The Day We Had A Car Crash

After a lovely week off work together, we'd decided to drive up to see my sister & her fiance in Manchester, all went well and we were on our way home, pretty early on a Sunday morning. Some of you may even remember me tweeting the picture below around 15 minutes before it happened, John was driving and we'd just got onto the M62, normally quite a busy stretch of motorway, but it was 9:30am on a Sunday morning so it was pretty quite. We were in the slow lane as it was a temporary 50 zone, due to roadworks (which no one is ever, EVER, working on) and I remember feeling like the lorry that was slowly over taking us, felt to close.

Well that was my famous last thought because we felt an almighty bang. Before John even had time to finish his 'What the **** was...' we suddenly realised because we were turned horizontal across the front of a lorry. I remember screaming and seeing dust around us, I could hear the beeping of the lorry driver (I'm assuming this was to warn drivers behind him) and we could definitely feel the force of the lorry as it pushed us along the carriageway. We came to stop as luckily the driver braked pretty quickly, it titled our car facing forward and the force, along with some steering from John pushed us into the side of the slow lane against a metal reservation (like the one above). John jumped out, and I climbed out across his side, as my door was jammed shut, we then managed to grab Noah out through the front and clambered over the reservation to safety. A pair of absolutely lovely men had stopped in the car behind us, and the rang the police as well as helping other cars get past. The lorry driver stopped further up and eventually came down where he admitted he didn't see us.

After asking the guys behind us what happened, as we were alongside the lorry we really had no idea, it turned out, the driver simply hadn't seen us, he indicated and moved across into us, he'd clipped the back of our car and it turned us in front of him. I couldn't believe what had just happened, we were all so lucky, none of us had a bruise to show and we were incredibly thankful. How many accidents do you hear of with a HGV that come out ok? Noah didn't even cry throughout any of the ordeal. I felt sorry for the car, it's a courtesy car as mine was in for repair, so we didn't really even have to deal with that. It's now nearly a week after the crash and aside from a very achey back on my behalf, we're all roughly okay. Again, I cannot thank the quick thinking of other drivers - thus not causing further trauma by crashing into us, and although he was incredibly stupid in the first place - the quick braking of the HGV driver as we all know this could of turned out so much worse.

Enjoy my little doodle of exactly how it happened. We're all slightly nervous now about driving on motorways, although for the first time today since the accident I did overtake a lorry, with sweaty palms mind you, but I did it nonetheless. A review of Noahs amazing car seat will follow, it withstood the impact of a 70 tonne lorry so it's definitely tried and tested.

Have you ever been in a car accident with your little one on board? How did you deal with the aftermath?

Bronchitis In Babies.

There is possibly nothing worse for a Mother, than to see her child suffering. And unfortunately for us, Noah has had an absolutely dreadful cough for nearing 5 months now, it first developed in September, which we were fobbed off by doctors that it was just a general cold and he'd recover within 5-7 days. Of course, when he didn't we headed straight back which we were then told it's more like 14-21 days - honestly who has a cold for three weeks? I certainly don't, but, we're not doctors and they are so we trusted them.


About a month after our initial visit, we took him back and were given some antibiotics and told he had 'viral bronchitis', we were pleased someone had actually acknowledged it was more than a cold and we looked forward to him gradually getting better over the 7 day course of antibiotics (amoxicillian to be exact) and you know what he did get better. For around a week. Then we had the relentless coughing and spluttering again night after night, it became unbearable not only for Noah but for us. Fast forward to around November time and we found ourselves reaching for the phone to ring the number that had become almost learned by us - the doctors surgery. Noah was booked in, told he had bronchitis and prescribed something totally different, an inhaler. I'd never dreamt of Noah needing an inhaler, but it seemed obvious, we hoped this would help and as usual for a few weeks it did. But around Christmas Noah seemed to be struck down with it again, but worse than ever. Even after a night with Nanny & Grandad they could see how much it had affected him.

So now we're here, in March waiting it out. We have three inhalers, Ventolin, Atrovent & Clenin Modula. If I'm honest I now feel we're getting somewhere, however I also think that's due to the warmer weather. I think this will be one of those things Noah will suffer with each winter, and until he's old enough he wont be classed as asthmatic as doctors (and I quote) 'simply don't diagnose babies with asthma'. It seems ludicrous that doctors wouldn't diagnose somebody with something just because of their age, there probably is reasoning behind it, but it's something I'll never understand. Our son can't have probably better suited medication because of some unwritten rule?

I've wrote this post to let other mummies out their know, you don't quite realise how many children are suffering with this till you tweet about your woes, that you're not alone, and they will come through it. It's hard, doctors don't quite believe you I feel. Noahs' cough was definitely more of a night cough, but obviously I'm not taking him to the doctors at 3am so they can't hear him for themselves. I tried everything, hours in a&e, hours on the phone to 111. Sometimes you do just have to wait it out, the sleepless nights for you all do gradually become bearable, but the suffering your child is going through doesn't and it's incredibly frustrating. Just know it will end, and Noah is definitely much better now, I think walking helped shift a lot of it off his chest and hopefully in the next month he wont need his inhalers for a while.

Have any of your children suffered from Bronchitis?