Hi,
It has been a while since I blogged and a lot has happened in the few... months I guess is the right word.
So what happened? Well Olcay and the kids went to Spain with my in-laws to meet my parents in Torremolinos, Spain. My parents had planned a two week vacation in Spain and as they do all the time, they went traveling for a week and spending the last week at the beach. They suggested that Olcay and the kids and her parents would visit them over there as well. So they did. I stayed behind, mostly because I had already planned a trip to Oman early October, but also because I had to do my verbal exam for the NVBI. Which I passed by the way.
Ray learned to crawl in Spain, and currently he walks while holding on to whatever he can. Oh, and he's damn fast as well. Putting everything into his mouth and trying to get his hands on anything forbidden. A little rascal, that's what he is. Jay had a great time in Spain, while Ray was keeping everybody awake during those 2 weeks.
A week after they came back home, I left for a diving trip to Oman. The weather was excellent, the water was warm, but murky. So there wasn't a lot of visibility. The fish we did see were bigger than those in the Red Sea and not so shy. By the way, I went with Lorenz and Ronald, and we had a great time. The hotel was really excellent, Oman Diving Center, and their food was extremely good.
Right after I came back from Oman, Olcay and I celebrated our 5th anniversary. On Texel, one of the Dutch islands in the Waddenzee. We stayed at the Texel Suites, a really good design B&B. It was a great weekend without the kids. We enjoyed it very much, but to be honest, we were also glad to see the boys again, who stayed at my parents.
And now the waiting is for our flight to the US on December 7th, when we fly to Ravi and Mamatha and see their little Mahika again. It's been way too long since we were there. Almost 2 years. Last year we planned to fly over, but Olcay got her hernia, so now it is going to work out, I'm sure.
Maybe I'll post another blog between now and then, but I'm pretty confident I won't
See you after Boston,
Iwan
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Friday, August 24, 2007
Movie Review: The Simpsons
Hi,
This week I saw the Simpsons movie, and I liked it. But mainly because it was just the Simpsons. Nothing fancy, nothing new, just an episode as any other episode, only taking 90 minutes.
All the characters you know are there and they're all playing their role. Excellent.
I can tell you what the story is about, but it is as absurd as any other Simpsons story, so it won't help you to decide whether or not you should see this one. But I can tell you, if you like the Simpsons, you'll like the movie. Although going to see it on the big screen is maybe not worth the effort, but then again, when you're a fan, you probably want to get the experience anyway.
Iwan
This week I saw the Simpsons movie, and I liked it. But mainly because it was just the Simpsons. Nothing fancy, nothing new, just an episode as any other episode, only taking 90 minutes.
All the characters you know are there and they're all playing their role. Excellent.
I can tell you what the story is about, but it is as absurd as any other Simpsons story, so it won't help you to decide whether or not you should see this one. But I can tell you, if you like the Simpsons, you'll like the movie. Although going to see it on the big screen is maybe not worth the effort, but then again, when you're a fan, you probably want to get the experience anyway.
Iwan
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Body flying... that was soooo cool
Hi,
Last Sunday was fun. I went body flying in Hueckenhoven, Germany. It was our birthday present to Ashley. Every year we do something adventurous. Last year we went powerboating this year body flying.
For those of you who don't know what body flying is, here's a short description. There's this huge turbine from an airplane set into the ground blowing a wind of 180 km/h upwards and wearing a special coverall you're flying in this air stream. When you see people doing this, it seems very easy, but let me tell you, it isn't.
Ashley was a natural, she rode the winds like she'd done it all her life. Mark and I were mediocre compared to her, although we were doing fairly well ourselves.
The good thing about this all, is that Olcay could do it as well and she enjoyed her ride on the wind a lot.
Each session lasted for about 5 minutes a person, which seems very short, but believe me, it isn't in fact after two sessions we were all rather dead beat.
Jay and Ray were spending the weekend with my parents and they took them back Sunday night. So all in all we had a great weekend.
Iwan
Last Sunday was fun. I went body flying in Hueckenhoven, Germany. It was our birthday present to Ashley. Every year we do something adventurous. Last year we went powerboating this year body flying.
For those of you who don't know what body flying is, here's a short description. There's this huge turbine from an airplane set into the ground blowing a wind of 180 km/h upwards and wearing a special coverall you're flying in this air stream. When you see people doing this, it seems very easy, but let me tell you, it isn't.
Ashley was a natural, she rode the winds like she'd done it all her life. Mark and I were mediocre compared to her, although we were doing fairly well ourselves.
The good thing about this all, is that Olcay could do it as well and she enjoyed her ride on the wind a lot.
Each session lasted for about 5 minutes a person, which seems very short, but believe me, it isn't in fact after two sessions we were all rather dead beat.
Jay and Ray were spending the weekend with my parents and they took them back Sunday night. So all in all we had a great weekend.
Iwan
Monday, July 02, 2007
Movie Review: White Noise 2: The Light
Here's another movie review: White Noise 2: The Light. It's the sequel to White Noise, which I haven't seen but do own on DVD... but after seeing the sequel I'm not really looking forward to the original movie. On the other hand, sequels are typically not as good as the original and since this one is not too bad, I might watch White Noise sometime soon.
So after this philosophical introduction, here's the review: White Noise 2: The Light is a thriller with paranormal aspects. It's by no means a horror and all scary moments in the movie are done by "showing all of a sudden a decaying dead person". Trust me, it's scarier to just all of a sudden scream at the person next to you than watching these scenes.
The story is interesting and the movie starts of with some statistics that are supposedly there to make the story more believable. But in the end it matters if you belief in near-death-experiences or not to make this movie believable.
With the current slant of horrors, psycho thrillers and paranormal thrillers at the movies, there are more alternatives. All in all: Rent the DVD.
Iwan
So after this philosophical introduction, here's the review: White Noise 2: The Light is a thriller with paranormal aspects. It's by no means a horror and all scary moments in the movie are done by "showing all of a sudden a decaying dead person". Trust me, it's scarier to just all of a sudden scream at the person next to you than watching these scenes.
The story is interesting and the movie starts of with some statistics that are supposedly there to make the story more believable. But in the end it matters if you belief in near-death-experiences or not to make this movie believable.
With the current slant of horrors, psycho thrillers and paranormal thrillers at the movies, there are more alternatives. All in all: Rent the DVD.
Iwan
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Movie Review: Bordertown
Two weeks ago I saw the movie 'Bordertown' staring Jennifer Lopez and Antonio Banderas.
The movie is about a journalist (Lopez) who is covering a series of rapes/murders in the Mexican border town Juarez. (Movie Trivia: The dice in Ocean's 13 are produced in Juarez.)
Local news paper publisher Banderas is helping here with the story, which becomes her biggest story ever. Meanwhile J'Lo is also trying to uncover the serial rapist/murderer and starts a romance with one of the local industrialists.
I saw the movie in the sneakpreview, otherwise I would probably never see this movie as it doesn't appeal to me. Not seeing the movie would've been a waste, as this is a nice and interesting story and both main characters are well acted.
This is not a movie for the big screen and I can very well envision you seeing the movie at home on DVD.
Iwan
The movie is about a journalist (Lopez) who is covering a series of rapes/murders in the Mexican border town Juarez. (Movie Trivia: The dice in Ocean's 13 are produced in Juarez.)
Local news paper publisher Banderas is helping here with the story, which becomes her biggest story ever. Meanwhile J'Lo is also trying to uncover the serial rapist/murderer and starts a romance with one of the local industrialists.
I saw the movie in the sneakpreview, otherwise I would probably never see this movie as it doesn't appeal to me. Not seeing the movie would've been a waste, as this is a nice and interesting story and both main characters are well acted.
This is not a movie for the big screen and I can very well envision you seeing the movie at home on DVD.
Iwan
Monday, June 04, 2007
Whatever happened to me... the story with Jay.
Just a couple of days ago I blogged about Ray and what happened the last couple of months in our lives. Today is Jay's turn.
As you might know, Jay turned 2 weeks ago, May 24th to be precise.
In the past couple of months he started talking really well, and you can now pretty well understand what he's saying, even when you hear him talking for the first time. His sentences spawn about 3 to 4 words. He picks up on words really fast as well. I remember from friends that as soon as they said something out loud that wasn't intended for children to hear, they pick it up and start repeating it. Well Jay's no exception. So I'm careful about what I'm saying. And it's not only bad words, but also when you say something about someone, you don't want them to repeat it in front of that someone.
What is quite interesting is that he, out of the blue, said 'Gezondheid' after somebody was sneezing. And he's saying 'Dankjewel' (Thank you) when you give something and apologizes when you're angry with him.
Recently he's really mad about his Lego Duplo train, he got more parts at his birthday, so now he's got one big rail-track in his room, with a police station and zoo. And he loves to play with it. This is when he isn't playing outside. With the excellent month of April weatherwise, he had a great spring '07, playing in our garden and in the street in front of our house all the time. Swings and slides are his favorite on the playground.
Oh, and then there is the big water slide in the swimmingpool we're going every week. When is was like 10 months old or so, we took that slide when he was sleepy and ever since he associated that slide with something awful. So he never wanted to go down that slide again. Somewhere in March he saw kids go up the slide and he wanted to go up as well. Although he didn't want to go down the slide, he still wanted to be at the top. One time he wanted to go down the slide and ever since, he's crazy about it and only wants to go down the slide. The faster the more fun, although I believe last Thursday I overdid it a bit. Nowadays we go swimming with the four of us. Jay's splashes with Olcay when Ray and I are taking a swimming lesson.
Since a few weeks, Jay hates it to be left at daycare, and cries heartbreakingly when you leave him there. Although appearantly after a minute he's okay with it. I've seen the same behavior a couple of times at home as well and I believe it is due to the fact that he is now at an age where he understands the concept of being left alone.
All-in-all, Jay's still the happy little fella that brightens your day big time.
Iwan
As you might know, Jay turned 2 weeks ago, May 24th to be precise.
In the past couple of months he started talking really well, and you can now pretty well understand what he's saying, even when you hear him talking for the first time. His sentences spawn about 3 to 4 words. He picks up on words really fast as well. I remember from friends that as soon as they said something out loud that wasn't intended for children to hear, they pick it up and start repeating it. Well Jay's no exception. So I'm careful about what I'm saying. And it's not only bad words, but also when you say something about someone, you don't want them to repeat it in front of that someone.
What is quite interesting is that he, out of the blue, said 'Gezondheid' after somebody was sneezing. And he's saying 'Dankjewel' (Thank you) when you give something and apologizes when you're angry with him.
Recently he's really mad about his Lego Duplo train, he got more parts at his birthday, so now he's got one big rail-track in his room, with a police station and zoo. And he loves to play with it. This is when he isn't playing outside. With the excellent month of April weatherwise, he had a great spring '07, playing in our garden and in the street in front of our house all the time. Swings and slides are his favorite on the playground.
Oh, and then there is the big water slide in the swimmingpool we're going every week. When is was like 10 months old or so, we took that slide when he was sleepy and ever since he associated that slide with something awful. So he never wanted to go down that slide again. Somewhere in March he saw kids go up the slide and he wanted to go up as well. Although he didn't want to go down the slide, he still wanted to be at the top. One time he wanted to go down the slide and ever since, he's crazy about it and only wants to go down the slide. The faster the more fun, although I believe last Thursday I overdid it a bit. Nowadays we go swimming with the four of us. Jay's splashes with Olcay when Ray and I are taking a swimming lesson.
Since a few weeks, Jay hates it to be left at daycare, and cries heartbreakingly when you leave him there. Although appearantly after a minute he's okay with it. I've seen the same behavior a couple of times at home as well and I believe it is due to the fact that he is now at an age where he understands the concept of being left alone.
All-in-all, Jay's still the happy little fella that brightens your day big time.
Iwan
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Whatever happened to me... the story with Ray.
Hi,
Yes, I know it has been several months since the last time I blogged, and if I am not mistaken at the time I made sort of a promise to blog more frequently. And so far I haven't lived up to that promise. Well, there are good reasons for this.
So what happened since February 26th, the date of the last blog? Quite a bit. I can do this chronologically, but I prefer a more elaborate, chaotic approach.
For one, Ray is growing really fast. He's now around 60 cm tall and weighs 6 kg, which is quite an achievement when you're starting from about 2800 grams and 50 cm. Especially considering he throws up big time. And I mean it in the sense that we change clothes every time we feed him, not his clothes but our clothes. This has to do with reflux, the little valve in between his throat and his stomach is not fully developed. According to the pediatrician this is quite common for babies. Since a while now he's getting some medicine to relief his throat from acid-burn, and some medicine to ease his stomach. That helped.
We also started to wrap him in sheets before taking him to bed. His arms were uncontrollable and he was accidentally hitting himself while he was asleep. It's quite a sight seeing him wrapped in what seems a cocoon. And best of all, he sleeps a lot sounder ever since.
Maybe most importantly to mention about Ray is that his 'bad' kidney is not doing anything at all, so nothing bad either. A little recap on the subject; early March we were supposed to have him examined to find out how much each of his kidneys was still functioning. But the doctors had a little trouble applying the IV. After 6 trials they gave up and we were supposed to come back in a month, so we did. At that time it all worked out nicely at the first go and with the IV they injected some radio active stuff that later showed up on the scanner. Only one kidney showed up, the other, the bad one, didn't show up at all. This is actually a good thing, since a poorly functioning kidney causes high blood pressure and infections. So we're quite happy about this one.
Meanwhile, as I stated earlier in this blog, he's doing great. At 6 weeks old we took him swimming and have the photo's to proof this. Last week I took him for a second time, 8 weeks later, and he enjoyed it a lot.
What is rather interesting is that he's very different from Jay. For one, Ray likes the ease and quiet. He's very sensitive to crowds and noises. But he's also very verbal, makes a lot of baby noises and starts to smile and even laugh when you talk to him. As a matter of fact, when he feels like crying, you can start talking to him and it is very likely he'll be laughing instead. He sleeps more than Jay did at his age. On the other hand, Ray can play all by himself for a far longer time than Jay could.
Something that is really great to see is that Jay accepts Ray completely and it's really heartening to see him explain to Ray what it is all out there in the great wide open. And when Ray cries, and we're not acting upon it, Jay's telling us to go see Ray.
Iwan
PS: Check out Ray's website on http://ray.tripleminds.com I try to keep it as up-to-date as possible.
Yes, I know it has been several months since the last time I blogged, and if I am not mistaken at the time I made sort of a promise to blog more frequently. And so far I haven't lived up to that promise. Well, there are good reasons for this.
So what happened since February 26th, the date of the last blog? Quite a bit. I can do this chronologically, but I prefer a more elaborate, chaotic approach.
For one, Ray is growing really fast. He's now around 60 cm tall and weighs 6 kg, which is quite an achievement when you're starting from about 2800 grams and 50 cm. Especially considering he throws up big time. And I mean it in the sense that we change clothes every time we feed him, not his clothes but our clothes. This has to do with reflux, the little valve in between his throat and his stomach is not fully developed. According to the pediatrician this is quite common for babies. Since a while now he's getting some medicine to relief his throat from acid-burn, and some medicine to ease his stomach. That helped.
We also started to wrap him in sheets before taking him to bed. His arms were uncontrollable and he was accidentally hitting himself while he was asleep. It's quite a sight seeing him wrapped in what seems a cocoon. And best of all, he sleeps a lot sounder ever since.
Maybe most importantly to mention about Ray is that his 'bad' kidney is not doing anything at all, so nothing bad either. A little recap on the subject; early March we were supposed to have him examined to find out how much each of his kidneys was still functioning. But the doctors had a little trouble applying the IV. After 6 trials they gave up and we were supposed to come back in a month, so we did. At that time it all worked out nicely at the first go and with the IV they injected some radio active stuff that later showed up on the scanner. Only one kidney showed up, the other, the bad one, didn't show up at all. This is actually a good thing, since a poorly functioning kidney causes high blood pressure and infections. So we're quite happy about this one.
Meanwhile, as I stated earlier in this blog, he's doing great. At 6 weeks old we took him swimming and have the photo's to proof this. Last week I took him for a second time, 8 weeks later, and he enjoyed it a lot.
What is rather interesting is that he's very different from Jay. For one, Ray likes the ease and quiet. He's very sensitive to crowds and noises. But he's also very verbal, makes a lot of baby noises and starts to smile and even laugh when you talk to him. As a matter of fact, when he feels like crying, you can start talking to him and it is very likely he'll be laughing instead. He sleeps more than Jay did at his age. On the other hand, Ray can play all by himself for a far longer time than Jay could.
Something that is really great to see is that Jay accepts Ray completely and it's really heartening to see him explain to Ray what it is all out there in the great wide open. And when Ray cries, and we're not acting upon it, Jay's telling us to go see Ray.
Iwan
PS: Check out Ray's website on http://ray.tripleminds.com I try to keep it as up-to-date as possible.
Monday, February 26, 2007
So much for an up to date blog on the proceedings at home
So here I am with my good intentions to blog about Jay, Ray and Olcay and my well being in their company on a very regular basis now that Ray is born. But it has been more than 2 weeks since my previous blog. I'll make it an effort to blog more often from now on.
What's been happening lately? Not too much I must say. Let's see, last time I blogged, Olcay and Ray came home and we're one happy family at home again.
Ray is doing fine, although breastfeeding was a bit of a problem, resulting in Ray not getting enough nutrition we moved to the bottle approach and that is going really well. Although he's one little sleepy boy, so typically somewhere halfway the bottle he's vast asleep and we have a hard time waking him up.
Olcay's hernia is retreating, ever since the burden of the big belly (BBB) is gone, she's healing quite fast. That is something to cheer about, so here comes; HURRAY.
Jay is being the big brother all over and he's doing really well. One of the things to keep in mind is that he was already used to not getting all the attention from Olcay because of her illness. So that's not much of a change. And he's accepting me to hold Ray more or less. The fact that Ray is only 3 kg or something like that allows me to practically move around with him in my hands without noticing this. So I can still play with Jay. But it is really comforting to see Jay walking up to Ray giving him a kiss when he's crying.
Bit of a downside is that Ray still doesn't understand that he needs to sleep all night, well one bottle of milk is ok, but after that he's crying... big time. Such a little fellow, such a big mouth. At least it was like that the last two nights, which is killing. But my friend Ravi told me it can be worse. His daughter woke up hungry every 2 hours, Ray at least sticks with 3-4 hours in between bottles.
That's about it. As I've said in the beginning, not much happened the past 2 weeks or so. But from now on I'll try to blog more regularly.
Iwan
What's been happening lately? Not too much I must say. Let's see, last time I blogged, Olcay and Ray came home and we're one happy family at home again.
Ray is doing fine, although breastfeeding was a bit of a problem, resulting in Ray not getting enough nutrition we moved to the bottle approach and that is going really well. Although he's one little sleepy boy, so typically somewhere halfway the bottle he's vast asleep and we have a hard time waking him up.
Olcay's hernia is retreating, ever since the burden of the big belly (BBB) is gone, she's healing quite fast. That is something to cheer about, so here comes; HURRAY.
Jay is being the big brother all over and he's doing really well. One of the things to keep in mind is that he was already used to not getting all the attention from Olcay because of her illness. So that's not much of a change. And he's accepting me to hold Ray more or less. The fact that Ray is only 3 kg or something like that allows me to practically move around with him in my hands without noticing this. So I can still play with Jay. But it is really comforting to see Jay walking up to Ray giving him a kiss when he's crying.
Bit of a downside is that Ray still doesn't understand that he needs to sleep all night, well one bottle of milk is ok, but after that he's crying... big time. Such a little fellow, such a big mouth. At least it was like that the last two nights, which is killing. But my friend Ravi told me it can be worse. His daughter woke up hungry every 2 hours, Ray at least sticks with 3-4 hours in between bottles.
That's about it. As I've said in the beginning, not much happened the past 2 weeks or so. But from now on I'll try to blog more regularly.
Iwan
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Brotherhood of the unexpected
Hi,
Last night was Ray's first night at home, and with that my first night with him. I'd already forgotten that when they wake up it takes roughly an hour before they're fed and put back to sleep... really sleeping. So that was an eye opener. But all-in-all it was an okay night. Jay woke up but after putting him back to bed, that was nothing more than an incident. This morning at 6:30 he came back to us and we took him in bed. After some baby-watching he slept for a while and we woke up around 7:15. Sesamestreet bought us another 30 minutes.
Today we had the nicest and sweetest experience with Jay giving Ray kisses and wanting to help Ray when he was crying, because according to Jay, Ray was in pain. That was really great. So we're happy that he in fact is very big brother like already. One pitfall we don't want to find ourselves in, is expecting Jay to be older than he is. That is hard, because all of a sudden he really is a 'big boy'. But we'll manage.
It's gonna be a week of happy family the next week, so little sleep and loads of diaper cleaning.
Iwan
Last night was Ray's first night at home, and with that my first night with him. I'd already forgotten that when they wake up it takes roughly an hour before they're fed and put back to sleep... really sleeping. So that was an eye opener. But all-in-all it was an okay night. Jay woke up but after putting him back to bed, that was nothing more than an incident. This morning at 6:30 he came back to us and we took him in bed. After some baby-watching he slept for a while and we woke up around 7:15. Sesamestreet bought us another 30 minutes.
Today we had the nicest and sweetest experience with Jay giving Ray kisses and wanting to help Ray when he was crying, because according to Jay, Ray was in pain. That was really great. So we're happy that he in fact is very big brother like already. One pitfall we don't want to find ourselves in, is expecting Jay to be older than he is. That is hard, because all of a sudden he really is a 'big boy'. But we'll manage.
It's gonna be a week of happy family the next week, so little sleep and loads of diaper cleaning.
Iwan
Friday, February 09, 2007
Back home
Hi,
Today Olcay and Ray came home. It was Ray's first trip in a car, and his land speed record to date is 140 km/hr. Not too bad for a 2 day old.
All is fine. Ray's kidney is something we will be checking up on in the next few weeks. We need to keep an I on his peeing practices, and in about 4 weeks he'll be checked in Amsterdam, to see how much his kidney is taking part in the whole process.
Well, Jay is doing great as well, doesn't care too much about Ray at the moment, although he's okay with his brother and gives him kisses. But since Ray is still a bit inanimate, especially in Jay's eyes, there's not much interest in that area.
Iwan
Today Olcay and Ray came home. It was Ray's first trip in a car, and his land speed record to date is 140 km/hr. Not too bad for a 2 day old.
All is fine. Ray's kidney is something we will be checking up on in the next few weeks. We need to keep an I on his peeing practices, and in about 4 weeks he'll be checked in Amsterdam, to see how much his kidney is taking part in the whole process.
Well, Jay is doing great as well, doesn't care too much about Ray at the moment, although he's okay with his brother and gives him kisses. But since Ray is still a bit inanimate, especially in Jay's eyes, there's not much interest in that area.
Iwan
Thursday, February 08, 2007
How once there were 3 and now 4 of us...
Hi,
Let me just put out the word straight out: Ray was born yesterday. Who Ray is? He's our son and his full name is: Raiden Sidar Eising. He was 2915 grams at birth and is doing great.
When you've subscribed to my blog and kept yourself up to date, you know that Olcay was suffering from a hernia and that she was onto morphine for quite a while. Although she's not using it for about 3 weeks now, we are still a bit concerned about Ray's health and the impact of Olcay's medication on it. So they're staying in the hospital until tomorrow afternoon and the pediatrician will do a full check-up on Ray. As of yet, there's nothing to worry about though.
The story is that yesterday around 3 PM Olcay called me in the office to tell me that 'it had started', her water broke (if that is how to put it). But she wasn't in labor yet, contractions what so ever. Because of her hernia this actually might be a sign of a serious regression of it and instant surgery might be imminent. So when I got home, we called the hospital and drove over there. As it turned out, labor had started, and she was supposed to stay in the hospital which was fine with us. At 11 PM she called me that the contractions had started and at 12:30 AM today she called me to get to the hospital. Things were getting serious. I called Desiree and Olaf to come and watch Jay while I was in the hospital and when Desiree arrived I went to Olcay. At 1 AM I got to the hospital and 2:51 Ray was born. It was a smooth easy job, were it not for the fact that Olcay was scared as hell for the pain and the impact of the contractions on her hernia. She focussed more on the pain, than on relief of the contractions. Under normal conditions it would've been a breeze, but it was tough nonetheless.
I came home at 5:15 this morning and at noon I was back with Olcay and Ray. Jay was taken there by Desiree already and for him this is still something hard to grasp. Well what is there to expect from a 19 months old great little fella? He's doing great as is his little baby brother. We're all happy and consider this as an end to a couple of months of misfortune.
Iwan
Let me just put out the word straight out: Ray was born yesterday. Who Ray is? He's our son and his full name is: Raiden Sidar Eising. He was 2915 grams at birth and is doing great.
When you've subscribed to my blog and kept yourself up to date, you know that Olcay was suffering from a hernia and that she was onto morphine for quite a while. Although she's not using it for about 3 weeks now, we are still a bit concerned about Ray's health and the impact of Olcay's medication on it. So they're staying in the hospital until tomorrow afternoon and the pediatrician will do a full check-up on Ray. As of yet, there's nothing to worry about though.
The story is that yesterday around 3 PM Olcay called me in the office to tell me that 'it had started', her water broke (if that is how to put it). But she wasn't in labor yet, contractions what so ever. Because of her hernia this actually might be a sign of a serious regression of it and instant surgery might be imminent. So when I got home, we called the hospital and drove over there. As it turned out, labor had started, and she was supposed to stay in the hospital which was fine with us. At 11 PM she called me that the contractions had started and at 12:30 AM today she called me to get to the hospital. Things were getting serious. I called Desiree and Olaf to come and watch Jay while I was in the hospital and when Desiree arrived I went to Olcay. At 1 AM I got to the hospital and 2:51 Ray was born. It was a smooth easy job, were it not for the fact that Olcay was scared as hell for the pain and the impact of the contractions on her hernia. She focussed more on the pain, than on relief of the contractions. Under normal conditions it would've been a breeze, but it was tough nonetheless.
I came home at 5:15 this morning and at noon I was back with Olcay and Ray. Jay was taken there by Desiree already and for him this is still something hard to grasp. Well what is there to expect from a 19 months old great little fella? He's doing great as is his little baby brother. We're all happy and consider this as an end to a couple of months of misfortune.
Iwan
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Long time no blog
Last time I blogged is already 3 weeks ago, well almost. And in these last couple of weeks, Olcay got rid of the morphine all together and we're on half the dose of Paracetamol. So that's all good news. Although the hernia is still there but the 'pain' is bearable... In the meantime we've seen the gynecologist and the neurologist and both were happy to see that she's walking by herself again. Mind that the time before she was rolled in with a wheelchair and taken to the hospital by ambulance.
Update on the baby; it is doing great. Thursday we're seeing the gynecologist again, that's more regularly now. The baby's kidney is doing relatively well also. One good thing about getting rid of the morphine is of course that the baby doesn't have to go into detox. That's taken care of in the womb, meaning that all related complications during its birth have more or less vanished.
Jay's doing good also. Since a couple of weeks he's sleeping in his new bed and that went great. Lately he comes out of bed himself and sneaks into our bedroom asking for us because he wants to sleep in our bed. That's really a great experience, and typically he sleeps until 730 AM. When he wakes up at night he needs a diaper change and I take him to his own bed again and he falls asleep until 7 AM or so.
He's talking more and more and really tries to find out what his place in the picking order around the house is. Unfortunately for him, he's still at the bottom of the food chain.
I guess that's about it for this time. I'll try to blog more often, blogging should be like eating; Often little bits is better than incidentally a lot.
Iwan
Update on the baby; it is doing great. Thursday we're seeing the gynecologist again, that's more regularly now. The baby's kidney is doing relatively well also. One good thing about getting rid of the morphine is of course that the baby doesn't have to go into detox. That's taken care of in the womb, meaning that all related complications during its birth have more or less vanished.
Jay's doing good also. Since a couple of weeks he's sleeping in his new bed and that went great. Lately he comes out of bed himself and sneaks into our bedroom asking for us because he wants to sleep in our bed. That's really a great experience, and typically he sleeps until 730 AM. When he wakes up at night he needs a diaper change and I take him to his own bed again and he falls asleep until 7 AM or so.
He's talking more and more and really tries to find out what his place in the picking order around the house is. Unfortunately for him, he's still at the bottom of the food chain.
I guess that's about it for this time. I'll try to blog more often, blogging should be like eating; Often little bits is better than incidentally a lot.
Iwan
Today's cookie: Sometimes It Is Important To Notice, Yet Ignoring Is Always An Option
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
2007 starts better than 2006 ended
Hi,
This is my first blog of 2007 and as the title suggests, 2007 has started better than 2006 ended. But to be honest, that wasn't a major achievement.
The reason for this title is that Olcay has stopped the morphine injections since January 1st and she's doing pretty good. There seem to be some withdrawal symptoms surfacing, but compared to the pain a month ago those are nothing. So in other words, she's doing relatively great. Our goal now is to be medication free by the end of the month. So we'll have about a month without painkillers before the baby is born.
So what else? Jay has a new bed and loves it. Best thing of all, he didn't mind sleeping in it and sleeps through the night nicely. Although sometimes he wakes up in the middle of the night but that is because he needs a diaper change.
About the holidays I can say that they went by in a blur. I was too busy emptying the study, moving all stuff to the guest room and painting the study to become the baby room. This time its theme is 'universe' so I painted our solar system on the wall. Sometime at the end of the month the new curtains and carpet will be delivered and then we're all set. Until then, Jay will have two sets of beds and closets in his room.
Btw, yesterday I finished the baby room, although there's still a lot of stuff in it that needs to be taken care of... i.e. thrown away.
The new study is a complete mess. That will take some time and effort, but with the new Ikea closets and drawers it'll look fabulous. Best of all, it'll mean that a lot of the mess currently in the lounge is gone as well.
I think that's about it for what happened over the holidays. Of course we had a great X-Mas, although I was feeling a bit ill that day. Our X-Mas was celebrated on the 23rd with the whole family around. Gifts for everyone, but mainly for the little ones. They where spoiled so badly, Jay didn't know what to play with because there were more gifts to be opened. Since a very long time I did the cooking again it everybody liked it, so that was a success. We had a great time. The 31st my parents were over at our place, and my dad brought some fireworks... which was the first time for Jay to experience. He loved it. Hearing the BANGs all day and seeing the rockets explode all night. He didn't want to go to bed, so we kept him up until 10 in the evening. At that time he was wasted so slept soundly through the main fireworks.
That's really about it.
Iwan
This is my first blog of 2007 and as the title suggests, 2007 has started better than 2006 ended. But to be honest, that wasn't a major achievement.
The reason for this title is that Olcay has stopped the morphine injections since January 1st and she's doing pretty good. There seem to be some withdrawal symptoms surfacing, but compared to the pain a month ago those are nothing. So in other words, she's doing relatively great. Our goal now is to be medication free by the end of the month. So we'll have about a month without painkillers before the baby is born.
So what else? Jay has a new bed and loves it. Best thing of all, he didn't mind sleeping in it and sleeps through the night nicely. Although sometimes he wakes up in the middle of the night but that is because he needs a diaper change.
About the holidays I can say that they went by in a blur. I was too busy emptying the study, moving all stuff to the guest room and painting the study to become the baby room. This time its theme is 'universe' so I painted our solar system on the wall. Sometime at the end of the month the new curtains and carpet will be delivered and then we're all set. Until then, Jay will have two sets of beds and closets in his room.
Btw, yesterday I finished the baby room, although there's still a lot of stuff in it that needs to be taken care of... i.e. thrown away.
The new study is a complete mess. That will take some time and effort, but with the new Ikea closets and drawers it'll look fabulous. Best of all, it'll mean that a lot of the mess currently in the lounge is gone as well.
I think that's about it for what happened over the holidays. Of course we had a great X-Mas, although I was feeling a bit ill that day. Our X-Mas was celebrated on the 23rd with the whole family around. Gifts for everyone, but mainly for the little ones. They where spoiled so badly, Jay didn't know what to play with because there were more gifts to be opened. Since a very long time I did the cooking again it everybody liked it, so that was a success. We had a great time. The 31st my parents were over at our place, and my dad brought some fireworks... which was the first time for Jay to experience. He loved it. Hearing the BANGs all day and seeing the rockets explode all night. He didn't want to go to bed, so we kept him up until 10 in the evening. At that time he was wasted so slept soundly through the main fireworks.
That's really about it.
Iwan
Today's cookie: When The Food Is Good, The Party Is Great.
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