Dream Mom One Year Anniversary-Then and Now

Blame it on Fat Doctor! She got me started with this whole blogging thing. LOL! I started reading her site and really enjoyed what I read. I found it fascinating. From there, I started clicking on links to other blogs. Since I love children, I found my way over to Neonatal Doc’s site and started reading his as well. Due to my issues with Dear Son, I found myself commenting on so many of his posts, that I decided to start my own blog. I tried many different names, most using Dear Son’s real name however they were all taken. Finally, I chose Dream Mom. And the rest is well, history.

I started telling stories about my love for Dear Son and on occasion posts about other topics. However, most people responded mainly to stories I wrote about him, so that soon became my primary focus.

In reflecting on the last year, I thought I’d highlight some of the more memorable posts and highlight the last year in general.

My Personal Favorite Post: Once Is Not Enough This was a story I wrote about Dear Son saying his first word after not speaking for many years. Although he has no language, he has been able to say a few words over the years: "Hi", "Ma" and "I Love You". Only the "hi" is intelligible. Other favorites are in my side bar.

Most Popular: Dr. Rey, Hayley Rey and Me and Super Size She. It never ceases to amaze me with all of the searches for these two. I can't even count the number of hits I get for each of them after Dr. 90210 airs or after the documentary on Joanna Thomas, a female bodybuilder and the real Super Size She. Long before women's bodybuilding came about, I used to read about men's bodybuilding, back in the days prior to Muscle and Fitness magazine. When women's bodybuilding came about, I was very excited since I loved the sport. The photo above is me at age 25 in 1983 when women's bodybuilding was not was it is today. At the time above, I could bench press 165 pounds (one rep, free weights) and run a 5:31 mile. I worked out several hours a day, mostly cardio (running, aerobics, biking, racquetball) since that was my favorite as well as free weights. I assumed my children would be active as well. It wasn't until Dear Son came along, that I devoted all of my time to his issues. I never dreamed my muscles would be used to lift him instead of working out with him. Photo credits: Larry Agron, Women's Physique World Magazine.





MRSA Pneumonia Series: This was a four part series that I wrote last year after Dear Son suffered his first of two MRSA pneumonias last year. If there was a low point last year, this was it. I thought Dear Son would die on Mother's Day.

Part I-How It Began
Part II-The Rescue
Part III-A Mother's Day to Remember
Part IV-The Conclusion




The Graduate: After the MRSA pneumonia, Dear Son graduated from the 8th grade. He would go back in the hospital a short time later with a second MRSA pneumonia.

Blogburst Invitation: One of the highlights of the year was the invitation from Blogburst.

Most Controversial: The Ashley Treatment Series.

Pillow Talk-The Debate Over the Ashley Treatment

The Ashley Treatment Part II-It Could Be You!

If Ashley Could Talk I Wonder What She’d Say…

The Ashley Treatment-Final Thoughts

Highlight of the Year: Being on CNN. It was a chance to speak about something important to me, the care and treatment of severely disabled children.

A year ago, when I started blogging, I never would have predicted in my wildest dreams what a fun this year this would be. I loved writing stories about Dear Son and even more, I have enjoyed all of your wonderful comments as well as all of your support. Your support and prayers during Dear Son’s MRSA pneumonia was the highlight of my day. When those days were dark, I could always log on and know that you were praying for him. That meant the world to me.

After a while, I became tired and exhausted from caring for Dear Son, working, and then trying to write new posts. So I quit. For a few weeks. Then came the invitation to join Blogburst. I accepted however it required that I start writing again. As soon as I began to lag again, the Ashley Treatment came up and I decided to write about that. For the most part, the purpose of my blog is to have fun. I hate controversy and I hate conflict. That’s the reason I write mostly about Dear Son. But the Ashley Treatment changed my life and changed the way I view the world. From there, came the CNN interview.

All the while, Dear Son continued to stay out of the hospital. I am not sure how many more stories I have about Dear Son, so I may need to expand a bit and talk about some other things. Dear Son's abilities are quite limited and there are only so many stories I can write about him before I start repeating myself. I know that my postings can sometimes be a bit sporadic at times however over the last three months, I am not longer getting any breaks on the weekend, like I used too, which limits my sleep. I haven't had a entire night's sleep, without getting up to take care of Dear Son, in over two months, so it's a bit difficult to be creative during these times. I am also in the midst of starting a new business which is taking up a lot of my spare time as well as continuing to work part time and care for Dear Son. I appreciate your patience.

But most of all, I need to thank you for all of your support of Dear Son and all of your wonderful comments. I am fortunate to have met so many wonderful people.

Thanks for a great year.