Our advanced child

This morning we visited the pediatrician for the first time. She has been on vacation and would have come to see Lexi right after she was born, but we've had other pediatricians attending to her care until now. This was the pediatrician we chose and visited before the birth, so now we're getting into the regular check-ups with her.

Everything checked out basically normally with Lexi, except...

In terms of her measurements, she's where a 3-month old would be - and she's only 3 weeks old! Yikes! We're raising a beast who's out of control now (we've noticed that she does like to eat often these days)! For several days now, we've noticed that Lexi is longer, and indeed, she measures in at 58 cm now (her length at birth was 52 cm, although the doctor said you can't always stretch out a newborn's legs completely, so maybe she was even a bit longer then). And in terms of weight, she's now at 4.06 kg. For the metrically illiterate, those figures are:

58 cm = 22.83 inches
4.06 kg = 8.95 lb

It's like carrying two large sacks of flour in your arms, or a big, long bag of potatoes.

And for about the last ten days or so, Lexi has had what looks like an outbreak of acne on her face. This is eczema, which the doctor gave us some cream to treat. The doctor says this is normal.

We don't know how we produced a child who is already bigger than average. Neither of us are especially tall or large. We think maybe she got her Uncle Brian's (Sarah's brother) genes, or maybe a bit of the tall Hovick (Stephen's mother's family) genes snuck in.

Baby's name connection to birthplace

When we sent out the birth announcement on the night Alexandria was born, we presented a little puzzle: Can you figure out the connection of her name to her birthplace?

Some of you figured it out right away and sent the answer back with your congratulations (well, we had told a few people before her birth, so maybe you cheated and asked someone what the answer was).

Others of you were stumped and still have not figured it out. So, it's time for a clue: Think of her whole name (Alexandria Leah Padre), and don't limit yourself to just the city (Geneva) she was born in. Think about wider places than that, and consider landmarks (with an emphasis on the land).

Also, speaking of names, if you haven't figured it out yet, we're calling her Lexi for short. Or maybe, while we still live in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, we ought to make her nickname French-looking - something like l'Exi.

Thoughts on fatherhood

Lexi is two weeks old today - still very, very young, but in other ways, because we've spent so much time with her and have had to care for her every need, we feel we know a lot about her and have learned a lot as parents in this short fortnight.

Still, however, I don't think the reality of becoming a father has hit me yet. Sure, I know I am now responsible for the care of a baby - a person - now. But so far, that's really all it has been - the physical (and a tiny bit of emotional, certainly) care of a newborn. It feels like the real part of parenthood hasn't started yet - the true guiding of a young life and supervising. Lexi doesn't need much right now, or at least it's not hard to provide very basic needs for her because Sarah and I do that for ourselves daily with no thought - safety, security, being fed, clothed, and kept clean and getting sleep. I know there's a little attention thrown in there too.

But it's good to be in this phase - past the pregnancy and into the child-rearing. The anticipation and uncertainty of who and what kind of child we would get is over. In this way, starting a family and becoming a parent/father is real - we finally have a real person with a name and known gender and a tiny bit of personality to identify with and to touch and hold and see. But even then, I'm struggling or getting ahead of myself in still expecting her, because she is a person, to do with me what I'm used to "normal" people (adults, I suppose) doing - interacting through conversation and all the other things you do when you live with someone or spend a lot of time with someone. She's a living, breathing, eating, sound-creating person, so I sort of expect her at any moment to start conversing with me in the way I expect so I can get to know her. So in this way, she's still kind of not a real person to me. She's a potential person in a way. And in some ways, I can't wait until she's into that "real" person phase.

It seems we've only continued in this phase from pregnancy with the paradoxes of life.

A Three Ring Circus

Picture this...

On Friday, Stephen had a telephone interview for a job in the U.S. We sent Lexi out with Baba and Lolo (Stephen's parents) for a walk in the stroller so she wouldn't be a distraction. I took a nap. His interview was scheduled for 1:30. It started a bit late, but I figured it would still end by 3:00. Why did it need to end by 3? Because we are having to show our appartment to future renters. We had agreed for several people to come at 3:00 that day. Lexi and the grandparents came home around 2:40. Stephen was still on the phone, but no problem, she was sleeping soundly.

3:00 the doorbell rings; Stephen is still on the phone, but I can tell it is coming to a close. As the phone is right near the front door, I usher the first people into the spare bedroom and shut the door. Explaining that since he is on the phone, they can just walk around and I will try to answer any questions before they are ready to go. Soon the other 2 visitors arrive; Stephen's still talking. By this time, Lexi has woken up and is HUNGRY (it's about a half hour past when I thought she would want to eat). I am in the spare bedroom with the door shut talking to the visitors; Lexi is in the kitchen with the grandparents. I finish with that set of visitors and go to the kitchen and fetch her.

The doorbell rings again. I am tied up with the baby; Stephen is still on the phone. Barb answers the door; ushers the young Dutch fellow to the living room. I go in to talk to him, Lexi attached. Everyone is trying to whisper - Barb is gesturing that Stephen is on the phone with a job interview. Doors are opening and closing. Stephen gets off the phone; all the visitors have left. Peace at last. Our place is good sized - but not that good-sized - it felt like a circus in here!

Things I am thankful for

1. Lexi is a pretty good sleeper. She can go down for around 3 1/2 - 4 hours at night. So I really only have to get up once.

2. Lexi is a good eater. She gained in 2 days what she was supposed to have gained in 7. So we are reducing the frequency of her meals - but she doesn't always like that! (Trying to hit every 4 hours.)

3. The midwife has come to our home twice now - and since we had more questions, it was good to get them answered. There were a couple of things I was worried about, but she was able to reassure me.

A few words from Sarah

Stephen has been dilgently keeping you all up to date for which I am grateful. It was wonderful to come home on Tuesday night; I was going stir crazy at the clinic and just wanted to get Lexi HOME. Now we are trying to figure out what she needs when. Not necessarily the easiest task (where's her owner's manual??). Some times she is predictable - other times not. The first night at home was a bit trying, but the second was better. I am still quite tired but am hoping night #3 will go like clockwork.

I feel like I am already forgetting what the whole labor/delivery was like. I want to write it down - don't worry, I won't be posting it here! I didn't really know when she actually came out; I was pushing away (it REALLY hurt) with my eyes closed and then there was this slimy, wiggly thing on my tummy - and I wondered - what the heck is that?!?! Stephen had to tell me to open and look at her. Quite an amazing/interesting/miraculous experience. It still feels rather surreal that my basketball tummy has disappeared and we now have this human being to care for. It feels real and yet it doesn't.

First dinner at home

Last night, after the first night and first full day since Sarah and Lexi had come home from the clinic, we had a celebratory dinner. Well, it wasn't so festive, since it was nice for Sarah and Lexi just to have an ordinary meal at home, but we each had a glass of kir royale (a popular French drink of champagne - in this case, sparkling apple cider - with cassis liqueur added) to toast their homecoming.


We prepared a dish we discovered on our trip to Egypt in 2005 - koshari. This was appropriate because Alexandria is a city in Egypt.

And then afterwards, my dad and I "smoked" (we just pretended) two Cuban cigars I had to celebrate.


Yes, we're getting this child off on the right foot with fancy drinks and smoking!


It's wonderful to have Lexi home and part of our family here now. But there's a lot of adjustment in learning how to care for her.

Delayed homecoming

We've had some delays in the departure of Sarah and Alexandria from the clinic. The insurance would have normally paid for them to stay there until Sunday.

At birth, Alexandria weighed a little more than average, she was quite long, and the circumference of her head was bigger than average. Because of all this, and because she was facing up (not down, which is the usual delivery position - facing the floor), the doctor needed to use the vacuum on her head during the delivery to help pull her out. This left her with an enormous bruise on the crown of her head, which I think looked like a yarmulke. The doctor assured us this procedure was not dangerous. This bruise then caused her to become jaundiced (something about red blood cells multiplying around this bruise). So this kept her in the clinic an additional night last night. During the afternoon, she slept over a special light in her bassinet, and overnight, she got this special light all over her body, which helped. They've been monitoring her by taking blood regularly. This condition also caused her to become overly tired, which meant she wasn't eating as much as she should, but today she appears stronger and heavier.

Then, after she was born, the doctors suspected a small heart murmur. So we had to take Alexandria to who I was told was the best specialist in Geneva on these matters - Prof. Baghetti (in the dining room with the candlestick). So she left the clinic for the first time yesterday and had her first ride in the car to the cantonal (state) hospital. They did an EKG and an ultrasound and discovered a very small hole in the wall between the two chambers of her heart. This is very common, the doctor said. He's not concerned at all and believes she will grow out of it. He wants to see us in six weeks and again in a year (can we come back to Geneva for that appointment?). You cannot notice this condition at all when you look at her.

Now it's Tuesday afternoon, and Sarah will need to see the doctor about her sutures (from her episiotomy) before she's cleared to go home - assuming Alexandria is also free to go.

The insurance will pay for these additional days in the clinic - the doctor has requested this. So we've been dealing with these medical issues the past few days and trying to resolve them - in case you've been wondering why Mommy and Baby are not home yet.

Learning to be a father

At the clinic where Sarah delivered Alexandria, there's a nursery area with several sinks where the nurses and parents change their child's diaper and bathe them.

On Saturday morning, during my daily visit to the clinic, Sarah and I learned how to bathe Alexandria. She didn't mind getting in the water at first - she seemed to like the warmth. But as we started rubbing her and poking and prodding her, she started crying. We also learned how to clean her eyes, nose and ears and around her umbilical cord.

And yesterday, on Sunday, I changed my first diaper - and then did another one in the evening! Two diapers on my first day of diaper duty! Well, so far, this task has been easy - there's been no poop yet - so there's not really a big mess inside to clean up.

Medical clinic or luxury hotel?

Have you ever eaten a fancy meal in a hospital room? Have you ever gone on a date at a medical facility?

That's essentially what Sarah and I did last night on her last night at the clinic. As part of the "package" of having a baby at the clinic where Sarah has been since Wednesday night, she got to have a fancy dinner with a guest. Luckily she chose her baby's father (at least I've been thinking I'm the father since Thursday - I think Alexandria looks like me)!

We got to choose the day of the meal and whether we wanted to have lunch or dinner. And we had three choices for each of the three courses. The main course we both chose included a sirloin steak. The dessert I chose was very rich - two fairly big-sized slices of a mocha cake. To top it all off, we had a small bottle of champagne (our other choice was a bottle of Bordeaux) to share!

They set the meal up at a small round table with full place settings and linen napkins and a tablecloth. We had it in room 132, next door to Sarah's room, with one hospital bed pushed aside and some of the fluorescent lights off for ambiance.

For nearly an hour, we ate what will probably be our last meal in peace. One of the nurses babysat Alexandria in the nursery.

A couple of days earlier, we got a gift from the clinic too - a small teddy bear.

This clinic has been a very nice place to have a baby. I've been worried the whole time about the hospital where we will have our next child. Chances are good that we'll have any future children back in the U.S., where mothers (and fathers!) don't receive such lavish treatment.

Sarah has had good nurses caring for her these past several days. The one who cares for Sarah primarily during the day is a very knowledgeable woman and has been kind to both of us. She's been a good teacher to us for all of the different cleaning techniques for Alexandria and has encouraged us well as we learn them.

Sarah has had Alexandria in a bassinet in her room next to her bed most of the time since Friday, the day after the birth. But at this clinic, mothers have the option of caring for their babies (changing diapers, etc.) on their own or having the nurses do it all or anything in between. Babies can stay in the nursery under the watch of the nurses and be brought to their mothers only when they need to be fed if the mother wants. So it has been a posh place for Sarah to stay in.

C'est une fille! It's a girl!‎

Alexandria Leah Padre

Born 9 August 2007

8 lb 3 oz, 20.5 in.

She was born on Stephen's 34th-and-a-half birthday, a day after her due date (generally on time for first-time babies - a good, punctual Swiss baby!). See if you can figure out the connection of her name to her birthplace.

It was a long labor and trying delivery for Sarah, but in her first few hours, Alexandria is doing pretty well (and Mommy and Daddy are relieved it's over!).

Swiss doctors

I think that Swiss doctors are very dedicated and seem to be on call at all times. My doctor has been on holiday this past week so I saw another doctor for my checkup last Monday. When I had seen my regular doctor two Mondays ago, she said that she would see me on the due date (this Wednesday), but we didn't set a time. Since she was away all last week, I figured I would call her tomorrow (Monday) to schedule the Wednesday appointment. Well, she called ME on a Sunday afternoon to schedule the appointment herself! We are both kind of surprised that she called on the weekend. But unlike my sister's doctor who didn't attend the birth of her daughter because it was a Sunday, I know that my doctor will be at the delivery - no matter when it happens. She has told me so. Pretty comforting, hmm?

Still ticking...

The due date is fast approaching (4 days!) and we are trying to patiently wait for 'IT' to happen. I am now on full medical leave (since Thursday) which means no more work for me. I had some little projects to do around the house - I have pretty much gotten them all done. So now what? We have suddenly amassed quite a collection of DVDs so I think I will be spending a lot of time in front of the tv. I know that I should be 'resting' - but I still haven't gotten the hang of taking naps.

Doctors appointments now consist of being hooked up to a monitor that graphs the baby's heartbeat and tone of the uterus. Plus the ever present question - have you felt any contractions?? My answer is 'I don't think so???' Baby moving, yes; Discomfort, yes; Funny twinges, yes; Contractions ???