It's Nothing Personal

Monthly Check Ups

Soon the health visitor arrives, Jack opens the door and greets her. "Mr. Alexander, I presume, I'm Lisa Stanley? She smiles.

"Erm, Hi Jack Hodgson... come in" He smiles. 
He lets Lisa in and shuts the door behind her, "Straight through into the lounge" Jack smiles and follows her through. 

Nikki smiles as she notices Lisa come in as she places the last cushion back in place. "Morning" Nikki smiles happily. 

Lisa places her stuff down and Nikki gestures to Lisa to sit down. Lisa sits herself down and grabs her clipboard out of her bag, Nikki picks Poppy out of her bouncer chair and rests Poppy against her stomach. 

"So Nikki, how has Poppy been?" Lisa smiles as she watches Poppy for a moment before looking up at Nikki. 

"Alright, I guess. She hasn't been well but she has gotten over it all touch wood" Nikki replies. 
Jack sits beside Nikki and rests his hand on her knee. 

"Right okay, so do you have your PCHR book with you?" She questions. 
"It's upstairs in the safe... Do I need it?" Nikki asks. 

"Yes please, so have you booked Poppy in for her first set of DTaP/IPV/Hib Vaccinations?" Lisa questions again and Nikki nods.
"So am I able to weigh Poppy now?" She asks and Nikki nods sitting forwards slightly and moving Poppy into a better position to pick her up safely from. 

Lisa takes Poppy and weighs her, "Ahh, what a healthy baby, 10.3lbs" She smiles before lying Poppy on the floor and measuring her head to toe. Nikki sits with a smile on her face watching Poppy. 

Poppy starts to cry and kick her legs at Lisa as she measures her, "Okay, Poppy is still rather small for a two-month-old..." Lisa begins. 

"Yeah, I've noticed she has only just about fits in 2-month-old clothing" Nikki replies. 

"And how does she respond to things?" Lisa asks. 
"Erm... I'd say she responds well, don't you Jack?" Nikki smiles as she turns to Jack. 

"Yeah, she does respond well. Especially when you sing to her" He replies. 

Lisa looks at Poppy and watches her on the mat for a while. Poppy continues to cry as she looks at Lisa. "Okay, Nikki could you pick Poppy up," She asks. 

Nikki smiles and stands herself up, adjusting her jeans as she gets up, she couches down and picks up Poppy, Nikki smiles and looks at Poppy, "Hey baby girl, less of the crying now" Nikki soothes gently as she goes back over to the sofa with her. 

Nikki starts to soothe Poppy and quietly sings to her, Poppy soon starts to smile and calm down to the sound of Nikki's voice. Lisa observes them both and watches as Jack moves closer to Nikki so Poppy can see him. 

A bigger smile appears on Poppy's face and she starts to gurgle at the pair, "Brilliant, she definitely recognizes faces" Lisa smiles noting it all down on her iPad. 

"She's usually louder than this" Jack laughs. 
"Makes herself heard" Nikki laughs as well while she passes Poppy to Jack. 

"So Nikki, how have you been feeling in yourself recently?" Lisa questions preparing herself to write about Nikki. 

Nikki smiles and thinks to herself before replying, "Apart from the sleep deprivation, I'm really good. never felt this happy in a while, think I had a spot of the baby blues... but now I'm happy as can be. Jack supports me so much, He has been a saint apart from night feeds he is terrible at those, but that is down to me, I have chosen to keep Poppy on the breast" Nikki smiles. 

"That'a good, I am happy that you''re taking this all in your stride" Lisa smiles happily. 
"Is there any concerns you would like to raise?" She adds looking up at the pair as she finishes typing. 

"Not really? Nik what about yourself?" Jack smiles looking at her.
"No, I was thinking of taking Poppy onto bottles full time in the next few months? My feeding times have come longer and she isn't satisfied after a feed" Nikki replies. 

"Well I could suggest some baby milk brands that should help satisfy Poppy, and that also means Dad will be able to take some night feed. you may not notice this but Poppy is probably becoming more hungry because of her growth spurts now" Lisa smiles. 

Nikki and Jack almost at the same time with the same facial expression, "Yes please, that would be great. I'm kind of confused about all these milk brands" Nikki explains. 

"Well it's all trial and error Nikki, so just try one and see how she gets on with it... I can also start to give you the milk tokens to help buy the milk" Lisa replies happily. 

"That would be great thank you, but I don't think to buy baby milk will be must of a problem" Nikki smiles. 

"Nik, she is only helping," Jack says as he can tell Nikki is trying to push away the help. 

"Right I shall write you a list of milk brands" Lisa smiles as she puts pen to paper and writes down a short list before handing them to Nikki. 

"Okay?" Nikki says a little too confused. 

"So the best brands to use are Cow and Gate, SMA or Aptamil" Lisa smiles and Nikki nods as she reads down the list. 

"Right, well we best make a start on these" Jack says as he peers at the piece of paper in Nikki's hand. 

Soon Jack takes Poppy off upstairs for her nappy changed and leaves Nikki with Lisa, "How how is your's and Jack's relationship?" Lisa asks getting ready to type on her iPad again. 

Nikki looks at Lisa awkwardly, "Well we have decided to make things official, we're getting there slowly, better than we have ever been now. We want our relationship to work for Poppy" Nikki smiles happily. 
Lisa nods and carries on typing, "We argue sometimes, but its nothing different. We always used to disagree at work and things like that... petty arguments" Nikki adds. 

She continues to type before stopping, "Right well that is all I need from you, Make sure Poppy attends her DTaP/IPV/Hib Vaccinations Appointment, they're very important" Lisa smiles as she starts to gather her things. 

"Of course I won't, all set and ready to go" Nikki smiles as she shows Lisa out the house. 
"Right well I shall see you in a couple of months, I shall ring to schedule another visiting appointment for Poppy" Lisa smiles happily as she steps out the house and heads for her car, Nikki smiles before shutting the door and heading back inside the house.