My dream come true!

by Tahlia  (aged 12)

When I was five I saved up some coins so I could throw them into a wishing fountain, and every time I wished for the same thing, a baby sister.  Not long after that I was sat down on mum and dads bed with my brother, Brodie to be informed that mum was pregnant. I was so excited but my wish hadn’t come true yet. I wanted it to be a girl so bad. I took every day as it came, just waiting for the one where mum picked me up and told me it was going to be a baby girl. My wish came true. I was so happy that I would finally have someone to play dolls with and someone’s hair I could do.  As mum’s tummy grew bigger and bigger I became even more excited each day. But little did I know that it wasn’t all going to be perfect and happy.

When I was 7 the day came for my sister to come into the world I went to my nans. There with me was my 2 cousins Ben and Connor and my brother. There was lots of whispering. I was getting worried. Could my dream not be true? Has something gone wrong? I couldn’t take it. Everyone was being so quite around me and very secretive. So I went and sat on my nans knee and said, “nan what’s going on?”  My Nan told me that something was wrong with my sister. I was so confused and young. I started balling my eyes out. I was asking so many questions. My Nan told me that she may not make it. I cuddled Nan and hoped she would be ok. All I could think about was why I was the only one that didn’t know something was up. My Nan was waiting by the phone just waiting for it to ring and mum to say she’s ok.

After 3 days I finally got to go to the city to meet my little sister. I wanted to hold her so bad and tell her that she would be ok. But I wasn’t allowed to old her until she was 5 days old. When I got to hold her she looked so peaceful. All the other baby’s in the ward she was in were screaming and crying but Abby was so quiet and peaceful. Mum and dad stayed at the Ronald McDonald house near the Royal Children’s Hospital for 28 days.  

After 28 days she finally got to come home. I was so excited that she finally got to come home so we could be a normal family. But I was wrong. Mum was having to go into the hospital in the city with Abby 2 times every week. Until she was about two, then it was once a week. I was going with mum when I could to the hospital but it got to upsetting. So now I don’t go. There was little kids in the hospital fighting cancer and lots of kids dealing with different issues.

I remember when Abby was 3 I went with her to the doctors to get a blood test and she wasn’t happy.  I don’t like seeing her sad so I started crying. Then about a month ago I went to the doctors to get a needle and I wasn’t too happy about it but then I thought of how many needles Abby has had to get and I felt fine.

Abby is now 5 and it’s amazing how many people care about her. About a year ago Abby made a little friend.  His name is Ashton and he has the agenesis of the corpus callosum just like Abby does.  Ashton is a year younger than Abby and is making a bit more progress than her.  Mum, Ashtons mum, Sarah and some other ladies just recently made a group called ausdocc. All of the ladies in the group have children with the corpus callosum issue.

Abby makes more progresses each day. But unfortunately she forgets easy and sometimes doesn’t do things that she was doing a month ago. For example if you tell her to clap hands sometimes she does it and sometimes she has forgotten.

When mum first told me she was going to have another baby I was imagining playing dolls with her or doing her hair and make up for graduation. Although I won’t get to do that with her cause she won’t stay still and she has no interest in dolls, we still manage to have a bucket load of fun together. I make videos with Abby and I read her books, I tell her how much I love her, hoping she loves me to, I share my stories, hoping she is aware, and I try be there for her no matter what. Mum has a lot to deal with. Like Abby not being helpful or kicking her in the face. Then there’s everything else like changing her nappy or carrying her from one room to another. I try my best to help out as much as I can so mum can have a break.

If I could say thank you to anyone people would expect me to say it to the doctors and nurses that saved her, but I say thanks to Abby for not giving up on us and herself. I am very thankful to the doctors though. Abby is my dream come true and I love her no matter what.

PS… normal is boring, no one likes boring …