you were thinking it was time for the babies to get another checkup, weren’t you? after all, it had been one month and three days since all three were weighed, measured and debated.

it had been one month and three days since i had to flag down a taxi while lita and i balance, three children and their accessories: three meals and an equal number of bottles into a heated pack (the partner to the chilled pack sebastian and i would carry to the hospital each morning with my breast milk in it for the babies), three blankets, one double stroller and one car seat, three medical folders, three change of nappy kits, two changes of clothes (how’s that for risky?), and various other stuff. and we just can’t plonk them down on the road and wait for a cab like we used to (or i used to..she never went along with it)…oh no, they’re crawling now.

did i mention we have two clinics? the last one we went to is a three minute walk away, door to door. no kidding. this one, well, it used to be a nine minute taxi ride, but, out of sheer spite, it closed this january. so now i have to go to one that seems nearer china than our flat. and of course, i forgot the chinese address for the clinic (to be fair, so did lita, and i had remembered all the other stuff), and this cab driver didn’t have any way of communicating with his head office (which is illegal), so we had to cruise around for ages until i got my bearings. we finally got there.

and then it was lugging everything into the lift. and people are being really nice and asking if they are triplets (at least that is what i think they were asking, this is a very local part of town), and i am agreeing, but my arms are aching and i know the lineup (you see the dr/nurse on a first come first serve basis) is growing and i have to get in there.

it is 9am, and the babies are meant to be sleeping. while i am queuing lita gets them settled, opens the stroller and puts the chairs into recline and the girls pop thumbs into their mouths and start to get ready to doze, but then the crowds begin again. how do you ask people nicely not to touch your children? especially when their eyes are closing? jasper gets thrilled with the attention, and is all smiley.

i learned a few years ago there is no correlation between how nice people are and the number of teeth they have. it is a good lesson.

when our number is called, one by one i take the team in. all babies love having their nappies removed. the appointment seems good until the nurse says that the wee three should be recognising the word "no", dropping small items into cups, not putting things into their mouths.

but its close to mealtime…of course things are going in their mouths! i defend my offspring.

and they should also be pointing. she adds.

really?

so who knows. and then she says that their heads are all quite big in relation to their sizes, so the doctor should see them.

the LAST thing i want to do is spend more time here, (no offense intended), and in vain, i pull out a picture of charles, who has a MASSIVE conk. it is a caldwell trait. he has a big head, his sisters have big heads, his dad has a big head i say….

to no avail.

we wait in a new lineup, for immunizations. we are getting the third hep b immunization today. and then, it looks like we will feed them, and then see the doctor.

at 11.15, they all get their shots, and then we settle down to feed them. a curious crowd wants to watch, and my kids don’t care. they just want to eat. bottles drained (jasper and sela hold their own bottles now, but according to the nurse they should be holding cups), and lentils and spinach eaten. yogurt avidly swallowed.

then they saw the doctor, and then went home.

and we all went to bed.

and i saw as i put away their medical kits that their next appointment is less than one month away.

but i was a smart girl, i got the receptionist to write down the clinic’s location on their medical kits, so next time there is no danger of getting lost.

whew.