We were visited by a health visitor today, who gave us a lot of encouragement and information about all the services available to us and the milestones that the baby is going to reach in the next couple of weeks.
Medical Check: Health visitor's first visit
Milestone: Mimicking faces Books: Ron's first book Gifts: Cousin's drawing of our family Parenting: Terry towels VS muslin cloths Tuesday 16th October
Medical Check: Health visitor's first visit
I sat in the armchair by the fire feeding the baby when the health visitor came to see us. She perched on an arm of the sofa directly in front of us and asked how we were all doing. We began telling her how great the last couple of weeks have been and how much we enjoyed having the baby!
The health visitor said that she used to be a midwife here in Orkney before but she was now assisting new parents find their feet, teach them about babies and children, tell them all about the local services and opportunities and offer help with any challenges that may arise. An hour must have gone by with us happily chatting away about how happy we were with Ronnie and various activities that we were already planning to do here on the island. The health visitor was really friendly and we enjoyed her company a lot!
Ron finished feeding and was cuddling with me on the chair when she said "you are doing a great job, cuddles help to build a happy baby!". I have to say that it made me really happy to hear that, I really loved that sentiment!
She then said that Ron will soon be offered his first immunisation vaccines. She said there would be 3 injections and a syrup for his mouth that would be offered at our local GP's surgery. She also advised us that we were not obliged to take the vaccines and reassured us that it was our decision completely - we can always choose not to vaccinate Ron. We've been wondering this for a while. . .
You see, James didn't have the injections as a child and was totally fine (he was later immunised against everything in the Armed Forces!) but I was always vaccinated for everything and was also fine. . . The health visitor said that in the 20 years she had been doing this job, there have never been any complications from the vaccines. There are a lot of claims and information at either camp - the pro and the against. . . I guess we still had a little time to make our minds up, but I have a feeling that we will go ahead and have Ron vaccinated. . . I do not wish to gamble with my baby's health!
The health visitor also advised that we should remove the mittens from Ron's hands and expose them so that he can explore freely. He has been using his arms quite a bit, waving them around, bashing his little face with them, pushing his hat off his head (and then crying about it!). He loves to have his arms free, so it made sense to let him have his hands free as well!
We were advised to see Ron's bath time as play time and not just a way to wash the baby. Babies love water and should be allowed the time to enjoy a little splash and a little swim. A large bathtub at this young age acts as a pool and we were encouraged to float him around on his back, but also facing the front - taking care to keep his windpipe exposed, of course!
We asked the health visitor what milestones we should be looking out for next and she encouraged us to look at the baby and allow him to look back at us. She said that he would start to mimic and mirror our faces - so if we were to poke our tongue out at him, he may try to do the same. She said he would also consciously make eye contact and smile at us as a way of communicating his emotions. He would also start making little baby noises and tell us little stories. All that sounded so adorable to me and I couldn't wait to experience all these new developments!
We were encouraged to register with the NHS Minor Ailment Scheme at a local pharmacy and register with a local dental service, even though the first dental pack would not be given to us until Ron was 4 month's old. There is also a "childsmile scheme" that runs in Scotland which we will discuss nearer the time.
And hour and a half went by and all we did was talk - at no point did she want to test, measure, prod or poke me or the baby (as the midwives usually did). Also, everything she suggested was always ultimately our decision, she was there to help and advise not to dictate how we should raise our baby. I really enjoyed this visit and we are very glad we have someone to call in case we had any queries, we weren't just left to figure everything out on our own!
She said she will be back when Ron was 1 month old and will be visiting us now and again until he was 5 years old! She then left a bunch of baby books and information brochures, as well as our personal medical record "Red book" for Ron and left.
In other news, I think Ron has finally passed his growth spurt that started on the 5th October (and lasted 11 days) as he was sleeping a lot more and not feeding nearly as much as before! This was a lovely change - as much as I enjoy cwtches with the baby, it is also nice to be able to help our around the house a little more and have some time to myself too. I also enjoy seeing James interact with the baby a lot more, talking to him, playing with him, always trying to tickle him!
Milestone: Mimicking faces
It was during one of these daddy-baby moments that James tried to play the face mimicking game, as suggested by the health visitor. He was poking his tongue out at Ronnie and thinks that he mimicked it! It is hard to tell whether the baby moves deliberately as his movements are still clumsy, stiff and "wooden" but it is entirely possible as he does have moments of focus, alertness and interest!
So James is playing the "face game" and I am playing the "arms game" where I move Ron's arms up, down, left and right. . . Granted, I need to check my lefts and rights and then double-check to make sure I am doing it correctly from Ron's perspective (I am weird with my lefts and rights, always get them confused!), but it is a game we both really love to play!
Books: Ron's first book
I feel that the copy of the book that I have isn't particularly well translated. It is a copy I picked up whilst still living Lithuania some 9 years ago - it was sold by a specialist "English Book" vendor, but reading it now, when I am completely fluent in English, it seems somewhat broken, mistranslated and . . . weird. . . So I have been using the dictionary that James bought a couple of days ago!
Gifts: Cousin's drawing of our family
Then the postman came bearing exciting gift from Ron's cousin in Australia. She drew a fantastic drawing of our little family the day Ron was born and it now arrived here in Orkney. I love the picture a lot - we will have to frame it and hang it on a wall!
Parenting: Terry towels VS muslin cloths
James pointed out that we are constantly "chasing the washing machine" so I have spent the rest of the afternoon reviewing my nappy options. You see, I thought that terry towels would be too thick and too large for a newborn so I bought a bunch of muslin cloths to start off with as they are smaller, lighter and less bulky! However, I ran out of the clean muslin cloths today (who knew that 30 was not going to be enough!) and had to try to wrap my baby in a terry towel! To my surprise, it turned out to be a perfect fit, and hugely more absorbent than the muslin cloths had been!
I am now using terry towels a lot more (of which I also have 30!), so my lesson for today is that I didn't need to buy so many muslin cloths. . . It is exactly the same scenario as what we found with the newborn clothes - they didn't do the job for too long!
And finally, I just want to say that I noticed the nappy rash had disappeared completely, but I will be continuing to use the Bepanthen nappy rash cream as well as the coconut oil as preventative measures. The cream is great value and does an amazing job at helping the skin to heal.
I also noticed that the cute little milk spots that were showing on Ronnie's little nose are now gone! He is growing up too fast!
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