Switched

I read with interest an article published in the Today newspaper today about how a pair of girls were switched at birth in the hospital and had led their separate and happy lives for 56 years. They have only just discovered the truth.

This is nothing new of course as I have read a couple of such stories before but it always brings to my mind a burning question. What if Isaac was switched at birth too?

Note: The following is only a hypothetical question that I played around in my mind. There is no evidence to suggest that I should be concerned or should think otherwise. I am only using Isaac as an example and this is just something that I am curious to know how will parents react in general.

I had wanted to do a post on this topic but never quite gotten down to doing it so today's article is a timely reminder especially when I am running out of things to post about.

I remembered asking the Mrs when Isaac was only a few months old what will she do if the hospital rang one day to inform us of their mistake. What if Isaac actually belongs to someone else and our baby had been raised by another couple for the past few months?

The Mrs brushed my question aside can called me ‘Seow’ (mad in hokkien) for bringing up this ridiculous question. I suspect deep down she did not know what her own answer might be hence the easiest thing to do is to brush me and my nonsense aside.

Honestly till today I am still pondering and trying to find my own answer. What do I do? Do I return Isaac and welcome my own boy with open arms? Do I tell the other couple that let’s just continue raising each other’s boy and continue to keep in touch to witness the growth and progress of our own boys? Will the other party even contemplate such a bizarre request?

I hope you realize that as the days go by the answer to my lingering question is harder to answer. As we spend more time with Isaac it will be harder to let him return to his rightful parents for sure. Looking at the flip side does this also mean that the decision should be easier? Since it is so hard to say goodbye then surely it will be easier to just continue with this mistake right?

This would be the case if we take our own child out of the equation. We are only looking at it from keeping Isaac point of view. Surely this will not be so easy if you know that your own flesh and blood is still out there raise by another couple. It will most probably be made worse if you get to see your actual child. Will you then be able to tell yourself to continue with this mistake and prey and hope that the other party continues to take excellent care of your child?

Honestly as of today I am still at a lost as to what will I do so I am curious to know how will you, fellow parents react. What will you do? Do you know of something similar happening to people around you? It certainly is an interesting topic to think about isn’t it? But please do not spend too much time dwelling on it and definitely do not scare your spouse into thinking you know something that they don’t and as a result causing a family panic.

The only thing I know for sure is I will sue the hospital till the cow comes home!!

Let’s just treat this as something that we toy around and scare ourselves with for surely this cannot happen right?

Then again try telling the 56 year old ladies that……..

Progress

As much as I like to keep you all posted on the progress of the twins and Isaac I have been rather tied up with work plus life is getting a little mundane hence nothing interesting to write about.

The most exciting thing is Isaac finally walking. This happened about one and a half weeks ago. All along he was showing signs that he will be walking soon but he just did not take that 1st step. He always chose to go back down on his fours and crawl. One Tuesday after work when we got to my parents' place we saw him standing and walking rather unsteadily. Since then he has been walking around non stop and he has improved a lot within a week and he is walking pretty fast now. Most will comment that he is a little slow since he was about 16 months old when he walked but we're not concerned.

Another very good development is that the twins are finally joining the STC. For the past few nights both of them have been absolute angels. Having their last feed at about 9pm and going off to sleep usually between 10 and 11 plus. They will normally wake up at about 6 plus for their breakfast. Last night was amazing. Luke had his feed at 8 plus slept at 9 plus and did not wake up till we had to send him to his grandpa's at about 8am. It sure looks like they are very much like Isaac in this sense. The downside of course is they are not drinking as much milk as they should be but according to the PD so long as they are still gaining the right amount of weight then it is fine.

Speaking of weight gain, the twins seemed to be doing better than expected especially for Luke as you can tell from the picture below. The rule of the thumb is twice the birth weight by 6 months and about three times by the time they turn 12 months. As of now Luke is already about 5.8kg and Hayley at about 5kg with their birth weight at 2.4kg and 1.9kg respectively. It sure looks like the twins have caught up quite a bit.

Luke being the stronger one is able to flip himself now. In fact he fell off his mattress 2 nights ago. Luckily their bed is only a thick mattress on the floor so no damage was done. Looking back now it is a little funny because when we heard him cry the Mrs walked to the mattress but could not see him on it. She was shocked and asked where he was. Before I could switch on the lights the Mrs found him lying on the floor. Luckily she did not step on him.

As I had mentioned in my last post Luke likes to sleep on his tummy and because of this he has developed the strength to lift his head and hold it for a few seconds. These days his legs and body are also stronger he is able to push with his leg and twist his body and as a result he will be lying face up. Between the two of them Luke is the one that covers most of the bed when he sleeps. He will actually crawl and rotate as he sleeps so we will always find him in a different position and facing each morning. Sometimes at night Hayley will complain when Luke invade her territory with one of his limb touching her. One would think that they would have gotten used to sleeping and banging against each other by now right?

Anyway back to our mundane life. Each day it is really just work and rush home to be with the kids. Have dinner at my parents' place before we head home. Usually it is this time at home that is the most tiring. Ani has to do the house work so it is down to the Mrs and I to watch over the 3 of them. If the twins are sleeping quietly then it is no problem but this is almost never the case because Isaac being in the same room will cause too much racket that it will be impossible for the twins to sleep. We even tried putting the twins in a separate room but to no avail.

So somehow we managed to pacify the twins and at the same time keep Isaac occupied until Ani is done with her work. She will then feed Isaac and put him to sleep by 9 plus. Now that the twins are sleeping earlier it also means more free time for us. Soon I will be able to go onto MSN and Facebook at night so look out for me ya?

I know I owe it to many of you so here are some of the latest pictures of the twins and Isaac.

So can you tell if I'm Hayley or Luke?

With my picture you can tell for sure right?

See how happy Isaac is with his siblings?

"What do you think they're up to now?"

"Now I'm certain no one will mistaken me as a boy anymore!"

"HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!"