The charro session

Leon dressed in charro outfit, photographed at the De Anda Studios in Mexicali.

Baptism

With pleasure and pride we announce that Leon will be baptised on Sunday November 5th at the Parish Church of the Immaculate Conception in Mexicali (Mexico). If you happen to be around, feel free to drop by at the after party at Claudia's grandmother's place.

Leon home

Last Wednesday, we took Leon home, finally. He had been admitted to hospital for surgery on his talipes (clubfeet) but what was scheduled to take little more than a week, took little less than a month. On the way complications were abound and the whole story got rather complicated, technical and … unpleasant.

The procedure on the talipes (clubfeet) entailed the splitting and lengthening of Leon ’s Achilles tendons and the insertion of a 6 inch (!) pin in his heel. The operation went down smoothly, but complications arose shortly afterwards. To administer Leon ’s coagulant factor (he has severe Haemophilia A) a peripherally inserted central catheter was used, because his veins were too small to access frequently. Unfortunately a nasty streptococcal infection brought about the risk of sepsis and the thing had to be removed promptly. While on antibiotics, Leon ’s immune system started to make antibodies for the ReFacto (Recombinant Factor VIII, a genetically engineered protein that mimics coagulant factor), rendering the treatment useless. To counter this problem he was entered in a immune therapy regime, with triple to quadruple dosages for the next 9 months. With drugs administered every couple of hours, the doctors figured another catheter was needed and he was wheeled back to the OR for surgically implanted Broviac. Without coagulant factor, however, this would have been impossible, which is why the haematologist used the last resort for haemophiliacs: Novoseven, a very rare and forbiddingly expensive coagulant factor (at least 40 times the costs of ReFacto, you’ll never hear me complain about Dutch health insurance costs). It was at that moment that we called in the help of family and friends. Doing the splits between a seriously ill kid in hospital and three teenagers at home was a little bit too much for me. From that moment on we both stayed in the Ronald McDonald guest house and because Leon was recovering rather well, we managed to sneak of the ward with him and get some fresh air. Some two weeks after the first operation on Leon ’s talipes, the enormous pins were extracted (without anaesthetics) and a new cast was added. After that things started to look better by the day until we heard on Monday, that the antibiotics and the Novosecen would be discontinued and we might look forward to an early release on Wednesday.

We are now in training, to learn how to flush and clean the Broviac and to prepare and administer coagulant factor. As we’ve never had the opportunity to explore the other end of the syringe it was something very new to us but after two demonstrations we had our first complete run together today. Next week, we’ll have three more sessions, supervised by the haemophilia nurse, because absolute precision and sterility are required. We already received a huge box with medical supplies from the local pharmacy and next week Friday we’ll be heading home with a duffel bag filled with coagulant factor. It will be the start of a new routine with a most cheerful, ever-smiling and effervescent little boy that hopefully doesn’t realise yet how terrifying the past few weeks have been to his parents.

Claudia & Sicko

Emma

Emma, originally uploaded by [sic].

Emma kan het bijna niet geloven.

Emma is amazed.

mater

Sint Anna -moeder van moeders- heeft geholpen.

Saint Anna -mother of mothers- has smiled down upon us.

extractor

Omdat op het eind de tijd begon te dringen heeft de vroedvrouw de vaccumpomp gebruikt. Ik dacht altijd dat ze er uitzagen als een gootsteenontstopper. Het hoofdje van de kleine man is alweer bijna in vorm.

Near the end, León was running out of time. That is why the midwife used the vacuum extractor. I always thought they looked more like plungers. The little man's head is almost back in shape.

serial grannies

Meervoudig Beppe Martha (rechts) vertelt Abuela Luceida hoe je babysokjes aandoet. Dat gaat hier wat moeilijk want León is geboren met klompvoetjes, die volgens de orthopeed heel goed te verhelpen zijn. Maandag komt hij voor het eerst in het gips.

Multiple Beppe (Frisian for grandmother) Martha show newbie Abuela (Spanish for grandmother) Luceida how to slip babysocks onto a babyfoot. A bit tricky here, because León has two clubfeet, which will be treated by the orthopedist. Monday he will get his first cast.

snip

Eigenlijk zou moeder het moeten doen, want onlangs het meepuffen, aanmoedigen, deppen en masseren heb je er voor je gevoel maar een beetje bij gestaan, maar goed. Wel een prachtig moment.

Actually, the newborn mother should do this herself. I spite of puffing, encouraging, dabbing and massaging you kep the feeling that you were just one of the bystanderd. Nevertheless, a magnificent moment.

yoga

Claudia was enorm geconcentreerd, ze kwam door alle dalen en beklom alle pieken. " Alles is ademhaling" had de yoga juf nog gezegd.

Claudia was perfectly concentrated, rode peaks and traversed dips. "Everything is in the breathing" is what her yoga teacher had said.

mothers 4 mothers

Moeder Luceida wilde erg graag bij de bevalling zijn. Daarvoor was ze tenslotte uit Mexico overgekomen. Omdat ze zich toch wat onzeker voelde hebben we toen Moeder Martha gevraagd om er ook bij te zijn. Met zijn drieën hebben we Claudia met al onze ervaring bij gestaan.

Mother Luceida really wanted to be at the delivery. She had travelled from Mexico to support her daughter. Because she felt a bit nervous, we asked Mother Martha to join us. We bundled the experience of three to support Claudia.

spikes

Na verloop van tijd kwam de bevalling echt op gang. Het is dan echt handig om te kunnen zien waar je partner zit in de wee, wanneer je kunt ondersteunen bij de volgende en wanneer je kunt helpen met uitpuffen. Ook de kleine man slaat zich er dapper dooorheen. Boven zie je de hartslag vd baby, beneden de spierspanning van de baarmoeder.

Gradually the delivery really started. It is good to know where your partner is in her contractions, when you can support with the next one and when it is time to rest. The little man is doing his part too. The upper graph shows his heartbeat, the lower show the uterine muscle tone.

oxytocin

De draagtijd was voorbij, maar de bevalling kwam maar niet op gang. Omdat het vruchtwater begon op te raken werd de bevalling op gang gebracht. Claudia staat hier de eerste weeën op te vangen en is helemaal geconcentreerd. Nu wil ze even alleen zijn.

The due date passed without the delivery having started. Because the amniotic fluid was running low, the partum was initiated. Here you can see Claudia, fully concentrated, riding the first waves of contractions. At the moment she wants to be alone.

Claudia & Sicko | knock-klop

Traditionally, a fifth wedding anniversary requires a gift made from wood. As far as we are concerned, any wood would do today. For knocking purposes that is. D (for delivery) -day is coming quite near. We even have the bag ready, the midwife advised us to prepare for an unexpected onset of labor. Come to think of it, a most fitting anniversary gift it is, this bag!

Traditioneel hoort bij de vijfde “trouwjaardag“ een cadeautje dat met hout te maken heeft. Voor ons maakt de soort nu even niet uit, zolang het hout maar ongelakt is. Dat klopt beter af, want de Grote Dag komt snel dichterbij. We hebben zelfs al een tas klaar staan, precies volgens het briefje van de vroedvrouw, om overal op voorbereid te zijn. Eigenlijk ook een mooi trouwdagcadeau, zo’n tas, toch?

Sicko | Sytze Atahualpa

“Je gaat hem toch niet echt Sytze Atahualpa noemen?” vroeg Robin me vanavond, voordat ze naar bed ging. Net zoals veel aanstaande ouders zitten we te puzzelen op een passende naam. En daar komt aardig wat bij kijken. Ten eerste moet hij makkelijk uit te spreken zijn, in Nederlands, Engels en Spaans.

En liever ook geen rare bijbetekenissen. Hoewel het in de 60er jaren gewoonte was om kinderen te vernoemen naar grootouders had mijn Pake Sipke mijn ouders gevraagd om me toch vooral zijn naam te besparen. Als kind van een gastarbeider werd hij in Duitsland geplaagd omdat zijn naam veel leek op Seppel of Seppelchen, de wat slome maat van Kasper (de Duitse Jan Klaassen). Het werd dus Sicko. Dat dat nu weer de meest populaire condoom in Mexico is en Amerikaans Bargoens voor “zieke, geperverteerde geest” konden mijn ouders toen niet weten. Enfin, het is minder erg dan andere prachtige Friese namen als Wierd (klinkt als “een beetje vreemd”), Baard (klinkt als “verveeld”) en Fokke (klinkt als …).

Wat blijft is de uitdaging om in de beide namen iets eigens uit te drukken van de afkomst van de kleine man, dus waarschijnlijk wordt het iets Mexicaans of Spaans en iets Fries. Maar het moet wel bij elkaar passen. Robin kan gerust zijn, het wordt geen Sytze Atahualpa, wat we ooit voor de grap hebben geroepen. Maar het moet wel iets eigens zijn, iets bijzonders. En dan maar hopen dat het ook door de kleine gewaardeerd wordt.

Mijn neef Arwin en ik hebben als kleine jongens veel samen gespeeld. Hele avonturen hebben we samen beleefd in een fantastische interplanetaire onderwater fantasiewereld. Voordat we onderdoken in dit parallelle universum transformeerden we in onze alter ego’s. En die heetten niet Sicko en Arwin, want dat waren zulke saaie namen. Nee, onze heldennamen waren: Jan en Piet.

Sicko


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“You are seriously not going to name the baby Sytze Atahualpa, are you?” Robin asked me the other night before turning in. Like many parents to be, we are puzzled by the array of names to choose from for the baby. For starters, it has to be easily pronounceable, in Dutch, English and Spanish.

And no strange connotations please. Although in the mid sixties, Dutch kids were commonly named after their grandparents, my grandfather (pake) Sipke explicitly pleaded to my parents to spare me his name. As a foreign labourer’s child in Germany, his name had been the reason for pun because it was so similar to Seppel or Seppelchen, the mentally challenged sidekick of Kasper (the German Punch, you know, the one who is married to Judy). And that is why I got the name Sicko. That my name is also the most popular brand of contraceptives in Mexico and American slang for “deeply disturbed and perverted person” is something my parents could not have known, then. I am glad, though that my parents spared me otherwise true Frisian names such as Weird (’wird), Baard (’bOrt) and Fokke (’f&-k&).

Nevertheless, it would be nice to express something of the Little Man’s roots in his names, so it is probably going to be a combination of something Mexican or Spanish and Frisian. And it should be a logical, natural combination. To put Robin’s fears to rest: it is not going to be Sytze Atahualpa, as mentioned once, in jest. We are trying to find a characteristic and individual name, though. And pray that the receiver may appreciate our gift.

My cousin Arwin and I have shared the most magical part of our childhood. We lived out our own adventure stories in a fantastic underwater fantasy world. Before transforming into interplanetary heroes of our very own parallel universe we would assume an alter ego more fitted for the world of the dangerous and the bizarre. Our avatars were not named Sicko and Arwin (such boring names) but instead: Jan and Piet.

Sicko