Week 31 - 4D Ultrasound

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Today we returned for another 4D ultrasound of the baby, this time we tried a different tactic. They recommend the mother drink some fruit juice 30 minutes before the session to make sure the baby will be moving and active. Well Lola has been nothing but active throughout the pregnancy, so we skipped the juice hoping she'd be a bit more still, allowing better pictures of her face.


Our plans were thwarted by Lola's love of nestling into the placenta and her apparent love of sticking her hands and feet in front of her face. At one point she had her big toe stuck in her nostril! We got to see lots of live shots of her yawning and opening her eyes, very cool, but the great full face shot eluded us this time. We've posted a few of the better pictures.

Week 30

It's week 30, it seems like things are moving at a very fast pace lately. Just this week we have a meeting with our estate planning attorney, the first appointment with the Stony Brook Midwives, and another 4D ultrasound at the end of the week. Maggie has been doing great, she does get winded more easily, is having to nap more often and she's noticed that sometimes when she walks her belly is swinging back and forth, kind of making its own way.

We attended a tour of the Stony Brook University birthing center led by the midwives. They gave an overview of their practice and answered lots of questions. The midwives are all about good pregnancy outcomes. For example, they deliver babies naturally 89% of the time versus about 60-70% of local ob/gyns. Additionally, they help in establishing a birthing plan and are much more focused on all aspects of the pregnancy. We're looking forward to our first appointment.

Lola's got wheels

We took our first dive into baby gear this weekend, we bought a stroller and car seat combination, the Graco Quattro 32. It's the new version that will hold a baby up to 32 pounds, so we should get a lot of use out of it. Mindy sent us a good coupon to Babies R Us that we took advantage of, it went together easily and seems really sturdy. Quoting "la blossom", there's no going back now!

Man, those French...

As the belly grows I'm faithfully slathering my anti-stretch mark oils and creams as instructed. It usually feels pretty good and seems to be working so far. But the french description can give anyone pause, grossesse - that's so me!

mmmhmmm... yep, soooo me.

4D Ultrasound - 27 weeks

It's been seven weeks since our last ultrasound, we got used to seeing the baby quite a bit during the initial phase with our IVF clinic. Each week we had an ultrasound, I imagined this was pretty much standard practice for all pregnancies until we hit our regular obgyn practice. Assuming the pregnancy is progressing normally they don't do much in the way of ultrasounds.

So we decided it would be fun to get a 4D ultrasound to get a look at the baby's face. We got the entire scan on DVD to show to family, but here are a few of the better pictures. I can't tell if she looks like Maggie or me but it certainly is exciting to get this sneak peak.

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Carlos J. Hernandez 1941-2009

My father, Carlos, passed away on May 17 after suffering a stroke almost a year ago.

He came to this country from Colombia, South America in his mid 20s. He had the good fortune of meeting my mother at a party and they married soon after. He was a carpenter, storyteller, lover of fishing and a good party.

He loved his kids and his grandchild, Jaedin as well as a host of miscellaneous pets and good friends. He was especially close to his two sisters, Leonor and Beatriz - my aunts, who took the very best care of him, in their house, until the end. He was visited by many friends and family in his last days, which brought great comfort to us.

I wish he could have met his granddaughter Lola as well as another granddaughter in the making from Santi, my brother and his wife Bobbi.

I know he is at peace now and will be with us all for the upcoming births.

Sunny

Twelve years ago Maggie was driving to work when she saw a big, black lab wandering loose near the road. The dog looked like it had been roaming for a while, its coat was dirty and she had no collar or tags. After pulling over, Maggie called out to the dog, coaxing her to the open back door of the car. Sunny trotted over and jumped right in. And that is how Sunny came into Maggie's life.

Sunny was a beautiful dog, with the broad head, wide otter tail, deep chest, and calm nature of the breed. She would trot when she was happy or excited, putting an extra bounce into each step, her tail happily woggling back and forth. Her mouth was often filled with a shoe, toy, or whatever was handy to welcome you home with a present. She also had a wide assortment of noises from a deep sigh of contentment when she snuggled up close on the bed to sleep, to an uncountable number of big dog woofs of satisfaction that covered the gamut from an exclamation over a great meal to the rapture of a good belly rub. She would eat just about anything and often did just that, enjoying all food whether it was sirloin steak or the latest bag of garbage with equal zest.


Three days after turning seventeen it was finally time for Sunny to leave us, she battled a serious urinary tract infection that damaged her kidneys and led to kidney failure. She was strong and sweet till the end. We spent our final day with her grooming her, napping with her, and giving her lots of love. Here are some pictures from that final day, we'll miss her very much and hope to see her again someday if we are lucky.