11.29.2007
First Belly Picture
Hello All!
This evening when Melanie and I came home we went through our normal routine. Checking the mail, turning on the Christmas lights, and saying hello to Milo and Buddy. Melanie began to wash the dishes and I had to stop her before she started.
She looked so beautiful...just standing there with her little belly.
She agreed to take ONE belly pic.
You're Welcome Everyone!
I can't wait to see our baby.
xo
jason.
p.s
WE FIND OUT THE SEX OF LITTLE BABY SPOSA on the 18th!
We will update with the news and more sonograms this weekend.
11.14.2007
Isn't HE lovely?....
Jason is THE BEST.
To accentuate the beauty that is me whilst pregnant (namely, the oversized boobies) - he's stuffed his credit card with moola pour moi to go around town and get pampered!!
Tonight...haircut and colour.
Tomorrow...a waxing (*swoon*).
Monday...MONTHLY DOCTOR'S CHECK-UP (ok, not pampering but we both take 1/2 days ^_^)
Tuesday...mani-pedi
This weekend we are going to rearrange the rooms in our house so that when we return from Thanksgiving holidays we can immediately begin holiday decor!
I love the holidays....almost as much as I love my baby daddy!
HA!
xo
la maman
To accentuate the beauty that is me whilst pregnant (namely, the oversized boobies) - he's stuffed his credit card with moola pour moi to go around town and get pampered!!
Tonight...haircut and colour.
Tomorrow...a waxing (*swoon*).
Monday...MONTHLY DOCTOR'S CHECK-UP (ok, not pampering but we both take 1/2 days ^_^)
Tuesday...mani-pedi
This weekend we are going to rearrange the rooms in our house so that when we return from Thanksgiving holidays we can immediately begin holiday decor!
I love the holidays....almost as much as I love my baby daddy!
HA!
xo
la maman
11.13.2007
As of late....
My most recent symptoms...or, some would say, delights, of pregnancy are as follows:
- slight nausea (has definitely calmed down though, I'll give it that)
- cravings (lately:) bananas, salad, ice water, peanut butter + jelly on whole wheat
- food aversions: anything I'm not craving, meat
- vomits in the morning (makes me feel better, actually)
- massive headaches (been sporting this one since last night about 7:00 PM)
- crazy dreams (still...last night had to have surgery b/c my gall bladder was taking too much room away from the baby?!?)
Previous symptoms (that still pop up from the dreaded first trimester but have dissipated a bit):
- raging hormones/moodiness (crying for no reason, dependency, etc.)
- EXTREME fatigue
- EXTREME bloat
- past cravings: strawberry milkshakes, chicken nuggets, pad thai, nachos, taco bell
- slight nausea (has definitely calmed down though, I'll give it that)
- cravings (lately:) bananas, salad, ice water, peanut butter + jelly on whole wheat
- food aversions: anything I'm not craving, meat
- vomits in the morning (makes me feel better, actually)
- massive headaches (been sporting this one since last night about 7:00 PM)
- crazy dreams (still...last night had to have surgery b/c my gall bladder was taking too much room away from the baby?!?)
Previous symptoms (that still pop up from the dreaded first trimester but have dissipated a bit):
- raging hormones/moodiness (crying for no reason, dependency, etc.)
- EXTREME fatigue
- EXTREME bloat
- past cravings: strawberry milkshakes, chicken nuggets, pad thai, nachos, taco bell
HOLY CRAP!!!
11.12.2007
Me and Angie - oh yea, we go way back...
After extensive research on where to actually give birth in a city that is continually growing in knowledge through research and experience we decided on last year's NY magazine's number one choice - New York Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medical Center.
GIVING BIRTH
New York–Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell
Bringing Junior into the world, happily, isn’t usually a life-and-death situation. But if things go wrong, the best place to be is New York–Presbyterian, Weill Cornell. Cornell is one of just eight institutions in New York City with a Level 4 (the highest rating) neonatal intensive-care unit (NICU) and one of just two hospitals in the city with an extracorporeal membrane oxygenator (ECMO), essentially an infant heart-lung machine, said to be the state-of-the-art technology in emergency neonatal care. Of the 50 OB/GYNs on staff at Cornell, ten are high-risk specialists, and they get a lot of practice, delivering more high-risk babies than any other hospital in New York. Last year, the team delivered approximately 4,800 children, 50 percent of whom fell into the high-risk category. Led by Dr. Frank Chervenak, Cornell doctors are also research forerunners. Dr. Robin Kalish, director of clinical maternal fetal medicine, has identified genetic markers that can help identify patients who may be at risk for preterm labor in multiple births. “Cornell has a very strong maternal-fetal medicine unit,” says Dr. Mehmet Genç, an internal-fetal-medicine specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, one of the most highly thought-of OB/GYN hospitals in the country. “It’s one thing to have a single famous doctor, but you really have to have a group with expertise. That’s what makes the difference at Cornell.” Cornell’s eleven labor-and-delivery suites are spacious and attractive and outfitted with modern birthing beds. Recovery takes place in one of the 50 shared or 11 private rooms, including three suites. Cornell’s uptown sibling, Columbia, which also has a Level 4 NICU and ECMO device, also excels in the high-risk category—19 out of 31 OB/GYNs are high-risk experts (though they split their time between Columbia and New York–Presbyterian’s Allen Pavilion in Inwood). Located in the newly constructed Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, Columbia’s NICU is part of a unique, comprehensive high-risk-pregnancy program. Specially trained obstetricians and pediatric subspecialists (in neonatology, cardiology, cardiac surgery, genetics, orthopedics, urology, neurology, neurosurgery, pediatric surgery, and other disciplines) can manage the care of a high-risk pregnant woman, all under one roof, from the earliest stages of pregnancy through the birth of her child and beyond.
Oh yea...and Angelina highly recommended the digs after the hospital saved her little Zahara's life after her arrival in America two years ago.
God Bless them....
In good company, we are....
We live in NYC - one of the hippest, most 'in the know' cities in the world. So, it's always fun to learn the latest on health, pregnancy issues, labor facts, etc....but let's face - we're more than just parents...and, goshdarnit, I am more than an oversized incubator.
I like fashion and everyone knows there's no better ice breaker than celebrity gossip...so it's nice to know that in the grand scheme of things I (*ahem*, we) are in good company while I attempt to maintain my individuality (and fashion beyond the empire cut button-up from Old Navy...or worse, the muumuu in public?!?) whilst knowingly going #2 in the loo and knowing that for the next few months your are not 'truly' alone...
Here's a list of my homies...ehrm, ladies with child:
Nicole Richie
J. Lo
Christina Aguilera
Halle Berry
Cate Blanchett
Brooke Burke
Tracey Gold (Growing Pains)
Jeri Ryan
Soleil Moon Frye (Punky Brewster)
Drinking for two (?!?)
In a world that claims to be politically correct you always have to put a disclaimer or your own 'gist' on things when posting a controversial issue - in this case, alcohol intake while pregnant. Personally, I have never been a big drinker - just the occasional glass of wine in intimate settings with close friends or a beer with Doritos over a game of Scrabble with Jason...so, you can see I am not the partying type; however, do believe in keeping up with the latest and greatest on news that can affect the state of myself or the babes in an emotional, physical, or social way.
[AND for the record, I did quit smoking once it was confirmed that we had the little tyke in me and do NOT condone that course of action. Luckily, up here it's not as common as the areas below the Mason-Dixon line.].
Back to the article at hand, I am not quite sure how I feel about drinking avec bebe. To each his own - in moderation is what I believe. Afterall, with all the research and the beautiful case red wine has created for itself with its nutrients (particularly antioxidants) - I will not argue.
What I do find intriguing are the varying items pregnant should take in/avoid in different cultures. Particularly American versus European cultures.
More importantly, my dearly beloved peanut gallery of ages young and old/cultures old + new....
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
THE WEIGHT RESPONSIBILITY OF DRINKING FOR TWO
by JULIAN MOSKIN
November 29, 2006
IT happens at coffee bars. It happens at cheese counters. But most of all, it happens at bars and restaurants. Pregnant women are slow-moving targets for strangers who judge what we eat — and, especially, drink.
“Nothing makes people more uncomfortable than a pregnant woman sitting at the bar,” said Brianna Walker, a bartender in Los Angeles. “The other customers can’t take their eyes off her.”
Drinking during pregnancy quickly became taboo in the United States after 1981, when the Surgeon General began warning women about the dangers of alcohol. The warnings came after researchers at the University of Washington identified Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, a group of physical and mental birth defects caused by alcohol consumption, in 1973. In its recommendations, the government does not distinguish between heavy drinking and the occasional beer: all alcohol poses an unacceptable risk, it says.
So those of us who drink, even occasionally, during pregnancy face unanswerable questions, like why would anyone risk the health of a child for a passing pleasure like a beer?
“It comes down to this: I just don’t buy it,” said Holly Masur, a mother of two in Deerfield, Ill., who often had half a glass of wine with dinner during her pregnancies, based on advice from both her mother and her obstetrician. “How can a few sips of wine be dangerous when women used to drink martinis and smoke all through their pregnancies?”
Many American obstetricians, skeptical about the need for total abstinence, quietly tell their patients that an occasional beer or glass of wine — no hard liquor — is fine.
“If a patient tells me that she’s drinking two or three glasses of wine a week, I am personally comfortable with that after the first trimester,” said Dr. Austin Chen, an obstetrician in TriBeCa. “But technically I am sticking my neck out by saying so.”
Americans’ complicated relationship with food and drink — in which everything desirable is also potentially dangerous — only becomes magnified in pregnancy.
When I was pregnant with my first child in 2001 there was so much conflicting information that doubt became a reflexive response. Why was tea allowed but not coffee? How could all “soft cheeses” be forbidden if cream cheese was recommended? What were the real risks of having a glass of wine on my birthday?
Pregnant women are told that danger lurks everywhere: listeria in soft cheese, mercury in canned tuna, salmonella in fresh-squeezed orange juice. Our responsibility for minimizing risk through perfect behavior feels vast.
Eventually, instead of automatically following every rule, I began looking for proof.
Proof, it turns out, is hard to come by when it comes to “moderate” or “occasional” drinking during pregnancy. Standard definitions, clinical trials and long-range studies simply do not exist.
“Clinically speaking, there is no such thing as moderate drinking in pregnancy” said Dr. Ernest L. Abel, a professor at Wayne State University Medical School in Detroit, who has led many studies on pregnancy and alcohol. “The studies address only heavy drinking” — defined by the National Institutes of Health as five drinks or more per day — “or no drinking.”
Most pregnant women in America say in surveys that they do not drink at all — although they may not be reporting with total accuracy. But others make a conscious choice not to rule out drinking altogether.
For me, the desire to drink turned out to be all tied up with the ritual of the table — sitting down in a restaurant, reading the menu, taking that first bite of bread and butter. That was the only time, I found, that sparkling water or nonalcoholic beer didn’t quite do it. And so, after examining my conscience and the research available, I concluded that one drink with dinner was an acceptable risk.
My husband, frankly, is uncomfortable with it. But he recognizes that there is no way for him to put himself in my position, or to know what he would do under the same circumstances.
While occasional drinking is not a decision I take lightly, it is also a decision in which I am not (quite) alone. Lisa Felter McKenney, a teacher in Chicago whose first child is due in January, said she feels comfortable at her current level of three drinks a week, having been grudgingly cleared by her obstetrician. “Being able to look forward to a beer with my husband at the end of the day really helps me deal with the horrible parts of being pregnant,” she said. “It makes me feel like myself: not the alcohol, but the ritual. Usually I just take a few sips and that’s enough.”
Ana Sortun, a chef in Cambridge, Mass., who gave birth last year, said that she (and the nurse practitioner who delivered her baby) both drank wine during their pregnancies. “I didn’t do it every day, but I did it often,” she said. “Ultimately I trusted my own instincts, and my doctor’s, more than anything else. Plus, I really believe all that stuff about the European tradition.”
Many women who choose to drink have pointed to the habits of European women who legendarily drink wine, eat raw-milk cheese and quaff Guinness to improve breast milk production, as justification for their own choices in pregnancy.
Of course, those countries have their own taboos. “Just try to buy unpasteurized cheese in England, or to eat salad in France when you’re pregnant,” wrote a friend living in York, England. (Many French obstetricians warn patients that raw vegetables are risky.) However, she said, a drink a day is taken for granted. In those cultures, wine and beer are considered akin to food, part of daily life; in ours, they are treated more like drugs.
But more European countries are adopting the American stance of abstinence. Last month, France passed legislation mandating American-style warning labels on alcohol bottles, beginning in October 2007.
If pregnant Frenchwomen are giving up wine completely (although whether that will happen is debatable — the effects of warning labels are far from proven), where does that leave the rest of us?
“I never thought it would happen,” said Jancis Robinson, a prominent wine critic in Britain, one of the few countries with government guidelines that still allow pregnant women any alcohol — one to two drinks per week. Ms. Robinson, who spent three days tasting wine for her Masters of Wine qualification in 1990 while pregnant with her second child, said that she studied the research then available and while she was inclined to be cautious, she didn’t see proof that total abstinence was the only safe course.
One thing is certain: drinking is a confusing and controversial choice for pregnant women, and among the hardest areas in which to interpret the research.
Numerous long-term studies, including the original one at the University of Washington at Seattle, have established beyond doubt that heavy drinkers are taking tremendous risks with their children’s health.
But for women who want to apply that research to the question of whether they must refuse a single glass of Champagne on New Year’s Eve or a serving of rum-soaked Christmas pudding, there is almost no information at all.
My own decision came down to a stubborn conviction that feels like common sense: a single drink — sipped slowly, with food to slow the absorption — is unlikely to have much effect.
Some clinicians agree with that instinct. Others claim that the threat at any level is real.
“Blood alcohol level is the key,” said Dr. Abel, whose view, after 30 years of research, is that brain damage and other alcohol-related problems most likely result from the spikes in blood alcohol concentration that come from binge drinking — another difficult definition, since according to Dr. Abel a binge can be as few as two drinks, drunk in rapid succession, or as many as 14, depending on a woman’s physiology.
Because of ethical considerations, virtually no clinical trials can be performed on pregnant women.
“Part of the research problem is that we have mostly animal studies to work with,” Dr. Abel said. “And who knows what is two drinks, for a mouse?”
Little attention has been paid to pregnant women at the low end of the consumption spectrum because there isn’t a clear threat to public health there, according to Janet Golden, a history professor at Rutgers who has written about Americans’ changing attitudes toward drinking in pregnancy.
The research — and the public health concern — is focused on getting pregnant women who don’t regulate their intake to stop completely.
And the public seems to seriously doubt whether pregnant women can be trusted to make responsible decisions on their own.
“Strangers, and courts, will intervene with a pregnant woman when they would never dream of touching anyone else,” Ms. Golden said.
Ms. Walker, the bartender, agreed. “I’ve had customers ask me to tell them what the pregnant woman is drinking,” she said. “But I don’t tell them. Like with all customers, unless someone is drunk and difficult it’s no one else’s business — or mine.”
Thanks to Jerah for the article!! xoxo
11.11.2007
The Latest Sonogram
Are these creepy?
I'm taking a vote....
cause I'm not really sure how I feel about these 3-D/4-D sonograms. Basically, it is a new technology that allows for the parents-to-be to view their baby inside the womb in real-time (ie, laughing, yawning, playing, etc.).
Sure, it allows you to see your baby ahead of time to see how he/she looks but who really wants to see what's going on 'in there'? I mean, it's bad enough you're feeling the effects of the kicking and the hiccups, the weight of not just 'the added protection' you've acquired for the baby, but also the baby itself, the swelling, the nausea, the shortness of breath.... Ok, maybe it will help you to see your baby all cozy and happy in there knowing that you're a good host for the little parasite but what if he/she is not having a good day...that's the last thing you want to see. An upset baby in an already uncomfortable you. Or even worse, what if you're having a bad day with the baby having a good time kicking around your intestines and such that now you know how he/she is going to look - it just makes the anticipation of getting the little tyke outta there even greater (which as we all know, can trigger tears of sadness and frustration....which happens, let's face it, atleast once a day anyway - whether it be about your loss of control over your body, your raging hormones, or Bruce Willis' God awful final speech in ARMAGEDDON....I know I'll never live that one down).
So, I/we are open for suggestions, ideas, and/or other ways of looking at this new form of sonography (versus the cynical yet realistic run-through I just bantered on about above).....
Jason really wants to do it yet I am on the fence. Also, they offer the option of learning the gender in advance for a mere $65.00 but I opted out of that one since we will be able to find out the sex of the baby during our December doctors visit (just in time for the holidays! Wooooot!).
So, tell us - what do you think.....
Learn more: http://www.viewamiracle.com/
Welcome to....
WEEK 14!!!
Yes, we have entered the 2nd trimester and this is the first Sunday of many that I have not spent bedridden after a Saturday of gallivanting.
The chill is finally in the air up here we had to turn on our heat. We figured the low electric bill we fortunately discovered last month was not good enough to duplicate this month!!
As Jason posted we have started our 'nesting' process of rearranging the household. Thus, our old bedroom will become the den/guest room, the living room will be our bedroom (once we reattach the french doors), and the office which attaches to the living room will become the nursery (the dining room will remain as so). A few tweaks and beautiful painting techniques to some old furniture, new walls in our 'new' bedroom and nursery, and a crib with some cute homemade baby gear will make it quite lovely. All of this is temporary, of course, atleast til the little tyke is 3 years old where we shall switch the rooms once again for Mom + Dad to have a little privacy(that is, if we are still in this apartment). I hope to post some pictures of the inspiration we have acquired for the design of the nursery soon....
We have our four month doctor's appointment on Monday, Nov. 19th. We will be meeting with one of the other doctor's from my doctor's office to familiarize ourselves with her in case our doctor is not on duty when we go into labor. Should be exciting as always!
As mentioned to a family email in the past, our risk of Down's Syndrome or congenital heart defect is 1 in 10,000 so the odds are very small so we are thankful.
Otherwise, the heat is finally kicking in so I'm going to make my way into the shower on this lovely, lazy Sunday afternoon.
xoxo
la maman
Yes, we have entered the 2nd trimester and this is the first Sunday of many that I have not spent bedridden after a Saturday of gallivanting.
The chill is finally in the air up here we had to turn on our heat. We figured the low electric bill we fortunately discovered last month was not good enough to duplicate this month!!
As Jason posted we have started our 'nesting' process of rearranging the household. Thus, our old bedroom will become the den/guest room, the living room will be our bedroom (once we reattach the french doors), and the office which attaches to the living room will become the nursery (the dining room will remain as so). A few tweaks and beautiful painting techniques to some old furniture, new walls in our 'new' bedroom and nursery, and a crib with some cute homemade baby gear will make it quite lovely. All of this is temporary, of course, atleast til the little tyke is 3 years old where we shall switch the rooms once again for Mom + Dad to have a little privacy(that is, if we are still in this apartment). I hope to post some pictures of the inspiration we have acquired for the design of the nursery soon....
We have our four month doctor's appointment on Monday, Nov. 19th. We will be meeting with one of the other doctor's from my doctor's office to familiarize ourselves with her in case our doctor is not on duty when we go into labor. Should be exciting as always!
As mentioned to a family email in the past, our risk of Down's Syndrome or congenital heart defect is 1 in 10,000 so the odds are very small so we are thankful.
Otherwise, the heat is finally kicking in so I'm going to make my way into the shower on this lovely, lazy Sunday afternoon.
xoxo
la maman
A Quiet Sunday Afternoon
Dear Friends + Family,
Here is an early sonogram of our little baby.
Pretty exctiting times around here! Melanie and I are going to be rearranging furniture next weekend in preparation for our little baby. We are basically taking our living room and making it into a large bedroom. Attached to our new bedroom will be the nursery, once our "computer room/ owl souvenirs studio". It's going to be interesting to see how we deal with the whole painting process. Wish us luck!
xo
jason.
11.07.2007
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