Es gibt kein schlechtes Wetter, nur die falsche Kleidung (There's no such thing as terrible weather - only the wrong clothing)

This is a German saying that Nathan thinks is quite cute. It's true, though, that good clothes make a huge difference to your experience of the German winter.

Actually, it's not officially winter yet, even though we've had our first snow. It came one morning while Jo and Owen were still at the hospital, though not enough to whiten the road. Since then we've had much more, and boy is it cold! Here are a couple of photos from just outside our apartment. The snow hasn't persisted, and right now it's melted away, though we have been getting a little bit more every few days.

For those who already live in these chilly northern hemisphere climates, yeah we know...we have been told that we haven't experienced "winter" yet. For those Aussies reading this, it IS cold! We've shown you some photos of Owen's Kinderwagen from the outside, now look what's inside! No wonder you can't see him under the thick outer capsule, sheepskin lining, blankets and warm clothes!

Finally, a photo of Owen in Johanna Park after his first visit to Church. Note the warm clothing of Nathan and Jo - thick heavy overcoats, scarf, beanie and gloves. Nathan recently bought some Winterschuhe (winter shoes), which are doing a good job on his feet, but his super duper Kathmandu windproof gloves don't stop his fingers from feeling like they're going to fall off!

Endlich nach Hause (Finally home)

Owen was disappointed that he had to stay in the hospital for one more day. He made up for it, however, when we came home on Monday at around lunch time. Here are some of the highlights of the past two days, with many firsts!

His first German clothing. The weather is quite cold now, as evidenced by snow, hail and frost on the car windows. Today (Tuesday) it was 0.5C in the morning. All the Australian clothes Owen had recieved as presents wouldn't cut it "on the outside", so to ensure Owen had a pleasant trip home, we bought some local warm clothes. Here's a photo of Owen dressed as a local. It's a little big for him, but it does the job. It's true that in the hospital he was wearing german clothes, but these were the standard hospital clothes, and not his own. This explains his strange fashion sense to those who commented on such things.



First time in an Autositz. The car trip home was uneventful. Owen was peaceful, since we fed him just before leaving, and didn't seem to mind the cold or the moving car. Here you can see him comfortably wrapped up and ready to go.

First time in own kinderbett. Owen has now tried out his kinderbett, several times in fact. He doesn't look happy here, but it's now one of his favourite places (when he's not feeding, of course!).

First ride in his kinderwagen. We visited the doctor and had to take a tram through the cold weather. You'll be pleased to know that the doctor was very pleased with Owen's progress, and didn't even bother to do a blood test for the jaundice since it had so obviously stabilised. Sorry you can't see Owen - he's hiding from the cold and wouldn't come out. Not too surprising - we would have stayed indoors ourselves if we could! The kinderwagen has a very bumpy ride over the cobblestones, despite the suspension, but Owen didn't seem to mind it at all.

First bath - that look is a look of surprise and wonder, as he experiences the strange sensation of floating in warm water - a little like back in the womb, perhaps? He really enjoyed his bath, though it was pretty cold when he came out!

First night at home - Finally, the expanded family is together at home. Jo and Owen have now introduced Nathan to the night time feeds, and the disruption to sleep it causes. It's bed time for the whole family if we are going to get through another one intact!

Zurück mit Mama (Back with mummy)

I’ve been having photo therapy in the "Kinder intensiv station" (children’s intensive care ward) for the last 2 days and nights. They had to go and get Mummy every time I was hungry and even had to wake her up in the night. It’s pretty exhausting sleeping under the lights, and I get dehydrated a fair bit. Fortunately the jaundice is going away, and I’m getting a lot more energy to drink mummy’s milk. Dad says that I’m sucking like a champion! Mum says "ouch!". My current problem is that I am so hungry that I gulp too quickly, and I get uncomfortable until I can burp. You saw a photo of me yesterday, here's another one with my daddy. You see all the wires coming out from me? They're to monitor my heart rate, oxygen levels and temperature. My dad is an engineer, and he really liked all the gadgets. There were machines all around me, and they kept going "ping"! Do you like my cute hat? It's a bit big for me, and it covers my eyes. Not very practical if you ask me.

This morning I got to move back to Mummy’s room so we can room in together. They brought in a special bed just for me that is different from the one I had before. This bed looks like an aquarium for babies where there are porthole windows that Mummy and Daddy can touch me through. It also has a special heater to keep me warm because I have to "fake sun bake" in the nuddy. Here’s a photo of me in my aquarium bed next to mummy. See the fake sun over my head? I've only ever seen it off - as my silly hat is covering my eyes. If you look really closely, you can see that I'm on my tummy. They said I need an all-round tan.

After a day of baking in mummy’s room, my blood test results were good, and tonight I’m allowed to stay in my normal bed. I’m so excited that I will be able to call my mum at any hour of the night, and she will be there within a few seconds! Tomorrow morning I’ve got to have another blood test (my poor feet have pin pricks all over them now!), and if that looks OK, then I’ll be allowed to go home and see my very own room.

Mummy and Daddy think I sleep the way they do. Here’s a photo of me and my dad sleeping on our backs. Can you tell who is who? Yes, I know, it's a dead giveaway. Daddy has slightly greener eyes.

Here’s a photo of me sleeping on my side. That's mum holding me, but she says she sleeps like that too!

BTW, this is my first post on this blog site. I’d like to thank my editors for fixing up my mistakes. I have been hearing a lot of German because all the nurses talk to me in German and so "Mein Englisch ist nicht so gut". That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Actually, I'm quite impressed with how well mummy and daddy can interperet my speech. They know my hungry cry, my need a change cry, my burp me cry and my tired cry. Well, I think they understand. Usually they do what I want, though sometimes they get the order wrong. I’d also like to thank my mom and dad - they really love me heaps, and without them I wouldn’t be the baby I am today. Thanks also to everyone who gave me a present. So far I have only tried on my little white beanie hat with a yellow duck on it. Was that from you Aunty Caro? It is sooo much better than the hospital bonnet with strings. That thing didn’t stay on right and kept twisting around. I was afraid I might strangle myself. Here’s a photo of me wearing my nice hat. You can see the other one in some of the previous posts. I'm not crying because I don't like the hat - I just need to burp. No mummy, that's not right! I said I'm hungry! Remember the signs? When my lips are vibrating and my tongue sticks out and my cry pierces the night.

Signed: Owen Matthias

Gelbe Haut (Yellow skin)

The last few days have been unexpectedly different. The Jaundice had persisted and gotten worse, so they decided he needed photo therapy (fake sun). We've been offered one explanation that people with darker skin tend to get jaundice more often in the colder climates because the sun levels are so much lower than the norm where our forefathers came from. The phototherapy helps break down the chemical causing the yellow skin so it can be removed from the body. It is certainly the case here that there is not much sun! Sunrise is at 7:30 and sunset at 4:30, and the sun is very low in the sky! Add to that that the weather has been dreadful (cold and raining), it must have contributed to making the situation worse than if we were in sunny Sydney!

The phototherapy is almost continuous, only stopping to feed him every few hours. It also takes a few days to stabilise the jaundice at acceptable levels. As a result, we have been very disappointed to have to stay at the hospital for at least 4 days longer AND we hardly get to hold and play with Owen. During the therapy he mostly just lies there sleeping. When he's feeding, it's not the same either, as he has various sensors and a drip attached and we have to be careful not to pull anything out. We've found a cultural annoyance during all of this - the German doctors don't actually tell you what is happening unless you ask them. We've often had blood tests, and waited forever for the results and explanations of what is happening. It's only several hours later when we've fretted away and hunt down the doctor and ask them that they tell us what they are doing. Now that we know how it works, it's alot better. We chase the doctor when we know the results are ready and get updates straight away.

We are thankful, however, that this is a short term treatable condition with no long term consequences (for the medicos out there, there are no blood incompatibilities, etc). We'll just have to put up with the inconvenience for a few days longer. One benefit has been that it is easier for Jo to get sleep, so she's been trying to store up some for the coming weeks.

Here is a photo of Owen sunbaking. Notice that they have opened his nappy to give him a VERY even tan.

The lastest good news is that he has been feeding really well now, and the jaundice is (slowly) going away. We are hoping to come home on Sunday.

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.

Der erste Tag (The first day)

One day has now gone past. So far Owen has mostly slept. He woke up two times during the night, and had a few nappy changes. Nathan is proud to have successfully changed his first nappy but wasn’t able to catch the pee that projectiled towards him while he was reaching for the nappy wipes (recorded on video).

We’ve both enjoyed just holding Owen, though he is REALLY heavy. He must have spent the extra week inside packing on the pounds. He hasn’t cried that much, except when Nathan was trying to change his nappy. Here is a photo of him crying.

The nurses are obsessed with keeping the babies warm. The first night, the kept telling us off because "seine Nase ist kalt" (his nose is cold). He was wearing the standard hospital issue clothing and blanket, but they wanted us to hold him to our chest and wrap him in a big pillow as well. When he’s put to sleep, the big pillow is like a little doona. Here are a couple of photos demonstrating the methods.

It probably makes sense to take these precautions in a country with such cold winters. When a German asks "how cold does it get in Australia?", and we answer "maybe 10 degrees", they then ask "plus or minus 10?" The fact that they know Australia is a warm place, and they still need to ask that question gives you an idea of how cold it could get over here. The night before the birth, it was +3 degrees outside... and it's only November!

Useful German vocabulary for looking after a baby:

Stillen (Breast feed)
Saugen (Sucking)
Warum weinst du? (Why are you crying?)
Hugrig (hungry)
Müde (Tired)
Windel (Nappy)
Wickeln (change a nappy)
Wer ist der nette kleine Junge? (Who’s a cute little boy, then?)
Stuhl (Poo... or Chair!!)
Urin (Wee)
Spucken (vomit)
O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum, Wie treu sind deine Blätter (German kids song)

Mehr über die Geburt (More about the birth)

First another two photos. One of Father and Son (just after birth), one of Mother and Son (1 day old).

Some of you have been asking for some details of the birth. It’s full of Schmerzen (pain), Blut (Blood) and Schreie (Screams). If you want to know more, you’ll have to ask Jo directly.

Nathan was able to cut the cord. Apart from that and giving Jo the occasional massage, and holding her hand, he mostly just stood around trying not to get in anyone’s way.

We found it a bit difficult that the midwives didn’t speak much English. Fortunately we had our own English speaking midwife with us, who had given us ante-natal classes. She was officially there as our translator, and was not allowed to be a midwife as such, but she helped Jo heaps by talking through what was happening and how to deal with the pain. Everything happened exactly how she had previously explained, which made the whole process a lot more manageable.

So now that Jo has joined the club of women who have given birth naturally, does she still want another one, and would she change anything next time? Yes and maybe. Jo isn’t sure if she could go through it again without any pain relief, although they say the first one is usually the hardest.

Useful German vocabulary when giving birth:
Schmerzen (Pain)
Wehe (Contraction/labour pain)
Tut Weh (hurts)
wenden Sie an die andere Seite (Turn onto the other side)
Schmerzen
drücken Sie mit ganzer Kraft (Push with all your might!)
Tut Weh
Noch einmal. Fast Da. (one more time, it’s almost there). They said this so many times that we didn't believe them any more.
Schmerzen.
Muttermund (cervix. Literally mother mouth)
Tut Weh
Wenn das Baby kommt, klingeln Sie hier (If the baby comes, ring the buzzer).
Schmerzen
Er ist ein Junge (It's a boy!)
Tut Weh

Wilkommen zur Welt (Welcome to the world )

It's the news we've all been waiting for. Much later than we expected, and trying our patience, our child was born at 14:09 on 14th November, 3.22kg and 48 cm. As you can tell from the first photo... it's a boy!

Owen Matthias is his name. Owen means "Well born", and indeed he was. A relatively short labour of 5 hours, without the need of any serious pain relief. Jo was given a drip with something mild in it, but she says it didn't do anything at all! Matthias is a German name (we wanted to give him one, since he is born in Germany). It's a German form of Matthew, and is pronounced Mat-TEE-yes.

Here's a photo of a very proud mum and dad. Mum is doing fine - a little sore, but up and about. Dad is not traumatised from witnessing his wife in pain. All are tired and looking forward to some rest.


Also, a photo of a new Grandma. She was waiting anxiously at home during labour, and joined us in the evening.

And finally a more modest photo of Owen.

PS More photos planned for future posts.