BATTLES WITH THE HEALTH VISITOR

Ugh.

[Before I go any further I must say that I have several friends who are HVs, I wish 1 of them was my HV.]

Started last Monday with inoculations, was greeted with "I thought YOU were going to be here last week." Wasn't - as we had arranged differently.

Alice had 3 jabs, screamed for each, poor baby.

HV wouldn't weigh or measure Alice as she was 'too busy', but then sat and gossiped to another patient in the waiting room for 5 minutes after our appointment.

So we would have to return on a Tuesday between 12pm and 1pm or go to baby group on Wednesday. The Tuesday timing is atrocious for Alice's routine so I opted to go to the group. I don't want to socialise with the group particularly as Alice won't be going to school in this town and the town is too small for many other group activities. So we turn up (on our way to school) for the group, I'd never been to the venue before, found it locked, eventually got hold of HV - she'd told me the wrong time but insisted on seeing the proof of her error. Eventually we make it into the right room and she weighs Alice but then tells me that she won't measure her as it's inexact and measuring too often won't show that she's grown. I told her (3 times) about the issues of adopted children and growth spurts when first home and the effect that this can have on the timing of puberty. Eventually she agreed to measure Alice.

The statistics:

	23rd July 07	12th September 07
Weight	Nearly 21 pounds (75%)	Over 24 pounds (91%)
Height	74 cm (91%)	78 cm (98%) !

She's put on 3 and a half pounds and grown 4cm in 7 weeks and 2 days. We will have to watch for signs of early onset puberty.

As for the HV - she's chosen to fight the wrong Mum, I will continue to push for my rights and Alice's best interests.