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 ???