4D Ultrasound

So this is turning out to be the most photographed baby in the world.  Well some of you expected that already, but not before the little thing was even born!  It turns out that we've been having weekly Ultrasound check-ups, called Biophysical profiles (BPP's) for the past few weeks to monitor growth, movements, etc.  

This has been done just as a precaution because of the way the babie's umbilical cord inserts into the placenta.  I tried to search for a decent diagram but all that came up was post partum gross pathology pictures of the placenta that most would not enjoy looking at.  Everything has gone fine to this point but as the baby gets larger and larger, our doctors have just wanted to keep an eye to make sure she keeps an adequate blood supply and keeps growing as she should.  

With that, we got some new 4D pictures of the face at our most recent visit :

31 weeks

Peace....bro....

In other news, I am done with Medical school.  I had my last clinic on Friday morning and now I have a glorious three months until I begin the trials of internship.  It was interesting to tell my last patient in clinic that she would be the last patient I saw with my short white coat (as a student).  She failed to grasp the gravity of the moment, but was sweet and said "Hun, as long as you know what you are talking about and can refill my medicines you can wear whatever you want."

Lastly, my class ring for medical school came in last week.  Many years ago,  I got a high school class ring and ended up regretting it because I never wore it after I graduated.  I mean who wears a high school ring at college?? No one!

I didn't get a college ring....and funny enough ended up regretting that.  I will be proud to be a Bulldog until my dying day, and I've seen some rings from there that are really nice looking that I'd be proud to wear with a suit any day.

Well there was no doubt I was getting a medical school class ring, mainly because the rings at MCG are freaking sweet.  They have had the same custom class ring for about 100 years or something crazy like that and the most prominent design element....you guess it, the skull and crossbones:

Makeshift macro with the trusty 50/1.8  ...almost has a Lensbaby type feel to it:

A little further out:

A cool thing is, my dad has this exact same ring, except on the other side it says '84 and his is 10K gold so it has the yellow tinge.  

I'm enjoying it so far.

Tomorrow, going to Florida fishing with my brother and Grandfather for a few days if the weather will hold out.

Playing hard...

Lily Menagerie

It happened to me.  I'd say for the past maybe year or so, I've had a real photographic block. You might have noticed that my other blog has been all but abandoned and I've done no recent weddings, or posted any other real photos in quite some time. Honestly, this blog has been mostly prose with just a few ultrasounds sprinkled throughout.  Any of the other photos you've seen posted here have been pretty much the only photos I've taken.

Sure, I've been busy finishing up school, working, traveling for interviews, etc., but deep down I've known that it's been more than that.  I've had a mental block of some sort, and I can't really describe it more than to add that even when I've had time off and have been relaxing, I just haven't had the urge to grab the camera to take with me as much as I normally would.  

Call it coincidence that today (the day after the Match is off my shoulders) I got home and didn't check my email, did not pass go, did not collect $200.  I went straight to my office.... grabbed the camera..... grabbed the trusty 50mm f 1.8.... checked the battery....'good it's only half dead'.... and went out shooting.  

I decided to focus on our menagerie of Asiatic Lillies that we've been enjoying so much lately and had a few things in mind I wanted to do. I played with several different lighting settings (full sun, shaded with my white umbrella, backlighting, and softer evening light) and decided to shoot most of the pictures in RAW format (something I've dabbled with off and on but this year made it a resolution to convert).  I played/processed the images in Lightroom (where I've been building a preset library, thanks for the tip, Matt) and decided to post a few here to break up the monotony of this constant babbling on about the baby.   

Just kidding dear.  Enjoy

I'm back.

Work Hard, Play Hard.

University of Alabama Birmingham

The question is answered, we'll be in Augusta for one more year where I will do my internship year in General Internal Medicine.

Then we'll move to Birmingham, AL where I'll start my Residency in Radiology!!!

When I got home from the ceremony it was nice to have an email from the Program Director at UAB and he sent a sheet of the 2010 class of Radiology residents.  One is a classmate of mine, and the most of the others I met on the interview trail at some point.

Jaynah has already started talking about re-arranging furniture, but we are both grinning ear to ear!

Click the image to enlarge.

Cardiology clinic is going to be a little more laid back tomorrow morning.....

Time to play hard!

Timeline Gaps filled

Our first home movie 20 weeks:

Peyton's first portrait 24 weeks:

Lovely at 28 weeks:

Family Portraits 29 weeks:

We were so happy with our photo session shot by our close friends over at altmix photography .

You can see more of our shots on their blog and you should also check out the slideshow .

On a side note, I loved the latest post by another close friend and a genuine Southern Belle

My six word story:   Tomorrow we will know the future.

The 4 word Mantra:  Work hard, play hard.

Stuff

It has been far too long since a post. Alas, rotations, travel, etc. have kept me occupied.

This post is about STUFF. And you know what I'm talking about.

I didn't think I'd ever own 1000 bibs. But right now, I might just. I am super excited about this child, and I know that women have a need to "Nest" that men just can't at all understand. Jaynah and I are in a unique situation in that right now we don't know where we'll be living right after the baby is born and so our hands are really tied when it comes to preparing a nursery. We do, however, have a closet now dedicated to any and all things baby. This is where my lovely bride gets her "Nesting Fix" as I've come to think of it. She folds, re-folds, admires, coordinates, organizes and re-organizes all the STUFF in the closet to fulfill this primal urge.

With that context, Jaynah and I made a deal regarding STUFF. We have agreed that she can get one item for the baby whenever she ends up inside a store with said baby things. So far this has been mostly baby outfits (glorified doll clothes) that are very inexpensive and honestly really fun to look around and pick out. The problem becomes, we are T-Minus 2 1/2 months and counting until splashdown and the aptly named "baby closet" is nearly full of baby clothes. If you throw in a Saturday shopping with a future Grandmother or a shower sometime in the future, we might just get to critical mass.

Luckily, we'll know soon where we will end up. Two days in fact from now. Then either one of two things will happen:

A) Jaynah comes home, gets straight on her computer and makes a list of things for Andrew to get at Home Depot (or Lowe's now that Tony Stewart has moved on) to decorate the baby nursery in our current home.

B) Jaynah comes home, gets straight on her computer, looking at house listings online, contacting realtors, then making a list of things for Andrew to get at Home Depot (or Lowe's) to decorate the baby nursery on arrival to an unknown city.

Either way, something is going to give and give soon, and frankly right now as I sit at the VA Hospital awaiting the arrival of my next clinic patient, (at the VA everything is on computer so if you are on a computer, everyone assumes you are working on important stuff, which this is) it is really nice to know that right now:

- I have MATCHED

- I have a job as a Doctor (ahem..intern) starting July 1, somewhere

- After 12 months of that, my dream comes true when my career of Radiology begins, somewhere.

It is hard to wipe the smile off my face right now, and everytime I feel the little baby kick in Jaynah's belly, or Jaynah suddenly says, "Excuse me young lady, can we lay off the bladder, please?" the smile gets bigger and I thank God for getting me and my young family to this point. We are truly blessed, and pray for continued health and happiness in the months and years ahead.

I have some pictures and things to post later, but I felt it was time to get a post out there.

Glowing

This post is dedicated to my wife, who unlike several couples' blogs I follow has not been a contributing writer thus far to this space.  Driving like a crazy person all over the Southeast for the past two months has given me a lot of time to ponder things that sometimes get glanced over in my busy day to day life.  The quality of this woman is definitely an overdue subject for a post.

She has really been a trooper through this whole process so far and I couldn't be more proud of her and certain that I married the right woman.

Early on it was tough for her.  She got sick, A LOT.  She was losing weight early on in the pregnancy because she couldn't keep food down. There was a point when her meal would consist of a bite of a pork chop and 5 lima beans....literally.  On several occasions I recall her having a window where she felt okay and thought of something she really wanted to eat.  At that point I was like, OKAY and ----->BAM out the door to get whatever it was, hoping she would be able to get a full meal down.  It was always hard to see the dissappointment in her eyes when after one bite of an egg roll and a sip of egg drop soup, she knew that was it, no more food.

Luckily this period of sickness has passed and she has regained her appetite and ability to eat small portions and keep them down.  Interestingly her sweet tooth has disappeared totally.  I could only hope that as a pregnant female or just as a male for that matter craved healthy things like cucumber, celery, carrotts, just plain.  When a pregnant wife says to you, "I want celery," then celery it is, as much as you like!

Then there was the whole early scan scare discussed in earlier posts.  Even with our dual thoughts, fears, and anxieties, she was always there to be a rock for me after I had done my shift of doing so for her.  We say often that we make an okay team, and believe me, she doesn't blink when shouldering her part of the load, and then some.

Through all of this, growing belly, sleepless nights, uncertainty, fatigue, and sickness, she still gets up every morning at 5:15(ish) and leaves the house by 6:00(ish) ;) to drive an hour and work a full day lifting patients who are paralyzed on one side, teaching a recent amputee how to walk, and encouraging trauma patients as they regain use of their shattered limbs on the road to recovery.  She does this, every day, and with a smile on her face.  She doesn't complain about the work, doesn't complain about the drive, doesn't complain about being the sole breadwinner for our fledgling family.  

The most she ever says is, "I'm tired today." 

The most she asks for is a nap when she needs it and she has a blanket and a dog that are always happy to oblige.

I know she will be a fantastic mother, there is no doubt about that.  She comes from a family of top-notch loving human beings and has amazed me every day for the past ten years leading up to this point with her honesty, love, moral compass, work ethic, and endless optimism.  I couldn't ask for better qualities to be instilled into any child much less my own.

No matter what I try to do to help out, as a husband how can I repay a woman like this who in addition to doing all the admirable things above is carrying my first child??!!!  I feel like it is a futile effort.  With this post being a very small testament of my appreciation I'd also like to add:  Thank you, I love you.

Glowing at about 19 weeks.

What's in a Name?

So the name, I said we'd talk about it more later. We thought we were golden. The sex of the baby wouldn't be a surprise but the grandparents would have their surprise when they met their new grandchild. It would make it even more special, we thought, if we thought of a good family name that might bring a tear to an eye or two. Everyone in our family loves a surprise, right? We already covered that.

Boy were we wrong.

Bordering on rage......only a slight exaggeration. Preface: We love everyone in our family and we are so fortunate to get along so well with all of our loved ones. We have pretty good communication with our loved ones as well. Again, fortunate. But man, did we blow this one.....

"It's a girl...."

"AHHHH!!!!! I'm so excited, a little girl, how cute!!! AHHHH!!!! Have you guys thought of any names yet?"

"We have some in mind, but we are gonna let the name be a surprise since everyone will know the sex."

......Abrupt record stop/screech sound......

"Do what? You aren't going to tell us the name? Are you kidding? I bet that was ______'s idea."

"Actually it wasn't his idea."

"But ________, you know the sex, you know what color to buy, that's really all you need, we want you to have some surprise!!!"

"But I want to know the name."

"Well, we're sorry we thought this would be something special for everyone to have one more little surprise."

"Well......"

Holy Moly. Names, places, and PHI have been left out to avoid repercussions, which I'm sure are imminent anyway, but this is the pregnancy from a Dad's perspective so hang with me.

We thought the storm would blow over, the brimstone would pass, wrong again. I guess I just can't wrap my mind around how important monogrammed things are for babies. Let me let you know right now, THEY ARE FREAKING IMPORTANT.

Setting: Baby shower for a friend of my lovely wife
Circumstances: Subtle hostility
Result: On the blog for other's educational benefit

"Oh my gosh, thank you so much for this monogrammed diaper bag, I absolutely love it!"

"Hey, ________ isn't that cute???"

"Yes, it is gorgeous, but too bad you won't be able to get one like that because you won't tell anyone the name."

"Oh wow, I love this monogrammed towel for the baby, it will be so cute at bathtime!"

"You know, you're only getting plain towels."

Ha ha, all in good fun, love joking around. But it starts to mount after about 200 or so references and reminders of how information is being with-held.

We caved, totally caved. Not at all worth it. The name wasn't a surprise for us, we knew the name. We were doing it for everyone else because we thought we had spoiled tradition and everyone's fun by finding out the sex. We thought we were doing a good thing.

It didn't turn out that way, and that is fine, we weren't upset at all, the whole thing was just comical because a) we totally misread the situation and b) because of the passion we encountered.

The moral of the story for any future first time parents:

1. If there is information to be had about the baby, you can bet loved ones will want it. ALL OF IT.
2. It isn't worth it to try and keep a surprise intact once they sniff blood in the water.

Below are some pics that I labeled up at the request of some readers. They are from the most recent 16 week Ultrasound that was in the last post. You can click on the pictures to enlarge and see the labels.

Scroll down past the pics below for the big reveal.........


Coronal Section of head and chest

Hand

Kickin back with feet crossed

Drumroll please....

We are going to name our baby girl.....

Peyton Anne Morgan

It struck our fancy, and pending the baby stays female we think will suit her very well.