Ishmael

Ishmael is my sweetheart and my second eldest.  I married a son of a family friend when Quinton was about eight months old and shortly after became pregnant with Ishmael.  My husband worked out of town and so I spent most of my pregnancy on my own.  When I was 14 weeks pregnant I got a UTI and was ill for a few days but fought it off so I could look after Quinton.  When my husband did come home for the weekend I crashed onto the couch and suddenly got worse.  I was admitted to Hospital for two nights to be treated.

Two weeks before I gave birth to Ishmael I had a bleed and went to the Hospital.  I was sent home but two weeks later I had another bleed and went straight back to the Hospital.  I was lucky enough to have seen a young female Doctor who did not want to take any chances so she decided that I was to be flown to Darwin to give birth.  I was flown up to Darwin an hour later.  When we arrived the bleeding had stopped was when they did an ultra-sound they discovered that there was not enough amniotic fluid and I was induced the following morning.  My labour progressed well, however, when I was pushing the cord was compressing his chest and stopping his heart.  Sirens went off everywhere and people came rushing into the labour room.  Ishmael was vacuumed and had no heart beat.  He quickly came to and was placed on my chest.

Because of severe blood loss they started massaging my stomach to help the uterus contract and stop the bleeding.  It hurt so much that I was screaming and I remember the Doctor say "get that baby off her chest!!!".  The two nurses that were doing it were crying and saying sorry over and over.  I had bruises all over my stomach for two weeks.

Ishmael was only 2.8kgs (and at full term) and I was told that he would be severely mentally and physically disabled.  Today he is in grade one and flourishing.  He is popular and loves school.  He has aspergers so he has a few issues with social interaction but at the same time he can confidently meet new people and play well with others.  It is hard to fully describe what he is like but he does have noticeable difficulties associated with the aspergers.

Ishmael is a charmer.  He is happy to have a chat for hours and loves to make things.  He is forever bringing home robots and space ships that he made out of cereal cartons. His teacher thinks that he is amazing and modestly I agree.  He is hard to reason.  He is very intelligent and although it is hard to get him to concentrate and want to learn something, once we get his attention he learns quickly.  My nan always says that Ishmael was the most beautiful baby she has ever seen and I would agree.  He is a beautiful boy with an amazing smile.  Drives me up the walls some times but would not change him.  He truly is a unique individual.

Quinton

 Quinton is my eldest and an absolute gentleman.  He does at times have what I call "the only child syndrome" but he is a very smart boy.  He loves his siblings and he is very protective.  He is shy but loves to be the class clown.  He really enjoys music and loves opera and musicals.

Quinton is my first born.  Quinton is the first grandchild on both sides.  Quinton is the first great-grandchild on both sides.

I found out that I was pregnant with Quinton when I was about 5 months pregnant and I was 18 years old.  The first time I got an ultra-sound to see how far along I was in the pregnancy I was told the sex.  It was very surreal not only being told that I was pregnant but that I was having a boy.  I was not working at the time and had left home to live with my boyfriend so I started buying things each week.  I used what ever money I could sneak from my partner, as he liked to spend all of our money on drugs and alcohol.
NB:  I was not drinking or doing drugs.

I put a pram and porta-cot on layby and paid them off week by week.  I also bought items such as singlets and nappies.  By the time Quinton was born I had been able to buy the porta-cot, pram, a cot sheet set, quilt, and a couple of clothes.

My labour came on pretty quickly once my water broke spontaneously.  Prior to my water breaking I had no pain.  Ten hours later my son was on my chest and he was the most amazing thing I had ever seen.  I was immediately flooded with a love that was so great it was hard to contain it.  Along with the absolute unconditional love that I had for my son I felt fear.  Fear that anything bad would ever happen to him.

Two weeks before I gave birth to Quinton my partner did a hit-and-run and was then sentenced to two years jail when Quinton was exactly 8 weeks old.  However, I had left him when Quinton was one week old and moved into my own two bedroom unit.  My partner had been physically abusive with me during our relationship and one night he threatened me with a machete that he was waving too close to my then one week old son.  I knew then and there that I had to leave and protect my son.  There was no way I would let him hurt my son or even be in the position to be able to.  Quinton's father has not been in the picture since this day.  For many reasons but the main one being that his attitude has not changed and continues to think that he deserves to have contact and believes that he has every right to abuse, harrass and threaten me in order to get it.

A Boy and His Dog

Since becoming a mum I have come to the conclusion that although pets can be fun and can teach the kids about responsibility, they are also an extra burden that I personally could do without.  But while going through my photos I came across a photo of my oldest son with his dog.

When my son was about two months old I came across this gorgeous Staffy X pup in a pet shop and could not leave without him.  So we bought him and named him Buddy.  He had a gorgeous personality and right from the start he took to my son.  He would constantly be close by my son and would not let him out of his sight.  Unfortunately he was hit and killed by a car when my son was about two years old and we have not had another pet since.