Der zweiter Tag (The second day)

We’ve had a tiring few days, as Owen hasn’t been feeding so well. As a result (or is it the cause?), he has some Jaundice, and the doctors and nurses have been a little concerned. Apparently this is reasonably common, however it was all a bit stressful because the language barrier made it difficult to know what they wanted us to do. To add to the difficulties, the nurses are quite disorganized, and whenever there is a change of shift, they don’t seem to tell each other which instructions we have been given. As a result, we get told to do a different thing every 8 hours! The Jaundice means that he likes to sleep a lot, which means he’s been very peaceful.

Most of the instructions (eg feed every 2.5 hours) have been quite demanding, especially on Jo. As a result, she is particularly tired. The nights are the worst, because Nathan isn’t around to help out. Jo’s looking forward to going home so we can share the load more easily.

Fortunately, we have our English speaking midwife, the one who was at the birth. She knows the German system of doing things, and has been able to help us understand what we are being asked to do. She has also been able to act as an advocate for us in ensuring we can take actions consistent with how we want to do things and in a way that is manageable.

Owen is getting better, and we hope to go home tomorrow. He’s filling out a bit, though his fingers are still a little wrinkled. We’ve noticed that he likes to sleep like Nathan –with his hands above his head. Here’s a photo.

We’ve also had a visit from Fu and Bood at the end of their European holiday. Here’s a picture of them holding the baby – they are quite privileged – the first Australian friends to see Owen in person!

Food – Jo has rejoiced in being finally able to eat some of the forbidden foods. Today she had some Sushi. She said that it’s been so long since she’s eaten it - even if it was terrible sushi, she wouldn’t have been able to tell. She’s also eaten some camembert, black forest schinken (cured ham) and salami. Once she gets home, she’ll be having some Bratwurst, and a celebratory champagne.