Life and Death Part II

Well, after the week of Ollie's death and the life of our babies visible on ultrasound once again, we have had another week of life and death.  This time the roles were reversed.

We went in to my Ob's office for a follow-up ultrasound to check on Baby A.  Just as feared, Baby A just wasn't meant for this world.  Its sac had decreased in size, there was no longer a heart beat, and the baby was measuring much smaller than the week before.  On the up side, as you can see, Baby B is doing wonderfully!  We could see her/him scratch her/his head, arch his/her back, wiggle arms and legs, and bounce around.  It was pretty incredible.  My doctor is so thoughtful and empathetic, and asked if it would make me feel better to come in for one more ultrasound between now and the anatomy scan just to check in on Baby B.  Of course I said yes!  So, I have another ultrasound next week (13 weeks).

On the life side of things (other than Baby B doing great), we got a new puppy!  I know it probably seems soon after Ollie died to be getting a puppy, but we figured with a baby coming we had to do it now or not for a LONG time.  We really love the standard poodle breed and couldn't imagine a life without one.  So, may I introduce to you, our newest family member . . . Escher (as in MC Escher).  He is a brindle tuxedo, and he is just plain awesome!  He is so sweet, mellow for a puppy, potty trained!, and cuddly!  We already love him.  He starts puppy classes next Monday to get him all trained up to be around a baby come June!

L to R: Jackson (my parents' poodle), Wembley, Escher

Notice Escher's speckled belly?  So cute!

My boys - Wembley

Look at that embarrassment!

You can really see the brindle on his face in this one.

Sleeping on our pillow.

He and grumps (grandpa) already love each other!

Awwwwwww!

Poised

Like a little bullet!

Life and Death

Well, this week has been a mix of emotions.  Thursday we got our first video recording of the babies, thanks to my mom's insistence.  We actually got to see Baby B move its little arms around!

Yet, the week turned to the greatest sadness I can remember in a long time.  Our first "child", our beloved standard poodle, Ollie, had to be put to sleep.  He was the best, most loving dog.  He was such a presence that his absence left an endless abyss of sadness.  He was only 7 years old, way too young to have died so suddenly and unexpectedly.  He was fine yesterday, woke us up last night acting strange, we took him to the emergency vet, they told us his stomach had flipped upside down (bloat) and required surgery, in surgery they found a perforation in his stomach and gave him a 1% chance of survival, we were forced to make the horrible decision to euthanize him.  So, within a matter of 4 hours we went from thinking we'd see him in a little while post vet examination, to saying goodbye.

We love you, Ollie.  We miss you terribly already.

I'm moving to Europe

I am so sick of Missouri's conservativeness!!!!  I guess I could at least move across the river, Illinois seems to have a little more sense.

A photo recap of October!

The second weekend of October, Chris and I headed off to Washington DC for Chris' friend, Belen's wedding.  We were excited to get a chance to have somewhat of a reunion with a lot of Chris' college friends while on the trip.  Also, it was our 5th wedding anniversary (October 8th), so vacationing was an excellent way to celebrate!

Strange reptile at the Smithsonian Zoo

My favorite -- an elephant shrew

The view from inside Amsterdam Falafel House in Adam's Morgan

My delicious falafel (they have an amazing toppings bar from which to pile onto your falafel and pita

The BEST fries!

Fancy pumpkin soup appetizer at the wedding

The newlyweds!

Friends chatting

The only seats in the house were overlooking the cake -- I wasn't complaining!

After our DC trip, it was time for "Melissapalooza" to quote my sister-in-law.  Little did I know how true this phrasing was!  I invited my close friends and family to join me in trying a new restaurant (new to me) called The Shaved Duck to celebrate my birthday on the actual day (October 15th).  Most people on my invite list showed up!  We had a wonderful time and DELICIOUS food!  More shocking than how large our party ended up being, was the amazing birthday present I received from Chris, my parents, and his parents:

They all pitched in together to buy me a Canon Rebel T1i.  It was so thoughtful, and waaaaaaaay more than I expected for my 30th birthday!  Chris made the point that we need an SLR camera for the impending babies!  Not to mention, it shoots HD video, which will be awesome for catching all of those baby firsts!  But, really, Chris got it for me so that I could enhance my blogging capabilities.  Unfortunately, I'm not off to such a great start, am I?  Things will slow down in November (as evidenced by the fact that I am posting this in November).  

My first pictures with my new camera (I unfortunately ran out of space on my SD card pretty quickly, and didn't get all the pictures I wanted):

Father and brother

My chili sampler (one came with a shot glass of milk because it was made from the ghost pepper!)

Chris' pulled chicken sandwich and gooey mac and cheese

My mother-in-law's duck flatbread

Tim and Faith get cute (as usual)

Jenn and the frisee showing off the new found depth perception

Jenn and Tim

BFF Katie M

Parents (not posing for the photo, as usual)

Trying out macro setting in low lighting

Somehow I missed out on getting photos of Katie K (who sent me BEAUTIFUL flowers to my work), my in-laws, and Jenn and Justin!

So, you might imagine my surprise, after so many of my friends and family showered me with love on the night of my birthday, when Chris led me to a surprise 30th in Tower Grove Park!  What a guy, right?!  He planned the whole thing himself!  It really was Melissapalooza!  Almost all of my lovely friends and family members were able to join us for a beautiful afternoon in the park with a wonderful picnic.  Thank you Becky, Katie, Ella, Josie D, Maureen, Steve, Jeff, Tyler, Jill, Howpa, Nancy, Bob, Peggy, J'aime, Matt, Josie J, August, Mom, Pop, David, Julie, Dave, Nate, Jenna, Micah, Jenn K, Justin, Tim L, Faith, Octavia, John, Atticus, Delphi, Bella, Jenn H, Tim H, Katie K, Paul, Chris, and Grandpa Schumann for coming to my party!  It meant so much!

The next day we went to Pere Marquette Lodge for brunch, which was delicious as usual.  Then, we attempted apple picking, but mostly trampled over fermented goo.

The next weekend, I headed to the Lake of the Ozarks with the Catty girls!  I will let you check out the Catty blog for more on that.  We had a blast!  And they were so sweet to celebrate my birthday . . . yet again!!  

I MUST go to bed now.  I need to keep up on this blog so that it doesn't take me an hour and a half to write one post!