Visit to the Doctor

E had a good morning and was settled and sleeping well in his cot when I decided to transfer him to his pram for a walk to meet his grandpa in Coogee. When will I learn? We went for breakfast and E woke up screaming. I went up to my dad’s hotel and fed him there and then decided that E needs his home - at the very least I do. It is much easier to cry and fall apart in the comfort of your own home.

We went home and he had a good sleep and then woke for a feed and a visit to the paediatrician. Dr C was happy with E’s progress. He wrote in his blue book “doing very well” which I am sure was more for me than for anyone else. He weighed E without clothes on a proper digital scale and he weighs 2.325, his length is 49cm and his head circumference is 39cm so he is growing well. He explained that the head circumference is the most important gain we are looking at and on the percentage charts E is on the 50th percentile for his corrected age which is brilliant considering he was small for his gestation at birth. His length and weight are coming along well. Dr C also explained how the brain is developing at quite a rapid rate and so too much stimulation can bewilder him and make him very unsettled as it is too much to cope with. He suggested that we do not play with E or over stimulate him in any way but just allow him to grow and develop in a secure environment. He said that the screaming that E is doing at feed time is probably in response to having to work to hard for his food once the let down has slowed. M says that he thinks Dr C is very happy with us as parents. I am sure that he is – so am I.

We came home after the appointment and E started to cry. We lay down on the bed and had a little rest but he soon woke up and wanted to eat. I fed him and he started off really well but then he started to scream. He kept screaming and worked himself up into such a state that we could not calm him at all. M quickly ran a bath and jumped in and En joined him. He was particularly gorgeous in the bath and settled but then he threw us a curve ball and started screaming in the bath. We quickly dried him and dressed him and I tried to feed him but he was not eating very well and I think he wore himself out crying and fell asleep. I decided to quickly try and do some grocery shopping. Ha ha ha - I can now laugh to myself.

I left M with E and confidently went to Eastgardens. I phoned home from the car and E was crying. About half an hour into my shopping jaunt M phoned to say E was still crying hysterically, he was hungry because he had had such a bad feed before. M was going to warm a bottle and try and feed him. I was walking around the shops like a wild banshee quite hysterical over the fact that my son was crying at home and I was at the shops looking for my dad so that we could get home to E.

M phoned to say that E was now calmer and I should finish my shopping. I did not feel at all calm!! I did the quickest shop in history and raced home to find a very settled baby – exhausted actually from screaming for an hour or so. It seems like an eternity when he screams like that . He had had 60mls of a bottle and his daddy cuddled him and put him to sleep. He slept for 4 hours and was really good last night.