rachy sounds like a very bad day! My only suggestion on the constipation is prunes (if you can't stomach them dried apricots are the next best thing!)
pickle she's the community MW and I have hospital births so no chance of her delivering my baby, that would have made a great story though. Ask away about HE, I could go on about it all day. I have 2 DC's, DS 4 and DD 10months, so we don't do anything too formal yet. There's no requirement to teach the national curriculum, follow school terms/days/times, do tests etc, the only requirement is to provide a 'broad and balanced education' that caters to their age and ability. At the moment we're mostly following DS interests, while throwing in some English and maths where we can. We also read loads, he's reading by himself already so it seems to be working :).
wilde with DS muscular dystrophy we were mosly concerned about bullying. I started researching HE, and the more I found out the more we realised its the lifestyle we want for our DC's. what I love most is how efficient it is, we only need to do a couple of hours per day to cover a full days worth of equivalent school work, the rest of the time DS can spend following his own interests and just being a kid. Also they're learning all the time anyway, we study biology by going on nature walks, weights and measures by baking cakes, geography by looking where the Olympic athletes came from etc. what you describe is known as flexi-schooling, it's something the headmaster of the school can do at their own discretion which most are reluctant to do. I've also heard very mixed reports about how successful it is tbh, with parents sometimes having to teach what the school dictates, or missing out on things they would have learnt at school and not being at the same level as the rest of the class, or just being 'different' from the other kids by not always being there.
Sorry that was a bit long, if anyone wants any more info or links to reliable info feel free to PM me.