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.....