
And if this couldn’t be enough she even had two Music Therapy Sessions run by the amazing charity ‘Rosie’s Rainbow Fund‘, who visit all the sick children in hospital on a regular basis, armed with the the most fabulous array of instruments, smiley faces and buckets of enthusiasm. All the children absolutely loved this. And, these were without doubt Ella’s favourite sessions. It was beautiful and heart-warming to watch as her face just lit up, especially after she’s been though a fair bit in the last few weeks.
She even made up her game of ‘Stop and GO’ – where we all had to play the instruments until she said stop. And then instructed us to play again
Ready, Steady, Go….
This went on for a while and I’m sure she’d have liked to continue on for hours, but there were lots of other children who were to have sessions too.
Another thing we tried was good old play-doh – but I must say I found that a little stressful!
Reason being, that poor Ella’s hair became so horribly matted where she was tossing and turning her head from side to side all the time, and so after a couple of the poor nurses there took 4 1/2 hours to tease her matted hair and to tie it up in mini French plaits, I was under orders not to mess them up! So you can imagine my horror as I saw teensy bits of bright yellow sticky gooey play-doh flying backwards into her hair it filled me with dread!!!
Ella even made friends with a gorgeous little girl named Anika. They particularly loved watching Frozen, Peppa Pig and squabbling over the sticker books!!
It was lovely though as it was probably rather refreshing for Ella to have some interaction other than that of me, Mr B and the nurses!
I also spent a small fortune on her myself, and bought her toys and games which I thought might be ‘playable’ whilst led on her back.
This was tricky, believe me!
And, whilst Ella was happily and contentedly being entertained in her hospital bed, our lovely Holly was having fun with sleepovers, playdates and parties, which kept her as happy as she could be in amongst all the daily upheaval and mayhem. She particularly enjoyed her pub lunch with her Aunty, Uncle and cousins!
We felt so guilty that we weren’t able to spend as much time with Holly, and that each night one of us was missing, but we tried as much as possible to keep to her routine as best we could, but obviously, with the logistics of everything – this was certainly easier said than done.
She actually enjoyed her sleepovers with Grandma and Grandpa so much, that when I went to pick her up from pre-school the other day – she actually sulked and moaned that it wasn’t grandma!!
Making me feel very loved indeed!!!
I always feel so guilty, so I for one made sure that all the time I spent with her was ‘quality time’ and we had lots of fun crafting sessions with a few treats sprinkled into the mix too!
I had tried commenting on this previously…
It is really good to see how well she has been entertained in hospital. I found my hospital stays when I had the girls pretty boring (not the actual giving birth bit) and I had just had a baby to gaze at for some of this time. I can’t imagine how much harder it must be for little ones.
So glad you are all together now.
A very difficult few weeks for you all I’m sure but love some of the things you managed to do with her. What a fab Mummy.
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Thank lovely xxx
I’ms so glad that she is back home and it is lovely to see how you have made the most of it. It must have been so difficult to split your time between both girls! I love how much they have to entertain her in hospital, how amazing that she could still make things even being stuck with her legs up in air. Enjoy having her home! xxx
Oh gosh, how awful for you all. Glad to hear she’s OK and home again! #MBPW
This was such a lovely read Steph as I feel so inspired by your positivity. It must have been such a difficult couple of weeks for your whole family but I’m glad you see that you’ve all made the best of a bad situation. 🙂
Jenna at Tinyfootsteps xx
YAY for Ella!!!!! Your poor little girl has been so amazingly brave. I can’t even begin to imagine what she (or you, for that matter) have been through, over the past three weeks! Good on you for making the most of it and trying to make the situation as much fun as possible. Hopefully the memory will fade soon and your fun pictures will make her smile in years to come. I’m so glad you were given such great care and more than anything that Ella is on the road to a full recovery!! Thank you so much for linking up to Sunday Stars.
Oh wow! I really feel for you. I am going to have a read of your previous posts now.
I am glad she is home now, I hope she is ok.
Stay strong x
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Thanks Beth – yes – we’re so pleased to all be home. Exhausted and mentally drained – but home none the less 😉 Steph xxx
I’m so sorry that you all had to go through this. I bet it’s fab to be all home together. I love that Ella was so well looked after in hospital with the toys and music session, and how lovely that she made a little friend. It looks like she was so brave!
Popping over from #SundayStars
Becky xx
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Thanks Becky – yes the hospital staff were just wonderful. It certainly made it a lot easier for while we were there. And Ella really was a brave little soldier. Bless her. She’s crawling again already too!! Steph xxx
Sounds like you all had a very hectic time trying to keep both little girls occupied and happy. I bet it’s so lovely to be home and not have to rush off everywhere! p.s I hope you got our little parcel? It was a bit late but I hope it kept her occupied for at least a few minutes #SundayStars xxxx
Oh my goodness poor her, you and the whole family! This must have been such a tough time. You’ve been amazing. I have been thinking of you all so much. SO glad she’s home! Yay!! Go her. She will be back to her fab little self soon enough 🙂 xxxxx
Oh my goodness what a brave little lady you have there. I’ve just read your previous post – I cannot imagine how scary it is to get that phone call. I always panic whenever I see nursery are calling me! She did so fantastically well in hospital and despite the reason she was there, it looks like both your girls definitely made the best of the situation!! So pleased that she’s home and hope she continues to recover well 🙂 #Sundaystars
Steph you have had such a tough couple of weeks, poor Ella she has been so brave and like you say it affects the whole family. I am so glad she is on the mend and you are all back at home together x
Oh steph I’ve really felt for you this whole time well done for finding the positives in such a tough situation so pleased for you that she’s home now! hows she doing? Thanks for linking up to #sundaystars