Luca Has 2 Mommies (and a brother, too): August 2008

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Sunday

After a late morning/early afternoon at the beach, as well as lunch with Mama and some friends - Luca came home and got into his own little groove before dinner.

Sundays are good.

About three weeks ago we went in for our twenty-week ultrasound. We were excited to find out the gender of the babies and, really, that was the most we were expecting to learn that day. Sadly, though - we discovered that Baby A (a girl) was horribly compromised. As in - no chance. There were issues from head to toe - literally. Although Baby B (a boy) looked fine on ultrasound, the risk of pre-term labor and complications for him (because of her situation) loomed large.

In a matter of seconds, we went from clueless and excited to completely devastated. The doctor and ultrasound techs couldn't have been more kind and compassionate - something that we were able to recognize after the shock and extreme sadness settled in a bit. It was a hard day. A hard week. The difficulty and confusion of the whole situation was compounded by the fact that we weren't offered any options here in Florida. Even though the writing was on the wall and it was clear that this baby had no chance at all AND our seemingly healthy baby was at risk because of his twin's issues, our docs couldn't find anyone within driving distance to help us. No one. When we heard this mind-blowing news, I went from brokenhearted to furious. We took matters into our own hands and, by 6pm on a Monday, we had plane tickets for Tuesday and a 1:30pm Wednesday appointment with one of the best fetal surgeon/geneticists in the country. We flew into Philly, dropped Luca off at my sister's and drove to Manhattan the next morning. Once there, he confirmed the absolute worst, did some tests and then we had to let her go.

The whole thing was really hard. But, we are so grateful for the people we have in our lives. The support we received from friends and family was unreal. The meals, the time, the offers of help with Luca - not to mention the continuous phone calls and emails and all of the thoughts and prayers that carried us that week - and still do. We are very lucky.

All tests on Baby B indicate that he is fine - healthy and sound and out of danger. She is still in there with him and we will get to say one final goodbye to her when we meet him. We are welcoming that opportunity for closure.

After the latest ultrasound and this week's OB appointment, we are finally back on the road to being exited about this pregnancy again. Not only that, it seems if all is still well by twenty-eight weeks, we can again start thinking about having a birthing center birth - something that wasn't possible for us with twins.

School Daze

We made the leap into preschool this past week. Two days a week from 8:30 to 2:30! That's six whole hours, people! I was looking forward to the time I would have to get things done - but also worried about him being away from me for that long. He still naps most days and we are still working out the potty glitches - so there's that. As well, he is a good six months younger than the next youngest in his class and I was concerned about verbal issues and maturity issues, etc. Luckily, it's Montessori where - by design - the classes are mixed-age. Still - I worried about him being the youngest. I carried all of that worry in the days leading up to his first day and - so far at least - there was no need. He kept up, stayed dry, loved it and best of all- according to him - he got to use his cool LUNCH BOX!!

He ate every last bite of his lunch that first day - although most of it was consumed on the car ride home after school.

Before and After

I finally broke down and got Luca's hair cut.
It was was starting to look mullet-y-ish.
I was sad to see it go, but It was time.

Omnivore's 100

I stole this from my friend Mae's blog Hark! What Ails you?. She stole it from someone else's...

The rules:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Not sure about the umeboshi (I've had umeboshi plum vinegar), and the prickly pear (I am pretty sure I've had prickly pear jam).