MANY POSITIVE NEW DEVELOPMENTS

Well, today has been a big day! I am starting Week 28 and we saw both our new perinatologist and our OB today.

Our brand new peri hails recently from, of all places, Seattle. As it turns out he knows all my many doctors on a first-name basis. This is a nearly miraculous coincindence. But we hope to not get to know him too well as patients, because we got very good news about my little ole placenta. My placenta previa has, as expected, corrected itself over time. More importantly, my eight weeks of bleeding has resulted in the complete dissolution of that large subchorionic hematoma (blood clot). So positive are these two developments that my OB has let me off bed rest. YAHOO! There is a separation between placenta membranes that may put me at increased risk for my water breaking, but that doesn't warrant bed rest apparently.

Of course we also got to spy on our descendant. Although crude, we did get a 4-D face shot of our her, after we observed her practicing her chewing or laughing or perhaps shouting. It was so funny I couldn't help but chuckle along, which must have made her self conscious because then she stopped. I had to comment, "Hey, she doen't have skinny lips!" and Jack said, "I think she's got my chin." As soon as we got home, Jack pulled out his baby book to show me that she looks like him as a newborn. I think she's gorgeous, but then I have to remember we are looking at fuzzy images of a fetus. Mothers are so biased.

She weighs 2 lbs. 8 oz. and our OB said tinier, younger babies are living over in the NICU right now. We are very pleased to be growing her so well so far. Much credit goes to Daddio, who has been feeding me day and night and manning the household chores whilst I peruse eBay on the couch.

Since you've read along this far, we'll let you know now that we've named her Vanessa Holland Hoyt. We mostly call her Nessa, Nessers, and Nestle, although we also call her Van, Van Ho Ho, and VH1. Today we thought we should rework the Van Halen logo to read Van Holland. Perhaps we're getting ahead of ourselves.