JULIE•PERRAULT

Fifteen Minutes of Infamy

In Blogging, Family, Parenting, Twins on October 24, 2011 at 2:14 PM

CNN.com Thursday, October 20, 2011

What started out as a crazy week, just got a little crazier. In addition to taking in a feral dog and seven puppies (story here), on Wednesday I get a call from a CNN Reporter who is writing a story on mistakes parents make.

Her story was about how, as parents, we can do things for our children that we later realize were mistakes. She asked me about mistakes I made. I told her how I used to microwave Claire’s plastic bottles and how I used to feed the twins in Bumbo Chairs on top of the table. We talked for 15 minutes about my mistakes and others she had interviewed. She then asked if I could send a photo for the article.

That night, I briefly mention it to Unnamed Husband not knowing when it would post to their website. Amidst the chaos of four kids, eight dogs  and one MacBook Pro with a cracked screen (thanks to David smashing my i-phone into it), I put CNN.com, the phone call and my parental misgivings out of mind.

The destruction of twins never ends.

We awake on Thursday to Cate throwing up from the stomach bug. The only redeeming factor was that I no longer had to go on a field trip with ten 3-year-olds. Mid morning, I put a movie on for  Cate and David and finally make a cup coffee and sit down at my (cracked) laptop. I check my email and notice several comments on my blog. Hmmm. I go to my blog and see the referring link from CNN.com. I click the link:

Stupid things parents do that put their kids at risk

and a giant picture of me! I laugh so loud that the twins come in dragging blankets wanting to know what’s so funny. I show them the (broken) screen with me on CNN.com, thankful they can’t read. Unimpressed, they go back to the Doodlebops.

I email the link to Unnamed Husband who calls immediately. Laughing together, we both post it to our Facebook pages. Within 30 minutes of the article posting on CNN, I had more hits than I ever had in a day on my blog. I spend the next couple of hours, cleaning up vomit and checking comments made on the article.

By mid afternoon, I had thousands of hits to my blog and had even made a few enemies.

I agree, I sound a bit like an idiot but I still revel in my fame.

Who are these people??? They read parenting articles and yet they want to spay the parents. Clearly they are not parents as they have way too much time on their hands.  Too bad they weren’t around to spay Momma Dog.

The stray dog who delivered puppies under our house - anyone know what kind of dog she is?

Haters will hate but that will not deter my excitement of having my fifteen minutes of infamy.

Pupdate: Here’s a photo of our pups at almost two weeks old. Five more are still available. Call to reserve yours today! Hopefully my new found fame will find these guys a home.

And Then There Were Two

In Family, Parenting, Twins on October 15, 2011 at 10:50 AM

Ultrasound - 8 weeks 4 days

October 11, 2007 — a date as memorable as my wedding or the births of each of our children.  At eight weeks pregnant, it was my first visit with my doctor for this baby. Based on my other pregnancies for my other two children, Unnamed Husband and I assumed that it would be an uneventful appointment.

After the routine blood work, we head to the exam room to see Dr. P who asks the usual questions: How are you feeling? Any nausea? Any spotting?…

I begin complaining that I had never felt this bad or been so tired. “Being pregnant with a 3-year old and a 1-year old will do that to you,” he says.

He tells us that it is probably too early to hear the heartbeat with the Doppler but he tries anyway. After a few unsuccessful attempts, he send us downstairs for an ultrasound.

We wait for about 15 minutes and gradually panic sets in. The only other time I had been sent for an ultrasound this early was when I miscarried. Does he think something is wrong?

I replay the appointment in my head trying to decipher what could have indicated that something is amiss. I look over at Unnamed Husband to see if he seems concerned. He’s engrossed in the newspaper and I can barely see the top of his head over the sports section. He licks his finger to turn the page and smiles at me. Not an ounce of concern. How can he be so calm? One thing I love about him is that he always thinks everything is going to work out but at this moment, his positivity is positively annoying.

We are called back for the ultrasound and my heart is virtually beating through my chest as we walk to the back. As we wait for the tech to come in, I share my concern with Unnamed Husband who quickly blows me off.

“Everything’s fine,” Mr. Happy says as he buries his nose in the paper again. With every page he turns, my annoyance grows.

Finally the tech begins the routine process,  ”There’s your ovary…, ” she says,

I glance over at Unnamed Husband still reading the newspaper. I scowl at him but he doesn’t look up. I can literally feel my blood pressure rising in anticipation of the awful news.

“There’s your two sacs….,” the tech says.

“What?!? Why would I have two sacs?” Thoughts of a molar pregnancy fill my head.

“Because you have two babies.”

Stunned, I look over at Unnamed Husband who finally folds the paper and puts it away.  We are in total awe staring at the two black circles on the screen and what looks to be Teddy Grahams inside them.

“Well do you see two heartbeats?,” I scream overwhelmed with worry for a second baby that only moments ago did not exist to me.

“There are two heartbeats.” she confirms.

The next few minutes were filled with questions and emotions that my memory can only recall as the muffled speech of Charlie Brown’s teacher. “Wah, Wa wan wah wahnn wa.”

Elated, we stumble back to Dr. P’s office who smiles widely when he realizes that his suspicion was confirmed.

It takes weeks for the news to sink in that we are having twins.

And then there were four.

Toothless Wonder

In Family, Kids, Parenting on September 20, 2011 at 8:41 PM

The toothless wonder and his x-ray

It seems like every family has its signature injury. Some families always need stitches, others always need casts. We, on the other hand, need dentists.

It started when Claire was about 18 months and I was dressing her in her pajamas. She fell forward straight on her mouth and chipped her baby tooth. I was amazed that she would fall straight on her mouth and never brace herself with her hand. I thought it was instinctual to brace for a fall — apparently not.  Since then we have rushed her to the dentist several times.

The most recent was last year when she was six and ran into a metal rack in the paint store with her mouth wide open. Her two front teeth had been in her mouth less than a month and they were already under attack. Luckily, the bloody mouth was the worst of it and there was no permanent damage.

David and Cate both have several baby teeth that are chipped too. And now, there’s Edwin who could fit a faucet through the gaping hole in his mouth.

He lost his first two teeth this summer and his permanent teeth are just barely erupting through the bottom of his gums. Just this week, he told me that one of his top front teeth was loose. Although I could barely feel it budge, I gasped with excitement and said, “Just a few more months and you’ll be singing, ‘All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth…”

Little did I know that two days later he would knock them out.

With one ill-fated leap onto the sofa, his chompers met David’s forehead and the rest is bloody history. An immediate but brief silence was followed by intense wailing. Unnamed husband leapt into action as I was paralyzed with my hand over my mouth, my own teeth reverberating because I knew what had just happened.

I finally gather myself and comfort Edwin while Unnamed Husband calls our dentist friend. I assess the damage and see the teeth still attached to his gums but dangling like a couple of hanging chads.

Our friend agrees to see Edwin on a Sunday – did I mention that everyone needs to be friends with a dentist?

Pre-pull photo from Unnamed Husband's antiquated cell phone

After a quick assessment, Unnamed Husband and our dentist friend decide that Edwin’s two front teeth should be removed. A little topical anesthetic and a lot of fussing and the teeth came right out.

Post-pull photo. My apologies for terrible photo.

As you can see from Unnamed Husband’s photos, Edwin was not a happy camper. He came back to life later after realizing that he would get a doubly profitable visit from the tooth fairy.

A tiny message from the Tooth Fairy

The tooth fairy visited us that night and left Edwin a tiny note telling him to take care of his new teeth. She found the idea on Pinterest — her latest time-sucking obsession!

Hopefully he’ll heed her advice and this will be the end of our dental anguish.

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