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Bereavement

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Ciaran's Thread For Bereaved Mammies... Where It's Not About Finding The Answers, It's About Learning To Live With The Questions...

984 replies

Deemented · 03/05/2009 16:54

Many many thanks to TW and Harry for passing the baton to myself and Ciaran.

Ladies, i found this poem, and thought it was particularly apt for this thread.

The Gift of Someone Who Listens

Those of us who have traveled awhile
Along this path called grief
Need to stop and remember that mile,
The first mile of no relief.
It wasn't the person with answers,
Who told us the ways to deal.
It wasn't the one who talked and talked
That helped us start to heal.
Think of friends who quietly sat
And held our hands in theirs,
The ones who let us talk and talk
And hugged away our tears.
We need to always remember
That, more than the words we speak,
It's the gift of someone who listens
That most of us desperately seek.

OP posts:
frasersmummy · 15/08/2009 15:50

HI all

I feel like all I do when I come on here these days is whinge

I have been on anti-depressants for about 6/7 weeks now and to be honest all they seem to have done is make me see clearly what the problem was/is

Before I started on them I just thought it was the pressure of being a working mum, dealing with tantrums housework, ill mother etc

Since I started on them I find myslef crying at least once a day re Fraser. There's not an hour doesnt go by thatI dont think of him and it hurts like hell

I think the ad's have focussed my brain on the real issue.

I dont know where I go from here .... back to my gp I guess

I'm just such a moaning minnie these days...

shabbapinkfrog · 15/08/2009 17:27

You are not a moaner FMammy - Seems to me that the AD's aren't masking the problem like they usually do - the only way to 'get better' is to cry and re-tell your story over and over....suddenly a day comes when you have thought about your precious child only once an hour instead of every waking (and sleeping) second. Then you feel guilty about 'getting better'. Its a strange path to walk my darling - so strange.

We are always here for you - come on and scream the rooftops down if you want to - I dont mind, and Im sure nobody else will.

Im holding you close to my heart xxxxxx

lottiejenkins · 15/08/2009 18:58

FM......... I have been on ad's for ages too!
I am off out tonight in camouflage clothing!
A charity night for Help for Heroes! My friend is in the Marines. He is going out to Afghanistan again next year. His Dad is organising the evening, you either have to go in camoflage or fancy dress, my mate Karen was asking if i was going Commando yesterday! Which resulted in an interesting conversation with a delivery driver who was telling me how he didnt wear anything under his cycling shorts as it got sweaty! TOO MUCH INFORMATION!!

Olissa · 15/08/2009 20:31

FM you are not whinging and even if you were we'd not mind (does that make sense!)

But yes, go back to your GP. Did you have counselling at all after Fraser was born? I've not had any since Caitie was born, but only because I was seeing my community psych nurse every couple of weeks anyway. DH had some organised through work and found it really useful.

Any other (physical) side-effects from your ADs? It could be that you're not on the best one for you - don't know if you've ever had ADs before, but experimentation seems to be the only way! (I've had at least five different ones, some because they didn't suit me - citalopram was a bad one for me - and I changed once to breastfeed DS as well.)

Anyway I am waffling as usual - yes, go back to the doctor... I hope things look brighter for you soon x

shabbapinkfrog · 16/08/2009 08:41

Morning girls xx

lottiejenkins · 16/08/2009 12:47

Hi all, I am a little concerned about this column in the Daily Mail where they pick pieces off Mumsnet to publish in the paper! I wouldnt be happy for any of my comments on this thread to be read by millions of DM readers i dont think!

shabbapinkfrog · 17/08/2009 07:45

Morning girls xx

travellingwilbury · 17/08/2009 07:53

Good morning everyone x

lottiejenkins · 17/08/2009 08:36

Morning all........ any views on my DM rant?

travellingwilbury · 17/08/2009 08:44

Hi Lottie , I was thinking about what you said about the DM thing and tbh I don't know . I would like to think that with a thread this sensitive they would at least ask first but maybe I am being naive .

Also I don't think that I would really mind it happening anyway as this is a subject that is often ignored and not talked about . But then you would obviously be more recognisable than me .

Olissa · 17/08/2009 10:50

Hello everyone x

Lottie, I'm not happy about the DM thing either, although like TW said I like to think they would ask before using anything from here... someone said she wouldn't touch special needs, but I'm not sure if the DM have actually said that or if they just think that because they know her, IYKWIM?

And if she's not going to use special needs, then why not exclude bereavement, miscarriage/ pregnancy loss, anything to do with DV...

I think most of my misgivings are because it's the Daily Mail! Double standards, moi?

frasersmummy · 17/08/2009 12:35

Schools go back today in Scotland so this should have been Frasers first day at school.. another step along this crappy road. I need to pick myself up I really do

Lottie I realy dont know how I would react to this thread being published elsewhere

I think anything that draws attention to the awful number of stillbirths/neonatal deaths in the uk alone is a good thing

But that said if Frasers name appeared and I hadnt been told I would be well upset

Perhaps we can ask mnhq if they have an agreement re special needs etc and if so can we have similiar

shabbapinkfrog · 17/08/2009 12:54

Another major and massive step FMammy - my worst times were when Danny went to Primary school and it was school photo time. There were very cute twin girls in his class and I was almost overcome with jealousy xxx

frasersmummy · 17/08/2009 13:10

aww shabs....its just one hurdle after another isnt ?? some you clear with ease others you seem to stumble into and knock over

I appreciate all your support girls

travellingwilbury · 17/08/2009 13:55

Fmummy , I remember that day with Harry too .

Him and his cousin would have started the same day and I was so sad when I first saw her in her uniform . I used to struggle for a long time whenever I saw her but now I see her for her rather than the comparison

crumpette · 17/08/2009 17:18

all

Frasersmummy I have moaned consistently on here since I joined you all, I never write anything that's not a moan so do not apologise!

right, I think you are normal. I know that for you it has been longer, whereas I am on month 4 or 5, but I go through patches of being distracted and then suddenly break down all over again. Recently has been hell for me, just silly things, a couple days ago there was a newspaper article about transplant ops and as L had 2 liver transplants before she died, I burst into tears at the supermarket checkout while waiting in line. Next thing I was mooching in front of tv achieving nothing and watching ET.. well, seeing ET ill... made me burst into tears..and then I had these horrendous flashbacks of L's illness and I remembered events like her last night at home, when I thought she was well, she was asleep in her cot and I was watching a film til 1am.. and a few days before she died she had a cardiac arrest while I changed her nappy and was then about to be intubated and the anaesthetist said' oh mum would you like to come and kiss her' and her face had tears streaming down it, and she looked so scared and fragile.. but I stayed at the back of the room and said no, she'll be ok... and then images of her gasping for her last breath when she was taken off the ventilator, etc etc

I know I sound like a raving lunatic, but there isn't a day that goes by without the pain and the realisation all over again. Like I said I am only a few months in, I guess, but these are things that will stay with me forever. I know now that I will never ever be over this, and the pain just seems to come in waves.. sometimes the tide is out for a bit and then crash a massive wave of tears and regret and shock and anger and disbelief hits all over again.

I would say, having previous experience of ADs but none at present, that perhaps you aren't on the best ones for you. If they aren't 'helping' ie numbing you sufficiently, perhaps slowly reduce the dose with medical guidance and go for some much more attentive talking therapy, be it specialist counselling or therapy in some form or another. I think you need to talk about Fraser, a lot, and I think you should be able to, and maybe it will start to help a little.

About the DM thing, I'd be utterly horrified if anything I had written on this thread were to be published, so, don't publish it if you're reading it! Or at least get consent. I think sensitive threads, regarding bereavement or disability or likewise, where emotions can run raw and high, and identities are often wished to be kept anonymous, should remain private.
For example, my situation would make me very rare and recognisable, L's transplants and death and the timing thereof and her age mean anyone would know who I was and I don't think I'd want 'other' people reading my true feelings about it (especially if they read the daily mail tee hee )

travellingwilbury · 18/08/2009 07:24

Good morning all x

shabbapinkfrog · 18/08/2009 08:01

Morning girls - Morning TW xxx

travellingwilbury · 18/08/2009 08:58

Hiya Shabs x

How you doing this morning ?

I am supposed to be making the house look less of a tip before Jamies friend comes round for the day

shabbapinkfrog · 18/08/2009 09:00

Im doing ok thanks darling. Like this time of the day - only me awake!!! xx

travellingwilbury · 18/08/2009 09:04

I wish that was true here

I get about 20 mins to myself before the madness starts in the morning .

I love it really

shabbapinkfrog · 18/08/2009 09:09

thats what our house used to be like.....then Tom turned 12, had his ear pierced and started grunting instead of talking!! He will be 'last up' today...he stayed up late watching Family Guy on TV - yes it is rude but hysterically funny

missing my lads very much today..older grief does bite you on the bum when you least expect it.

RIGHT!!! Head up Shabbs, smile painted on, tidy this mucky house and await the arrival, just after dinner, of the mighty Lewis!!

travellingwilbury · 18/08/2009 09:11

I love Family Guy too . So I have got another 9 yrs of this then before youngest is 12 ?

Sorry you have been bitten on the bum today It just comes from nowhere sometimes doesn't it ?

Lewis will def help get you through the day xx

shabbapinkfrog · 18/08/2009 09:23

Oooh Tom was a nightmare - he didnt sleep through the night till he was 5 years old!! He would have about 4 hours, if we were lucky, then I would have to get up with him and come downstairs. Used to say (at about 3 years old) 'sleep is boring!'

travellingwilbury · 18/08/2009 09:27

That does sound nightmarish . I don't have that so much just the early morning thing .Has got better , until a couple of months ago they both thought that 5 am was a perfectly reasonable time to get up .

My 3 yr old is doing the "I am not tired " thing every night which is a PITA but we will get there . At least these two are getting a chance to be a PITA . And they are taking that chance and running with it