Hello everyone! Welcome to the inaugural Jess Update!
Today I am six weeks and one day old. I was weighed at the Clinic on Tuesday and I am exactly one kilo heavier than I was at birth. Here are my vital statistics:
Weight (bare): 4.95kgs (or 10lb 14 oz). I was 3.95kgs (or 8lb 13oz) at birth.
Length: 56cms. I was only 51cms at birth.
Head circumference: 38.5cms. My head was 35cms at birth.
As you can see, during my short stay out here in the real world I’ve put quite a bit of effort into growing. I’ve already outgrown most of my ‘0000’ sized clothes, although I’m at that awkward stage where the 0000s are too small, but the 000s are too big. Couture difficulties already…
I’ve been having a great time these last half dozen weeks. Apart from meeting and learning how to wrap my immediate family around my cute little finger, I’ve also met quite few of my extended family members. Everyone has been so nice to me, that I decided I really should put in a bit of an effort to be nice back, so I’ve learnt to smile! Yes, I can now dazzle my admirers with a gorgeously gummy grin! And if that ever fails to reel them in, it seems that my giant blue almond-shaped eyes clinch the deal. (If I’ve not fluttered them at you yet, just you wait…!) I was lucky enough to have Grandma Maiden stay and help look after me for the first two and a half weeks of my life, then Daddy had two weeks off work and we got to spend a lot of nice time together, then Grand-Annette came and spent a week with me, and just this week I’ve had Granddad & Nanna around, so I’ve been getting LOTS of love and attention. Long may it continue, I say!!!
Mummy and I started at a new Mothers Group at the local Child Health Clinic a few weeks ago. Mummy is enjoying meeting some other Mums and I’m enjoying watching and listening to all the other babies. On the very first day at Mothers Group about half a dozen of the other Mums made a beeline for my Mum to tell her how absolutely beautiful I am. Up until that point I think Mummy just thought she and the rest of the family were biased, but now I think she knows I’m the real deal. We’ve now finished our first block at the Clinic, but we’re going to keep meeting with the group because everyone seems so nice. I’m looking forward to getting to know all the other little people there, and making some long term friends.
I’m quite a clever little thing, you know. I’ve had a very strong neck and quite good head control from very early on. I was caught holding my head up and steady for relatively long periods of time (ie, over a minute) when I was just a week or two old, so as you can imagine, I’m pretty good at it these days. Also, I was ‘tracking’ (following with my eyes) people just a week after I was born, which is something that babies don’t generally do for a few weeks, apparently. Just in the last few days I’ve really started talking, although some might call it cooing. Each day I’m getting more and more vocal, which seems to thrill my easily excitable parents no end. (A baby girl doesn’t have to do much, does she??)
And while we’re on the subject of clever, let me tell you what a star I’ve been for my parents: I sleep right through the night, every night!!! Yes, I’ll make them pay for it at a later date, to be sure, but for the moment I’m allowing them to sleep right through the night from 7 or 8pm until about 5 or 5:30am the following morning. Aren’t I nice? My parents are very appreciative, and it’s amazing what a difference a set of well-slept parents makes.
In a couple of weeks time I’ll be off to get my vaccinations. I’m due to get vaccinated against hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio and menangitis. A week or two later I have to get an ultrasound done on my hips to see if they’re "clicky". I had an ultrasound done a couple of weeks ago which showed that I was borderline, so the second examination is to see if there has been any improvement. I hope the click in each hip has gone, but if it hasn’t then I might need to have my legs put into a harness for a month or two. I don’t think it’s too big a deal, but it certainly is better to get everything fixed up now while it’s still easily fixed. I’ll let you know how things go, but keep your fingers crossed for me.
That’s about it for now. I hope you’ve enjoyed my very first Update. My gorgeous big brother, Alex, tells me that I’m expected to make this a regular gig, so you’ll be seeing me again soon!
Lots and lots of love from Baby Jess xxx