28 Week Ultrasound Pictures

Eyes Closed

Eyes Open

I accidently published before I was ready!  Those that subscribe to the blog are going to get a funky looking version of this post.  Anyway, here are the pictures from the ultrasound on Monday.  As noted the first picture Enzo has his eyes shut and in the second picture he has his eyes open.  Tomorrow will be 29 weeks.

Third Trimester

Enzo’s Blog:

Before I forget, I wanted to tell you all that everyone at Lucy’s work has given her a cute little nickname.  At first when she texted me, I wasn’t sure if it was funny or not but after she assured me it was all in good fun and that she was ok with it, I had to let her know that I found it quite clever.  She is now known around her hospital friends as, Easy Bake. 

Enzo is currently 28 weeks gestation and he is just hanging out being the good little boy that he is.  Lucy, Ricky, and Little Ricky all flew in yesterday for the day and we had a great time.  First stop was an ultrasound where Little Ricky got to see his baby brother for the first time.  Little Ricky turned three on Sunday and as of Monday Enzo passed his older brother in overall womb time.  That is exciting in the world of parents who have experienced premature babies.  Enzo looked fabulous when he would cooperate as he still loves clinging to his placenta. He actually had his eyes open a lot during the ultrasound and that was as cool to see as well as a tad bit creepy at times.  We laughed when Daddy mentioned that in some of the 3D shots Enzo reminded him of sad clown in Toy Story.  When Enzo did smile in a few of the pictures, it looked so very cute.  He looked happy and content.  I forgot to download the CD from the ultrasound so as soon as Lucy emails me the photos I will post them.

After the ultrasound we made our way to the birth center for our prenatal appointment and everything looked good there as well.  I weighed in right under 155, for a total of a 20 pound gain so far and the belly measured at 30.  Blood pressure was perfect and the heartbeat sounded great even though we had just heard it at the ultrasound.  I will return in two weeks now and I can’t believe we are already to biweekly appointments!  Instead of going to the lab to do the sugar testing for gestational diabetes I am going to do a different test at the birthing center at the next appointment so that will be nice.  It wasn’t until I read a blog update from Bump Fairy that I remembered that we had crossed into the third and final trimester as of this week! Yeah Baby!

After our prenatal appointment we all headed to the beach condo that my parents rented for the month for some lunch and beach time before the Ricardo’s had to fly back to Miami.  We had such an enjoyable afternoon and it was nice for the kids to get to be around each other and for my girls to see who Enzo was created by and belongs to.  After the Ricardo’s left for the day, it was so cute when my oldest daughter mentioned that one day, when she was older and was ready to get married that she might marry a Latin man so her babies could be as cute as little Ricky and Enzo.

Little Ricky opening a present

Easy Bake and I on the beach

Little Ricky and all the girls

My Time:

A little venting…  I think for the past 9 years I have been a pretty good sport about the stork bite I had on my eye from the waxing lady.  I’m licensed in two states to wax facial and body hair so it is something I know a little about and who knows, it is possible that I may have a past client out there sporting a stork bite or a scar because of me.  Sure, I was bummed in May when I could tell the area got traumatized again but it is what it is.  For over a month I sported what looked what looked like a growing hemorrhoid on my eye to make sure I wasn’t jumping the gun and dropping unnecessary money at the dermatologist if I didn’t need to.  I finally get in there to get it removed with full confidence that once that day is over with, I will go on my merry way.  I will take the time now to double back and express that I was a little worried when during the procedure I heard one of the staff say, “Wow, there is a lot of bleeding.”  In my mind I’m thinking, it is a bulging blood vessel and it is surprising to you that it is bleeding A LOT???

Anyway, a week later, the char-grilled scab falls off and half of the freaking thing is STILL there.  I wanted to be optimistic and think it just had a little more healing to do, but let’s just call a spade a spade shall we?!?!  I called the office twenty minutes before it closed yesterday and OF COURSE they don’t answer, it is TWENTY minutes before they close, therefore in Florida mentality, they are closed for the day.  I leave a message that the only day I will be in town between a trip I’m on and a conference I’m going to be at is this Friday and can I please get in ANYTIME on Friday to get this taken care of.  I receive a message this morning saying they have an opening on Friday afternoon please call them back to confirm.  I am ESSTATIC- until I call there and the lady says, “Oh, I just gave that appointment to someone.”   WHAT THE HECK LADY?  I specifically stated on my message to your office because you didn’t answer your phone during office hours that I would only be in town the next two weeks on this Friday and to give me any appointment on that day that you could.  You call me back saying there is availability and when I call to confirm, you’ve just given the appointment to someone else and you’re telling me to continue to call back every day this week including Friday morning to see if anyone cancels with ANY of the doctors and I can get in.  FU, I want to scream but instead I start to cry.  I have no other option and it would not be Florida if you did your job right the first time, didn’t give any effort to make a wrong right, or blame shift responsibility to at least one other person during the course of any business transaction.  I love so many things about Florida, BUT Florida beyond compare, has way lower standards then where I come from.

“You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the facts of life…”

© Pocketbebe, 2010

“Eye” Opening Developments

Thanks to Cousin Carrie who “got” the impressiveness of Maya’s photo shoot, probably my sister-in-law too.  If Dooce ever does a contest I am on top of it, I’m certain the prize would be an Apple iPad and I would be thrilled about it, unlike Tosh. He he he (seen that episode)? 

Enzo’s Blog:

So, Enzo is 27 weeks gestation this week.  Babycenter.com says that this week Enzo weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with his legs extended.  Funny, because at the ultrasound during week 24 the ultrasound tech said from his experiences he thought Enzo weighed two pounds then.  I think he is full of bologna and I think Lucy even said that a two pound weight would be impressive since when Little Ricky arrived four weeks later, at 28 weeks, he weighed in right at two pounds. 

Sidebar: Just FYI, according to The Guide to a Healthy Birth, estimating the size of a baby especially at the end of a pregnancy is an incredibly imprecise science.   Studies have shown that ultrasounds, a medical provider’s estimate, and even the mother’s own estimates are about equivalent in guessing the size of a baby in a healthy mother. It further goes on to state that a baby’s size is never a valid reason to induce a woman’s labor and that any medical provider who suggests it is not practicing according to the standards of their own profession.   

Enzo is supposed to be sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing his eyes, and perhaps even sucking his fingers (or the placenta in Enzo’s case). Brain tissue is developing and Enzo’s brain is very active now. While his lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if he were to be born now. I’m supposed to chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements I may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on.  I had to laugh while reading that because it was only a few nights ago that I woke up around 4:30 am to go the bathroom and when I lay back down I felt Enzo have the hiccups for the first time. Lucy is on a work week and I knew she would be awake so I texted her about this new development because it is always exciting to have something new to report to Baby Mama.

At this point in Lucy’s pregnancy with Little Ricky (which is to the day exactly the same as this pregnancy remember because we both had embryo transfers on Jan. 27th) she had already been battling preeclampsia for a week and popping high blood pressure medicine like candy.  I am so thankful that God is allowing Enzo to develop right on schedule and without these complications.  Having a surrogate can be tough for intended parents, especially moms, they give up a lot letting other people carry their babies through gestation and while I can’t fully understand that since I have not been in that position, I know that Lucy is relieved to be living through last week and the next few weeks with a lot less stress this time around. A big thanks to God for giving her this gift because even with surrogates who have awesome track records, anything is possible.

My Time:

In 2001 I had my eyebrows waxed (just days prior to my wedding I might add) and in part of my eyebrow I developed a stork bite, also called nevus simplex that happens from a stretching (dilation) of certain blood vessels.  In the stork bite state it was only noticeable when I wasn’t wearing make-up and even then most people never even noticed it and I went through two pregnancies without it being affected.  This past May, for the first time since the 2001 episode, I let someone else wax my eyebrows and of course since I didn’t give super precise instructions to not alter my shape the gal waxed over the stork bite retraumatizing the small blood vessels. Add in a combination of increased blood volume from being pregnant and all the hormones on the loose my little stork bite changed into a hemangioma with active cell dividing activity. In short, it was no longer flat and hidden with make-up it was a shiny, growing, “red hot” looking zit in my eyebrow that The Husband swears was getting bigger by the day.  He totally enjoyed having something to pick on me for. Well, today all my girls and I went to the dermatologist to have it removed.  After a numbing injection, a slice, and some cauterizing I was patched up and ready to go.  My kids were grossed out and scared by the injection in the eye (umm..try like over 40 injections in the hip daily for IVF) and the smell that comes from the cauterizing.  I made sure to let them know how good of a patient I was and that I should be their example for every future doctor or dentist visit.    So, now as I blog to you my left eye is throbbing a bit and I was told I might develop a black eye before a black scab develops and I get my scar of honor. My grandma always did say that women must suffer to be beautiful (usually said when she was rolling my hair into perm rods as a child).

What I was supposed to blog on this time for you was my adventure in birthing class but that would require me to get out my notes and with the throbbing eye and all, that isn’t possible at the moment.  It will have to wait until the next post.  I will let you know that we did up having a fantastic day despite the letdown in not having my own Vodka/Sex class member to blog about like my Cousin Carrie did.  Our class was pretty awesome along with the hip and fun instructor June Connell.  I highly recommend that if you want to take a Natural Childbirth Class and you live near the Tampa area (or at least in the general region) that you go to one of June’s classes.  Her website is pretty cool also and contains a lot of information along with some unique products you can order if wanted.

I’m off to eat dinner which in turn will kick Enzo into his salsa dancing exercises for the night and then off to bed for some of that much needed beauty sleep that maybe will keep the black eye at bay.

Buenas noches!

© Pocketbebe, 2010

A New Normal

Every time I think I’m going to have a chance to blog, it turns out I don’t.  It is driving me crazy as I have lots of things to share!  Things are going well and the days are just going by as summer days do.  We’ve been in and out of town a bit and now comes the week of organizing and cleaning.  Not fun and being pregnant doesn’t make for fast work.

Enzo is 26 weeks heading to 27 this week. 

I’m hoping to be able to do a longer blog in the next few days as I went to the birthing class this past weekend and I want to fill you in on that and what Enzo is up to in his development.

A few weeks ago my friend texted me and since it was a Wednesday at around 4:30 she and I both knew we were hardly hanging on until 6:00 when we’d dart out the door to our fast cars (SUV’s and minivans) and our freedom.  It had been a long day and I had already decided I wasn’t even going to attempt dinner for anyone The Husband would be able to do it when he got home, so I had some time on my hands and I saw the camera just sitting there….

Friend Text: What are you doing?

Me Text: Taking pictures of our dog with my Sharps containers that I need to dispose of.

Friend: You’re what?

Me: Balancing my medical Sharps containers on my dog’s head, why?

Friend: I think I’m worried about you.

Me: Lol, let me explain…

So, I went on to text her about how one of my favorite bloggers that I’ve been following for years has almost a daily photo of her dog, Chuck, balancing something on his head.  Our dog kind of looks like Chuck and so it was in honor of Heather Armstrong’s brilliant blog Dooce that I was laughing maniacally while placing medical waste containers on my dog’s head, back, and belly.  It wasn’t crazy at all, a perfectly rational activity to pass the time. Like Uno or Go Fish and  FYI, the kids loved it. 

Here, in her first ever internet photo spread is…Maya.

© Pocketbebe, 2010

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