a break from routine

The last couple of weeks have felt a bit strange somehow. Some good strange and some not so good strange. Somehow we’ve been carried away with various things and have taken a bit of a break from our normal routine. Hence the lack of blogging! I’ve just not found the time somehow… for reasons I can’t quite put my finger on. However, tomorrow it is all back to normal for us so I thought I’d give you a little catch up.

Our Easter weekend was a lovely low-key family oriented affair. On the Saturday we celebrated a special little girls 1st birthday and and visited with some family in Kent. My brother and his girlfriend (and bump!) came to us for lunch on Easter Monday which was lovely. Living away from our families means we don’t get too many visitors. The rest of our Easter was just the three of us which suits us just fine. Vince did have to work but we still enjoyed some time together and some of our first spring time walks around our local area.

Last weekend was also a long weekend for us as Vince had a rare weekends holiday booked from work. This is because we celebrated our first wedding anniversary! I can not believe our wedding was a whole year ago, it has truly been the quickest year of my life. It has also without doubt been the best year of my life and everyday I can’t believe how lucky I am to have such a happy family and wonderful lovely little life.

To celebrate our first anniversary we decided to go for a meal at the place we were married. So on the Friday it was beautiful spring sunshine and we drove an hour and a half to The Ferry House Inn for lunch. Once there Emma was of course made a fuss of by the staff and lapped it up while Vince and I ordered. Our starters came and were devoured, they serve beautiful local food, Vince had smoked pheasant which I wish I had too!

Then our main course arrived looking yummy. We were roughly 3 mouthfuls in when Vince had a seizure. As some of you may know my lovely husband has epilepsy. To be quite precise he has Generalised Idiopathic Epilepsy, this is medical jargon for ‘you have epilepsy but we don’t know why and you have no triggers’. This means seizures strike at any time, anywhere and with no warning. Luckily they usually occur at home but occasionally they will be elsewhere such as in the car while I’m driving or in the middle of our anniversary meal miles and miles from home.

On this occasion I was very grateful it happened when and where it did. Vince is a much bigger build than I am and sometimes it’s a struggle to keep him on the floor and out of harms way during a seizure. It is not an exaggeration to say that I usually end up sitting on him in some way.

Kerrie and Alex, the people who run The Ferry House Inn, were fantastic. As soon as they realised what was happening they helped me get Vince on to the floor before he fell, to keep him laying down, and to watch Emma while my attentions were on Vince recovering. I could not have asked for better support and am so incredibly grateful to them.

I often find the first 15 minutes after a seizure the hardest. As he comes round he struggles to recall certain information. He knows that I’m important to him and wants to hug me and have me nearby but he doesn’t remember my name or that I’m his wife and details like that. Although it’s still upsetting to me I have got more used to it now, in our early days together this would reduce me to tears without fail but I know that in a few minutes it will all come back and be right as rain again.

The above picture was taken about 15 minutes before the seizure.

I think Vince’s epilepsy is always, and will always be, at the back of my mind in everything we do, but I try very hard not to let it affect the way we live our lives. Since the arrival of Emma however, it has become more prevalent in my mind and I realise that it does now effect our lives in ways I hadn’t given much thought to. Even small things like Vince not being able to bath Emma alone and my anxiety that has inadvertently led to Vince and Emma never really being alone together, just in case the worst should happen. As a family with a small baby, living with epilepsy does change things that are perhaps taken for granted usually.

Ha! I’ve just read this back, I didn’t realise I had quite so much to say about epilepsy! I hope you don’t mind my ramblings! If you live with epilepsy, either personally or within your family, do leave me a comment I’d love to hear from you.

Well the rest of this week has seemed to disappear with neurology consultants appointments, GP appointments, new post natal classes, a return to university and a final push to get my crochet baby blanket finished for the very imminent arrival of our baby nephew. Not to mention all of our general day to day to do lists.

Like I said a slightly strange, out of routine few weeks, good and bad. But this week I’m back to more normal days and I have a few things lined up for you, including a crochet blanket reveal and a couple of recipes involving prawns and quinoa respectively… be excited, I am!

I hope your weeks have been wonderful and little less hectic feeling than ours!

x x x X x x x