Blip: Wow, Darren must be really long! What a good growing boy! I know what you mean about different stores and brands having different sizing. Oliver isn't quite into 00s, but it won't be too much longer. His Bonds Wondersuits leave almost no room for him to move his legs. It always seems to be length they outgrow, doesn't it?
I'm glad you talked to your DH about how you're feeling - I hope it helped.

Antheia: Oh you poor thing! I wonder what was going on? Maybe like blip said he's having a growth spurt? Is he over his cold yet? If not, maybe he just wasn't feeling well and wanted hugs from his mummy? I hope you both managed to get some sleep.

Jords: They do grow so fast, don't they! Oliver is really starting to get heavy to hold - rocking him to sleep is turning in to a real work out!

AFM: Well, I was having a fantastic day until my child health clinic check-up. Oliver was all happy and smiley. I gave him a bath, which he loved... and because he was having a good day, I was having a good day. Then the child health nurse managed to crush my spirit and make me feel like I'm a bad mother. Now, as a warning - let me tell you that I do not have a thick skin at all - I have thin, thin skin and get upset by things when I probably shouldn't... so this is probably a complete over-reaction.
The child health nurse was a different one to the ones we've been seeing. I guess outwardly she was nice, but what upset me was more the way she said things and the way she looked at me.
We went in, and she asked feeding was going. I said good, but mentioned that I'm still using nipple shields and wondered whether it was worth seeing a LC to try and get rid of them. She said it was and gave me a phone number... fine.
We weighed and measured Oliver which was all fine too.
Then she started asking me (or should I say grilling) on my parenting... "Have you been giving him tummy time?" "Have you been reading to him?" "Have you been putting him down awake to sleep?" I answered each, but each of my answers didn't seem to be good enough. Yes, I do give him tummy time - but not enough it seems according to her. Yes, I do read to him, but apparently I should be reading to him 3-4 times a day! Yes, I do put him down to sleep awake - not wide awake, he's usually sleepy, and he does go back to sleep himself if he wakes up during the night and isn't hungry... but that wasn't a good enough answer either. She didn't come right out and say she thought I was incompetent, but it was certainly implied.
Then, after Oliver was dressed he started getting upset so I started bouncing him the way he likes. I do it all the time and it really helps him calm down. By no means is it anything too rough or that I would class as 'shaking', but the child health nurse looked at me and said "Don't do that, pat him on the back instead'. So I did, but even the way I patted him on the back wasn't good enough. She told me to pat him quicker and softer... so nothing I do is right apparently! I haven't sat at home doing parenting research - I've been feeling my way through motherhood and working out what is right for us. I thought I was doing okay, but she made me completely question everything. Am I a good mother? I don't know anymore. I left feeling completely deflated .
Oh, and it's so annoying that she upset me like this too, because in amongst all this Oliver had a really good check-up which I'd like to be happy about. He's gained 480g and grown 2cm in two weeks, so he's now 5.6kg and 60cm long.

I'm sorry about all this petty complaining, especially when this really is nothing compared to what you've been through Blip. I just really needed to vent.