Day Tripper

Today's been a good day overall. I woke up at home and had a nice easy start to the day...well as easy as it can be when you've got a little 2 year old jumping all over you at 7.30AM. I am now on my way home after my little day trip out to Paris. The meeting went well and apart from re-connecting with a lot of people in the office, I even managed to see an old friend for a coffee after my client meeting. It was nice to see him in better form than a couple of months ago.

It will also be good to be back in my own bed again tonight - I should even be home in time for "Koh Lanta" - a ridiculous French programme about people who go and live on a desert island for 6 weeks to diet and do stupid amounts of exercise and competitive games to win a bag of rice which they can't even boil because they don't have any way of heating water. After that, a good night's sleep is in order because Sandie apparently has a list of jobs that need to be done tomorrow.....hmmmmm.

1 chicken 2 chicken 3 chicken

Delayed at Lyon by 45 minutes, risk of being diverted to Bordeaux.....Grrrrrrrrr.

Bored but not Blocked

5 hours even in my favourite Air France lounge would be bad enough (Amsterdam for the record), but I have to say I'm quite ready to leave Lyon and head to Pau in just under an hour. On re-reading that first sentence the only thing that strikes me is the fact that people shouldn't have favourite Air France lounges. What a ridiculous idea.

When I get to Pau I'll pick up the car and drive home. I'll stop at the hospital to see the world's largest set of premature twins, if that isn't a contradiction in terms. I'll then be home for around midnight so long as Maxime, the world's largest 2 year old, hasn't blockaded the house by leaving his slippers lying behind the front door. I felt most inferior when I lived in Denmark where everyone is so tall (and indeed on Wednesday when I was in Amsterdam), I hadn't realised that I would soon be a dwarf in my home. Maybe I'll buy a Shetland pony or a Bonsai tree to make myself feel better.

I am happy at the prospect of sleeping in my own bed tonight even if I am back to the airport tomorrow morning for a flight up to Paris to meet a banking customer in the afternoon. Hopefully Sandie will have prepared a nice little packed lunch for my day trip out to see the Eiffel tower. Right, where is that boarding gate.... adieu fair Lyon.

Ho Ho Ho Green Giant

I hate sweet corn. It is therefore somewhat ironic that the only TV advertisement jingle I remember from my childhood is that for sweet corn. I remember growing up in the UK singing along whenever a rather large green man appeared on the box. Today it would be more fitting, although admittedly less catchy, if that theme tune went something like “Ho Ho Ho Oversized Red White and Blue Child”. That is because my 22 month old son Maxime, (who only possesses a French passport for the minute – visit to the Irish embassy in Paris planned for November), went to the pediatrician today. We were told that Maxime is the same size as a child who is 3 ½ years old. Given the way that he loves to rugby tackle visitors to the house we always suspected something may be up. I suppose being ridiculously large and super strong for your age is better than a disease which makes you think that you’re a guard dog. The pediatrician did however warn us that we must be careful that people don’t think he is much older than what he actually is i.e. when he starts school in 12 months time people must not assume he’s a bit dim for an 18 year old. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

The other good news on the children front, (jees when you’ve got 3 kids there’s always something to blog about), is that Gaston and Capucine are coming along nicely. They seem to have developed a certain ability to eat copious amounts and grow very quickly (spot a theme yet? I’m going to need a pay rise and employ someone at home who can make clown shoes). Together they are now over 4 kgs and apparently the news from the hospital is that they could even be back home in a couple of weeks. I suspect I might need to start building a nursery and putting up some shelves soon which as you all know I detest with a passion, almost as much as sweet corn.

The other recent news is that the new relationship I have entered into seems to be blossoming…. Last Saturday I had my first clear round with Pich de Touleven – it seems like there might be the basis of a solid couple forming there. Just a shame he’s a castrated male, 700kg and a horse, rather than a drinking buddy, supervisor or colleague at work. Anyhow, I am just getting back to my hotel in Zurich after a day out in Amsterdam. How very European of me, I know. I should be back home in France tomorrow despite some more frog strikes. This time I have to fly from Basel Mulhouse to Pau via Lyon (where I have a 5 hour layover) so definitely more inconvenient than last week, but not really very impressive compared to yesteryear. Poor old Sarkozy, he really has let the country go to the dogs.

A Proud Cockerel? Cock-A-Doodle-Splutter

A 75 minute delay at Paris CDG reduced to 30 minutes on appeal. Is this the best the striking French can do?! How the protestors of May 1968 would cringe with shame. I’ve travelled the length of Europe and the best they could do was a pathetic abandoned suitcase, which held me up for 10 minutes, and then a 75 minute delay which they later reduced to 30 minutes when I complained that it was my birthday. I’m not home yet and I don’t want to count any chickens but really, what has this country come to?! I don’t think I’ll be so cocky when I’ve run out of petrol on Saturday night and have to sleep in my car slowly freezing to death, but for the minute, I’m feeling pretty triumphant, almost.

Birthday Boy and First Rate Friends

It is my birthday today and I got up at Silly O’Clock to go to Basel. I was touched that even before 5.30AM I had already received kind birthday messages from no less 7 of my good friends; it just goes to prove that old adage....you can tell a man by the friends he keeps! More seriously, I felt very special that so many people had spared a thought for me so early in the day. I am a very lucky boy. Hopefully that luck will continue throughout my journey to France later on today!

I am now at the airport in Zurich....half the journey is done (admitedly the first part being in Switzerland is clearly the easy half). I have just logged on to the internet and been bowled over by the number of kind emails, text messages, ecards, texts etc that I have received. On top of that the workshop this morning has gone really well and I felt that I was vaguely useful. I'm feeling very happy, let's just hope the French don't ruin it.....

Horses, Ghoulash and Home from Home

Since my last post the main news has been that Capucine and Gaston continue to progress well. They have their little ups and downs with threats of infections, nights when they breathe less well than others, and problems with mini catheters, but overall they seem to be on the right track. Sandie is also managing to spend lots of time with Maxime so that’s brightened her up no end.

This week has also seen me get back to work in terms of travelling. I had a very productive two days in Budapest speaking to a couple of different clients. One of the visits was 24 hours before an RFP submission and I managed to get some great insights which meant I ended up re-writing an executive summary until midnight. I did however manage to eat well in Hungary (yes it is possible) – traditional Hungarian fare at lunch time in Buda and then a wonderful Japanese restaurant in Pest in the evening. My adventurous spirit got the better of me after a positive first meeting in the back of beyond, and so I simply asked the taxi driver to take me to a good traditional restaurant in the middle of Budapest and leave me there. I then decided to navigate my way back to my hotel via trains, metros, buses, hitch-hiking etc. I managed pretty well, although I did end up taking a taxi for the last 1km because I got a bit lost after a couple of hours! I don’t think I’m ready for my first jungle trek yet.

I left Eastern Europe this afternoon and headed to my home from home in Zurich. I have a meeting in Basel tomorrow but I decided I wanted to stay in my favourite hotel in Zurich, so I’ll get an early train in the morning. Hopefully I’ll be doing quite a bit of travelling on my birthday tomorrow. With a bit of luck it will be Zurich Basel by train first thing, return to Zurich airport in the afternoon before a flight to petrol starved Paris, and then a second flight to Pau before an hour’s drive to Biarritz and my own bed. If I manage to do all of that tomorrow without crossing a picket line or stumble into a street protest, then I’ll be happy.

The other big news is that I managed to ride a horse at the weekend, Pich de Touleven, and whilst I didn’t bring home any silverware, things went pretty well. With a bit of luck I’ll ride him again on Saturday and then I can confirm with his owner that I’ll take a half-livery which basically means I will have scored myself a super jumping horse without having to splash out a large amount of money to buy my own beast. The horse will still belong to its owner, but I’ll be able to ride him in competitions at the weekend, so all in all it seems a good compromise. Sandie even seems to be heartily supportive, so strike while the iron is hot is what I say....finally an upside to all of those hormones flying around her system!

The New Normal

I would have called this posting "the end of life as we know it" but I’ll save that title for when Capucine and Gaston actually arrive home. Therefore I would rather say that the new normal starts today....Sandie is coming out of hospital.

Capcuine and Gaston will stay in hospital for the foreseeable future, but at least one part of the family is coming home (in any case she’s much more useful around the house than the babies so I’m not complaining). Basically Sandie is desperate to see more of Maxime, hence the reason why she is coming out earlier than expected. “Unfortunately” in an unrelated and pre-arranged agreement, I'm off to ride horses in Bordeaux today and tomorrow morning. Oops. I'm trying out a horse which I might buy half of....oh yes, we don't do things by halves here in the south of France - why stop at premature twins when you can add half a horse to the mix! I just hope they've given me the half of the horse with the brain.

Highlight of yesterday? Falling asleep with Capucine in my arms after a busy week combining hospital visits and work. Bliss.

Stars and Cherries

I really enjoyed living in Denmark a few years ago – I particularly liked the fact that we had lunch at 11.30AM – I was always something of an early bird and even today still enjoy getting up at the crack of dawn – basically I like doing things early. I do also have to confess I since living in the south of France I have become partial to a little afternoon nap or “siesta” after lunch. The other thought I have had recently is how grateful I am to my boss at work – he has been wonderfully flexible meaning I can spend more time in the hospital with the babies during the daytime. The upshot of this is that I end up working quite late – for example I only managed to get to bed at 1AM last night.

Why am I sharing these random thoughts? Well it’s rare that all your stars align, but today was one of those days.....I came to the hospital tired after not having had much sleep (Maxime still wakes at the same time and still needs to be taken to crèche). However I was given a boost when the nurse said I could hold Gaston. So around 11.30 I settled into a nice comfortable chair and then fell asleep with Gaston’s little heart beating on my chest for the next 90 minutes or so. Although I can’t yet speak on his behalf, it was undoubtedly the best siesta that I have had for a long time.

And the news from the paediatrician as I stirred from my slumber that the brain scans are officially “all clear”?....Well that was just the cherry on the cake.

Just When You Thought It Couldn't Get Any Better

You've got to go someway to top successful brain scan results (yesterday's news)...so imagine our delight when the nursing staff said today that we could for the first time actually hold the babies. Sandie clutched Gaston next to her chest for over 2 hours. An emotional moment. A good day. I'll sit with Capucine tomorrow... er later today actually. That's the problem with spending so much time in the hospital during the day time...work comes in the evening and early hours of the morning. Off to bed now still with a spring in my step, but physical tiredness means the spring is slightly smaller than yesterday.

Let Me Get A Chair......

I can promise you that when you’re a parent waiting for feedback from a paediatrician on a brain scan for your premature babies, the last thing you want the doctor to have as an opening line is, “let me get a chair”......My heart jumped in my mouth when our gently spoken paediatrician uttered these words this afternoon. However after he had taken 40 minutes to take us through everything I then understood why he had wanted a chair in the first place.

Essentially the news is positive. The radiologist did the scan this afternoon and didn’t ring the paediatrician afterwards. The paediatrician took no news to mean good news – however he reassured me straight away that this is not just French “Laissez Faire Medicine” – apparently she always rings if there is a problem. The paediatrician also sought to assuage our concerns about the bleeding that was seen in the initial scan on Friday. After a bit of a lesson on the anatomy of the brain, which hurt my brain because it was all in French, I think I understood that he was saying that things looked ok. He also said that we shouldn’t focus on the bleeding because all of the clinical signs, essentially the demonstrable behaviours such as movement and alertness, were so good, and because the bleeding was really very slight on Friday. He said if it had been him, then he wouldn’t even have mentioned it to us and that for him, the initial examination was “normal”.

Despite still not being sure if he is actually younger than us, and despite feeling particularly guilty about how much his work benefits society compared to our own, we both really appreciated his calm and gentle demeanour. He had an excellent bedside manner and let us ask all the questions we wanted without giving us the feeling we were being rushed at all. Glasnost at last! I’m almost ready to vote communist.

He also took the time to explain the major phases of the premature baby which really helped my personality deficiency that requires that I put things into lists and boxes (just ask anyone who has worked or lived with me!). Stage 1 is stabilisation of the respiratory function (going well so far), stage 2 is getting the babies to accept milk (all related to the maturity of the intestines – just for information, both Capucine and Gaston are drinking a whole 2ml per meal!), and stage 3 is when they are sufficiently mature to suck milk from a bottle. I was particularly reassured because once we’re through stage 1, everything else is directly related to eating – this is definitely something that the O’Brien’s have never had a problem with. Because of that I can therefore end this posting with something of a (no doubt medically irrational) spring in my step.

The Little Terrorist

It is fair to say that for the last 7 months whilst Sandie has suffered from a tremendously difficult pregnancy, I have been what Social Security might call the “Primary Carer” for 22 month old Maxime. It’s been a lot of fun in many respects – it’s funny to hear him call out “Papa, Papa” as soon as he wakes at the crack of dawn, and now I’m certainly more adept in getting him ready for creche in the morning in less 90 minutes. However complacency is a dangerous thing as I found out to my cost this morning. I thought the quickest option to resolve the issue of a dirty nappy was to whisk him under the shower. I took the nappy to the bin in the kitchen not realising that I was being followed. I turned around to see a happy smiling face which took great delight in uttering the word “caca”. My jaw dropped when I realised that I hadn’t made sure the nappy was nice and full before heading for the kitchen....let’s just say the bathroom and the hallway through to the kitchen reminded me of the Irish dirty protest in the 1980s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_hunger_strike) ...you could say that it was like the Hunger strike but without the hunger as Maxime proceeded to eat his own breakfast and half of mine. Humpf

Thankfully the news from the hospital was better and put something of a spring in my step. Whilst chickens are still not being counted, the second paediatrician who set the babies up in the ICU on Friday morning came and spoke to us today. She was really quite happy with Capucine’s behaviour since the birth stating that the way she was acting was really not in a way that is typically associated with really sick children. A nurse also later told us that the general feeling in the department is that the pair of them are doing well and really aren’t a source of huge concern for the nurses, especially when compared to another baby currently in ICU who was born at 25 weeks.....that said, fingers remain firmly crossed for the brain scan tomorrow however.

We want Glasnost, Give us Pravda!

At times it feels like getting information would be easier in a communist state in the 1930s than in a maternity ward. This morning I was delighted to stumble across the paediatrician that resuscitated Capucine after her birth on Friday. I couldn’t get my questions out quick enough and I hung on every syllable of every word that he said. It was just a shame that he said it all in French (now’s the time when you see the real limits of your ability to speak a foreign language). Thankfully Sandie was there to help understand both what was said, but also what was not said. It was obvious after the paediatrician had left that we could have picked over the bones of the conversation for the next two days but the overall message, I hope, is one of cautious optimism. There will be a brain scan every Tuesday and Friday for the next two weeks. Only at the end of this period can we see if the potential problems related to the difficulties at the birth have led to anything really serious. It is a nervous time indeed even despite the fact that all the other signs are good. Without that confirmation neither Sandie nor I will sleep easy.

The other thing which this led me to thinking is the difficulty of the job the doctors and paediatricians do. I think it is inevitable that faced with a barrage of questions from understandably nervous (and therefore unpredictable) parents, the rational thing to do is to release only the minimum amount of information for fear of information arbitrage if the same question is asked to different doctors (which it inevitably will be). A vicious circle then ensues; a doctor’s desire to protect his own skin and the parents, (who are invariably ill-qualified to understand the technical nature of the information being shared) mean a drying up of information which only increases the nervousness and frustration of the parents. I think Glasnost in Bayonne will take a wee while longer even if there is no physical wall to break down.

Back in the "real" world, both Capucine and Gaston seemed calm today, especially Gaston. Capucine likes to squeeze my finger when I hold her hand, so that's something which already gives me a lot of joy. Some other information that is easy to digest is the fact that Capucine measures 40.2cm and Gaston 42.6cm. That at least is information that can be confirmed by the naked eye!

Beach Babies

The first thing that Sandie told me when I got to the hospital today was that Capucine had lost 70 grams and Gaston had lost 60 grams overnight. That, by all accounts, is nothing unusual with new born babies. However I started to get a bit suspicious about the French health system when I went to see them for myself. I was shocked to see Capucine under a blue UV lamp wearing an eye mask. I knew the French were vain, but surely putting them on a diet and encouraging sunbathing at less than 48 hours old was going a touch too far. Thankfully there was a nurse on hand to explain to me that this was actually a very common treatment for jaundice. The babies’ livers are working overtime to get rid of a few too many red blood cells. I heaved a sigh of relief. I spent most of the afternoon in ICU with a copy of the Economist and my iPod (they’re nice kids but not very talkative for the minute, especially when they’re topping up their sun tans). In general Gaston seems un-phased by the whole thing whereas Capucine is definitely more agitated. Thankfully by the end of the day Sandie and I were reassured because they were both sleeping peacefully. The next big event will be a brain scan for the pair of them on Tuesday. This will be particularly important to understand what’s going on for Capucine who had the more troubled birth of the two.

The other thing that the last 24 hours has taught me is the premium that the right information should command. Having only a small amount of information and a large amount of time to think is a dangerous combination. However providing a huge deluge of information is definitely not the answer either. Sandie managed to read the medical charts of the babies and saw Capucine’s poor Apgar scores...she then proceeded to fret about them and was only finally reassured after managing to get on the internet and finding out that a poor Apga score is thankfully not any indication of future (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apgar_score). It’s already quite clear that it’s going to be a rollercoaster ride for the next two months. With a bit of luck we’ll manage to keep a bit of perspective along the way and even more so, that the whole story will have a happy ending.

COB - Bilan

One of the future god fathers kindly pointed out this morning that Capucine O'Brien has the initials COB, which also stand for "Close Of Business". So it seems fitting to tell you all how she's doing at the end of her first day in the world. Of the two, she had the more difficult birth and required a certain degree of assistance to get her up and running....Not even a day old and she's already "high maintenance" - I had hoped this was one characteristic that her mother wouldn't hand down, but it seems that genetics has got the better of me again (if either of them have been "blessed" with the Rogeret ears then Sandie and I will be having stern words). Thankfully since that stuttering arrival, she's been sailing through all sorts of tests and there seems to be a certain guarded optimism about her future. There still seems to be one slight internal bleeding issue, but hopefully that will resolve itself over the next couple of days. Gaston on the other hand came out wriggling and screaming. I managed to watch for quite a long time as they got him ready before he went up to the intensive care unit (ICU). He’s a cute little thing (be sure to put the emphasis on “little” rather than “cute”), although his lungs aren't as developed as his sisters, and he did have to receive an injection in the morning to help his alveoli. Apart from that he seems a stable wee man; I’m already relying on him to keep his sister in line in due course.

More anon tomorrow, although one of the priorities is definitely to spend a good bit of time with Maxime – he seems to be the only one who’s taking this in his stride!

Afterthought

In a most bizarre event in the delivery room after the arrival of Capucine and Gaston, Sandie talked about "not ruling out a fourth". I immediately sought to nip this ludicrous idea in the bud and I attributed the utterance to the copious amounts of drugs that must still have been rushing through her veins. I've never heard such madness in my life, especially not at 4AM in the morning!

Capucine & Gaston

Patience is a virtue possess it if you can, seldom found in women and never in a man. However at only 6.5 months old, it was little Capucine who decided to force the issue by kicking her way out of her protective sack of amniotic fluid on Wednesday night. Chapter 1 of the story ended this morning at 1.59AM as she exited Sandie's stomach thanks to the deft hands of a very capable surgeon. Gaston followed 2 minutes later and they're now both in intensive care in their own little room in the maternity ward at Bayonne hospital in France. More information in due course but for now, an exhausted "papa" is going to his bed.

P.O.W

The title of this posting has less to do with a Batman comic from the 1980s and more to do with the fight against terrorism. Whoever dreamt up the idea of sleep deprivation as a form of torture (excuse the pun), was a smart cookie. Sandie has just telephoned. It is 8 minutes past midnight. It's time to go to the hospital again. A false start? Only time will tell.

Topsy Turvy Whirling Dervish

Just an update after last night's posting. Despite AF774 landing safely and me getting no speeding tickets on the way home, we don't have any babies yet....the doctors want to delay the birth as much as possible because Sandie's still only 6.5 months pregnant. She's had an injection to accelerate the development of the lungs of the babies and that takes 48 hours to kick in so they are trying to buy time. That said the babies will be here within the week and they could be here as early as tomorrow night or over the weekend. I bought two new "dou-dous" from Toys-r-us at lunch time today (the French equivalent of a security blanket for small children), so I now feel thoroughly prepared for life in a family of five....

Final Call for Passenger Water Sbreaking

I am sitting in the Air France lounge at Paris CDG airport. Never have I wanted a plane to leave on time as much as this one. Sandie's waters have just broken and she's off to the hospital. AF774 will take me to Pau where I will pick up the car before driving to the hospital in Bayonne. I could be in a family of 5 by the time I get to the south of France tonight. Wish us luck! Flight boarding now.....