I Suck At Ultrasounds

Yesterday, I attended one of Karen's routine appointments with the maternal fetal medicine department at South Shore Hospital. Unlike the other routine appointments during Karen's pregnancy that I have attended thus far, this appointment was longer because more measurements of the baby had to be taken during the ultrasound.

Unfortunately, I suck at ultrasounds. Whenever the technician moves the ultrasound around, I initially have trouble making out the black and white blotches that appear on the screen. It is not until the technician identifies what is on the screen that I can make it out. Although I must say, I am getting better. I can at least make out the black and white blotches of the baby's head, face, arms, hands, legs, feet, spine, and heart. It's really the other black and white blotches that I have trouble with.

Anyway, I think it's truly amazing how the miracles of modern science can provide an in-depth view of the baby during pregnancy. I sometimes wonder what it was like when things like ultrasounds did not exist.

Regardless, yesterday was quite the thrill. The technician actually provided us with a three-dimensional view of the baby. It was the first time I had ever seen a three-dimensional ultrasound. I had heard of them before, but to actually see one with your own baby is quite remarkable.

(The picture below is a three-dimensional ultrasound of our little baby.)


Needless to say, I was quite excited about the baby... and quite stressed at the same time. I will probably feel less stressed in five months when the baby is due. As it is, in a little over a month the baby will be at the same point where our son (Braden) was born. Hopefully, the baby can make it past that point. Baby steps... literally.

Following the appointment, my favorite sister-in-law (Janine) and my friend (Gretchen) stopped by. They had heard about the ultrasound and wanted to see the baby. It was fun hanging with them. I'm glad they stopped by.

Anyway, as Karen and I were both excited about the ultrasound, we decided to go out for dinner. I guess you could say it was a celebration of sorts. With the holiday season approaching, I have been thinking a lot about Braden. I still miss him. Last year there wasn't much to celebrate, but with Karen's pregnancy this year, it's making things a little easier. So it was nice to be excited about something.

We decided to go out to dinner at The Tinker's Son, which is located in Norwell. In fact, the restaurant is where the old Aerosmith restaurant known as Mount Blue used to be. The Tinker's Son is a relatively new place, having opened a little over a month ago. For anyone curious, the place is an Irish pub and restaurant. And for those who know me, they would know that I love all things Irish.

It was the first time that Karen or I had been to the Tinker's Son. We had heard about the place via an article about the chef opening the Irish restaurant. So we figured that we would give it a try.

The menu selection was small, but the food was good. I had the staple fish and chips dinner. It was quite delicious. (Cue Rachael Ray's "Yum-O" sound.) It was a good time. Had we stayed longer, we could have participated in trivia night which happens every Monday night. The other nights are booked with bands and whatnot.

And for anyone curious, one of the songs that was played at the Tinker's Son was Fairytale of New York by the Pogues. The song was played in the background, which I thought was pretty cool. It's a catchy tune. Plus, I believe the song happens to my friend's (Marc) favorite Christmas tune.

(The video below is the video for the Fairytale of New York.)


Anyway, it was a good day yesterday. I would go back to the Tinker's Son.

I Suck At Ultrasounds

Today has been a pretty good day.

This afternoon, I attended Karen's appointment with South Shore Hospital. On the agenda for the appointment: an ultrasound. Now I suck at ultrasounds. I always find ultrasounds so fascinating. I sometimes wonder what the ultrasound machines must have looked like in the past, because now they are the slimmest machines. The miracles of modern science...

For anyone curious, Karen is officially pregnant. This week marks the nearing of the completion of the first trimester. And generally with the end of first trimester, people start telling people. So to follow suit... Karen is pregnant!

To say that I am ecstatic is an understatement (assuming it is mine). I'm just kidding. Of course it's mine. And really, what is there not to be excited about? Today, I got to see the baby via ultrasound. The amazing thing with ultrasound is that you can see the heart beating... the skeletal structure... everything. It's truly amazing.

Truth be told, I did get a little emotional when I saw the ultrasound. After everything that happened with our first son (Braden), who passed away a week after being born prematurely, I was overcome with that feeling of joy to be lucky enough to conceive again. And like I said, seeing the heart beating and all of that was just amazing.

By no means has my grieving ended for Braden. Seeing the ultrasound was just one of those bright spots in my life where things are not all gloom and doom in my world. If my friend (Aimee) were here next to me, I would tell her that "The Cure is God". For anyone curious, Aimee was a big fan of the musical group known as The Cure when we were growing up. At the time, I had poked fun of their music by saying it was depressing music. With Aimee being the hardcore fan of The Cure, it eventually led to the phrase "The Cure is God". (The phrase has nothing to do with devout religious fanatics.)

Anyway, I guess one of the ways to look at Braden's passing is that... well, he gave his mommy and daddy the greatest gift he could... his life... so that he could tell us that mommy needed some help with bearing children. Sure, it's not the greatest way to look at things, but in a world where people need answers... the heroic outlook may have to suffice.

Naturally, I am now a stress ball with this pregnancy. I just want things to work out this time around. My stress will probably not be good for the baby. Heck, my stress and worrying probably won't even be good for Karen as I try to take on too many things in an effort to decrease her normal workload around the house.

Stress aside, I did enjoy seeing the ultrasound. It was a good feeling to see the baby and to know that Braden would theoretically having a sibling. (I probably won't speak in definites in regards to the baby until the nine months are over.) And what better way to follow a good time than an opportunity to hang out with my BFF (Kerry)?

Kerry asked if she could stay over since she has an early training class tomorrow morning in nearby Bridgewater. As usual, it's always great to see Kerry. And of course, with Kerry spending the night, the three of us started season three of Veronica Mars. Veronica Mars is such a good show! I will be disappointed when we finish the final season of the show. As it is now, I have forgotten some of the things that happened the previous seasons.

Veronica Mars was definitely a great way to end the night. Today was a good day...

I Suck At Ultrasound

today, karen had a doctor's appointment. as i was working from home today, i was able to accompany her on her visit. had i been working for the state, i'm sure someone would consider this a fleecing of the commonwealth. i can, however, assure you that there was no fleecing today as i had actually started work early and worked a little later than normal business hours.

anyway, karen's appointment involved an ultrasound. now, i suck at ultrasound. up until a few months ago in which i actually got to see the entire ultrasound process, i could never make out the pictures in an ultrasound. an ultrasound was like a rorsharch ink blot test to me because i had to guess what the dark shades of gray and black were. it was not until someone pointed out something like a baby's head, that i could actually make out a physical feature. well luckily, going through the whole having a baby thing with karen has made it easier to see stuff in the ultrasound.

anyway, i'm not normally one to post pictures of my baby (or minion as i like to refer to him/her as) because one of my fears is that i'll turn into an overbearing parent who does nothing but talk about their child and mention how great my child is to others. don't get me wrong, i understand that once a baby is born... their life is basically your life... but i'm still a big proponent of keeping one's individuality and self identity... much like in a marriage or other relationship.

so here is one of the ultrasound pictures from the doctor's appointment.

(pictured below is my minion.)


even though karen and i are waiting to be surprised by the sex of the baby, i am synonymously referring to my minion as "bruce" or more affectionately, "the little dragon".

for anyone who does not get the reference... bruce lee, according my friend wikipedia was "widely regarded as the most influential martial artist of the twentieth century and a cultural icon."

growing up, i was a big fan of martial arts and loved watching bruce lee movies. there was a time when i wanted to be a hong kong action star... granted, i knew nothing about martial arts... but i watched a lot of tv to know that the quality of hong kong's actors pailed in comparison to the united states.

anyway, bruce lee's chinese name in cantonese (lee siu lung) translates to "little dragon". he was also born in the hour of the dragon (between 6–8am) and in the year of the dragon according to the chinese zodiac calendar. thus, bruce lee... bruce yee... little dragon. need i say more?