Wednesday 30th September 2009

I think I'm getting some teeth. I've been feeling very off colour today and have been whinging at mummy to let her know! My gums are very sharp. Like little needles mummy says, and she doesn't seem very impressed with me when I'm feeding as you can imagine! so I've had my first taste of bonjela tonight. I've had a good week though, spending a lot of time with the family. Daddy, mummy, Harriet and I went to Paultons Park on Friday to celebrate daddy's birthday. Harriet went on lots of rides and enjoyed herself. I wasn't allowed to go on any rides, but I enjoyed myself nonetheless. On Saturday I saw Granny Judy, Auntie Shellie and Cousin Isabelle. They all came down to see me for the day. We had a great time together and I had lots of lovely cuddles from everyone. On Sunday we went for a lovely picnic and walk to Christ Church Meadows in Oxford. I dozed in my buggy, and Harriet enjoyed picking up twigs and conkers and riding on daddy's shoulders. On Monday it was daddy's birthday to I went out for lunch with mummy and daddy to celebrate. I was quite good until the main course arrived and then I decided I didn't want to be in my buggy anymore.....so there was no dessert and coffee! I've been very good with my sleeping most nights. The latest I've managed is 6.08am, but mostly I wake up at about 5.45am having gone to bed at 8pm with a quick final feed at 10.30pm, which isn't bad considering I'm still only 9lb 7oz. I haven't put on quite as much weight this week, as I am not having my night feeds anymore, but I am still tracking between the 9th and 25th centile on the growth chart, which is pretty good considering I was below the 0.4th centile when I was born. This weekend mummy and daddy are both socialising. Daddy is going to a wedding reception on Friday night, and then mummy is going down to London on Saturday evening - I'd better behave myself, especially on Saturday it means I have to face the dreaded bottle if mummy's not there - oh dear. I suspect daddy won't be in for an easy time of it!

Wednesday 23rd September 2009

What a busy time I've had since I last updated my blog. I've been so busy that I've just had to sleep more at night to restore my energy. Over the last week I've almost slept through the night 5 out of 7 nights! Can you believe it? I've been lasting for between 6 to 7 hours, so that means I can last from about 11pm to about 6am without waking up for more milk. Mummy is very pleased indeed, although she was a bit peturbed the first time I did it, and kept coming in to check on me. Over the weekend I woke up at 3.30am again though, which mummy said was a real shock to the system after 3 nights of 6am, so for the last 2 nights I've made it through to about 5.45am, so not too bad. Ideally I've got to make it through to 6.45am so I'm told, so I'll keep trying. I think that reaching the magical 9lb mark has done the trick. Mummy took me to get weighed today and I'm 9lb 3oz. That means I've put on another 9oz this week, and that's including dropping my night feed most nights. I'm becoming a right chubby chops, and I'll be moving up a wardrobe size over the next couple of days to 0-3 month clothes. I also think that stopping bottle feeding has helped. I'm not very good at bottle feeding, and I was having a bottle at my 10.30pm feed, but I wasn't taking enough milk and it was making my reflux worse, so I'm back to breastfeeding now for that feed, and it's working a lot better. Well, what have I been up to over the past few days? Harriet and I went to paint ceramics on Friday at The Funky Teapot, which is a shop in Wantage. Harriet was making birthday presents, and I was trying to help by sleeping soundly in my buggy! On Saturday we went to the Didcot Railway Centre to have a picnic and to see the trains, which was great fun - we're going again next Friday to see Thomas the Tank Engine. On Sunday Harriet went swimming with daddy in her brand new swimming costume, and then we all went for a lovely walk up on White Horse Hill. Yesterday I went with Harriet to Tumble Tots and to Toddler Tennis - I can't wait until I'm big enough to do all these fun things. I'm still trying to smile. I'm making lots of happy faces and smiling with my eyes, but I'm not really using my mouth much for smiling yet - I'm 11 weeks old today, so I'd better get a move on. I nearly smiled at my next door neighbour Pam today. I went round to visit her and her husband Keith and had a lovely cuddle with her.

Wednesday 16th September 2009

Mummy took me to be weighed today. I thought I would weigh a lot as I haven't done a poo for 3 days! And I was right - I am now 8lb 10oz, so to celebrate, I made up for my lack of action in the bowels department over the past few days, and filled my nappy as full as I possibly could! Aren't I naughty? So I hadn't put on quite a much weight as I did last week, but 11oz in a week isn't bad for a little tiddler like me. I am wearing my big cloth nappies now. They are very cosy and good for the environment. They are made out of bamboo and cotton, and are very fluffy and comfortable, if a little big. I've been sleeping a lot better in the evenings, which mummy and daddy are very pleased about. Harriet and I go up to bed just after 7pm and get to sleep at about 8pm after milk, bath and stories. What I'm not so good at is taking my milk at 10.30pm. Mummy and daddy wake me up and feed me milk out of a bottle. I can't understand why I have to have mummy's milk from the bottle and not from her. I don't like it that way. I get tired sucking, so I fall asleep and don't have very much, or I get cross and don't want to go back to sleep at all. If i don't have enough milk I wake up quite early in the night, which means I then wake up again at about 6am, which is a bit too early mummy tells me. So mummy and daddy are on a mission to make sure I take a bit more milk at that time - we'll see......I am very nearly officially smiling. I waited until Granny and Grandpa had gone home yesterday and then tried really hard to smile. Mummy's not sure she can say that I'm actually doing it yet, but I'm really very close. Oh, by the way I went to my first wedding on Saturday. Congratulations Richard and Virginia.

Wednesday 9th September 2009

I haven't been updating my blog as often as I would like. Mummy and I have been trying hard to get me into a proper routine, but my reflux has been stopping us. Mummy and daddy are religiously giving me gaviscon with every feed now, and it seems to be doing the trick. I'm going down a lot easier in the evening now - (except tonight, when I'm not tired, so I'm still up and about - how naughty!), and I'm not getting as much tummy ache. I'm also more awake during the day now, and not permanently sleepy, this is because I am growing fast! I saw Michelle the Special Care Community nurse today and she was extremely pleased with me, so much so that she doesn't need to see me anymore, so I am officially discharged. I was pleased, because I' ve been trying really hard with my weight gain this week, and it's worked well. I've put on a whole 13.5oz in one week! That's right. I'm now 3.6kg or 7lb 15oz. This means that I've more than doubled my birthweight in just 9 short weeks. Can you believe it? I'm rocketing up through the weight chart at a rate of knots. I'm now 5 and a half weeks corrected age, and that means I'm right on the cusp of smiling, and I'm holding my head up really well, something else that Michelle was very impressed with. I like to look around at the world and see what's going on. Mostly it's a view of the wall in the playroom over mummy's shoulder, but I'm sure I will get to see more interesting things as the weeks go on. I'm going to meet more of my extended family on Saturday as we are going to second cousin Richard's wedding to Virginia. I'm very excited. Harriet isn't coming, so I've promised I'll tell her all about it when I get home.

Thursday 3rd September 2009

I am officially getting quite big. Helen the Community nurse came to see me yesterday and weighed me and I am a whole 7lb 1.5oz. That's right, I've crept over the 7lb threshold. This means that I'll be able to go up another dress size soon. It also means that I've started to feel a bit more lively, and am managing to stay awake more during the day. This means that I go to sleep better in the evenings, and tonight and last night, I've gone to bed at 7.45pm and slept well, until mummy and daddy get me up for my last feed after 10pm before I go back to bed for the night - with only one more feed before morning at about 3am. Another reason I'm feeling better in the evenings is that mummy and daddy have started giving me Gaviscon because I was displaying a lot of reflux symptoms. On Tuesday afternoon I was very unhappy all afternoon and evening with tummy ache and vomiting, caused by reflux, but now that I'm taking my Gaviscon I feel a lot better. I am much more relaxed and can sleep well without feeling uncomfortable with that nasty burning sensation that reflux gives you. Mummy had a lot of Gaviscon in the cupboard from when Harriet had reflux, so she's been using that and it's making me feel tip top. I don't really like the taste of the gaviscon, but I take it because it makes me feel better. I also take an orange flavoured multi vitamin called Dalivit every day (when mummy remembers to give it to me!), but I don't like the taste very much, I prefer milk! I've got my first immunisations tomorrow, which I'm not looking forward to. Mummy will take me down to the surgery, and Harriet will come too for moral support. I'm going to have a dash of calpol before I go, just to make sure I don't feel rotten afterwards. Wish me luck. The nurses have been told they need to use the smallest needle on me, as normally babies are a lot bigger than me when they have their first injections. I think this is going to hurt, but as I've already had cannunlas in my arm in hospital, I'm used to it, so I will try and be as brave as possible.