Bulldogs Down

We came home from the pediatrician with the two legged children on Tuesday and Matt Damon, our 9 month old four legged son, could not stand and would not move.   I was hysterical.   One emergency vet visit and rounds of X-rays later it was determined that he had a slipped disc in his back.  He was put on a five-pills-two-times-a-day routine in addition to bed rest for one week.  Four days into the routine and it appears to be working - he's acting well now and he doesn't understand why we're keeping him locked down most of the day.  He gets out of doggie jail on Tuesday.

On Saturday morning Dooley, our 6 year old four legged daughter, ripped a back claw out of her foot.  We don't know how it happened, but the incident might have occurred when she was defending our house from the exterminator who was outside treating our house for bugs.  I was sleeping and my husband was juggling twins and a big bloody crime scene created by Dooley.   How much blood could she possibly pump out of her paw?  Luckily for us, my husband's parents arrived to take care of the two legged babies while we went to another emergency vet appointment; the second emergency vet appointment of the week.  No worries though, Dooley is going to be fine.

It's been an exciting week with bulldogs, and I'm so thankful for our vets.  I know they are thankful for us and the wealth transfer we have initiated from our bank account to theirs.  It's all worth it.  To me.  I love our dogs!

The key takeaways for the week:

1. my husband is disturbingly good at cleaning up blood; it's like it never happened,  
2. the four legged bulldog children are going to be alright, 
3. Trigger, our 13 year old four legged non-bulldog son,  has proven for the umpteenth time he's clearly superior to the bulldogs (not that it's a competition). 

Sol 36

Have you read The Martian?  More importantly, have you watched The Martian?  The film stars Matt Damon - my favorite Hollywood icon.  You must watch the movie for the lovely acting and shirtless moment delivered by Matt Damon.  (Swoon.)

The final moment in the film when Mark Watney (Damon) is explaining his key to successful survival if frequently played in the internal workings of my mind:

"At some point, everything's gonna go south on you... everything's going to go south and you're going to say, this is it. This is how I end. Now you can either accept that, or you can get to work. That's all it is. You just begin. You do the math. You solve one problem... and you solve the next one... and then the next. And If you solve enough problems, you get to come home. All right, questions?"

For some reason, I think the wisdom obtained from Mark Watney's survival on Mars is relevant to my survival of the first five weeks of fatherhood.

I am grateful for our son and our daughter and our time together so far.  I glow in much love and gratitude for my life in its current state.  At night when the babies are sleeping, my dogs are sleeping, and my husband is sleeping I pause to say thank you to the universe and my beautiful normal everyday life.  This is all I really ever wanted in life: A two story house, the best husband, babies and lots and lots of dogs.

I'm living my dream and it's kicking me in the ass. 

Having twins is not easy.  My current analysis at 5 weeks is that this is so much more difficult than I expected.  We have nieces and nephews, and when I was 18 years old I lived with my cousin for two months in Austin and she had a toddler and an infant.  I felt prepared.  I was not prepared.  

The joyous news is that the babies are thriving.  At the one month visit our pediatrician said he could not be more pleased with their progress.  Success.  This is what success feels like?  I'm enjoying the daily challenges of fatherhood.  I'm really enjoying watching my husband be a father - he's good at everything.  And like Mark Watney said, "at some point, everything's gonna go south on you...you can either accept that, or you can get to work.  That's all it is. You just begin...you solve one problem...and you solve the next one..."