Thoughts on Mother's Day

   

When Camryn was born she was hurt and now has Erb’s Palsy, which is a disability that affects the brachial plexus nerves in her neck and left arm. She’s been going to occupational and physical therapy since she was only 2 weeks old. We go twice a week for an hour. She had major surgery to try and repair the nerves when she was only 8 months old. After the surgery she had to endure two weeks of being in a body cast and neck brace and living in a little red wagon.

     I’m not writing this for sympathy, I’m writing this to all the moms out there who say why me? Why does my baby cry all the time? Why doesn’t my baby walk yet, why does my baby have torticollis or have to wear a helmet. I’m writing this for all the parents who think that it’s only them.

You are not alone. Every baby has something. Whether it be fussiness, being high maintenance, developmentally delayed, speech delays, sensory issues. It’s all the things us mothers are afraid to talk about with each other and we shouldn’t be!

    I wish as a new mother that I had thought this almost a year ago when Camryn was born. Instead , I isolated myself and was ashamed of my daughters disability. But here I am now, saying I’M NOT ALONE and YOU ARE NOT ALONE.  Over the past year I’ve had a lot of learning to do about myself, my marriage, and raising a child. Especially, being thrown into raising a child with a disability, I thank god that her brain is ok and she is a happy go lucky baby who loves everyone.  But the difficulties that have come with being a new mother and having to deal with all of this was overwhelming. I wish more women or new mothers felt comfortable enough to talk about the difficulties they are having or have had.

I can remember when we first came home from the hospital I kept searching for support groups or anyone else to talk to about what I was going through but there was nothing in my area. All that was offered was breastfeeding support. I hope that after reading this people are able to talk to one another about what they are really feeling and not be ashamed or feel like they are alone. Just remember, no one is perfect and you are not alone.