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On Saturday, July 15, Hans
and Esther-Mirjam visit the grave of Victor Noir at the Père
Lachaise cemetary in Paris. A life-size bronze statue depicting Noir
as he lay dying was sculpted by Jules Dalou to mark his grave. Myth
says that placing a flower in the upturned tophat after rubbing the
statue will enhance fertility. As a result of the legend, "some
components" of the tarnished bronze statue are rather well-worn.
Hans and Esther-Mirjam believe that Victor Noir may have something do
to with the developments recounted below....
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| 4 weeks pregnant On Thursday, August 3, Esther-Mirjam does a home pregnancy test and receives a positive result, much to her enjoyment. Note that the fact that the lines are blue has nothing to do with the gender of the baby. Or has it? If all goes well, the baby is expected to arrive around Thursday, April 12 of the following year. |
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9 weeks pregnant Nine weeks into the pregnancy, Esther-Mirjam visits the OB/GYN at the Lucas Hospital to discuss prenatal screening options. A decision is made to try the AFP Triple Test first before deciding whether any additional testing is called for. The ultrasound shows that the home pregnancy test was right. There is a small miracle growing inside Esther-Mirjam. |
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11 weeks pregnant Esther-Mirjam and Hans visit the Doevendans OB/GYN office for the first time into the pregnancy. Many visits are to follow, and Hans tries to come along for all of them. Each time, Esther-Mirjam's blood pressure is taken, her belly is measured, and the baby's heart beat is checked. That is, during the first visit, the baby's heart beat cannot be detected. Fortunately, all turns out to be fine during the next visit.... |
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12 weeks pregnant The AFP Triple Test is conducted twelve weeks into the pregnancy. The ultrasound images show that the baby is resting comfortably and growing at the expected speed. The test shows that Esther-Mirjam has a heightened risk of carrying a baby with abnormalities. The "normal" risk is 1 in 250. The risk of women Esther-Mirjam's age is 1 in 137. The rest result is that Esther-Mirjam's risk is 1 in 130. In response, a decision is made to conduct an amniocentesis at 16 weeks into the pregnancy. |
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| 16 weeks pregnant Sixteen weeks into the pregnancy, Esther-Mirjam goes to the Utrecht Medical Center, accompanied by Aafke, for the amniocentesis. Esther-Mirjam can indicate whether she wants the tests to determine the gender of the baby as well. However, there is no need to wait for these results, for the ultrasound images indicate that "something" is sticking out. Yippee! Luna will have a little baby brother, Lenneke, Aafke, Sanne and Lotte will have a second male sibling, and Ruben will finally have a brother.
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4 months pregnant Esther-Mirjam's belly seems to be growing much more rapidly than it did during the pregnancy with Luna. Her uterus seems to be thinking: "Hey, I have done this before!" Here it is shown at four months into the pregnancy |
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19 weeks pregnant
A letter from the Utrecht Medical Center confirms that Lenneke, Aafke, Sanne, Lotte, Ruben, and Luna may look forward to a healthy baby brother. That is, there were some problems with the test, but the hospital nonetheless finds the outcome to be reliable. Esther-Mirjam gets a big scare when they call her to explain the situation, but calms down once she understands what happened. |
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20 weeks pregnant Twenty weeks into the pregnancy, an extended ultrasound session is conducted at the Lucas Hospital to check the baby's vital organs and the like. Again, it looks like there is nothing abnormal going on. |
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7 months pregnant Esther-Mirjam's belly is still explanding at the expected pace. Unlike during her pregnancy with Luna, Esther-Mirjam tries not to worry about the baby's progress. After all, there is little she can do to influence it. |
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33 weeks pregnant Esther-Mirjam discovers that Hans has been cheating on her. When she confronts him with this, he denies it at first. When he can no longer maintain his innocence, Esther-Mirjam terminates their relationship. |
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34 weeks pregnant Esther-Mirjam and Luna move into Lior's future home in the Van Peltlaan in Nijmegen, helped by lots of friends and family members. Esther-Mirjam is very grateful to everybody, but feels bad about having to rely on their help and wishes she could manage all by herself, but this is not easy with an expanding belly. Esther-Mirjam is hoping that Lior will not be as impatient as Luna was, for it would mean that he would arrive in less than a week! Please send her an email for further contact information. |
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35 weeks pregnant When Esther-Mirjam celebrates her, ahum, fortieth
birthday, Luna sings "Lang zal ze leven" at least five times.
In return, mom prepares her little darling for the present that is ahead
for her. Luna gets to listen to the baby in mama's belly (left). She
gives him a kiss (top right) and a big hug (middle right), while she
has lots of fun doing so (bottom right). Luna does not seem to grasp
the upcoming events fully. Fortunately, she adapts to new circumstances
very quickly, so Lior should fit right in.
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36 weeks pregnant Lior's Oma Brink passes away on March 15, at the young age of 70. Here is a picture of Oma Brink with Lior's big sister, taken last summer (left). It is very sad that Lior will not get to meet this special Oma. She had been ill for quite some time and seemed to be hanging on, but her health swiftly took a turn for the worse. May she rest in peace. |
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37 weeks pregnant With Hans having completely dropped out of touch, Luna accompanies her mom whenever the latter visits the "baby doctor" in the Radboud Hospital, which is also where Luna was born (below middle). The ultrasound shows a full stomach and part of a leg, but is quite hard to decipher at this stage in the pregnancy (below left). Lior does appear to be on the small side. As a precautionary measure, a heart film is scheduled before each upcoming OB/GYN visit (below right). |
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38 weeks pregnant March 31 at 6 AM: The contractions appear to have started and Esther-Mirjam is on her way to the hospital. |
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