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
Monday, April 12, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
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....
Latest scan update
The twins now weigh 4.5 - 5lbs each! Just had the latest scan yesterday and all is well. Bo (on my left and the first one that will come out) still has his head down and is a little bit longer and skinnier than Go. Unfortunately we couldn't get any good pictures of them because they are so squeezed in together. Bo has his face right up against the membrane separating him from his brother's buttocks :-) and Go has his face turned firmly inwards, with Bo's feet resting on his head. Both the boys seem to be in very good shape... I thought Samuel was active when I was pregnant with him, but these days I can look down and see my entire belly moving dramatically!
Nearly at 33 weeks. From all the various medical opinions, it looks like we have a good shot of waiting until end April / early May before giving birth, which will be great for the babies.
Nearly at 33 weeks. From all the various medical opinions, it looks like we have a good shot of waiting until end April / early May before giving birth, which will be great for the babies.
Samuel's new bed
On Monday morning Julia took Samuel to the toddler playgroup so that I could have a few hours without Samuel "helping me" so that I could put Samuel's new bed together. The linen is a jungle motif to match the walls and curtains. What we like about this bed is that it can be expanded. The goal is that as Samuel grows the bed can either be turned into bunk beds or it can be built up with a play area under the bed. This may be important depending on the size of the house we are able to afford when we move.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
We have raised a very selfish boy......
Samuel no longer wishes to share his bread with the ducks. He chooses to eat the day old baguette rather than throw the crumbs into the river for the ducks/geese to eat. The ducks do not seem to mind but the geese look as if they are ready to come out of the water and take the bread out of Samuel's hand.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Allez les Blues!!!!!
Experienced my first live rugby mach yesterday. France v. Italy at the Stade de France. Not a compelling match as France won 46-20 and had a 46-6 lead with 10 minutes remaining but relaxed and allowed Italy two easy trys to make the score slightly more competitive.
Attended the match with John, an englishman, married to one of the women we have met through the local baby playgroup. I was supposed to go with our neighbor, Eric, but when I called him on Saturday to finalize plans he reluctantly said he could not go. He pretended to be sick but I think he just forgot to put it in his calendar. Their shades have been down since Friday morning so I think that they are out of town for the weekend. In the end it worked out best as John is a sports fan who used to play Rugby.
We met at the Chatou-Croissy RER station(John and Harri, his wife, live in Le Vesinet one RER stop west of us.) We took the train to Chatelet where we exited the station to have lunch at the Frog and Rosbif. An english pub in the heart of Paris. The food was not that good but I was able to have a cheeseburger with fries(Not even close to the quality of Quatman cafe in Cincinnati but you take what you can get when you can find it). The redeeming quality of the pub is that they have their own microbrewed beers. Very good and served cold.
We then returned to the startion and took the RER D to the Stade de France. Lesson learned, for future events at the Stade we will take the RER B as the station for it is much closer to the Stade. During the walk from the staiton to the Stade we passed a number of street vendors selling merquez, chipolatas and kebabs. French tailgating? Noticed that the vendors did not have sausage buns, instead they had taken a traditional baguette, torn it into 3 piece and cut a slit for the sausage. May have to try one next time I go.
The Stade de France is nice but spartan. The first thing I noticed upon reaching our seats is that their is not a scoreboard. There are two large video screens at each end but there is no where to permanently see a score or a game clock. Occasionally the video on the screen would include a score and a clock but you had to squint as it was a very small box in the upper left hand corner.
The match was a sellout but we(Julia) had found a special deal for the tickets. We bought 110 euro tickets but we found a bogo deal. Our seats were very good. We were on the 22 yard line about 6 rows up into the middle section. Close enough to the middle to have good depth perception and high enough to be able to see the angles and speed of the game.
There were two bands in the Stade. A blue clothed band to our left and a red clad band to our right. I always enjoy sporting events with live music rather than the piped up volume of most north american sporting venues.
The fans were very polite. The French clapped after the Italian anthem. They even clapped during the introduction of the Italian team. Not sure if this is typical or just because france was so obviously the better team and the Italians were not a threat. Wonder if the French will be as polite when they play the English on the 20th?
What is the French fascination with doing the wave? They must have tried to do the wave at least 20 times during the match. Very distracting.
The symbol of the France Rugby team is the gallic rooster. The fans wear what appear to be blue chickens on their heads in support of the rooster. The all-blacks have the haka and the French have the blue chicken. Not very intimidating.
The return home was interesting. We had to cross under a motorway to return to the RER station. There were two entrances to the underpass and French gendarmes were stationed at each entrance. They would alternately close the entrances. We were not sure why until we were finally allowed through and the underpass was jammed with people. They were singing and very happy but moving very slowly.
I finally made a male friend and he tells me that they are moving to Aberdeen, Scotland by the 1st of May for a new job. I may be stuck in the world of ex-pat mothers forever.
All in all a good time was had. Hoping to make another male friend in time for the world cup. Would be fun to return to the frog and rosbif to watch a few matches.
Attended the match with John, an englishman, married to one of the women we have met through the local baby playgroup. I was supposed to go with our neighbor, Eric, but when I called him on Saturday to finalize plans he reluctantly said he could not go. He pretended to be sick but I think he just forgot to put it in his calendar. Their shades have been down since Friday morning so I think that they are out of town for the weekend. In the end it worked out best as John is a sports fan who used to play Rugby.
We met at the Chatou-Croissy RER station(John and Harri, his wife, live in Le Vesinet one RER stop west of us.) We took the train to Chatelet where we exited the station to have lunch at the Frog and Rosbif. An english pub in the heart of Paris. The food was not that good but I was able to have a cheeseburger with fries(Not even close to the quality of Quatman cafe in Cincinnati but you take what you can get when you can find it). The redeeming quality of the pub is that they have their own microbrewed beers. Very good and served cold.
We then returned to the startion and took the RER D to the Stade de France. Lesson learned, for future events at the Stade we will take the RER B as the station for it is much closer to the Stade. During the walk from the staiton to the Stade we passed a number of street vendors selling merquez, chipolatas and kebabs. French tailgating? Noticed that the vendors did not have sausage buns, instead they had taken a traditional baguette, torn it into 3 piece and cut a slit for the sausage. May have to try one next time I go.
The Stade de France is nice but spartan. The first thing I noticed upon reaching our seats is that their is not a scoreboard. There are two large video screens at each end but there is no where to permanently see a score or a game clock. Occasionally the video on the screen would include a score and a clock but you had to squint as it was a very small box in the upper left hand corner.
The match was a sellout but we(Julia) had found a special deal for the tickets. We bought 110 euro tickets but we found a bogo deal. Our seats were very good. We were on the 22 yard line about 6 rows up into the middle section. Close enough to the middle to have good depth perception and high enough to be able to see the angles and speed of the game.
There were two bands in the Stade. A blue clothed band to our left and a red clad band to our right. I always enjoy sporting events with live music rather than the piped up volume of most north american sporting venues.
The fans were very polite. The French clapped after the Italian anthem. They even clapped during the introduction of the Italian team. Not sure if this is typical or just because france was so obviously the better team and the Italians were not a threat. Wonder if the French will be as polite when they play the English on the 20th?
What is the French fascination with doing the wave? They must have tried to do the wave at least 20 times during the match. Very distracting.
The symbol of the France Rugby team is the gallic rooster. The fans wear what appear to be blue chickens on their heads in support of the rooster. The all-blacks have the haka and the French have the blue chicken. Not very intimidating.
The return home was interesting. We had to cross under a motorway to return to the RER station. There were two entrances to the underpass and French gendarmes were stationed at each entrance. They would alternately close the entrances. We were not sure why until we were finally allowed through and the underpass was jammed with people. They were singing and very happy but moving very slowly.
I finally made a male friend and he tells me that they are moving to Aberdeen, Scotland by the 1st of May for a new job. I may be stuck in the world of ex-pat mothers forever.
All in all a good time was had. Hoping to make another male friend in time for the world cup. Would be fun to return to the frog and rosbif to watch a few matches.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Culinary disaster... or how not to make oven fries
In a moment of great hubris, I decided that I would take over making oven fries this evening... We had decided to have a rare meal of burgers & fries, but I thought I could make crispier and so better (to my taste) fries than Dave. HAH. Let it be known that the internet is full of lies. In my search for how to make the perfect crispy oven fry I googled away, full of trust. 121 positive reviews for a recipe... what could go wrong?! (As Dave would say... you need a RECIPE to make FRIES???? ... but I digress)
Full of innocent and happy anticipation, I prepare the fries and put them into the oven. Beautiful potatoes... delicately laid out on a baking sheet, filling the kitchen with mouth-watering smells... until the moment of truth: time to flip them.
Lesson: Never put potatoes on aluminum foil. Unless you want to demonstrate stronger sticking power than superglue.
These poor potatoes sacrificed themselves for nothing. A soggy, sticky and partially burnt mess was all that was left. And Dave and I (and Samuel) went fry-less. :-( Never again will I try to make fries. And the internet... sniff. My eyes have been opened. Lies... all lies... !!
Full of innocent and happy anticipation, I prepare the fries and put them into the oven. Beautiful potatoes... delicately laid out on a baking sheet, filling the kitchen with mouth-watering smells... until the moment of truth: time to flip them.
Lesson: Never put potatoes on aluminum foil. Unless you want to demonstrate stronger sticking power than superglue.
These poor potatoes sacrificed themselves for nothing. A soggy, sticky and partially burnt mess was all that was left. And Dave and I (and Samuel) went fry-less. :-( Never again will I try to make fries. And the internet... sniff. My eyes have been opened. Lies... all lies... !!
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