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| 0 days old |
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| 4 weeks old |
Photo's
So, this post is probably going to be a bit word heavy, so I figured I better get most of the pictures up front so that you don't miss them :) There are a couple of photo's under the Health heading, but once you've seen those, the rest is words, so if you are not interested in reading you don't need to go any further once you've seen those.
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| I forgot to add this photo to my last post (so it's a little old) but just look at those little tootsies! Daddy loves tickling John, especially on his tummy and his toes. So unbearably cute!!! |
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| Another one I forgot to add to the last post - finally content and resting on Daddy (i.e. comatose after a feed). |
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| His first time on his playmat. |
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| Looking cute! |
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| This is the face he gives me most - I call it the "What the heck are you doing mum?' face. |
John's Health
On Friday last week, John had his 4 week health check with the Child & Youth Health service. They came out to the house to do the check up which included checking his weight, height, head, all his movement ranges and reflexes, as well as a hearing test.I'm so glad that John is a healthy baby. He has put on a lot of weight since he was born - he's gone from 7lbs (3.155kg) to 8.3lbs (3.780kg). He's also gotten taller/longer - from 50cm to 54cm. I like to think that he's a little chubby baby, but in reality he is really just long and skinny, although his face is getting nice and chubby - you've got to love those cheeks!
I took these photo's the day before the nurse came for his check-up:
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| I don't believe in taking 'naked' baby photo's - so this is as naked a photo as I will take! |
Incidently, he pooped all over the playmat after I took these photo's. Boy can this kid poop! So far he's done one massive projectile that went all over the floor (thank goodness we don't have carpet where we change him), two small projectiles that have gone no-where except all over mummy's clothes (so, so gross), and several (seems like hundreds) of leak throughs (the washing is never ending). Lucky for John, the playmat he pooped all over is machine washable!
The only other notable thing about John's health is that the poor little guy has developed oral thrush :( the nurse picked it up when she was doing his check up. So we took him to the Doctor the next day for confirmation and have started to give him the medication to help clear it up. It may explain why this little man has been fussy for a while now. Can I just say though, how hard it is to hold a baby in one hand and syringe thick yellow sticky medicine onto his tongue? The syringe is horrible to use and is really clunky and hard to push. Not to mention how difficult it is to time when to give it to him as he has to have it every 6 hours, but cannot have it before a feed. Oh well, we will get there, only a couple of days of the treatment to go and hopefully it clears right up.
I also went to the chemist to see if I could get something for me, because apparently while I'm nursing, the thrush can pass from baby to me and back and forth if it's not cleared completely, and it flipping well hurts. A good friend of mine (love you Dina) mentioned a gel I could get, but when I got to the chemist they told me that I could only use that if baby was 6 months or older. So nothing for me, will just have to grin and bear the pain for a while.
Church
We *finally* made it to church with John this Sunday, for the first time since his birth. It was a very hectic day for me, and when we got home I realised we hadn't gotten a photo of him at church. As stupid as it sounds, I feel really sad that we didn't mark the occasion with a photo. I know that it will be impossible as he gets older, and as we get busier, to take so many photo's, but I had wanted one nonetheless. I guess we will just have to wait for the baby blessing instead.We have been trying since John was born to get to church with him (although obviously not his first Sunday since we were still in the hospital then). However, despite several thousand prayers on my part (please let us make it this Sunday), he always seemed to have a bad night/morning for Sunday's - being up and crying from about 3am to about 10am, and so I've been too exhausted to make it.
Of course, it then came to make it or break it time. For those of you who don't know, I'm currently serving as the Primary President, and during the week found out that it was possible no-one from the presidency was going to be at church at all (my first counsellor had a very sick baby who had been in the hospital, my 2nd counsellor wasn't going to be there for personal reasons, and we don't have a secretary at the moment). Plus, it was our Ward Conference and Primary was responsible for providing soups for the ward for after the church meetings (Soup Sunday) - oh and did I mention that I had stupidly volunteered to play the piano for a musical item during sacrament meeting? Add to this the fact that John G had been so fussy lately, taking hours at a time to feed, not sleeping, crying all the time - plus a husband who has also not been sleeping well due to anxiety, and to say I was stressed about having to be there on Sunday would be an understatement.
First of all I did my usual reaction these days - tears - and lots of them. Crying on hubby's shoulder, crying on the phone to my own mum, crying to myself when no-one was looking. Basically feeling sorry for myself. But once I'd cried it all out I guess I just decided to accept the fact that this was the way things were, and I'd have to just suck it up and do it. It would be hard, and I might not enjoy it, and though I was still massively anxious about how it would go, this is what is expected of me so, as my brother's would say, it was time to take a teaspoon of cement and harden up.
Several thousand prayers later, and we made it. It wasn't easy. I was completely exhausted/spent by the time the meetings were over, but we did it, and I was glad that we did. I discovered the joys of the mother's room - where I could nurse John (next to a heater to keep me warm) and still hear the sacrament talks. I was thankful for my amazing 1st counsellor (love you Bec), who made the effort to be there for Primary time with her sick bubba, and who made sure Soup Sunday went to plan and ironed out all the little glitches, running that part of the show and clean up afterwards so I could leave as soon as church was finished to take my baby home for a feed and medicine. I was also thankful for my wonderful mum who stuck her head into nursery and found out that one of the substitute teachers had reniged, and just stepped in to help without worrying me about it (I only found out she did this after church as over). I was also thankful for foresight and having organised several weeks ago for Stake to take sharing time when they visited for ward conference, so that it was one less thing to worry about. And lastly I was thankful for my wonderful husband, who made the effort to come with me to church even though he hadn't slept much and wasn't feeling the best. Who saved me a sacrament water (as I had to take a crying baby out halfway through the passing of the sacrament) so that I wouldn't miss out on the most important reason for being there. Who took baby John for the whole 2 hour block after sacrament so that I could fulfill my primary duties, a big deal especially given that baby hadn't fed well after sacrament and wasn't sleeping. Who made sure I had some snacks to eat in the car ride home given that I hadn't had time for breakfast before we left for church.
All in all, it was still a stressful experience. I felt anxious the whole time I was there. I was worried about baby being fussy and not having the time to feed him properly. I was worried about how my husband was coping. I was tired and pretty much worn out by the end of the three hour block. But I'm glad we went, and I hope that as we continue to make the effort to go that things will get easier for us. I'm still anxious about going next week, and I'm even more anxious for how I will go for the weeks that my husband can't come with me (especially if that co-incides with weeks that my parents are away for their callings). I guess all I can do is try.
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