Definitely, maybe...

The much anticipated Louisiana doctor's appointment was today where we were supposed to find out if we're having a boy or girl. I say "supposed to" because technically the baby is now big enough to tell. However, baby wasn't terribly cooperative. After FOUR hours at the lovely LSU Women's and Children's Clinic (an entire blog post in and of itself) the baby's feet were crossed at the ankles and both legs were nice and tight together. At least if it is a girl we know she doesn't have a predisposition to being a hoochie mama:)

I tried sitting up, rolling to my side, and poking at my belly all in an effort to get the baby to open up, so to speak. But my efforts were to no avail. The doctor got a really nice shot of her booty, though and said, "Well, if it was a boy, we'd be seeing some sacks right there. So if I had to guess, I'd say it's a girl." That's as much clarity as we got.

So why the random pictures? Two reasons: 1-I think blog posts with pictures are more interesting; 2-the doctor said she was looking to see if we've got a "hamburger baby" or "hot dog baby." Use your imagination.

I have another ultrasound scheduled for August 1st and hopefully we'll have a bit more clarity then as to the fast food item with which our baby will most closely identify. I think I'll do some jumping jacks before my appointment so the baby will be spreadeagle in order to brace him/herself. What do you think?

Feed me!

I just noticed how malnourished our little widget embryo appears (on the right side of our blog). Does anyone know of a "feed your embryo" widget you can add to it to beef the little tike up? Of course, maybe that's what baby Ludlow really looks like. We should be having more pictures taken (e.g. ultrasound) next week!

By the way, happy July 4th!

LSU, meet Dr. Ludlow

Today is momentous as it marks day one of David’s (paid) career in medicine. During this first year he is an ENT intern and will be rotating through various departments each month, with this month featuring the general surgery service. I’m not exactly sure what to expect of the coming years, but I think today gave me a good preview as David’s alarm went off at 3:20 AM!!! We only have one car right now so I had the honor of driving him to the hospital. It was too early to make him a nice breakfast, but I did manage to get my wits about me enough to slide a “You Are Special Today” plate underneath his cereal bowl. Will that earn me the Wife of the Year award? Here you see all of his morning essentials: red plate, bowl of cereal, pager, phone, and scriptures.

(Notice the luxurious packing paper taped to the window behind him. We’ve spared no expense on window treatments!)

I made him pose for the camera looking all professional (and hot) in his scrubs and white coat before we left the house.
Then it was off to the hospital where I insisted on one more pose. Of course, I had to take the picture quickly and then jump back in the car and lock the doors before I got mugged. The LSU hospital isn’t in what you might call a safe part of town.


Here’s the last shot I snapped, unbeknownst to him. I have to confess that I had a pit in my stomach as I drove away knowing that his walking through those hospital doors would mark the beginning of a totally new way of life for us. Fortunately, I have the baby to keep me company.

The Louisiana State Peach Festival

People here in Louisiana love their festivals which are spread all throughout the year. Last weekend we went to the state peach festival in Ruston (about an hour east of Shreveport). It’s basically a place where local artists sell their handiwork and you can get all kinds of culinary delicacies. My favorite one: deep fried alligator on a stick. It was surprisingly delicious! Other deep fried menu items which we did NOT try were deep fried Oreos and deep fried Twinkies. There were relatively few peaches at the peach festival (it’s still early in the season I guess), but we did pick up a bag of semi-cling yellow peaches which are fantastic.

Here are two examples of the “handiwork” available at the festival:
1) Rocking horses made from recycled car tires. I’m not sure how you’d keep your child’s thighs from sustaining third degree burns when they sit on these things after they’ve been out in the LA heat all day, but they must raise ‘em tough here in the south.

2) At a booth called “Happi Crabs” you could buy live crabs whose shells had been painted. David tried to convince me that a crab would make a great pet, but even in the extreme heat I was coherent enough to say no to that proposal.