Twelve week checkup

We had our twelfth week checkup, got another ultrasound and blood work. Around this time they do a genetic screening test called nuchal fold translucency scan, it involves a very thorough ultrasound in conjunction with a blood test. Everything looked great and we got to see the baby's heart, hands, and profile for the first time. Exciting stuff.

Here the baby measured just over 5cm, right on schedule growth wise. Notice the little hand!




Here's another profile picture, he/she was very active during the entire procedure, jukin and jiving around, it took the ultrasound tech quite a while to get good shots for the test but that was fine we got to see the baby for quite a while.

At this point the heart was big enough to see beating away, little fingers, toes, okay enough it was just pretty incredible stuff.

Bleeding me dry...

As usual Maggie's better nature rubs off on me and I find myself prostrate on a gurney with someone in scrubs sucking out my very life's blood into a plastic sack!

Actually it was pretty easy and painless, probably going to start donating a few times a year. I even hear it's good for men as a way to reduce the iron in their system.

Happy Birthday Maggie

Maggie's birthday fell a couple of days after our return from the San Francisco trip on January 20th. We had a nice quiet day together, got a few gifts, cards and well wishes from friends and family.

Time to contact the obstetrician

During our last visit to the IVF clinic the doctor who performs the ultrasounds told us it was time to contact our obstetrician. We have an appointment for Tuesday, 1/27, so it seems like the weekly ultrasounds have come to an end. The past two appointments have just been to check blood levels and slowly but surely Maggie is taking fewer and fewer medications.

She's still feeling her way through the nausea, certain foods are very appealing some days, it seems the simpler and blander the food the easier it is to deal with. Crackers, soup, yogurt, ice pops, etc... seem to work well and she eats what she can, when she can. Overall she's doing great.

A Blossom by any name would smell as sweet

Click here for our photos from our trip

One of Maggie's oldest and best friends Mindy Blossom is pregnant and due to have a little Blossom in about a month. Some of her left coast friends were throwing a baby shower and Maggie wouldn't have missed it for the world. So we caught a jetplane to the west to spend the weekend with Mindy, Tom, and their 9 month old bulldog Stella.

We stayed at the Carlton Hotel, it was very nice and different from major chain hotels, small, friendly, and fun. We ate at a local restaurant a few blocks from the hotel the first night and got some sleep. The next morning Tom, Mindy, and Stella picked us up at the hotel and we all piled into their car and went to a beach near the Golden Gate Bridge where there's a regular bulldog meetup. A whole bunch of bulldog owners and their dogs get together to romp around and have a good time in a very beautiful spot. We all had a good time watching Stella tear around the beach with her own doggy kind. After she got a bit tired out we all went for a walk along the beach towards the bridge, it was clear blue skies, sunny, and warm.

Lots of talking, walking, and laughing it was a great way to start our visit. Later that night we had dinner at a place called Zuppa that was nice, i think we all agreed the best feature was the fresh thinly sliced salami, prosciutto, etc... We wound up talking about lots of things but the topic kept coming back to babies since Mindy is due soon and Maggie is about 2 months along now. So Mindy and Tom were nice enough to give us an insight into what's ahead, since its still fresh in their memories it was very timely. We called it a night and looked forward to seeing them at Mindy's baby shower the next day.

On Sunday Maggie and I got up a bit earlier so we'd have a decent chance of eating at Dottie's True Blue Cafe. We'd waited in line on Saturday morning but we were late, the line was long, and Maggie's belly was rumbling. We still wound up waiting about 25 minutes to get in on Sunday but it was worth it, great food, great service, and a wonderful feeling about the place. I'd go there again anytime, just be warned it borders a hinky part of town.

After a great breakfast we drove over to the Blossom's pad in a nice section of the city, palm trees, old architecture, I even hear tell there's a Whole Foods coming nearby [across the street!] soon. Tom let us in and led us upstairs to their lovely apartment all tricked out with a brand new baby room, food, drink, presents and all the other accoutrements that screamed: women only - men go someplace else while we have fun! So Tom, Mark [another guest's male], and I made ourselves scarce for an afternoon of debauchery and libation while the women folk invoked ancient and mysterious fertility rituals or somesuch. Later that afternoon the xy chromosoned were allowed back to view the wreckage of a fun time for all. Maggie had a great time and made some new friends.

Later that day Mindy & Tom still had enough energy to go see Clint Eastwood growl his way through a great performance in the movie Gran Torino with us. A great way to end the last day of a too brief weekend. After lots of hugs we called it a night and flew home the next morning.

I'll miss San Francisco, a beautiful place showed off to its best advantage by our wonderful hosts.

From bug to lentil...

Click on the ultrasound to view a larger version

We had the fourth ultrasound today, took a while to get to the practice because of some bad weather, it's cold and snowy, a bunch of accidents along the highway. We got in a bit late but didn't have to wait long.

The baby is about 1.3 cm (hard to tell in another pic they had it at 1.7cm) which is about the size of a lentil bean. Here are the latest ultrasounds with a heartbeat. It was cool because you could see a head and i think even the bump of a nose forming!

We're headed off to see Mindy & Tom Blossom in San Francisco this weekend, going to attend her baby shower and just have a good time visiting. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Out and about

Well Maggie is pretty much past her cold, eating Carr's water crackers first thing when she wakes up has really helped with her morning nausea. I'm feeling pretty good following a small procedure to remove a patch of skin near my right temple that tested positive for basal cell cancer (it has a 99% cure rate), a reminder to all of us out there with fair skin, WEAR YOUR SUN SCREEN!

Maggie wanted to get out and about, she's spent too much time at home lately being sick and with morning sickness so we went out and did some shopping. Got a heated water dispenser for the chickens since it will be getting down to 5 degrees at night in the next few days, trying a new dog food for Clementine (she's gotten a bit finicky lately), and just enjoying being out together. We also got out for a walk around the neighborhood. A nice quiet day.

At Petco we spotted a pretty amazing truck, i'll let the pictures speak for themselves but this guy was a true artist. Maggie thought the dog in the truck seemed a bit embarrassed about being spotted in such a gaudy vehicle, but it was a sweet ride!