About Us
“You are not going to heal walking 5 miles a day! You need to find a hobby where you sit down. I know, why don’t you knit something”
– Elaine 2019
Ranulph entered the world at warp speed and life really hasn’t been the same since. Being a first-time mum, I guess that is to be expected, but the months that followed giving birth rocked my foundations.
I still find it hard to believe how tricky breastfeeding can be, surely the most natural option should be the easiest? I think I was prepared for the possibility that breastfeeding doesn’t suit every mum, and it certainly doesn’t suit every baby, but at 8 weeks post-partum I felt we were starting to get into the swing of life as a new family. I had not anticipated the agony of mastitis, and that mastitis could turn into an abscess, and that an abscess could lead to septic shock, and that I could be in danger of losing my life!
A combination of these events resulted in an emergency trip to A & E. This was quickly followed by 2 operations to remove a 500ml abscess, intravenous antibiotics, and several weeks in hospital. In no way did I ever think this might happen. This certainly doesn’t appear in: ‘What to expect when you’re expecting!” Nor does it prepare you for what follows… After a breast abscess has been removed, the wound can’t simply be sewn up, it must slowly heal from the inside out. Every other day for 5 months the cavity was painfully cleaned out, and tightly repacked with swabs to stop infection.
I did my best to stay positive, and walking became my go to activity. Three months into my recovery the wound wasn’t healing, and I was struggling to keep infection at bay. The wonderful nurses who had been caring for me sat me down, and offered their frank advice, “You are not going to heal walking 5 miles a day! You need to find a hobby where you sit down. I know, why don’t you knit something?”
And there you have it, right there. The birth of Ginger Roo.
