Askamum love my blog, ooo-errr how exciting!

With Jimmy having just been so poorly with his tummy bug we’ve seen a fair few medical professionals recently! There was A&E and subsequently the Doctors on the ward at The Norfolk and Norwich and then we’ve been to see our own lovely Doctor since we’ve been home as well as having him weighed at the clinic. Although this is slightly more than normal I would say going to the Doctors is a fairly regular occurence for us anyway! When you’re the mother of two small children I suspect it is for everyone. Bugs fly around like there’s no tomorrow and little ones pick them up so easily with their fresh immune systems! One day recently we were at the surgery for me in the morning, Florence just after lunch then we had Jimmy weighed in the clinic after that and sometimes it does feel like we spend all our time there!

Baring that in mind it does make me wonder why some surgeries make it so hard to get an appointment and why some Doctor’s receptionists can be so irritatingly unhelpful! Now my surgery isn’t too bad, especially as it is very large! For the most part the receptionists are helpful and getting an appointment for us is usually easy but I have experienced with my old surgery and heard from friends that it’s often a nightmare! One person I know for example can only make an appointment in advance, getting one on the day is nigh on impossible whereas my old surgery it was the other way round! With my current surgery (and all our Doctors are absolutely brilliant) if you want an appointment on the day you have to ring at a certain time in the morning and after lunch and it is always possible to make them in advance too. The phone lines are always very busy at those times but they try to make it so that you can see the Doctor of your choice as soon as there’s an available slot – even if it means coming in to sit and wait. This is the sort of service we need from our surgeries and I know that lots of people just don’t have it! Seeing the same Doctor is also important for continuity and also because a relationship is built with ones Doctor, or it should be. Sadly this is all a bit old-fashioned now apparently so I am mightily glad my Doctors surgery has retained this value.

I am often hearing stories from friends of their surgery receptionists harassing them for information as to why they want to see the Doctor or refusing to book them in with the person they want and I think it does seem to be quite normal for receptionists to take their job and power in their position a bit too far. Even at my lovely surgery I have encountered two receptionists who have lorded over me and it just isn’t helpful. When booking an appointment for Jimmy the other day it was a chap who answered the phone and I’d never spoken to him before. I asked for an appointment with my GP and he gave me one with the nurse. I said no I’d like to see a Doctor please and he said no, there’s no appointments left. He found one when I said Jimmy had been in hospital and was only 6 months old but had been unwilling to help before that and I keep hearing stories like this if I’m honest. I’m quite forthright and can usually get my appointments regardless but I do think in general the way surgeries are run these days has to be looked into!

I’m not saying it’s all the receptionists fault and I know lots of the time the receptionists get the brunt of sick people being argumentative but there’s definitely areas to be looked into! The thing is we sometimes know in advance that we have something we would like to talk to the Doctor about and we should be able to make an appointment at a convenient time for us. We also sometimes wake up unwell and need to see someone on the day. We also never want to be interrogated as to why!

My advice to practice managers in this country would be to take a leaf out of my surgeries book and make appointments, of all kinds, possible. My advice to their GP’s would be to make like mine and know your patients, take time and not just the allotted 10 minutes. It means something, is reassuring and would probably prevent us making other appointments for the same thing as we didn’t get all the information we needed the first time. Rushing does not save time in the long run! And finally my advice to some, not all, receptionists would be this – you are the receptionist, you are doing a great juggling job and we appreciate that but it is your job after all! Be a bit sympathetic and understanding, interrogating patients as to why we need to see the Doctor or refusing to get us appointments is not fun for anyone! Hey, who wants to shout about their piles to someone they don’t know and who can’t help, leave the details for the Doctors eh!

And I’d like to say a big thank you to my surgery for being, in the most part, brilliant. We have lots of Doctors and I have seen quite a few and they have usually been very helpful and sympathetic. After I had Jimmy my GP even came out to my house as I was too poorly to go in. The fact that all the Doctors have been there for years and years with the senior partner having worked there for 25 years speaks volumes too and all the Doctors have other areas of expertise; one is trained in complimentary medicine and another in neuro linguistic programming! I am lucky, I have a diverse and yet traditional surgery with a great appointment system! We can book in via computer ourselves when we arrive, there are screens which buzz you in and tell you where to go and in between calling patients the screen gives you a little bio of each practitioner. I have even experienced them taking individual cases on board and not just shouting a computer says no at you. All surgeries should be like ours (and as I said, it’s not perfect – nothing is and you can’t expect it to be) as the medical care I receive is just great!

DONKEY WATCH

Donkey Growing – Goodbye Carrycot!

Jimmy is six months old now, I know! I can hardly believe it but it means he is now really and truly too big for the carrycot on Le Donk… Next time I write I’ll be writing about how we found it changing from carrycot to seat but this time I want to write about all the things we’ve loved about having the carrycot! I never had one with Florence as I had the Bugaboo Bee for her and because the Bee is designed to be small and easy for City living it is suitable as a seat with a cocoon from birth. I loved it (I had the old one and the new one looks even better) and have indeed used it with Jimmy many times too but I also have loved having the carrycot on the Donkey! I simply adore the fact that Jimmy has been able to stretch out and not be strapped in. While Florence always had plenty of room I did sometimes wish I didn’t have to strap her in as it woke her up if she was asleep, with a carrycot you don’t have to of course!

Our very first outing with Le Donk!

I also love the fact that it pops off the frame so easily. Because you need to pop it off to fold the frame up, something which is not necessary with the Bee as it folds down seat included, we often just brought him straight into the house in the carrycot meaning he didn’t have to be woken up just because we’d arrived home. The carrycot is every bit as comfortable as a moses basket and although the manufacturers do advise not to use it for prolonged sleep, Jimmy always slept very well in here! I’m going to miss looking down at my tiny sleeping baby but then I guess I will get to enjoy him looking at me from his seat instead and I will keep the carrycot for the next one! Florence will like him being in a seat next to hers too! Mind you, she always enjoyed him being in the carry cot and would often lean in and stroke him for me if he started to cry. The way the carrycot sits close to the second seat is lovely and has always been very easy for Florence to see in to him.

I love the carrycot next to the seat!

I have liked using the carrycot as a double with Florence’s seat next to it but it’s also been lovely as a single and I do love that shopping basket too!

They don’t call this buggy ‘Donkey’ for nothing! Of course I will still be able to use the shopping basket with the single seat but sometimes I’ve been known to add bits of shopping to the bottom of the carrycot when Jimmy’s feet haven’t reached it! All concealed by the tailored fabric of course!

The way the bar is positioned over the carrycot has made it the perfect place to hang toys to entertain a new-born! I think the bar is super just for this purpose alone!

Toys go very nicely on the bar which is in just the right place for a new baby to see!

Having a carrycot has also been great to keep Jimmy away from the elements! In the sunshine he has been well shaded with the hood and the rain cover keeps him completely dry!

Jimmy stays dry on a rainy day!

And as I said, all the features I like such as the shopping basket and having them side by side and able to see each other will run through to using the seat as well but I will miss the carrycot, it’s been fab and Jimmy’s loved it too! Even Florence has tried to get in it on occasions!

But the time is nigh! Jimmy loves to sit up at the end of the carrycot and isn’t too keen on being flat on his back anymore so this time next week and I’ll be writing about a new look Le Donk with either one seat and the shopping basket or twin seats! Goodbye carrycot, you’ve been brill! Until the next time!

Jimmy has been sitting at the head of the carrycot like this for a couple of months now from time to time and now he’s 6 months old he doesn’t want to lay down at all! Time for a change then!

For more information on the ‘Donkey’ and all other ‘Bugaboo’ products please see their website www.bugaboo.com. It’s also worth noting that ‘When you choose a ‘Bugaboo’ product (now available in more than 50 countries) you are choosing a company which is a proud (PRODUCT) RED™ partner. ‘Bugaboo’ contributes a portion of its profits across all products – to the Global Fund to help eliminate AIDS in Africa, with the goal of ending mother-to-child HIV transmission by 2015.

With Jimmy coming out of the carrycot I guess it means we’ll be using a different type of blanket too. The one he’s had in the buggy since he was born has been our Snugglebundl which has been fantastic and I can’t recommend it enough for a new baby! I’m sure we’ll use it in the future too but it was especially good as a new baby blanket! Click on the link to read our review of it!

MY LIFE WITH 2!

This week Jimmy got his first tooth! Then he got his second! Poor little baby was really poorly then straight away after started cutting teeth! He’s had a rash round his mouth, a sore botty and been ever so grumpy with it which I am not used to as Florence never really had any problems until her molars came through. Or perhaps she never slept anyway so I just didn’t notice? Either way after being up all night with him being poorly and now the teething I’m mighty tired! He’s also sitting up much better than he has done before. He still can’t get himself into a sitting position but he stays up for much longer when plonked down in one and he’s liking being upright too! He’s still not quite crawling yet (I know it’s early still but Florence was at 5 and a half months so I thought he might have done it at the same time) but he rolls everywhere he wants to go like a little army soldier!

Well what else have we been up to this week aside from teething and enjoying feeling well again? Well quite a bit really! Luckily Florence was well enough to come with me, my Dad, Step Mum and sister to the world premiere of Ice Age Live! And it was amazing, we had such a fabulous night! We then had an ill fated trip to the local fireworks display which was cancelled due to a water logged field. What a shame as my Mum had even come down especially! We’d all dressed up in our warm clothes and bundled the children into slings so it was a bit disappointing but we stood in the middle of the football fields near where we live and watched lots of others going off round London so Florence still got to see some. She also had a treat for being such a good girl while her and Jimmy were poorly and has been enjoying playing with her new Baby Annabel. My Mum and Florence had to run for buses and cart things about to and from the hospital and all while she felt pretty ropey herself so baby Annabel has hopefully made up for it all! And while Florence has been playing with Baby Annabel I’ve been playing with my new toy! The heated airer my Mum treated us to from Lakeland! I love it and it’s probably the best mummy gadget I’ve ever had – bit sad that I’m so excited about something which gets your washing dry but hey, it’s brilliant! Luckily the children were poorly at my Mums and she has loads of drying space but we don’t so it would have been a nightmare with all the loads going in the wash! Having my new clothes dryer means that should another occasion arise where there will be lots of washing and I won’t be so stuck! Another Mummy gadget that’s been rocking my qorld recently is my Ardo Calypso electric breast pump. Jimmy wasn’t feeding very much at all when ill and has been feeding much less since so I’ve had lots of milk and no time to sit and express it! With the electric double pump it’s been much easier and now I have a good stock in the freezer too!
The information contained in the literature shows https://tramadolbest.com as a very comfortable analgesic for the treatment of different manifestations of sharp and chronic pain of medium and high intensity in both rheumatology and oncology.

With both children in slings and no one to take the photo apart from ourselves it was difficult to get us all in one photograph when we went to see the fireworks! Despite what it looks like on the middle picture, Jimmy wasn’t the one with a can of lager!

Well, that’s it from me this week, see you next week but in the mean time follow me on Twitter @rocknrollerbaby!

(All opinions and words, apart from those in green, are my own. I have not been paid for this article although I did receive some products to keep after I had reviewed them.)