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Tuesday, December 30, 2008

time is winding down...

We went to Choices West this morning for our final bi-weekly appointment - - now we are on a once a week schedule with them. Everything looked good. Belly is still growing, therefore baby is growing too - although that has become obvious as Gumdrop has begun encroaching on mom's lungs. One unexpected twist is that even though Gumdrop is growing, mom has been losing weight - about 3 pounds in the past month. Not many people can say that they lost weight at this time of the year, but we have managed it! No one seems concerned though.

We did go through the whole process of what to do when we start to see signs of labor. As of next week, we would not be considered pre-term if we were to go into labor, so they would just let it progress. It is hard to believe that we have come this far already!

We have been working diligently the last couple of days to get all the last minute things together. The bag is pretty much packed and ready to go, the birth plan is just about done, we are filling in the last of the phone numbers for our contact list, we bought a hospital gown alternative to wear during labor and delivery... its all coming together. Next step is just to wrap up any loose ends and get a plan in place for Chloe and the cats.

Next week on Wednesday we have a very big day. We are meeting with Dr. Ratner (the pediatric surgeon), taking a NICU tour and meeting with a neonatologist, and we have our last appointment at the Perinatal Center for our final sonogram. This is all in one day and it is sure to be an exhausting one! We will let you know how it all goes though!

We hope that everyone continues to enjoy their holiday season and had a great Christmas! Many wishes for a happy and healthy new year to all!

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Christmas wishes...

We wanted to take a minute to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. We hope you stay safe and healthy and enjoy your time with your friends and family at this time of the year. You are all in our thoughts as we enjoy our holidays here at the D'Angelo house!

Friday, December 12, 2008

Busy last couple of weeks...

It has been more than two weeks since our last post! We have just been so busy that there never seems to be enough time in the day to get everything on the list done. But, thanks to a snow day, I have a little time in between the batches of macaroons that are baking! So, the last two and half weeks in a nut shell…

Thanksgiving went well. We had our families over and had a nice big feast! There were of course plenty of leftovers to get us through the next few days! Vince’s mom and our friend Melissa organized our baby shower for that Saturday (11/29), so there was a pretty steady flow of people coming and going throughout the weekend.

The shower was very nice. We got lots of fantastic gifts that are sure to give our Gumdrop the start that he or she will need! We have an entire laundry basket full of clothes and onesies and socks and towels and wash clothes… Just amazing! And that also reminds me - - the nursery is done!! It looks great! We are really pleased with how it turned out. I will try to get some pictures that we can post of the shower and the nursery as soon as I can!

There was another Choices West appointment on the 2nd. Nothing much was new there. Weight is still good, sugar levels have been pretty even, heartbeat is strong as ever. There have been a couple spikes in my sugar levels, but I have been able to figure out what caused them for the most part and know what to avoid in the future. Raisins are evidently not something that my body is processing well right now - - thought it would be a healthy fruit option, but it didn’t quite work out that way!

Just this Wednesday (12/10) we went to the Perinatal Center for another sonogram and meeting with Dr. Spadola. Every time we go we brace ourselves for kind of negative news. We expected a rollercoaster of news from the beginning of this journey because that is what is typical of CDH, but everyone’s prayers and well wishes have been making a difference and we got another positive report this week! Overall growth is still completely average – in the 54th percentile – and the right lung still looks good with a lung to head ratio of 2.3 (anything over 2 is good). Fluid levels are still normal too! Nothing really alarming at all! AND, it was the absolute quickest Perinatal Center appointment we have ever had! We are usually there for hours because their office is so crazy and busy. So, this time I brought a bag of things to do while we were waiting and that did the trick! We were in and out within one hour! This was almost as exciting as the continued good report from Dr. Spadola.

Yesterday, my amazing co-workers had a baby shower for me after school. They really went all out and transformed our less than beautiful teacher’s lounge into a fantastic baby shower. They had all kinds of food and were so generous with their gifts. I am truly lucky to work with such supportive and wonderful people – they definitely make a challenging job worthwhile on many days when it doesn’t seem worth it! Hopefully I will have some pictures from the shower to post sometime soon.

Well, I think that is everything major from the last couple of weeks. We are getting ready for the holidays now. We went and cut down our tree last weekend and the house is all decorated now – with the exception that Vince really wants to hang lights outside, but the weather has been less than cooperative for climbing on ladders, especially with a still recovering knee! You can see our tree in the front window though, so that adds a little cheer to the front of the house! We have a couple parties this weekend, including one at our house with all our friends. It is an annual tradition that we have kept for probably at least the last 12 years. We have not done any shopping yet, so that is still on the list. We hope that you are all looking forward to this holiday season as well and stay warm and safe in these coming weeks.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Eventful past week...

Things around here have been pretty busy lately - - a lot of different things going on! We had our first birthing class last week. We were supposed to have two classes, but the weather kept her from making it here the first night. It was a very positive experience. We were both pretty nervous going into it, but she put us at ease. The instructor actually came to our house for the class. We had been in contact with her to sign up for the class that she does through Choices West, but she offered to do a class for us here for no additional charge. I think she knew that we would have different issues and questions as we prepare for a birthing experience that is sure to be different from the norm. She made us feel confident though that we are in the best hands possible for care and that we will hopefully still have some level of control over the situation in terms of what we want and do not want during the birth. She encouraged us to create a birth plan and talk with Dr. Neulander about what in reality is possible. That way we know what to expect and everyone is on the same page. We have one more class with her next week that we are looking forward to.

We also met with the pediatrician's office on Thursday afternoon. It is the office that has been recommended to us by numerous people on a personal and professional level. It is where our nephew, Emanuel, goes and was highly recommended by Choices West and a NICU nurse Vince met at physical therapy. We met mainly with the nurse practitioner and only briefly with the actual pediatrician when he came in to introduce himself and reinforce the fact that we are in good care. The NP runs the office for the most part and will most likely be who we will mainly deal with, but it was disappointing to not get to sit down with the doctor for any great lengths. The NP does personally know Dr. Ratner (the surgeon) which is a good connection to make though! Despite our (really just mom's!) disappointment, we are satisfied that we are making the right choice with this office.

And, we have a nursery! It is practically complete. The major painting is done and looks great. Mom is going to stamp some stars on the walls and then the painting will be done. We bought the crib set last week, but were only able to get the crib, not the dressers. We were told the dressers would not be in for 8-12 weeks, unfortunately. So, we put the crib together last Saturday and went out and bought a mattress so that we could get the full effect - sheets, bumper, mobile - and we were satisfied that we had done as much as we could. Then, yesterday we got a message that our dressers were available already!! So exciting! We went and got them last night and had Patty's brothers came over to help move them in. It looks great! Absolutely perfect! And with the shower this weekend, it makes us feel good to know that we have space to put everything away now. Only problem we are having is that Chester (our cat) thinks that the crib is his personal comfy bed. It is probably a good thing that we have a couple months at least to break him of this habit!

So, with Thanksgiving tomorrow and the shower on Saturday, it is going to be more busyness around here. We hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and enjoy your time with your families. We are very thankful this year for you and all your support these past few months. Next year we will have even more to be thankful for by this time!

Monday, November 17, 2008

Latest Choices West Appointment

We just came from our latest appointment at Choices West and it was a great experience. Mom's weight is still in check, blood sugar levels are controlled and good, heartbeat was good and strong, and Gumdrop's head is down where it is supposed to be. All good news!

We also got to meet with Dr. Neulander today. Choices West is his practice, but we have never met with him. He is the first medical person who has handled our situation as a human being, not just a doctor. He put many of our concerns to rest. We should definitely be able to have one of the mid-wives deliver the baby and we should be able to have a natural birth. This is all pending no other complications of course, but the chances are the same as any other normal pregnancy. Dr. Neulander also assured us that we can name our choice for which mid-wife to deliver the baby and that he would make a point of being there as well. So, that is a very comforting thought. While we know that this situation was beyond everyone's control, he was apologetic about what we have to deal with. His sympathy was comforting and we feel completely at ease with being under the care of his office.

In other baby news... we purchased a crib and matching dressers yesterday. Dad is picking up the crib tonight and we have to wait for the dressers to be delivered in a few weeks. Dad worked on the nursery all day Saturday and made some good progress. Bridget came over and was a huge help too. It should be done in the next few days hopefully!

We also went yesterday and had maternity photos taken. We already looked at the proofs last night and are very pleased with how they looked. There are definitely a few that we are going to look to buy prints of. The photographer that we went to has a studio right in the basement of his house. He was really nice and his assistant was wonderful. It was really a great experience!

So, we are getting along well! It is a busy week coming up with birthing classes, meeting with the pediatrician, and a million other things! Busy, but productive! We will keep you posted! Stay warm!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

No change is good change...

We spent our morning at the Perinatal Center this morning and had another ultrasound and meeting with Dr. Spadola.  While we were again frustrated at the efficiency this office is run with, we were pleased with the eventual outcome.  The ultrasound technician was very nice and offered to do some 3-D images so that she could get some "more practice" with them.   Of course neither of us mentioned that we had already talked someone else into doing some for us last time!  They did not come out as clearly as the others, but it was still pretty cool.  And during the ultrasound, she was also able to point out that the baby was sucking its thumb!  We could definitely see the little mouth moving.  It was so cute!  We could also see the baby taking "practice breathes" which is more a sign of developmental progression more than an actual indication of lung function, but it was still good to see.

At the end of the sonogram with the technician, while mom was using the bathroom for the fifth time that morning, Dr. Spadola came in so she could take a look at the baby as well.  She always likes to look for herself on top of all the images the technician saves for her.  This time she had two students with her, who seemed in awe of our situation.  We did not mind having them there, but watching them as Dr. Spadola explained our case was  almost funny.  Unfortunately, after our brief encounter with Dr. Spadola in the ultrasound room, we were sent back to the waiting room to wait for our "official" appointment with her.

We were finally called back in for our update and it was all good though!  The baby's overall growth is still right on track in the 56th percentile.  The lung-to-head ratio that tells us how well the right lung is developing is still good too!  We know that number can fluctuate and were prepared for bad news, since it has been good all long, but Gumdrop's fighting the odds!  

She was a little concerned because the baby's stomach looked big which could indicate a blockage somewhere in the baby's system; but mom's fluid levels are on the low end of normal, so she does not seem to think that there are any problems lurking.  And there was some question about where the gall bladder was (the technician had a hard time finding it), but she did not seem overly concerned and assumes that it has shifted away from its typical location as most of the other organs have moved around as well.   But good news all around from Dr. Spadola today!

In other, general news, mom seems to be feeling much better now that she has reached the third trimester.  She has only thrown up once in the past couple weeks and her energy seems a little higher for the time being.  She has been regularly checking her blood sugar levels and things have been looking good.  Hopefully we will avoid any more complications from that problem! Dad has been hard at work turning a catch all, ugly room into a dream nursery.  All the tedious prep work is done, and next step is paint on the walls, so hopefully it will be done soon!  We do have some pictures of the process, but we will put them up when we have some kind of end product to show off!  

Next appointment is Monday with Dr. Neulander at Choices West on Monday and we are meeting with our potential pediatrician next Thursday.  We will let you know how things go!  


Sunday, November 2, 2008

Halloween






Here are a few pictures of us at the crew's annual Halloween party. Patty won the most creative costume award. One of the only times that she could pull that off :-)

Mom is doing well. Getting sick less and less...hopefully the third trimester is the less nauseous trimester! We're trying to pay close mind to diet after meeting with the nutritionist to discuss how to eat with diabetes. We had some insurance trouble getting a meter, but hope to get that squared away this week. We have some good literature on meal suggestions so we are going off of that for now.

We started the nursery this weekend! We cleared the bedroom right next to ours that has been a catch all since we moved in. Clearing it involved moving our two cat's stuff to the basement. We put a little cat door on the basement door. They surprisingly love the basement. Next up is some electrical work and patching the walls. We'll try and take some before and after pictures.

All in all, things are going great. We have our highs and lows, but we are positive people and this has done nothing but bring the two of us together. Words can not describe how special it is to know that through your love another life can be formed that is truly and extension of your love for each other.....Mushy I know, but true. It is amazing how children can unite families, couples, and even perfect strangers....even before it is born. Thanks again for all the support and prayers.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

one more speed bump...

We are 27 weeks now and at our appointment with Choices West yesterday we had to do our glucose tolerance test.  It was not a pleasant experience as mom is still queasy in the morning and drinking orange sugar water is not pleasant for a sick stomach.  And her veins would not cooperate, so that was another challenge.  Other than that, the appointment went well.  Heartbeat was strong.  Only a couple more pounds were gained.

Angela, the triage nurse at Choices West and our personal savior these past weeks, called this afternoon with the unfortunate news that the glucose test did come back positive.  Just one more challenge to be dealt with, but I am ready for something to work out easily for once.  It seems like one speed bump after another on this journey.  So, we are picking up a meter at Wegmans tonight, meeting with Angela to get some more information tomorrow afternoon, and meeting with a nutritionist Friday morning.  Gestational diabetes is obviously not the worse thing to be facing, but it is frustrating nonetheless.  Especially when we have been trying so hard to do the right things.  Everything for a reason though!  

Monday, October 27, 2008

No miracles yet...

We finally heard from Dr. Spadola with the MRI results today.  You cannot help but hold out that there will be some miraculous happening and someone will say, "Ooops!  We are so sorry to have worried you, but everything looks fine!"  - - even though in the back of your head you are rational enough to know that it isn't going to happen.  Hope and belief in miracles are what keep you going though!

The results were positive though.  They confirmed what they had deduced from the ultrasound.  It is a left sided hernia with the stomach and part of the intestines in the chest cavity.  The entire liver is below the diaphragm though - which is fantastic!  It is a much more serious condition when the liver is involved.  The kidneys look normal and the right lung looks fairly normal as well!  So, it wasn't "bad" news and now we know for certain what we are up against.

Next step is meeting with the surgeon to discuss what will happen after the birth and meet with the NICU people to get a tour of the unit and meet with at least one of the neonatologists.  We do not have those appointments scheduled quite yet, but hopefully that will be squared away soon.  Tomorrow morning we go back to Choices West for another check up too.

Gumdrop has been very active lately!  Mom can actually see her belly moving sometimes from all the bouncing around.  And the belly just keeps growing!  Dad compared its "getting bigger and bigger everyday" to the mall expansion the other day...  Its not usually a good thing to compare your wife to a construction project!  :-)  

We will keep you posted and let you know how things progress!  Thank you for all your love and support!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Still Waiting :-(

So we are still waiting to hear the results from the MRI. We called on Monday and again today with no luck. I guess they are pretty backed up. As soon as we know more details we will pass it along. On a more pleasant note, today was the first work day in a few months that mom did not get sick. She sure felt like it and spent several moments in the bathroom "just in case".....but maybe, just maybe we will turn the corner soon. We just heard from Patty's grandmother and learned that she was sick up through six months with all three of her children.....so maybe it runs in the family :-)

We also went looking around Target and Babies R' Us yesterday....and dad almost had a hernia...but he got through it. Be sure to ask Patty about our adventures spent talking to the sales associate about breast pumps :-P There is a lot to learn about...but I think we are on our way. 

Thanks again to all those positive comments and for all those prayers...they keep us rolling and mean more than you will ever know.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

MRI

We went for our MRI this morning.  It was quicker than expected and we are hoping that they got all the information that they needed because Gumdrop decided that it was a great time to practice some cartwheels.  Mom only slightly hyperventilated once, but overall is was not as horrible an experience as she presumed it would be.  We chatted with the technician afterwards and he has never seen this defect, but they have also only recently started using MRIs to look at unborn babies.  Monday Dr. Spadola should give us a call to let us know what the radiologist found, so we will let you know then!  

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Gumdrop's First Real Close-Ups






We had another appointment with Dr. Spadola today. They did another sonogram and growth looks good. We are in the 59 percentile for size. We like to be average so just about average makes us very, very happy. From what she can tell the liver has still not moved and that is very good….plus size of the right lung is within the good range.

 So we got some positive news today. While they were doing the sonogram Vince joked with them to hitting the 3D button thinking that they would not…but they did and it was just amazing. Since we don’t have a scanner, we took pictures of the printouts and posted them as you can see. Just amazing. We think it is definitely a D’Angelo nose and a Vince shaped chin….what do you think J

 Everyday we get a little closer and everyday we bond more with gumdrop. Afternoon after school is Gumdrop swim time…maybe gumdrop with be at the Olympics some day and break a record….or maybe just a belly flopper like Dad!

 Mom is still getting sick and we are praying that means a strong baby…cause something positive should come out of all the puking!

 We hope you all enjoy the pictures. We want to thank everyone that has been prying for our family. It means so much to us to have those prayers and positive thoughts. We hope to let Gumdrop thank each of you person someday. Thanks again from the bottom of our hearts. 


Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Our Story from the Beginning

Friday, May 23, 2008

We found out today that we are pregnant!!  While we have been trying for quite some time, it still came as a surprise and we found that we were in a bit of shock.  It was a very happy surprise though!

 

Monday, June 16, 2008

We had our first appointment at Choices West today.  There was not much to see, but we did get to look at our “grain of rice” on the sonogram.  It’s just amazing!  We now feel a little more comfortable starting to share our big news with others!

 

Monday, July 14, 2008

We had our second appointment today and got to hear the heartbeat for the first time.  It is hard to believe that there is a little heart beating in there already.  The heart was strong and everything looks good!  Mom has started feeling worse the past couple of weeks, but it is not horrible and she can just relax for awhile now that it is summer.

 

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Another short visit to Choices West this morning let us hear the heartbeat again - - just as strong as it was last time!  Mom is still not feeling very well and is still getting sick.  It is not a daily occurrence though.  The doctor gave her a dissolvable pill to try when the nausea starts.  It is supposed to make it go away instantly.  We will have to see if it works, but it does give a little more peace of mind with the school year fast approaching!

 

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Today was our big appointment at Choices West.  We have reached 19 weeks and were due for our first real sonogram that looks more like a baby and less like a blur.  Today was also the first day back at school and we got off to quite a start as Mom puked out the side door while the new administrator she had never met looked on - - great first impression!!

The sonogram was amazing!  The technician explained frame by frame what we were looking at: the head, arm, leg, waving hand.  He was having a hard time keeping up with the baby and let us know we should invest in some running shoes because we were going to need them.  At one point, he switched to a view of the baby that needed no explanation - - it was a perfect view of the baby’s profile complete with a turned up little nose.  We were in awe.  As we sat in the waiting room waiting to meet with the midwife, looking at the printed version of this view, we joked about the elf nose and sent out a cell phone camera version of the sonogram.

After getting called back by the nurse, we went through the steps that have now become natural.  I had gained 4 pounds since my last appointment, which is actually the first substantial weight I have gained since the beginning.  Things seem to be progressing.  The nurse left us in the examination room to wait – and wait we did!  A while later, Rita, one of the women in the office who we have been seeing, finally came in and shocked us with what she had to say.

It seemed that the sonogram technician saw something that concerned him.  While they are not specialists in this, it seemed from what they could tell that the baby had a hernia in its diaphragm.  That was all they would tell us.  Other than that we needed to now see a specialist at the Perinatal Center to have another, better sonogram in order to confirm this or prove otherwise.  They would schedule this appointment and we would go from there.  The range of emotions that go through you is indescribable and the wait until that next appointment seems like an eternity.

 

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

The morning of our next round of doctors arrived and we tried to remain as positive as possible.  Angela at Choices West tried to get us an appointment as soon as possible to cut down on the nerve wracking wait.  She also warned us that it would be a very long day, so we came prepared.

In the days leading up to this, Dad of course started a full internet search of everything related to this problem.  We now knew it was a genetic birth defect called Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia and that it affects roughly 1 in every 2500 babies in America.  The appointment with Dr. Spadola today at the Perinatal Center would fill in the blanks as to (a) if this was what we were dealing with and (b) what the severity of our case is.

The Perinatal Center was chaos.  It was loud and busy - - just the complete opposite of Choices West where we have become so comfortable.  The people there are the best at what they do though, so that is all we can ask for. 

After waiting for over an hour, we finally got called in for the sonogram.  The technician was very thorough and took a fair amount of time looking our baby over inch by inch.  In spite of the circumstances, it was still amazing to see that little baby on the screen.  She would not say anything one way or another and just reiterated that Dr. Spadola would discuss everything with us when we met with her later.

Back out in the waiting room, we waited some more.  It was nerve wracking.  The nurse finally called us back again.  She took my weight and blood pressure – which was high, of course – and then ushered us to yet another room to wait in.  We sat there for a while longer before another nurse came in and did a short questionnaire with us regarding our health and genetic backgrounds.  Because CDH is a genetic defect, they needed a full background to rule out any other complications.  Then came more waiting until Dr. Spadola finally came in, introduced herself, and asked us to follow her to an examination room so she could have her own look on the ultrasound.  Still no answers, but we had an idea now that it was not going to be the “everything looks good” diagnosis we had hoped for.

Dr. Spadola intently studied the images on the screen for a few minutes before finally announcing that it is often easier to point things out rather than try to explain later.  She pointed to a large black spot on the baby’s chest.  This, she told us, was the stomach.  She also noted that it was pushing the heart to the right and obscured the view of the left lung.  The long and short of it was that there is indeed a hole in the diaphragm on the left side.  From what can be detected through the sonogram, the stomach and part of the small intestine are in the chest cavity where the left lung should be developing.  She also found a cyst on the baby’s brain.  This she said is a “common human variable” – many babies have this and it can mean absolutely nothing.  In our case, since there is one defect already in play, the cyst could mean something more serious or it could mean nothing at all.  We are focusing on the issues that we know exist and are not going to get caught up in the “what ifs” that pop up along the way.  We have to have faith and deal with things as they come.

We decided to forego additional genetic testing and continue the pregnancy as normal.  There is nothing about what we do between now and February that will change whether we know more or not.  It was hard news to take and obviously not what we hoped for, but there were a few bright spots.  For one, the hole is on the left side, which is the better side for it to be on.  Also, Dr. Spadola measured the right lung and it looks good - - not perfect, but better than it could be.  And from what she could see, the liver is not in the chest cavity, which is a big plus.  She gave us an 80% survival rate and we have the best facilities in the area to work with.  She was perfectly clear that this will not be an easy road to take and will have its fair share of ups and downs, but it is doable.  She was honest.  The baby will be placed on a respirator as soon as it is born and will have surgery to correct the defect as soon as he or she is stable enough.  From there, no one knows.  Every case is very different.  It could be three weeks in the NICU; it could be three months.   

We will have more testing done to get a better picture – a fetal echocardiogram to look for heart defects and an MRI to determine where exactly all the organs are.  The echo is already scheduled for next week.  Until then, we will continue to hold out for the best.

 

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

We went to the pediatric cardiologist today.  The technician who did the echocardiogram was very nice and luckily Gumdrop cooperated, so it was a quick process.  The doctor happened to be called out to the hospital, so she offered to have him call us when he returned if we did not want to wait.  We decided to wait it out though.  We could not have handled leaving without knowing what the prognosis was.  When the doctor called us in, he was quick and to the point: the heart looks good, all the parts look good, blood flow looks good.  He said that after the baby is born, they will do another echo to make sure there are no minor defects, but from this standpoint, the heart is healthy.  Good news was exactly what we needed!

 

Monday, September 22, 2008

We went and met with Deacon Nick from Holy Family tonight.  Vince had talked to him last week and explained the situation, so he invited us to come in and sit down with him.  He is a fantastic person and put our minds more at ease with all that is going on and is to come.  He told us some amazing stories of babies he has dealt with that have beat all odds and the miracles he has witnessed.  We discussed with him our options for after the baby is born and we have decided to call him as soon as the baby is on the way.  He is going to come to the hospital and baptize the baby as soon as he can.  Then, after Gumdrop is well again and on the road to full recovery, we will have the full church baptism ceremony with everyone.  It is a comforting thought.  We are sure that Deacon Nick will be a great support for us in the months to come.

 

Thursday, September 25, 2008

We felt Gumdrop moving for the first time tonight!  Well, Mom has thought she has felt things for the past couple of weeks, but was not quite sure.  Then tonight when we were watching TV, the bumping became obvious.  Mom grabbed Dad’s hand and made sure he felt it too.  It was amazing…  there really is a little baby in there and it is getting bigger and stronger every day.

 

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

We had our next regular check up at Choices West this afternoon.  Mom is sick with a cold, but other than that things look good: we gained another 3 pounds, good blood pressure, and a strong Gumdrop heartbeat.  Rita seemed confident that there will be no problem with us continuing our care at Choices West.  We will still go to the Perinatal Center regularly for sonograms and for Dr. Spadola to keep an eye on the progression on things, but Choices West will continue to be our primary office.  In the end, it should not matter who cares for me and delivers the baby, so long as the neonatologist is there to care for the baby as soon as it is born.  We feel much more comfortable at Choices West, so we are happy about that!  

Charlie's Name Gallery

from Aunt Monica B - Rockport, MA

from Charlie's girlfriend, Kayla Mae - Canton, NY

from our good friend Chrissy DeHay -
Fayetteville-Manlius High School, NY

from the Hinaman cousins, Jessica, Jasmine, and Jennifer -
Grand Island, NY


from Maxwell (top) and Nolan (bottom) - at the Strong Museum, Rochester, NY

from Ashley and David Standifer - casino winnings from Tunica, MS

from Charlie's Greatgrandfather, Charlie Angeles
and his dog, Keeshond Charlie (KC) - Saratoga Springs, NY


from Leah, Jenna, Olivia, and Colton - Myrtle Beach, SC


from Carter, Charlie's CDH buddy - North Carolina

from Aunt Melissa, Uncle Walt, and soon-to-be cousin, Noah - Syracuse, NY

from the Naz girls (Patty's grad school friends) - Rochester, NY