Guinness IS good for you!

Vanessa and I have been fortunate to receive some excellent pieces of advice over the last 11 days from doctors, nurses, midwives and other heathcare professionals.

But no single suggestion can compete with the one offered yesterday afternoon by a nice health visitor lady who came to see us at home.

Jamie's doing brilliantly in health terms; after an expected weight loss over the first few days, he's now beginning to put it back on so all appears well.

Vanessa, meanwhile, is still a bit sore from the birth but also a touch anemic and generally not feeling as well as either of us would like.

So we raised this with the nice health visitor lady who was very sympathetic about her plight.

"I was on iron tablets during the pregancy," Vanessa explained, "should I just go back on to those?"

"Well, you could," pondered the health visitor lady,"but you could try Guinness."

Daddy's eyes lit up, forcing him to quickly cover them up to avoid detection. He took a couple of deep breaths. Then another, before turning to the nice health visitor lady with his most serious face.

"That's very interesting," he announced in a trainspotter voice. "I understand Guinness used to be a recognised remedy for iron deficiency in days gone by."

"Indeed," responded the health visitor lady, "and, in my book, it still is."

"Right, right," said daddy as calmly as he could.

"And how much would she be allowed...er...I mean...how much would it be beneficial for her to take?" asked daddy.

"Oh, a glass a night should do it," she replied.

"OK, right," said daddy, trying to appear polite yet slightly disinterested. Before he pounced.

"Actually, I'm feeling a bit under the weather myself at the moment," he whimpered. "You know, the baby's arrival has been very tiring for me too. Do you think drinking a moderate amount of Guinness would help me? Would that be a good thing? Not too much, you understand. Of course not. It would also mean I could be there for Vanessa when she's having hers. You know, it would it be a shared experience for us both," daddy went on, realising he was slightly tearing the arse out of the situation by this stage but trying not to make it so obvious that he would get in trouble with mummy afterwards.

"Oh yes," responded the nice health visitor lady in a warm tone. "I see nothing wrong with that at all."

Daddy resisted the temptation to jump up and punch the air. At least until after the nice health visitor lady had left.

And about an hour later, the Whites were off on their first family trip to Asda to pick up their "prescription," a large box of Guinness.

We didn't have our medicine last night as it got a bit late before we were ready for the task.

But tonight will definitely be the night when mummy and daddy start their course of treatment.

I just love it when things work out.