It’s a contradiction in terms, I know, but I am impressed with Dutch birth bureaucracy. I registered Lucas’s birth only yesterday, but already the bureaucratic machine has swung into motion.
The doorbell rang this afternoon. It was the GGD, coming to do Lucas’s neo-natal hearing test and heel prick. We had no idea they would come so quickly, or without first calling.
Luckily, Lucas was asleep, so he made no sound while his hearing was being tested. We’re pleased to report that both of his ears passed the test without issue.
Eloïse never had the hearing test, because she was born in the US, where the test isn’t performed (unless the child is born in hospital). Indeed, the way she ignores our instructions sometimes, we do wonder whether she’s deaf, but it’s just healthy infantile contempt for our parental authority, of course.
Afterwards, it was the turn of Lucas’s foot for the heel prick. He didn’t even wince as his foot was pricked and a few drops of blood were drawn. If we haven’t heard anything after three weeks, it means that all tests were negative (which in this case is positive, if you see what I mean).
I registered Lucas with the doctor this morning and arranged for the birth bed-pan to be picked up tomorrow. It wasn’t actually used during the birth.
We’re pretty much on top of things here, not in the last place thanks to Cora, who continues to endear herself to us. Expect to find us suffering withdrawal symptoms after next Monday.
Sounds like you guys are over the hump. Is Lucas is much quieter than Eloise was?
Eloïse was a piece of cake for the first couple of weeks; maybe longer. It was only when she started to stay awake for more than a few minutes a day that she became anything less than perfectly easy to deal with.
Lucas is the same. He sleeps almost the entire day. There’s nothing to do but give him the boob and change his nappy. The trick is juggling him with Eloïse, who is much more demanding.