Twins one year doctor appointment

I will deny this if ever questioned but I miss the French medical system.

Took the boys in for their one year check-ups today.  Everything is fine.  The boys are healthy and growing.

Called the doctor a few weeks ago to set the appointment. They called last week to reschedule because the doctor we wanted to see was going out of town.  Then they called Saturday to say that the appointment that was rescheduled to 1000 needed to be changed to 1100 due to the doctor having to do rounds at the hospital to cover the doctor going out of town.  In France there are no gatekeepers.  You call the doctor office and, lo and behold, the doctor answers the phone and schedules their own appointments.

We arrived at the office 5 minutes early for our 1100 appointment.  No one in the waiting room.  Still took 15 minutes before we were escorted to the exam room.  The exam room was very cold.  It was cloudy and rainy outside with a temperature in the mid 60's but the AC was on in the doctor office.  Can't you just open a window?

The nurse, of course, no sign of doctor yet, weighed and measured the boys.  Benjamin is 24 lbs 10 ozs and 29.5 inches,  Nathan 22 lbs 8 ozs. and 29.75 inches. We then returned to the very cold room with the twins, wearing only diapers at his point, to await the grand and glorious appearance of the doctor. After waiting for 10 minutes the nurse came in and told us the doctor would be right with us.  Fifteen minutes passed and the doctor burst through the door.

All I will say about the doctor is that she wrote our take home instructions on a paper towel and seemed baffled by Benjamin's simple diaper rash.  She tried to convince us that it was psoriasis or a yeast infection.  It was as if she had never seen a diaper rash before.

Needless to say, our search for a good pediatrician starts anew.

Random stuff

Samuel's new favorite word is "DD".  Samuel speak for dvd.  He is allowed to watch one "educational"(!) (Baby Einstein, Sesame Street) DVD every day.  We probably should allow more than one as they have helped him a great deal with his language development.  For those of you that do not know, he is also seeing an orthophonist twice a week.  Aurelie is Samuel's first girlfriend.  She is all he talks about.  Every time we tell him he is going out he says "orely" in a very excited voice.

We have spent the weekend washing, folding and putting away the six and nine month clothes for the boys.  Benjamin has already outgrown his 9 month clothes and needs to be in 12 month.  The 12 month clothes, in terms of length are a little big on Nathan but we are lazy and do not want to have to sort three different sizes of boys clothes so Nathan is also going into 12 month this weekend.

We have continued our laziness by keeping the boys in their pajamas on some days, instead of putting them in real clothes every day.  We figure this saves us 2-3 loads of laundry every week.

Nathan is very close to crawling.  He has begun to push himself up onto his hands and knees to the point where we can see space between the floor and his belly.

The cats hate us.  We have begun locking the cats in the basement over night.  Neither Julia or I are sleeping well.  Our sleep problems are not helped when every morning between 0400-0600 one of the cats begins a mournful wail that can last for more than a minute.  Our reaction was to put the cats outside every night but it has been falling to near 0 over night so we decided to be nice and only lock the cats in the basement.

The boys are doing very well with their solid food.  They get rice cereal mixed with formula at the 1100 feed. They normally eat almost all of the cereal.  The positive aspect is that we can give them their bottles and they are then still able to eat their cereal.  This was something that Samuel was never able to do.  If Samuel finished his bottle he was full enough and refused to eat after.

So far we have been very blessed.  The boys are sleeping through the night.  Samuel has slept through since he was two months.  We have been very lucky being in France where both Julia and I have been with the boys every day.  We also had the same fortunate circumstance with Samuel.  Julia did not return to work until Samuel was 18 weeks old.

Une Greve

Welcome to our winter of French discontent.  In summary, the French government is attempting to revise the retirement rules.  They want to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62.  This, of course, has set off strikes across industries and the country since the beginning of September.

Living in the suburbs and with Julia not yet having returned to work we have not been that effected by the strikes.  Except for having to cancel a couple of language lessons due to train disruption life has proceeded as normal.

The strikers have a good plan in that they are attempting to shut down the oil/gas refineries and ports so that fuel is unable to be processed or transported.  As of today about 30% of petrol stations are closed due to lack of fuel.  Julia spoke to one of our neighbors yesterday who spent an hour driving around looking for an open petrol station.  We were smart and filed both tanks as soon as we heard about the refineries being struck and since we do not drive much we should be okay with petrol for a month or more.

The only other time we were effected by the strikes was when I tried to go to Castorama (DIY store) and when I reached the street on which it is located it was blocked by police motorcycles.  Apparently there is a high school on the street and the students were violent that day and turning over and burning cars.

That is the one aspect of this strike that I did not understand in the beginning.  Why were high school and college students striking to protest a rise in the retirement age?  At first I was amazed at their participation and shocked at their lack of a grasp of economics as it is clear that France cannot continue within the current system as their are currently just over 3 workers for every retiree and within a decade the ration will fall to 2 to 1.  A ratio that is clearly fiscally untenable.

Yesterday I finally found an article which provided me with the rationale behind the youngsters supporting the strikes.  Apparently the age that a French person gets their first real job is 27.  An astonishing fact that I was unaware of.  Of course, there are temporary jobs that they can attain that will pay the bills but it is at an average of 27 where they get their first job that allows them to begin contributing to the social system to which the changes are proposed.  The youngsters are upset because if the people that already have jobs are forced to stay in the jobs two years longer it means that there will be an even greater wait for the young French to get their first real job.

C'est la vie en France!

Go is going .........................

A refresher for those of you who may have just recently begun following the blog.

Our twins were conceived through IVF.  We were not expecting twins.  Therefore, the twins acquired the nicknames of Bo & Go. BOGO, buy one, get one free.

Back to the story.

Go (Nathan) is a very active child.  He has learned to roll from his back to this stomach so now he can roll wherever he wants.  Until he hits an obstacle and cries for help.  The good news is that he is also active when he is at the halte garderie(HG).

The women at the HG tell us that Samuel ignores his brothers when they are there except when another child comes near the boys.  Then Samuel will walk over and stand nearby, watching his brothers to ensure that they are okay.

It is quite adorable to watch the boys interact with Samuel.  Whatever he does to them they just laugh and smile and look at him as if he could do no wrong.  Nathan is especially taken with Samuel.  We have tried to take video of their interactions but every time we break out the video cam Samuel runs over and thinks it is a new toy to play with.

Bo (Benjamin) is still very attentive if not overly active yet.

We have had a good week with the boys.  It has now been 8 days since we changed their schedule from 5 bottles to four per day and changed their bed time from 2230 to 2030.   So far (knock wood) they have slept through the night until we wake them at 0700 for their morning bottle.

Samuel had his first potty accident yesterday.  He enthusiastically carried his potty into the living room just as we were sitting down to give the boys their bottles.  He sat on the potty for a few seconds before jumping up and running off to the dining room with no pants or diaper.  After a few minutes he returned and while he was standing in the living room he quite suddenly proceeded to have a poo on the living room tiles.  I admonished him with a strong "Samuel" and immediately realized I was wrong to have done so.  We both then encouraged him that accidents happen and tried to teach him so that the could learn from the accident.  This parenting gig is not easy, but it is fun.  Most of the time.

Luckily I was feeding Nathan so Julia had to clean up the mess.  Nathan is a picky eater and we do not stop once he has taken the bottle into his mouth,.  If we take the bottle out of his mouth he may stop eating even if he has taken only a few ounces of milk.  Benjamin on the other hand, is a beast and will eat anything anytime we give it to him. He does become quite agitated if we take the bottle away before he finishes but he calms down and returns to drinking as soon as we return the bottle to his mouth.

I am still recovering from my vasectomy.  No pain but I am still feeling groggy and queasy from the anesthesia. I have had three surgeries in the US and fully recovered from all of them in less than 24 hours.  I am left to assume that the anesthesiologist used  a inordinate amount of anesthesia to put me under as I am still feeling the effects 96 hours later.

Julia goes in for her surgery tomorrow.  The boys will be in the HG so I will be able to take her to the hospital but she will have to take a cab home on Tuesday as I will be home with the boys.  She has been told her recovery will be anywhere from 2-3 weeks.  The primary restriction will be on lifting so she will be unable to be left alone with the boys.

-Dave

ch, ch, ch, ch, changes....................

Julia and her friend Poonam are enjoying a relaxing 2weekend at a spa near Versailles.  So it is a testosterone filled weekend of baby Einstein dvd's and Dr. Suess books.

All of us have had small colds for the last week.  Saturday morning Julia took Samuel to the pool while I took Benjamin and Nathan to the doctor.  Good news, Benjamin just has a cold with no infection.  Nathan has a slight chest infection so has been put on antibiotics for a week.  We expected this as they have been in the halte garderie for 9 of the last 10 business days.

After Poonam and Julia left I hosted a French/English conversation group at our house.  It consists of an Australian couple, a French couple and us.  We met the Australian couple through message, an English speaking support group in Paris.  Joe and Kylie have three kids.  Lily who is Samuel's age and Emily and Luka who are a few years older.  Sebastain and Kattel have two kids, Joseph, Samuel's age and Katrine, who is 5.  It was sometimes difficult to follow the conversation with the 6 kids have a raucous good time with Samuel's toys.  The conversation group meets every weekend and will help me with my French as I will have people who will not be judgemental if I make a mistake.  It will also be beneficial for Julia to practice her conversational French before she returns to work.

Saturday was the first day that we reduced the number of bottles that we give the boys.  We had been feeding the boys 5 bottles at 0700, 100, 1500, 1700 and 2200.  Starting Saturday they get bottles at 0700, 1130, 1600 and 2000.  We had been putting the boys to bed at around 2230 and they had been sleeping through to 0700.  We actually had to wake them up at 0700 in order to give them their bottles.

Saturday night our garde de nuit, Muriel, watched the boys.  She fed them their bottles at 2000 and put them to sleep in their bouncy seats.  They are sleeping int heir bouncy seats because of their congestion.  Sleeping in an upright positions helps their sinuses to drain.  And......................................they slept through to 0700.  I  know I am probably jinxing us but for at least one night everything is going according to plan.

V is for.......

I am beginning to appreciate French culture more every day.  After the birth of the twins we decided that we did not want another children and decided that the best option to ensure this was for me to have a vasectomy.  After our "scare" of a few weeks ago this became a priority.

Julia enthusiastically put it upon herself to make this happen.  Her enthusiasm immediately turned into despair as she discovered that the word vasectomy does not exist in the French medical vocabulary.  Apparently the French male is especially chauvinistic and birth control in this country is the sole responsibility of the female.  One urologist she spoke to said "A man would not be a man if he did that to himself."

Fortunately, for all five of us, we were able to find through friend a doctor in St Germain-en-laye that performs vasectomies.  Next Wednesday(29th) is the day.  Of course the French are not quite up to the medical standards of the US and I will have to have a general anesthetic rather than a local and be in recovey in the hospital for 4-5 hours after.  In the US it is an office procedure that the patient walks out of the office 30 minutes after the incision.  

A tale of two days.......

Yesterday(Tuesday 21st) I fed Samuel his dinner at 1830.  His favorite food is mac and cheese.  He has not yet taken to eating vegetables.  So we had the idea of buying macaroni made of vegetables.  Good idea, right?  Well, for the first time Samuel refused to eat his mac and cheese.  Half of the macaroni is green shaded not the normal yellow color.  He refused to eat any of the green macaroni.  If he was able to separate the yellow macaroni from the green he would eat it but the green macaroni never got close to his mouth.  I also gave him a vegetable medley(peas, green beans carrots, potatoes) in addition to the mac and cheese.  The good news is that he picked the carrots out of the vegetables and ate those.  A light finally came on and we thought lets buy vegetables that aren't green and see if he will eat non-green vegetables.  So we will be going to the fruitier to buy whatever non-green vegetables they have in stock in the hope that Samuel will eat them.  Anyone have any advice as to how to break a toddler of a green food phobia?

The evening was better.  Julia had gone shopping earlier in the day and bought two slices of chateaubriand.  So I was outside grilling the meat and corn on the cob when the moon rose over the river and shone through the cherry trees in our backyard.  Very beautiful, serene and calming.  The memories of the fight over dinner quickly faded into the grey recesses of my mind.

Samuel has another girlfriend.........

All three boys have been going through adaptation at the halte garderie this week.  The halte garderie is a state subsidized day care.  It costs us 10 euros per hour to have all three boys looked after.  The adaptation is a process where the twins have started by going for a hour on Monday and they worked there way up to 3 hours by Friday.  Next week they will go for 3 hours on Monday & Tuesday, then 6 hours on Wednesday and Friday.  If they adapt well the week after they will begin their full days on Wednesdaya nd Fridays.

Yesterday(17th) Samuel was in HG from 0900-1600 and the boys were there from 1300-1600.  Which meant that we had a few hours without a child in the house for the first time since April.  It was eerily quiet in the morning while Samuel was away.  During the afternoon Julia had a doctors appointment so I walked the twins to the HG.  After dropping the twins off  I walked to the brasserie California and sat at an outdoor table drinking a beer and doing the IHT crossword.  Julia joined me after her appointment and we both sat in the sun enjoying the sites and sounds of Chatou.

We both walked to the HG to pick up the boys.  Another couple was there picking up there 15 month old daughter.  As they and we were getting organized Samuel and their daughter chased each other around the entry way.  Twice Samuel gave her hugs during this time.  When the other couple was ready to leave Samuel chased after them and gave their daughter a final goodbye hug.  Very sweet.

Benjamin is now in 9 month clothes.  On Wednesday I went to pick up the twins at HG and they brought Benjamin out to me and his pants were unbuttoned and unzipped.  This was the subtle French way of telling us that they thought his pants were too tight.  We took the hint and dug out the 9 month clothes.  Now Benjamin is in 9 month clothes while Nathan is still in 6 month clothes.

Samuel is still a challenge when eating.  I am very happy about one development.  Samuel still loves cheese but now he only eats american cheddar cheese slices.  His favorite meal is mac and cheese where we melt a cheddar cheese slice over macaroni.  This is the only meal he eats regularly eats.

The worst of having a baby in a foreign country.

Sorry, again, this is being updated in August, almost 5 months after the boys arrived.

Sorry for having been gone so long but we have been enjoying our new family.

Benjamin and Nathan are both over 3 kilos now.  They are doing what babies are supposed to do.  They eat, sleep and poop.  They are spending a few more minutes each day awake so that we can see their beautiful eyes.  I think they are already smiling but it is not yet possible.

We have been working on entries describing the birth and the days after but I thought I would share the worst moment of the birth.

They boys were born at 1056 and 1058.  We were told that they would be allowed to spend an hour with us before they were to be taken upstairs.  As we were sitting in the delivery room holding the boys, Benjamin developed a slight rasp to his breath.  Our midwife said that he probably had fluid in his lungs and that it would take time to work its way through his system.  During this hour the staff told us that Julia would stay in the delivery room until 1300 and then be taken upstairs to her room.

At 1200 the staff came and put the boys in a cart to take them to the neonatal unit.  We told them that I wanted to go with the boys.  They did not say that this would be a problem.  We then left and took the elevator to the second floor.  When we reached the neonatal unit they then told me that I would not be able to enter for 20 minutes as they needed to run tests and prepare the room.  Feeling frustrated that they had not bothered to tell me this before I left my wife in the delivery room I decided to return to the delivery and wait with Julia.  I returned to the first floor only to discover that the door to the maternity area was locked with a secure keypad.  I waited a few minutes but no one entered or departed through the door so I decided to return to the waiting area outside the neonatal unit.

After waiting the required twenty minutes I pushed the button and they let me in. Being extremely tired I failed to notice the signs that I needed to wear protective clothing.  As I started to walk down the hall and very frantic nurse came yelling toward me to return to the entrance and don protective clothing.  I was then taken to the nursery where I was shocked to find only Nathan.  Luckily a nurse spoke passable English and was able to inform me that Benjamin had been taken to the intensive neo-natal unit and that I would not be able to see him until his status had stabilized.  Needless to say my heart rate and blood pressure rose exponentially. She told me that the problem was not life threatening but that he was having problems breathing.  This was occurring around 1230.  I sat down and held Nathans hand through the incubator.  He was responsive and alert.  It was distressing to see your newborn son with tubes attached to his nose and monitors placed all around.

For the next hour I constantly asked about Benjamin and was told that he was okay but that I was not allowed to see him yet.  By now it was about 1330 and I was also beginning to become anxious about Julia. I had been told that she would stay in the delivery room for about an hour before being brought upstairs to see the boys. If that timetable had held she should have arrived or be arriving soon.

Around 1345 an intern, who spoke some English, came to take me to see Benjamin.  It broke my heart to have to leave Nathan but I was overwhelmed with worry and guilt concerning Benjamin.  As I walked into the intensive care neo-natal unit that held Benjamin I almost fell to the ground.  There were two nurses and one doctor hovering over his incubator.  He had at least 4 tubes and  monitors connected to his 2.5 kilo body.  His incubator was a boiling 36 celsius.  The new staff did not speak English and all I was able to understand was okay and not urgent.

The staff left me alone with Benjamin and I sat holding his tiny little hand in mine with my mind racing between Benjamin in front of me, Nathan in his own unit and worrying about my wife who should have arrived by now.  About 1430 a nurse entered the room and I was able to communicate to her that my wife was missing and that I needed to find her.  I was able to have her take me to a phone and call Julia's cell.  I have to admit at this point in time that I had done a very stupid thing.  When Julia's water broke I had taken my phone and plugged it in top charge so that the battery would not die during the time at the hospital.  Unfortunately, during the rush to leave the house I forgot my phone.

I used the phone to call Julia's cell and my call immediately went into voice mail.  Of course, the nurse had walked away while I was waiting for the call to connect.  After this I returned to Benjamin's room as I was unable to find any staff in the ICU neo-natal.  After a few minutes a male doctor entered the room and thankfully he spoke some english. He told me that Benjamin was having respiratory problems but that it was nothing to be concerned about.  After feeling re-assured about Benjamin's condition my thoughts settled on Julia.  I told the doctor what I had been told about Julia and that she should be with the boys by now.  He, in typical french style, said "Yes, she should be here" and he turned and left the room.

At this point I was mentally and physically drained. I made the decision to leave Benjamin alone and returned to the neo-natal unit to see Nathan and the english speaking Nurse.  When I found the nurse and explained to her the situation she immediately grabbed another nurse and had her take me down to the delivery room where I was shocked and relieved to see Julia laying back on the delivery table.  I pushed my way into her room and told her that Nathan was okay but the Benjamin was in ICU.  She immediately began screaming for a nurse to take her to the ICU.  Please understand that this now nearly 4 hours after the birth of our twins.

A few minutes later I was pushing Julia into the ICU neo-natal and with communication established we were able to ascertain that Benjamin was not in danger but they were just being cautious.  It was  then that we had to make the difficult decision to part as Julia stayed with Benjamin, due to being able to communicate with the staff, and I returned to Nathan's side.

It was only later that Julia finally told me that the english speaking nurse told her that she had never felt sorrier for a new father than when she saw me come back fro the ICU.  I have never felt so helpless and torn.  Who was my priority? My newborn son in ICU or my wife who may have been in the delivery room hemorraging  blood.

Of course, the next 5 days were extremely trying as we had to balance two newborn twins in separate neo-natal units with maintaining our connection with Samuel.  All of that will covered in another post which I promise will not take another 5 months to write.

Random stuff

Have been remiss in not posting to blog.  We are now on facebook and facebook is more convienent to our current lifesyle.  Short blurbs that can be quickly shared.  It is hard work to keep the blog updated and interesting with 3 young boys but we will try.

Yesterday (19th) we had tp take the boiys to the doctor for their  month shots.  Since the boys were receiving shots all 5 of us go to the doctor.  It is unfair to the doctor and to the one of us that would take them to the doctor to do it with just one of us.  Once the first twin receives his shots, if he does not react well, it is difficult to comfort the first while the second is receiving his shots.  So our solution is all five of us go to the shot appointments.

Benjamin went first and weighed 7.57 k..  He has almost tripled his birth weight.  His growth chart is practically vertical.  From 10% at birth to 85% at 18 weeks.  We are amazed at his growth.  Considering that he was 5 weeks premature his growth is nothing less than phenomenal.

Nathan is growing but not at the pace of Benjamin.  Nathan weighed in at 6.8 k.  He is at the 75% but his line is not nearly as steep as Benjamin's.

The sad part of the trip was when we returned home.  I got one of the boys out of the passenger side of the car and opened the gate and walked toward the front door.  Julia got the other twin out of his seat and helped Samuel out of the drivers side of the car.  As I reached the front door I turned around and Julia was placing the twin on the stoop, the gate was closed and Samuel was nowhere to be seen.

As I was asking Julia where Samuel was I saw his head pop up through the gate.  He had been locked out.
Julia immediately unlocked the gate but Samuel ran away from her.  Apparently she had closed the gate in his face as he was following her into the yard.  Samuel ran directly to me and refused to look at or hug his mummy for at least five minutes.  All was soon forgotten by Samuel.  We tried to explain to him that it will not be the last time that he is forgotten and left behind.  It will happen again.

Samuel does not like watermelon.  Very disappointing.  He loves what are called in France Yetigel.  I cannot remember what they are called in America.  Yetigels are the summer treat of fruit flavored frozen water in small tubes that you slowly suck on until they melt and then you drink the sugar saturated water.

I get my 36 hour break for August next week.  I will leave for Antwerp on Wednesday morning and return early Thursday evening.  What we have learned over the last 5 months is that Julia and I love each other and our boys very much but we have been together under the same roof since February 1st.  We decided that a quick remedy is that each of us gets a 36 hour break every month.  Our trip coincides with a visit by the garde de nuit so the one of us that stays behind is not left completely alone with the boys. In July we both spent our trip in Brussels.  We try to visit spots that are within a 2 hour train ride of Paris.

Samuel can now say I love you.  Well, almost.  He says "I la."

Nathan is a smiley baby.  Subsequently his nickname is Smiley.  Samuel calls him "Miley."

I love France.....

I love France! Never thought I would write those words.  We had a garde de nuit last night.  Translates as night duty.  A young woman, says she 21 looks about 12, stayed with the boys from 2200 last night until 0700 this morning.  We both were able to get a good nights sleep.  All for only 50 euros.


Old post that was not posted timely.

A typical day....

0700-Wake up and feed the twins.  One feeds from a breast and the other gets a bottle.  When finished with feed, Julia expresses milk.
0800-Wake up, dress and feed Samuel.
0900-1100-Do laundry, play with Samuel, clean up after Samuel, wash bottles and pump parts.  
1100-Feed the twins.  One feeds from a breast and the other gets a bottle.  When finished with feed, Julia expresses milk.
1200-Feed Samuel.
1300-Put Samuel down for his nap.
1300-1500-Julia and I eat lunch and talk(imagine that!).
1500-Wake up Samuel from nap. Feed the twins.  One feeds from a breast and the other gets a bottle.  When finished with feed, Julia expresses milk.
1600-Feed Samuel a snack.
1600-1830-Do laundry, play with Samuel, clean up after Samuel, wash bottles and pump parts.
1830-Feed Samuel.  Every other night the twins get a bath.  When preparing Samuel's dinner we also make and refrigerate Samuel's lunch for the next day.
1900-Feed the twins.
1930-Take Samuel upstairs for bath, book(s) and bed.  The one that does not take Samuel upstairs prepares dinner.
2000-Eat dinner.
2100-We alternate the evenings.  One of us goes to bed while the other stays up and does the dishes and prepares the bottles for the evening feeds.
2300-Feed the twins.  The one that feeds the twins then tries to sleep in the downstairs guest room or on the couch.  We keep the boys downstairs so that the one who went upstairs at 2100 can, hopefully, get about 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep.
0400-Approximately.  When the boys wake up hungry, the one that was downstairs goes upstairs and wakes the other up and we switch positions.  We are trying to get the boys to sleep through the night so we let them sleep as long as they can.

Samuel is French.....Oh no!

When Samuel and I are outside kicking or throwing a ball around he does not say ball, he says "ballon."  Not only does he say ballon, according to our neighbors, he says it with a perfect French accent.  The battle is lost before it has even begun.

Great news

When Julia picked up Samuel from the halte garderie (French day care) today they told her that we have been allotted three spots on Wednesdays and Fridays for all 3 boys to attend.  This is good so that I can recommence my french lessons as I still have about 36 hours remaining.

The best part is that we have been granted a floating day every week.  We can call two weeks in advance to schedule this day but it will be subject to availability.  What the floating day means is that we can drop one, two or all three of the boys at the halte garderie for an entire day of care.

Really nice to have so that one week we can drop off the twins and I can spend the day with Samuel, maybe go to farm or the zoo.  While the next week I can drop off Samuel and spend the day with the twins.  If Julia is able to get a day off of work she can spend a day with Samuel or the twins.  Or Julia, Samuel and myself can go to a zoo or a museum.

We will take advantage of these days.  Julia will not return to work until January so on days when the three boys are in HG and I have my lessons she may come into Paris with me and we will have lunch after my lesson and then spend a few hours wandering the streets of Paris, going to a museum or getting an Italian ice near the Jardin du Luxembourg.

We both realize, and have promised each other, that it is important that we spend time with Samuel without the twins.

-Dave

I feel loved ...part II

Later on Sunday morning.  I was lying on the couch holding the boys while Samuel was playing with his truck on the floor.  Julia was upstairs taking a quick nap.

Suddenly Samuel stands up and points to the ceiling and yells "Mummy, mummy".  There was no noise from upstairs to inspire this comment.

I am the one that got him up, dressed him, went to the boulangerie to buy his croissant, fed him his croissant, gave him his milk and changed his diaper.  And all he wants to do is play with the cat and his mummy.  Yes, I feel loved.

Discalimer-The above is sarcasm.

Il est American!

We had the boys circumcised today.  Our midwife knows a rabbi that makes house calls so we had the procedure done at the house today.  Immediately after the procedure Julia was able to feed and comfort them.

The funny part of the day occurred when the rabbi was leaving.  We were standing by the door receiving last minute instructions with Samuel standing between me and the rabbi.  I gave Samuel the euros to pay the rabbi and he looked at it, gave a wry smile, and tried to run away.  The rabbi said "Il est American."  I hope it was meant as a joke.

We then told Samuel to give the money to the rabbi.  He walked toward the rabbi with the euros in his left hand. Samuel grabbed one 50 euro note with his right hand, handed it to the rabbi, and turned to leave with the remaining euros still in his left hand.

I feel loved..................

When I went upstairs to get Samuel ready for the day he was laying awake in his bed.  I walked into his room and threw out my arms saying it was time to get up and give Papa a morning hug.  Samuel did not move.  I said it again and he did not move.  I proceeded to the armoire to get out his clothes for the day when Molson walked to the entrance to Samuel's room and meowed.  Samuel immediately sat up, crawled out of bed and began chasing Molosn down the hallway, screaming "Ca, Ca ,Ca".  Samuel still does not pronounce his t's.  It left me feeling very loved and appreciated.

-Dave

We're back......

Sorry for not posting for awhile but life has been rather hectic around here.

We had our first family outing on Friday.  Samuel had to be at HG at 0900 and the boys had a doctors appointment at 1000.  We were only 10 minutes late in leaving the house.  Not bad since it was the first time we had to get all 3 boys out the door at the same time.

Everything is fine with the boys.  Benjamin is 3.45 kilos and 51.5 cm while Nathan is 3.4 kilos and 49.5 cm.  Both are growing at a pleasing rate.  All they do is eat, sleep and poo.  But that is what babies are supposed to do.

I think the boys made a pact in the womb.  During the day they will sleep together on their play mat.  During the  night it is a different story.  While one of them sleeps the other is fussing, not crying, but fussing loud enough to keep us awake.  When we fed them they switch responsibilities so that they are each getting some sleep while we are getting very little.

Samuel is the perfect big brother.  He is constantly hugging and kissing his brothers.  He sits on the couch next to us and holds the bottles while we feed the boys.  When they are done eating Samuel takes their empty bottles into the kitchen and puts them in the sink.  When we feed the boys we take them out of the blanket we keep them wrapped in.  When Samuel sees this he grabs the blanket and brings it to us and lays it on his brother so he stays warm and cozy.  He is also very diligent in keeping his brothers supplied with pacifiers.

The car seats are arranged in the car so that Samuel is facing forward in the middle seat with a brother on either side facing the rear.  When we brought the boys home from the hospital Samuel reached out with one hand on each brother.  It was the sweetest sight.  It was as if he was trying to tell them everything was going to be okay.

Samuel's new favorite words are key, shoe and bad cat.

Weather here has been perfect so today we took all 3 boys out into the backyard.  While Julia and Samuel threw balls at each other I sat on the porch holding the boys.  Quite enjoyable.

I have started 3 blog entries detailing the birth experience and the immediate aftermath but they are quite long and I have still have quite a lot to add.  Keep checking back as I hope to have them posted soon.

-Dave

Quick update

Apologies for not providing better and updated information but it has been a trying 4 days.

Benjamin has been moved from the intensive neonatal unit to the regular neonatal unit.

Julia will probably be coming home on Wednesday.  The neonatal unit has mother/baby rooms and she was given one of these Sunday night.  But Nathan is attached to several monitors and these monitors constantly go off whenever Nathan movers.  Imagine trying to sleep with an alarm clock going off every 15 minutes.

Benjamin is as we expected the active one.  The nurses have called him "tres sportif."  Nathan is very calm and very quiet.  Much as Samuel was.

Samuel is continuing to grow up.  Yesterday I asked him to put his socks on and he sat on the floor and tried top put his socks on.  While he was doing this I sat next to him and pointed to his toes and said "Toes".  Samuel responded with what sounded like "toes."  I then pointed out that he has 5 toes and I counted them out.  Samuel then repeated what sounded like "five toes."

I talk to him every night about what is happening and why his mother has not been home.  I hope he understands but it is difficult to tell.

Both Benjamin and Nathan have had bouts of jaundice the last few days.  They have spent a few hours each day under the light therapy and it seems to have worked.

The doctors tell us that the boys need to be autonomous in their eating habits before they are able to come home.  Nathan has breastfed but hr takes a few swallows and then falls into a very deep sleep.  Very cute but we would rather see him eating.  Benjamin has yet to be breastfed as he had a tube up his nose to assist his breathing and a tube in his mouth through which he was fed expressed breast milk.

Our friends and neighbors have been wonderful.  Last Thursday our cleaning lady took Samuel with her to a friends house, which she also cleans, and Samuel had an extended play date with our friends son.  On Friday our cleaning lady dropped Samuel off at the HG.  On Saturday I took Samuel to the hospital to spend some time with Julia and while she was watching Samuel I visited the boys. For Sunday we asked a neighbor to watch Samuel for a few hors so I could visit the hospital.  This neighbor has a young daughter named Claire.  We had told the neighbor that I would drop Samuel off between 1530-1545. I was quite touched that her daughter was hanging out in front of our house from 1500, riding her bike around, waiting for Samuel to make his appearance.

Benjamin lifted his head today.  Later than Samuel did it but very early for a newborn to raise his head.  Benjamin also almost rolled over yesterday.

Nathan lays very still and coos.

-Dave

Officially at beached pregnant whale status

I went into a local Italian deli yesterday and realized I am now officially at beached pregnant whale status. It had been a few weeks since I had been in there - since I don't get out that much these days! - but the nice woman who runs the shop took one look at me and said 'They still haven't come??'  I'm not even at 33 weeks yet!!!  When I told her that, she pointed out that yes, well, of course it was twins, which would explain why I was so enormous.......  Sniff.  Even our cleaning lady pointed out that I grow exponentially every week (and that was before she saw me flapping my arms trying to sit up on the sofa).  I am very happy that the babies are healthy and growing well... at the same time, my belly has taken over my body.  I think I still have feet, but I'll get back to you on that in a couple of months....