So, Rachel had her first 1.5 hours at daycare yesterday. We've gone with ABC Newtown, mainly because they had a place available, but I also had a good vibe in there. I've looked at a few around town and they do seem similar in terms of facilities etc, I don't know, it's something intangible. So anyway, yesterday she had a 1.5 hour orientation. I left her there looking happy and I came back a wee while later and she was still looking happy. Monkey. I called her from the door and she was so busy looking at stuff she didn't bother turning around.
Not sure if all the excitement stimulated her too much but she missed her third sleep and then had a dreadful sleep last night. Oh well. She's a cute monkey.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Mother's Day
My first mother's day as a mother went thus - Rachel woke at 7, and as is our wont on Sundays, she came into bed with us for a feed and a snuggle. I noticed she had some blood in her ear. So, an inspection followed. She didn't seem upset, so we weren't too worried, but then, she wasn't upset particularly when she was throwing up for hours straight after her experience with formula. So we called that 24-hour helpline who asked a few questions, agreed with us that it was a bit odd and sent us off to a GP clinic thing. I went into Rachel's room to discover a bunch of flowers and a card in her cot. Clever girl!! Luckily, and somewhat amazingly, there weren't many people waiting for the one GP on duty when we arrived. And only one of those few people seemed to be ill. Anyway. I digress. In we went, Rachel had yet another visit with a doctor who described her as particularly alert, a sticky beak etc etc (do they just say this stuff to make mothers happy?), and when he stuck that light thing in her ear, he straight away said "she's just scratched herself" which was the same conclusion we'd already reached. Nice.
After that we came home for her long morning snooze, and then went out for lunch. Simon discovered he should have booked... Apparently Rachel should have thought of that. 9_9 So we wound up at Groove Train, a huge soulless place with alright food. I had a glass of sparkling rose and a half-decent risotto. Then it was off for a wonder around the shops of central Geelong. Simon got himself a nice new jacket, Rachel got a nice little outfit for wearing at the farm (don't know why it is for the farm in particular, but Simon and I agreed on the spot it would be ideal), and we spent a little time wandering the aisles of an increasingly-empty Borders. Simon got some books. Rachel got some sleep. We had a nice coffee and then came home for me to put Rachel to bed and Simon to have a run. All in all, a pretty typical day.
Today, Simon is at home with his work team, putting in the new veranda boards. It's noisy! But a good job to get going.
After that we came home for her long morning snooze, and then went out for lunch. Simon discovered he should have booked... Apparently Rachel should have thought of that. 9_9 So we wound up at Groove Train, a huge soulless place with alright food. I had a glass of sparkling rose and a half-decent risotto. Then it was off for a wonder around the shops of central Geelong. Simon got himself a nice new jacket, Rachel got a nice little outfit for wearing at the farm (don't know why it is for the farm in particular, but Simon and I agreed on the spot it would be ideal), and we spent a little time wandering the aisles of an increasingly-empty Borders. Simon got some books. Rachel got some sleep. We had a nice coffee and then came home for me to put Rachel to bed and Simon to have a run. All in all, a pretty typical day.
Today, Simon is at home with his work team, putting in the new veranda boards. It's noisy! But a good job to get going.
Milk allergy
Our little monkey apparently has a milk allergy. Well, intolerance, whatever. She breaks out in a rash. Anyway, the story goes thus:
24-36 hours later the rash came up. And it's a really weird rash. Kind of hard, like her entire body had gone bumpy. Started on her face and then moved down her body. We were in Ballarat so took her to one of those super clinics and waited to see a GP. He had some kind of weird eye issue going on, like a really bad rash himself so I wasn't keen on having him touch our little monkey. Anyway, he said it was likely to be the milk.
The itching began. Rachel has always had fantastic little nails, needing trimming daily. So they were perfect for her to attempt to peel her own skin off. Then we discovered Farex has milk in it, so had to remove that from her diet. A trip back to our own regular GP clinic provided us with a tube of cortisone.
And eventually the rash dissipated. It's still there a bit, under her chin, where the constant dribble out of her mouth seems to keep things nice and damp.
- the monkey had a bout of laryngitis;
- we were on the move a lot - down to the farm, holiday in Anglesea and then Lorne and then Ballarat, plus her immunisations in there somewhere;
- she lost a bit of weight;
- everyone kept saying how little she was; and then
- we gave her a bottle of formula.
24-36 hours later the rash came up. And it's a really weird rash. Kind of hard, like her entire body had gone bumpy. Started on her face and then moved down her body. We were in Ballarat so took her to one of those super clinics and waited to see a GP. He had some kind of weird eye issue going on, like a really bad rash himself so I wasn't keen on having him touch our little monkey. Anyway, he said it was likely to be the milk.
The itching began. Rachel has always had fantastic little nails, needing trimming daily. So they were perfect for her to attempt to peel her own skin off. Then we discovered Farex has milk in it, so had to remove that from her diet. A trip back to our own regular GP clinic provided us with a tube of cortisone.
And eventually the rash dissipated. It's still there a bit, under her chin, where the constant dribble out of her mouth seems to keep things nice and damp.
Blogging
You know, this is the second blog I've started and not really had the momentum to keep on with. For someone who loves a chat that's a bit odd.
I really must endeavour to get my act together. So much to do...
I really must endeavour to get my act together. So much to do...
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Age
I have no idea why but I'm no good at knowing how old I am. Yesterday at a catch-up coffee with my mothers group, one of the mother's mentioned it was her birthday earlier in the week. I asked her if it was an important one and she said no, just 34. To which I said "I'm so old". And of course that led to a discussion of how old I am. I just said old, and they all thought I was much younger. Which is nice! Anyway, apparently one of the other mothers is 37, and I said I was a little bit older than that. Which I'm not!
I had to tell my husband when I got home, and he just laughed because I'm always mucking up how old I am. As in, I always add a year. Perhaps I should just start saying I'm in my 38th year, rather than saying I'm 38. Silliness.
I had to tell my husband when I got home, and he just laughed because I'm always mucking up how old I am. As in, I always add a year. Perhaps I should just start saying I'm in my 38th year, rather than saying I'm 38. Silliness.
Stress
Yesterday was a crazy day! In the morning, Rachel decided to wake for a feed at 5.30 (usually it's 7). So she had a feed and went back to sleep 'til 8.30, which meant she woke at the time she's usually going back down for her long morning sleep. So she was up for an hour or so before going back to bed again and having another snooze. Then we were off to Gymbaroo, from there straight to a cafe for lunch with my mothers group. She should have been asleep then but nope, there were people to schmooze with. She's a very social little monkey. And because she didn't sleep then, I took her home for a snooze instead of going to rhyme time at the library, which she loves as much as she loves Gymbaroo. And that's when the maternal health nurse called. So, in order to exlain that I need to tell you about yesterday. Which means I also need to tell you about last week. And our 4-month maternal health nurse check-up. Kapish?
Last Tuesday, Rachel started to lose her voice. She got really quite hoarse by Thursday, so I made an appointment with her GP. Earliest I could get in was yesterday afternoon. So off we toddled, despite Rachel being markedly better. Thought I may as well get her checked out. The GP declared her very healthy, and decided the little monkey had had a bout of laryngitis caused by a virus. Made sense to me, as she'd also had a bit of a runny nose the week before. The GP also described her as a sticky beak, particularly alert and really quite a lovely little girl. Which was also the general consensus of all the men in the waiting room she'd been smiling at. Anyway, at our 4-month check-up, Rachel's weight was on the low side, as I've mentioned before, between the 25th and 10th percentiles. Length and head circumference were on the 25th. The maternal health nurse suggested weighing her again at 5 months to track what was happening. So, as I forgot to ask the GP, I ducked into the maternal health centre on the way home to use the scales they have set up in the breastfeeding room they provide. And horrors - she'd lost weight. At 4 months she was 5.34 kg, and at as-good-as-5-months, she was 5.26 kg. I went into a bit of a funk about it, thinking of all the people who'd said "she's so little!!", "isn't she dainty/petite/a cute little thing" etc. And then I thought about her being so alert and smiley and happy and a pretty good sleeper (she certainly does the 14.5 hours recommended for her age, without being what's the word, insipid? Not quite, but can't get it at the moment), and I thought, the scales must be wrong. So, I called the maternal health centre when I got home, as there had been no one in the office when I was there, just to have a chat and see if their scales were stupid. I got the central office and left my name and number for the nurse to call back. Rachel had been held up side-by-side with other babies her age at mothers group, and goodness me, she really is little. So I was starting to stress a bit. And then the maternal health nurse called and started banging on about "give her formula". Nope nope nope. So, after she tried that a few times more, she clicked that I wasn't into the idea and suggested giving her top up bottles of expressed milk. Lucky we'd given her a bottle for the first time the night before, and she took to it like a duck to etc. This afternoon I gave her a top-up 40ml after her afternoon feed, and then another 120ml with her last feed. I am on an expressing mission. And I think I'm going to start solids. She is certainly interested in food. For the brief time at mothers group lunch when she was on my knee (rather than someone else's, getting in cuddles all over the place), she was trying to get into my salad. Or was it the goat's cheese? I'm still sceptical that the scales are a bit dodgy - she's been growing out of some of her clothes. Hm. So now I have to take her back to the GP to make sure there isn't something wrong, even though she was declared healthy yesterday. Sigh.
Last Tuesday, Rachel started to lose her voice. She got really quite hoarse by Thursday, so I made an appointment with her GP. Earliest I could get in was yesterday afternoon. So off we toddled, despite Rachel being markedly better. Thought I may as well get her checked out. The GP declared her very healthy, and decided the little monkey had had a bout of laryngitis caused by a virus. Made sense to me, as she'd also had a bit of a runny nose the week before. The GP also described her as a sticky beak, particularly alert and really quite a lovely little girl. Which was also the general consensus of all the men in the waiting room she'd been smiling at. Anyway, at our 4-month check-up, Rachel's weight was on the low side, as I've mentioned before, between the 25th and 10th percentiles. Length and head circumference were on the 25th. The maternal health nurse suggested weighing her again at 5 months to track what was happening. So, as I forgot to ask the GP, I ducked into the maternal health centre on the way home to use the scales they have set up in the breastfeeding room they provide. And horrors - she'd lost weight. At 4 months she was 5.34 kg, and at as-good-as-5-months, she was 5.26 kg. I went into a bit of a funk about it, thinking of all the people who'd said "she's so little!!", "isn't she dainty/petite/a cute little thing" etc. And then I thought about her being so alert and smiley and happy and a pretty good sleeper (she certainly does the 14.5 hours recommended for her age, without being what's the word, insipid? Not quite, but can't get it at the moment), and I thought, the scales must be wrong. So, I called the maternal health centre when I got home, as there had been no one in the office when I was there, just to have a chat and see if their scales were stupid. I got the central office and left my name and number for the nurse to call back. Rachel had been held up side-by-side with other babies her age at mothers group, and goodness me, she really is little. So I was starting to stress a bit. And then the maternal health nurse called and started banging on about "give her formula". Nope nope nope. So, after she tried that a few times more, she clicked that I wasn't into the idea and suggested giving her top up bottles of expressed milk. Lucky we'd given her a bottle for the first time the night before, and she took to it like a duck to etc. This afternoon I gave her a top-up 40ml after her afternoon feed, and then another 120ml with her last feed. I am on an expressing mission. And I think I'm going to start solids. She is certainly interested in food. For the brief time at mothers group lunch when she was on my knee (rather than someone else's, getting in cuddles all over the place), she was trying to get into my salad. Or was it the goat's cheese? I'm still sceptical that the scales are a bit dodgy - she's been growing out of some of her clothes. Hm. So now I have to take her back to the GP to make sure there isn't something wrong, even though she was declared healthy yesterday. Sigh.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Our puppy
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