Probably NOT for the 'weak stomach' reader..
We're two months into life in New Zealand and it's been.. an 'experience'.
Let me begin from the start. We're driving down from Dubbo to Melbourne, due to fly out the following morning. We'd just shot our last wedding and it was absolutely perfect. Kids were piled in the car and then.. someone coughs.
It's Carter. Of course, it's Carter.
We cross our fingers and hope it was just a once off. Nope, that kid is coughing all the way to Melbourne.
We board our plane to Auckland. Carter's not in the best mood. We didn't get the best sleep the night before and everyone's a little cranky, except, Carter's really giving it his all. He's crying.. not settling.. not eating. But he'll have a bottle.
One hour in and Carter vomits all over me, all over the three seats in front of us, all over the ground and all over my coat, shoes and bag. I'm in the row behind John and Brooklyn, so the one person I have to help me is my seven-year-old daughter, Havanah, and she's already horrified at the site of things.
A flight attendant moves us to the back of the plane, "Just so you can stretch out and be a little more comfortable", the flight attendant explains. -- I already know that they move the 'sickies' to the back of the plane, to try contain the spread of germs. But I'm not fussed. Off we go, leaving John, Brooklyn and some poor woman, to sit in front of all that spew!
I sat in that spew for HOURS.. two flights and a five-and-a-half hour stopover. I was DONE.
Fast forward three weeks.
This virus went through all three kids, twice.
I'd never been so grateful to be a minimalist family as I was in those weeks. I managed to unpack us, completely, in the first few days, so it made having a house full of sick kids a little easier to manage.
Term two was about to start and the kids were ready to start school; Brooklyn attending school for the very first time and Havanah returning back to mainstream schooling, after two years of homeschooling. They were nervous but they were ready.. we all were.
First week in, Brooklyn gets a cold.
Havanah gets a cold.
Carter catches it. John catches it. I catch it.
The kids have two days off in their second week. Not off to a good start.
A week later, Havanah's in the hospital with Strep Throat; off school for a week.
Two weeks later, Brooklyn's vomiting; another virus.
Finally, after months of being well(ish), I have my first trip to hospital.
My gastrointestinal system isn't working properly; my endoscopy has been brought forward.
After a truck-load of tests, they figure out my body has stopped absorbing vital nutrients; nutrients it needs to survive. My Red Blood Cells have plummeted and my blood isn't being adequately oxygenated.
It sounds full-on, but it's quite a common illness. I have a B12 deficiency, which is being managed with fortnightly B12 injections. -- Which have been INCREDIBLE! Massive change!
In better news, my hip is only subluxing every-other-day. My shoulder's only dislocated once. My lower back is still well and truly fused, but I've been off the biologic injections for two months and I've been getting around pretty well!
I use my walking stick most days. I try not to take it out of the house but some days I have no choice (it never comes to school drop-off or pick-up though!.. not yet). In terms of specialists and surgeries, I'm on a four-week wait list to see a Rheumatologist at either Tauranga Hospital (just down the road), or Whakatane Hospital (an hour away) and I don't get to pick which one I go to. I'll have bits and pieces removed from my stomach and intestines during my endoscopy, but I should be able to leave the hospital the following day. My hip and SI joint surgeries.. well.. new country, new waiting lists.. and these lists are LONG. I'm holding off. I feel good enough to get around without help. Sometimes I need a bit of assistance here and there.. but I'm okay. We have a ramp at our house, which is surprisingly much harder to use, than the stairs. Little things like that really get to me, because I forget that my hip just ain't gonna make it happen lol. But life is really good.
Currently, Brooklyn still has a terrible cough from his cold he had WEEKS ago and Carter has Croup.
He had trouble breathing on Saturday so we took him straight into the doctors and they gave him some steroids to help his little lungs push through. Day three, and he's doing incredibly well. Life of an ex-prem.
John? John's been good.
He goes out fishing.. he gets out on the tractor.. he's even been called on to operate the excavator.
When he's not at the farm, he's at the school disco, rockin' the BBQ.. he's at drop-off and pick-up.. he's on class excursions.. he's running to be a parent representative on the School Board of Trustees!
Me? I'm on the Fundraising Committee.. that's it. But I HAVE started doing shoots again!.. so that's something too! lol
We love life here.
We love how close we are to the sea and, equally, how secluded our little 'cabin on the hill' is.
We love the culture; my culture.. our children's culture.. and how much that's already changing us.
We love the school. It's been amazing for the kids!
We love how happy we are here. Even when we're not, we have so many opportunities to be grateful.
We needed this move.
Erin Michele Thomson ∙ Tauranga Photographer ∙ info@erinmichele.co.nz
