4 Weeks Old!

This week has been Matt's half term and threfore his last week off before returning to online teaching on Monday.  I'm feeling a bit nervous about him going back to work, but at least he won't be out of the house all day like he will be when the schools go back.  I'm not quite sure how we're going to work our way around him being on Skype meetings at the dining table and Amber and I needing access to the kitchen and living room, but i'm sure we'll work it out.

This week, we've been on a few nice walks to the beach on sunny days.  Some days have been wet and windy, so we've only managed to go a couple of times around the park down the road.  We've been trying to get out for a walk at least once a day though.

Saturday was eventful, as we spent the afternoon at AandE in Southampton.  Amber had been vomiting for a couple of days and it got worse on Saturday.  We phoned 111 at 1pm to see if we could see a doctor and all they could offer us was an appointment at 10pm in Winchester.  I think it's pretty bad that you have to wait 9 hours for an appointment for a 1 month old baby and for it to be that far away.  Southampton hospital has a separate AandE for children, so we thought it would be fairly safe to go there and not be around lots of adults, who potentially have Covid symptoms.  We were the only people in the waiting room and got seen straight away.  We were there for a total of about 2 hours, which I think is pretty good!  Matt wasn't allowed in with Amber and I, but everyone was so helpful and friendly, it put me instantly at ease.  I think it is simply the curse of the new parent to worry about your baby and to read too much into everything.  I had a conversation with one of the doctors about how google was a terrible thing and he said that even as a doctor, he still googles symptoms of things and if you convince yourself that you have something, you are guaranteed to find confirmation of it on google!

So, it turns out, after lots of tests, that Amber simply has acid reflux, which is causing the forceful vomiting after some feeds.  We were given a few tips to try and if it doesn't help then she can be put on antiacids for babies. She hasn't vomited since, so fingers crossed the tips and tricks will help.  It was all very reassuring anyway, after a rather stressful day of worrying about her.

Otherwise, this week has been good.  We've seen Mum and Dad, and Amber has been enjoying splashing about in her new baby bath - she likes it a lot more than having a bath in the kitchen sink!