The morphine zone

Is that the hernia? Just one of the hundred pictures I got

After months of increasing back pain, punctuated by doctor visits, various drugs, physical therapy and X-Rays, a specialist sent me for an MRI. I was in such bad shape when I met him that he put me on morphine.

It was then, about 3 weeks ago, that I entered the zone...

My previous week had been shitty, with 5 hours a night sleep at most, and pain most of the day. Then, I put on my first opium-derived patch. Specifically on a non-hairy piece of skin, which I easily found, I'm glad to report. Not sure whether I even swallowed, that day, one of the pills containing more of the precious drug. Probably did, actually. As a result, I was out for 13 hours of uninterrupted, restful sleep. Not even Nathan's shouts, on the top of his 3-week-old lungs, could wake me. Nor the hair dryer used to calm the baby - here I must say this device is used for white-noise, not as a hammer.

The problem is, you can't do much with your days while on morphine. Much less work or do other activities that require a brain. Granted, my last job didn't require much use of one, in its last weeks anyway. Good thing for them, my contract had ended the day before. Really, with 2 to 3 additional pills, spending the day watching the new Blogger Play could be satisfying enough.

Then came the day I went cold-turkey, because I ran out of patches, and chose to stop popping the magical pills, the pain being almost gone. The following day my doctor did an infiltration, which is an injection of cortisone between my back vertebrae, close to the guilty herniated disc, to sooth the inflamed nerve.

That night... I came to realize I had become a morphine addict. Bed sheets were too itchy, I couldn't stay still. Everything irritated my skin, and I was restlessly turning and shifting in bed, unable to sleep. I was experiencing my first -and hopefully last- withdrawal. In the middle of the night, I took my first pill in over 24 hours. Saving grace... 45 minutes later I was sound asleep. Following night, same thing. Only a pill in the night could appease my senses.

Still my productivity had returned to normal, during those days. I even successfully handled my first bottle feeding of Nathan, with milk mom put away for the occasion.

It took four days to be freed from the drug.
Though I still have a 15 days supply of patches and pills, in case of a new crisis...

Citizen Nathan

I wonder if I should rename that blog SimplyNathan... oh well, he deserves the attention!

Anyway, today was of significance for Nathan, as he became American! Our little one became US Citizen in exchange for a couple hours of our time, a few forms and $147.

By the way, funny how it works. Consider for instance the birth certificate: you give away a French original, obtained graciously, and voila, in return you receive a single US birth certificate. That for only $64.99 (actually $65, but I think they should do the '.99' thing, that sounds much better).

Though the administration officer had the nice gesture of giving Nathan a small US flag, which touched Laura.
American friends, please welcome our son among the 303,035,698 of you.

Our son has now dual citizenship, and will travel with both passports.

Je me demande si je ne devrais pas renommer ce blog SimplyNathan... bon, après tout il mérite bien toute notre attention.

Aujourd'hui était pour Nathan une importante journée, car il est devenu Américain ! Notre petit est devenu citoyen des Etats Unis en échange de quelques heures de notre temps, de quelques formulaires et de 147 dollars.

D'ailleurs, c'est amusant comment cela fonctionne. Prenez le certificat de naissance comme exemple : vous donnez un original Français, obtenu gratuitement, et voila, vous recevez en échange un certificat Américain. Cela pour le prix modique de 64,99 dollars (en fait 65 dollars, mais je trouve le ',99' plus accrocheur).

Toutefois l'officier consulaire a eu le geste touchant de donner à Nathan un petit drapeau des Etats Unis, ce qui a émut Laura.
Amis Américains, veuillez accueillir un nouveau parmi les 303,035,698 que vous êtes.

Notre fils a la double nationalité, et voyagera avec deux passeports.

Busy time

The last few weeks were packed with events. Laura was almost at full term as we were finalizing arrangements for Margaret and Rob, her visiting mother and brother. A nice furnished apartment close to ours solved the accomodation issue, and a three day tour provided Rob with a chance to get out of Paris.

We rushed a bit the baptism to take advantage of Laura's family presence. Thankfully my parents were a huge help in getting things organized. Alas, Laura's mother fell and broke a wrist, which added an interesting twist to their visit, and deprived a first-time grandmother from holding her grandson.