Category: The Life of Lara

Bloody Doctors!

With the exception of highly valued friends, who are currently practicing medicine in the UK, and anyone who I haven’t seen in a professional capacity since I moved to Granville, but I am currently really pissed of with the Bulk Billing GP species.

Again I am dealing with dueling diagnoses.  It’s not glandular fever, Grouchy Granville GP confirmed that with a blood test.

I have Iron Deficiency.

Which he told me by printing off a script, telling me I needed iron tablets, and practically shoving me out the door.  I haven’t had low iron EVER in my life, no matter how horrible my diet, or what I did to myself (night clubbing all night, living on boiled rice, mars bars and beer….).  So this is a) a bit of a shock, and b) something I feel like I need a bit more information about.

Like – how low was my result?  Am I really deficient and at risk of anemia, or do I just need to eat more spinach and kiwi fruit?  Like – should I stop giving blood for a while?  Are the iron tablets made of animal products?  Because I think I’d rather have a steak than a tablet if I’m going to be killing a cow anyway.  And how about how long it will take till I feel better.  Maybe – is there an underlying cause that bears some investigation?

And maybe – how the hell can I find a GP that actually gives a shit about my health?

Here is a picture of a small boy eating a banana on the roof of a car.

BananaBoy

The Science of Parenting

Miriam loaned me a book called “The Science of Parenting“, and since I had it for 2 months and didn’t get around to reading it, I decided to buy a copy and return hers.

I’ve only read the first few chapters so far, but I think this will be my default gift for all new parents. As well as an ABA subscription and Breastfeeding education classes of course!

It’s not only based on recent research, and referenced, it’s got a tip sheet at the end of each chapter for the really important points, just in case you are a sleep deprived new parent, and might not be firing on all cylinders.

So, my current “Inigo approved” parenting book list reads;

Unconditional Parenting

The Science of Parenting

Nurture Shock – which deserves it’s own post, but that is for another day.

Of course, parenting is like driving, we are all alike in that we think we are doing it right, but everyone else is doing it wrong.  That is why I am making such an effort to research this job.  Apparently, 85% of us think that parenting is the most important job we will ever do, but less than 5% of us ever read a book or do a course to prepare us for the job.

So if Inigo grows up and complains that I was a terrible parent, at least I’ll be able to say that I tried.  Really hard.

Health Update

Inigo has another fever, and has been out of sorts for a few days, so we went back to the doctor today.  While we were there I thought I should ask for a second opinion about my plague because, although I have been feeling a lot better than I was on Thursday night, I still feel horrible.

Inigo (according to the doctor) definitely has glue ear (a hearing test next Monday will establish that one way or another), and also a sore throat, so he’s to be switched to another antibiotic (Augmentin, for those of you who care about such things, Hi Emily).

And me?  Definitely not glandular fever.  No pus.

He drew blood just to be sure, and told me to go away, and not come back until Wednesday.  No bedside manner to speak of, but he is quite sure of his opinions.

A day in the mountains

Aunty Kerry just bought a weekender in Katoomba, so a few weekends ago we all trooped up to check it out.  Inigo and Ella looked so cute playing in the garden together, I just had to take a few pics.  Apologies for the image size, Flickr has messed with their image hosting (because they don’t want ppl embedding pics), so these will have to do until I get a better solution.

Ella amongst the flowers

It’s a look!

A cuddle

And a kiss

Makes Inigo a happy boy

Rolling down grassy hills lesson 101

Ably assisted by daddy

And a fabulous day was had by all.  I am only sorry I didn’t have a video camera to capture the squeals of delight when Ella and Inigo first started to play together!

My eyeballs hurt

Which is technically not possible, but my experience is telling me otherwise.

Since about 6pm yesterday I’ve been in a world of pain, and since Mark got home, in bed, on painkillers and a liquid diet.

Dr thinks it’s glandular fever, and wants me come back if I still feel horrible in a week. Brilliant. If I still feel like this in a week, then I think we know it’s glandular fever, and the last thing I’ll want to do is have a needle stuck in my arm to confirm that they can’t do anything to make me feel better.

The cure is rest, and Mark has taken today off work to help out, and Bev took Inigo for most of the day. But I don’t know how I am going to manage if this goes on for weeks!

Like Scary Movies?

Personally, I don’t. I was terrified out of my wits at Picnic at Hanging Rock, and I don’t really see that as an enjoyable entertainment.

So I won’t be taking up an offer that arrived in my inbox this morning – but you can!

Like all our pre-release screenings, the film is complimentary, but is invitation only and I will send the invitation in a separate email (to follow directly). You can also click on the link below to see the invitation and I urge you to watch the trailer – if it’s not your cup of tea (and I have to warn you – it is pretty scary), then that’s fine. If however you do decide to take the plunge and try a total different film experience, then you can secure your seats by clicking on the bottom of the invite. Please also feel free to forward the invitation onto anyone else you think may up for the experience!

http://www.cecilystreetstudios.com.au/PA/macquarie.html