Bath time

I have to explain something here. Bath time in our house has been a nightmare for a very long time. Tabitha's history is that she was in hospital for a year after she was born, where she was obviously frequently washed, but rarely bathed. Then she came home, and spent the next 6 months popping in and out of hospital with chest infections, so baths were sporadic to say the least. Then, she had her hip operation, and was in plaster from the chest down for 4 months, so no baths then. Finally, when she was around 22 months old, we could actually bath her regularly. And she hated it.

Every bath was a battle. She hated the feel of the water, the way it ran over her, having her hair washed was the ultimate insult, and we couldn't brush her teeth without her vomiting until she was 3 and a half. Gradually, over time, she has learned to 'tolerate' baths, putting up with the washing, the toothbrushing and the dreaded hair wash, but they have been rapid affairs, very much get her in, clean and out again as soon as possible to try and minimise the screaming.

Tonight, for the first time, we had a breakthrough. Tabitha asked for some toys to be put in the bath. I put them in. Then I put her in. Then I showed her how to play with the toys, and she did it!! She didn't scream once, she kept asking for more toys, and playing with them when I put them in the water and all in all, she was in the bath for 35minutes, the longest bath she's ever had. Ellie got in with her, washed herself, washed her hair and got out again, and Tabitha was still playing!!

It was such a bit event, I took a few photos. Here is my little girl playing with toys in the bath and actually having fun for the first time ever.

Lots of little steps finally making one big one.

Who I was

I am a mother. I am the mother of a special needs child. I am Mum to Ellie, the beautiful, wonderful daughter that any mother would be proud of, and I am Mum to Tabitha, the little girl with the infectious giggle, whose daily progress is slow, but visible. But these days, that is who I am. I am Mum. Its a question I get asked a lot, one of the first things Doctors ask when they meet me for the the first time, "Are you Mum?", yes thats me.

But it wasn't always like this. I used to be a whole heap of people. I used to be a sister, a daughter, a student, a research scientist, a wife. Last night, I looked up on PubMed who I was, and I found these.


1. Internalization of gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptors (GnRHRs): does arrestin binding to the C-terminal tail target GnRHRs for dynamin-dependent internalization?

Hislop JN, Caunt CJ, Sedgley KR, Kelly E, Mundell S, Green LD, McArdle CA.

J Mol Endocrinol. 2005 Aug;35(1):177-89.

PMID: 16087731 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Free Article


2. Signaling and antiproliferative effects of type I and II gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptors in breast cancer cells.

Finch AR, Green L, Hislop JN, Kelly E, McArdle CA.

J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2004 Apr;89(4):1823-32.

PMID: 15070951 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Free Article


3. Regulation of gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptors by protein kinase C: inside out signalling and evidence for multiple active conformations.

Caunt CJ, Hislop JN, Kelly E, Matharu AL, Green LD, Sedgley KR, Finch AR, McArdle CA.

Endocrinology. 2004 Aug;145(8):3594-602. Epub 2004 Apr 1.

PMID: 15059960 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Free Article


4. The gonadotrophin-releasing hormone receptor: signalling, cycling and desensitisation.

McArdle CA, Franklin J, Green L, Hislop JN.

Arch Physiol Biochem. 2002 Apr;110(1-2):113-22. Review.

PMID: 11935408 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


5. Signalling, cycling and desensitisation of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone receptors.

McArdle CA, Franklin J, Green L, Hislop JN.

J Endocrinol. 2002 Apr;173(1):1-11. Review.

PMID: 11927379 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Free Article


And I remembered who I used to be......

Blogging against disablism day

Are you disabled? If you are, the chances are you've been faced with some kind of disablism at some point. Today is the day to 'name and shame', tell our stories and point out that not everyone is the same.

Certain elements of the media would have us believe that there are disabled people who are worthy of help and assisstance, and those who are not. Do we agree with this? If you restrict assistance to only those who are or have become disabled via no fault of their own, you find yourself in some very sticky situations. You would consider the paraplegic victim of a car crash as only elegible if they hadn't been to blame for the accident. What about if the same patient knew the driver of the vehicle was over the limit, and got in the car anyway? Are they then responsible for their own disability?

If you are elegible for a Blue Badge, how often do you face discrimination for using it? How often are you challenged when you park up, legally, by members of the public who feel they have the right to demand your reasons for possession of your badge? I often feel completely vulnerable when I park in Disabled spots and get out of the car, for I quite obviously have no disabilities. I wonder how many people in the area are looking at me, trying to work out what my 'problem' is. Of course, when I gather my child from her car seat and strap her into her special needs buggy, I can tell those same people have looked away, moved on now they can justify the use of that space. I have a friend suffering from MS, on her good days, she can walk almost without any noticable issue, I don't know how many times she has been challenged. What gives people the right to assume that we are all taking more from society than we are entitled to?

As time passes, I am more and more aware of how much discrimination there is in the world, and how hard those who are disabled have to work to be accepted, and, as a mother, it terrifies me.