A Hospital Check-Up

Today Francis had an appointment at Liverpool Women's Hospital to check his progress. I'm pleased to report that he's doing really well (not that I needed a doctor to tell me that). Graeme had taken the afternoon off work so that I didn't have to trek there on my own using public transport. We arrived early and thankfully didn't have to wait too long to be seen. Francis was weighed and measured by the nurses before we saw the doctor - he was smiling at them the whole time. The smiles disappeared when we saw the doctor though - Francis screamed throughout the consultation!

Francis tipped the scales at 9lb 13.5oz - a 1lb 1.5oz gain in less than 2 weeks. The doctor was really pleased with his weight gain and overall development. We discussed a couple of concerns (nothing major - just his reflux and the fact that he only wants to look to the right when he's on his back!) but the doctor felt there was no need for us to worry. We're to carry on giving Francis Gaviscon when necessary and if his neck "problem" becomes more noticable, the doctor may refer Francis for physio, though hopefully it won't come to that.

After the appointment we headed to the "feeding room" (and I use this term very loosely) to feed Francis. The feeding room was nothing more than a glorified utility room with a couple of seats and a changing mat in it. I was appalled that a hospital that claims to promote "breast is best" would have such poor feeding facilities and I'm actually considering writing to the hospital to complain. Both Mamas and Papas and John Lewis's feeding facilities put this one to shame. We were even interrupted twice by staff coming in to use the sink! I think next time I'll feed Francis in the foyer!

Afterwards, instead of heading straight home, we drove to Allerton to go for a coffee. Costa was packed with mums and babies so it was a bit noisy! In fact, I think Francis was the only baby who was asleep! Spending time in Allerton always makes me want to move house - I'm getting a bit fed up of our tiny 2-up-2-down. It's funny to think that Allerton is the area we really wanted to live in, but we just couldn't afford it and ended up in the much less desirable Anfield instead. Still, the property market round here is booming so we should make a tidy profit on this house and be able to move somewhere much bigger in a nicer area.

By the time we got home it was after 5pm and as you can see the busy afternoon was just too much for Francis.

Lisa xxx