Say "Cheese"

We received Veronica's baby picture from the hospital in the mail today. As you can see, it's pretty standard.

What we didn't notice at the time was that she was "throwing" a gang sign. Looking back, we should have been clued in by her baggy clothing...

People have been asking us who Veronica looks like. Judge for yourself from these baby pictures of the other YD girls.



Clockwise from top right: Lauren, Olivia, Julia, Emily.

Obviously, Lauren's photo needs some explanation. Her "sick in the hospital" picture was taken about a week after she was born with fetal hydrops. As defined by "webmd.com," fetal hydrops is a serious condition in which the fetus becomes extremely swollen from buildup of fluids in the body tissues. Organs such as the liver and spleen become enlarged, anemia sets in and the ability of the baby's blood to carry oxygen is decreased. Even with treatment, survival rates are low.

In Lauren's case, her fetal hydrops was detected on an ultrasound at 33 weeks. Delivered by emergency c-section 45 minutes later, she was unconscious and not breathing. So much fluid had accumulated in her body that her heart had been pushed to the right side of her chest. Doctors inserted two chest tubes to drain the fluid and surgery to remove part of her lung started her on the road to recovery.

Forty days later, she came home with us, attached to a heart monitor. Tests never revealed why she developed the condition. Now if she can just quit sucking her thumb...