Wednesday, May 23, 2012

From PANIC to Peace with our pregnancy planning

What a difference a couple of weeks makes. After my middle-of-the-night panic attack, thinking about what to do with our severely allergic toddler I've just come back from my baby-shower with such a peace in my heart - who can believe it?!

Let me guide you through the steps - just in case you need to do this one day...
Step 1: I put together a folder with all our son's allergic information. This includes his Anaphylaxis plan, a list of approved foods, a rough schedule for eating and sleeping, some recipes printed from this blog, and a list of other medications and instructions for cases of rash/asthma/fever and also medical details like doctor's details, insurance and medicare details in case a trip to the hospital is required.

Step 2: I've packed a cooler bag with all sorts of food including snacks, tinned food, pasta etc. I've also packed a bag with sauces to be used - this includes honey, jam, soy sauce, oil

Step 3: I've made a list of last minute things to add to the bags - this includes things from the fridge like Nuttelex, frozen bread, frozen bolognese sauce.

Step 4: I've made another list of other things to bring, like clothes, medication, toiletries, spare pan and chopping board.

This is all the stuff we need to bring with us to drop our son off at a friend's house when the time for labour comes and we need to head to the hospital. Our hope is that our son can be cared for by our friends during labour, so that my husband can be there for the birth of our second child. We have also agreed that if worse comes to worse, our husband may miss the birth, but that it will most certainly not be the end of the world.

Step 5: I decided to use the baby shower as a chance to go through all of our son's information with our close friends in one go. Before I left home, I was wondering whether they would still be my friends after this information download. Would they ever see me the same? Would they think I am totally neurotic? Would they withdraw their offer of emergency care once they realised how complicated it can be?

Well, what a blessing it is to have such wonderful friends. They listened carefully, asked very good questions, and also made some really good suggestions, like including a spare house key should they need to grab something from the house. Overwhelmingly they agreed that coming over to our house was the safest option if it was practical to leave their kids at home. This was something my husband and I had also thought, but I was too afraid to ask. Afterall, all these ladies have kids of their own, households to run, as well as jobs to go to.

So there you have it, in a few simple steps - a total transformation from total panic in the middle of the night, to complete peace about who would look after our most gorgeous but highly allergic son. After that, the ladies sat back, relaxed, ate some most delicious afternoon tea and just shared the joys of motherhood together.

Ok, bring on labour... (I hear you laugh?)

For the next step in our journey, where things get out of control... click here


  1. Sounds like you've got everything under control! Thank God for great friends :)

    1. That is so ironic that you should say that... as it happens, control doesn't amount to very much at all! stay tuned for the next step in our journey...

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