Keeping positive

Thank you

Firstly I’d like to say a huge thank you to everybody for their lovely comments about this blog. I posted it on facebook and have had the most amazing response from people. I was a bit weary of publishing it but after receiving a lovely message from my friend at work Elisha I took the plunge and posted it as my status. Thank you everyone xxx

Jenna had a bad reaction to her jabs this week and has been on baby medicine (calpol) for a few days. I was really worried it would make her seizures worse, thankfully they’ve stayed the same J To try and make the most of being indoors, we’ve been catching up on sleep, playing and chatting. The sleep has been amazing, after months of 3-5 hours a night I slept for 8 hours the other day. I’m not sure if Jenna slept through too or if I just didn’t wake up. Either way I thanked God we both slept and were well in the morning.  It seems the rest and Capol are working so hopefully she’s on the mend. 

Another positive…

drum roll please…..

i passed my theory test (yippee!).  So to anybody worried about another learner driving on the roads I’m a little safer now :-)

I also learnt and important lesson about patience this week.

One thing my dad taught me as a child was to look people in the eye when speaking to them. So every day for the past 25 years I’ve tried to engage with people by keeping eye contact during a conversation. Before she was born I was like most people and never really communicated with somebody with major sight problems. 

So, over the past few weeks I’ve been trying to come to terms with not having that eye communication with Jenna.

How do I help her learn new things if she can not see them?? Am I doing the right things?? How do I spot this affect her self esteem as she get older?? etc etc.

Thankfully Janet, our visual impairment teacher visited this week. Her main priorities are to assess how Jenna uses her sight and help her to use her sight to play and communicate. She was fab, she explained that even though I may not see an initial or even obvious reaction from Jenna it doesn’t mean to say there isn’t one. Things take time, practice and patience. So repeating something over and over, day after day may at times seem boring, they’re not. Somewhere (we hope) dots are connecting and over time we should see some indication from Jenna that she’s enjoying herself and using her sight to her potential. She also reassured me that we should keep on playing with the sensory toys, explaining  things and utilising her other senses from an early age. On top of this Jenna followed a reflected light up and down with her pupils. I was so happy. She worked so hard to do it, I’m super proud!

To top all that off as I’ve been sat writing this little miss Jenna has talked all the way through, chatter, chatter, chatter. She knows I’m writing about her and wants to give her input. I’ve tried explaining to her it’s bedtime but she’s been having none of it. She has however managed to wriggle from one side of the cot to the other, so I’d best go before she starts eating the sides.

Take care xxx