Baby Sees 30 MLB Ballparks in 2009 Season
Baby Sofia and her parents were in Philly for 29th stop of nationwide baseball park tour
Sofia Coquis is not your average baseball fan. Friday will mark her 30th Major League ballpark visit in the U.S. -- more than most people see in their lifetime -- and she's only seven months old.
After getting laid off earlier this year, her parents, Robert Coquis and Judy Pino decided to spend time as a family by heading on a cross-country road trip to visit all the major baseball parks -- one of Robert's childhood dreams. The D.C. family began their journey in May.
Along the way, they went to home games for the Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Dodgers and many others.
Tuesday was their 29th stop, at Philly's Citizens Bank Park, where they watched the Phillies beat the Astros. Their 30th and final game will be Oct. 2 at Baltimore's Camden Yards. When their journey ends, they will have traveled more than 14,000 miles in the name of baseball.
"We believe that families should find time to spend together doing something that they enjoy. For us, it's baseball," says Judy. "Sofia has done great at the games. There is a lot going on to keep her entertained."
Not only was she entertained, but along the way baby Sofia learned to sit on her own, eat solid foods, wave goodbye and is now quite the cheerleader at games.
Throughout the trip, the family has collected items donated by MLB teams and fans to auction off on Oct. 28 at the first game of the World Series. They also collected monetary donations -- all in an effort to help make a difference in the lives of others. All the proceeds will go to a charity that benefits girls youth sports and education .
For more information about the auction, the family and their trip, visit their Web site -- 30 Ballparks and a Baby.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
what's new at globe.Jobless man uncovers buried treasure
Jobless man uncovers buried treasure
An unemployed man has unearthed the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found with the help of his metal detector. Experts are now calculating its value—a process that could take more than a year because of its size.
Terry Herbert from Burntwood, Staffordshire, stumbled on the hoard in a private field with his trusty 14-year-old metal detector. Over five days in July, the 55-year-old dug up a fortune on the farmland near to his home. The find was declared as treasure by coroner Andrew Haigh, which means the cache will be offered for sale after it is valued.
More than 1,500 pieces of treasure—including around 11lbs of gold and 5.5lbs of silver—has now been uncovered. Archaeologists believe the hoard dates back to the seventh century and may have belonged to Saxon royalty. Among the riches are warfare paraphernalia, including sword pommel caps and hilt plates, often inlaid with precious stones.
Leslie Webster, former keeper at the British Museum's Department of Prehistory and Europe, said the find would "alter our perceptions of Anglo-Saxon England as radically, if not more so, as the Sutton Hoo discoveries."
"(It is) absolutely the equivalent of finding a new Lindisfarne Gospels or Book of Kells," he said.
Dr Kevin Leahy, national finds adviser from the Portable Antiquities Scheme, added that while the quantity of gold was amazing, the craftsmanship was "consummate. Its origins are clearly the very highest-levels of Saxon aristocracy or royalty," he said. "It belonged to the elite."
An unemployed man has unearthed the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found with the help of his metal detector. Experts are now calculating its value—a process that could take more than a year because of its size.
Terry Herbert from Burntwood, Staffordshire, stumbled on the hoard in a private field with his trusty 14-year-old metal detector. Over five days in July, the 55-year-old dug up a fortune on the farmland near to his home. The find was declared as treasure by coroner Andrew Haigh, which means the cache will be offered for sale after it is valued.
More than 1,500 pieces of treasure—including around 11lbs of gold and 5.5lbs of silver—has now been uncovered. Archaeologists believe the hoard dates back to the seventh century and may have belonged to Saxon royalty. Among the riches are warfare paraphernalia, including sword pommel caps and hilt plates, often inlaid with precious stones.
Leslie Webster, former keeper at the British Museum's Department of Prehistory and Europe, said the find would "alter our perceptions of Anglo-Saxon England as radically, if not more so, as the Sutton Hoo discoveries."
"(It is) absolutely the equivalent of finding a new Lindisfarne Gospels or Book of Kells," he said.
Dr Kevin Leahy, national finds adviser from the Portable Antiquities Scheme, added that while the quantity of gold was amazing, the craftsmanship was "consummate. Its origins are clearly the very highest-levels of Saxon aristocracy or royalty," he said. "It belonged to the elite."
Thursday, September 24, 2009
what's new at globe. WOMAN IS EXPECTING TWO BUT NOT TWINS
A pregnant woman in Arkansas surprised doctors twice over when she went in for a routine ultrasound
Doctors successfully located Todd and Julia Grovenburg's growing baby girl Jillian, but then discovered another smaller baby -- what could be Jillian's younger brother -- growing beside her.Different from identical twins or fraternal twins, the Grovenburg babies would have separate due dates and are considered to be a rare medical occurrence. "When the woman had her ultrasound initially, they saw one sack, one baby developing, and that baby had a certain gestational age; then they noticed a second heartbeat in a child that was much, much younger developmentally," Dr. Karen Boyle of the Greater Baltimore Medical Center, told ABC News' "Good Morning America Health."
Boyle said it's uncommon for fetuses to differ so widely in size and development early in pregnancy, even though babies may differ widely in size at birth.
"It does really sound like this is a true case of different conception times for these children," said Boyle.
Reports of superfetation, or conceiving while pregnant, are so rare that Boyle said, "There is no prevalence or incidence in the literature. I could only find about 10 reported cases."
Grovenburg's obstetrician, Dr. Michel Muylaert, confirmed to KFSM-TV that the Grovenburgs may be dealing with the extraordinarily rare case of superfetation.
"Mrs. Julia Grovenburg is pregnant with twins and there appears to be a discordant growth pattern, possibly due to superfetation," Dr. Muylaert wrote in a letter to KFSM-TV.
Doctors successfully located Todd and Julia Grovenburg's growing baby girl Jillian, but then discovered another smaller baby -- what could be Jillian's younger brother -- growing beside her.Different from identical twins or fraternal twins, the Grovenburg babies would have separate due dates and are considered to be a rare medical occurrence. "When the woman had her ultrasound initially, they saw one sack, one baby developing, and that baby had a certain gestational age; then they noticed a second heartbeat in a child that was much, much younger developmentally," Dr. Karen Boyle of the Greater Baltimore Medical Center, told ABC News' "Good Morning America Health."
Boyle said it's uncommon for fetuses to differ so widely in size and development early in pregnancy, even though babies may differ widely in size at birth.
"It does really sound like this is a true case of different conception times for these children," said Boyle.
Reports of superfetation, or conceiving while pregnant, are so rare that Boyle said, "There is no prevalence or incidence in the literature. I could only find about 10 reported cases."
Grovenburg's obstetrician, Dr. Michel Muylaert, confirmed to KFSM-TV that the Grovenburgs may be dealing with the extraordinarily rare case of superfetation.
"Mrs. Julia Grovenburg is pregnant with twins and there appears to be a discordant growth pattern, possibly due to superfetation," Dr. Muylaert wrote in a letter to KFSM-TV.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
what's new at globe Woman Implanted With Wrong Embryo to Give Birth
Woman Implanted With Wrong Embryo to Give Birth
In agonizing decision, she'll give birth, then hand over baby to biological parents.
It is supposed to the happiest news a couple can get, especially a couple who have difficulty conceiving and carrying babies. The in vitro fertilization procedure had been a success: Carolyn Savage was pregnant.
And then came the horrible news: It wasn’t her baby. The fertility clinic they had used had made an all but inconceivable mistake and had implanted another couple’s embryos into Carolyn.
“They delivered the worst news of our life,” Sean Savage told TODAY’s Meredith Vieira Monday from the family’s Sylvania, Ohio, home.
The Savages were presented with two devastating choices: They could either terminate the pregnancy, something that clashed with their religious beliefs, or they could carry the fetus to term and then hand him over to his biological parents.
That moment is rapidly approaching. Carolyn is 35 weeks pregnant and within the next two weeks will deliver the baby with his genetic parents attending the birth. At that time, the Savages will give up the infant, perhaps never to see or hold him again.
They are telling their story in the hopes that no other couple ever has to go through what they have endured.
“The hardest part is going to be the delivery,” Carolyn said. “I remember communicating with the mother of this child as to what I was envisioning and hoping for. I said, ‘We want a moment to say hello, and goodbye.’ ”
“It’ll be exceptionally difficult,” Sean admitted, even with the eight months they’ve had to prepare and the help they’ve received from mental health counseling. “But at the same time, we’ve been preparing this for months.”
Her last pregnancy
The couple waited 14 weeks into the pregnancy to have their lawyer contact the biological parents of the child. The initial contacts were done anonymously through attorneys. But they eventually met face to face and have had a relationship that the Savages characterized as cordial.
The Savages have three other children, and Carolyn, 40, has experienced multiple difficulties in becoming pregnant and carrying children to term. She had been told that this must be her final pregnancy, and the couple had planned to have the five embryos they had frozen implanted in the hopes that one would take.
Because of their beliefs, they feel they cannot destroy those embryos.
“We felt strongly that we needed to give every embryo that we created a chance at life,” Carolyn said.
So, when they complete this pregnancy, they intend to have a surrogate carry their remaining child or children to term. They have signed a contract with a surrogate and their attorneys are working out the complicated details.
In a statement to TODAY, the Savages’ attorneys said they are working to ensure that the fertility clinic that made the mistake “will accept full responsibility for the consequences of their misconduct.”
The Savages had met in 1989 when both were students at the University of Miami in Ohio. Four years later, they were married and almost immediately set out to have the large family they dreamed of.
Their first son, Drew, was born in September 1994 after a normal pregnancy. But after Drew’s birth, the couple began having reproductive problems. Their second son, Ryan, was born after 30 weeks of gestation in April 1997. The early delivery was necessitated when Carolyn was diagnosed with HELLP syndrome, a life-threatening complication related to pre-eclampsia. The syndrome’s symptoms include anemia, elevated liver enzymes and low platelet count along with elevated blood pressure.
Although Drew spent four weeks in neonatal intensive care, he is now a healthy 12-year-old.
10 years of trying
The Savages were told that it was safe for Carolyn to get pregnant again, and for the next 10 years they tried to conceive their third child. They resorted to ovulation stimulation, but all they had to show for it were two early miscarriages.
Finally, the couple opted to try in vitro fertilization through a fertility clinic. The first attempt resulted in another miscarriage. At that time, Carolyn was diagnosed with two blood-clotting disorders that may have contributed to her other difficulties.
Undeterred, the couple finally succeeded in conceiving a daughter though in vitro fertilization in 2007. After 32 weeks of gestation, a return of Carolyn’s HELLP syndrome necessitated an early delivery in March 2008 via Caesarean section. Like her older brother Drew, Mary Kate spent four weeks in intensive care and is now a healthy child.
This past February, in the belief that they were using the last of their frozen embryos, Carolyn went back to the fertility clinic. On Feb. 16, a blood test confirmed that one of the embryos was viable and Carolyn was pregnant.
‘I have bad news’
Sean remembers being told in a phone call at work. Stunned, he went home to tell Carolyn.
“I was upstairs in my bedroom and he came to the door and said, ‘I have really bad news,’ ” she recalled. Then came the news: “You’re pregnant, but they transferred the wrong embryo.”
Carolyn remembers saying, “You’re joking, you’re joking, you’re joking.” But when she looked at her husband, she knew it was true. “He was white as a sheet,” Carolyn said.
The pregnancy has been without complication, but it’s been anything but easy.
“It’s been hard,” Carolyn told Vieira. “We’ve been rooting for the baby the whole time. We moved from a position of shock to a realization that this was actually going to happen. We needed to put the needs of the pregnancy and the child first. It’s just been difficult, but we feel we made the right decisions on how to handle it.”
The Savages said the other couple has expressed their gratitude at the Savages’ decision not to terminate the pregnancy. The Savages told the couple they understand how difficult it is for everyone.
“What we expressed to them is that we know they did not ask for this. They were at home with their family minding their own business. We are not going to impress ourselves into their lives,” Carolyn told Vieira. “Of course, we will wonder about this child every day for the rest of our lives. We have hopes for him, but they’re his parents, and we’ll defer to their judgment on when and if they ever tell him what happened and any contact that’s afforded us. We just want to know he’s healthy and happy.”
In agonizing decision, she'll give birth, then hand over baby to biological parents.
It is supposed to the happiest news a couple can get, especially a couple who have difficulty conceiving and carrying babies. The in vitro fertilization procedure had been a success: Carolyn Savage was pregnant.
And then came the horrible news: It wasn’t her baby. The fertility clinic they had used had made an all but inconceivable mistake and had implanted another couple’s embryos into Carolyn.
“They delivered the worst news of our life,” Sean Savage told TODAY’s Meredith Vieira Monday from the family’s Sylvania, Ohio, home.
The Savages were presented with two devastating choices: They could either terminate the pregnancy, something that clashed with their religious beliefs, or they could carry the fetus to term and then hand him over to his biological parents.
That moment is rapidly approaching. Carolyn is 35 weeks pregnant and within the next two weeks will deliver the baby with his genetic parents attending the birth. At that time, the Savages will give up the infant, perhaps never to see or hold him again.
They are telling their story in the hopes that no other couple ever has to go through what they have endured.
“The hardest part is going to be the delivery,” Carolyn said. “I remember communicating with the mother of this child as to what I was envisioning and hoping for. I said, ‘We want a moment to say hello, and goodbye.’ ”
“It’ll be exceptionally difficult,” Sean admitted, even with the eight months they’ve had to prepare and the help they’ve received from mental health counseling. “But at the same time, we’ve been preparing this for months.”
Her last pregnancy
The couple waited 14 weeks into the pregnancy to have their lawyer contact the biological parents of the child. The initial contacts were done anonymously through attorneys. But they eventually met face to face and have had a relationship that the Savages characterized as cordial.
The Savages have three other children, and Carolyn, 40, has experienced multiple difficulties in becoming pregnant and carrying children to term. She had been told that this must be her final pregnancy, and the couple had planned to have the five embryos they had frozen implanted in the hopes that one would take.
Because of their beliefs, they feel they cannot destroy those embryos.
“We felt strongly that we needed to give every embryo that we created a chance at life,” Carolyn said.
So, when they complete this pregnancy, they intend to have a surrogate carry their remaining child or children to term. They have signed a contract with a surrogate and their attorneys are working out the complicated details.
In a statement to TODAY, the Savages’ attorneys said they are working to ensure that the fertility clinic that made the mistake “will accept full responsibility for the consequences of their misconduct.”
The Savages had met in 1989 when both were students at the University of Miami in Ohio. Four years later, they were married and almost immediately set out to have the large family they dreamed of.
Their first son, Drew, was born in September 1994 after a normal pregnancy. But after Drew’s birth, the couple began having reproductive problems. Their second son, Ryan, was born after 30 weeks of gestation in April 1997. The early delivery was necessitated when Carolyn was diagnosed with HELLP syndrome, a life-threatening complication related to pre-eclampsia. The syndrome’s symptoms include anemia, elevated liver enzymes and low platelet count along with elevated blood pressure.
Although Drew spent four weeks in neonatal intensive care, he is now a healthy 12-year-old.
10 years of trying
The Savages were told that it was safe for Carolyn to get pregnant again, and for the next 10 years they tried to conceive their third child. They resorted to ovulation stimulation, but all they had to show for it were two early miscarriages.
Finally, the couple opted to try in vitro fertilization through a fertility clinic. The first attempt resulted in another miscarriage. At that time, Carolyn was diagnosed with two blood-clotting disorders that may have contributed to her other difficulties.
Undeterred, the couple finally succeeded in conceiving a daughter though in vitro fertilization in 2007. After 32 weeks of gestation, a return of Carolyn’s HELLP syndrome necessitated an early delivery in March 2008 via Caesarean section. Like her older brother Drew, Mary Kate spent four weeks in intensive care and is now a healthy child.
This past February, in the belief that they were using the last of their frozen embryos, Carolyn went back to the fertility clinic. On Feb. 16, a blood test confirmed that one of the embryos was viable and Carolyn was pregnant.
‘I have bad news’
Sean remembers being told in a phone call at work. Stunned, he went home to tell Carolyn.
“I was upstairs in my bedroom and he came to the door and said, ‘I have really bad news,’ ” she recalled. Then came the news: “You’re pregnant, but they transferred the wrong embryo.”
Carolyn remembers saying, “You’re joking, you’re joking, you’re joking.” But when she looked at her husband, she knew it was true. “He was white as a sheet,” Carolyn said.
The pregnancy has been without complication, but it’s been anything but easy.
“It’s been hard,” Carolyn told Vieira. “We’ve been rooting for the baby the whole time. We moved from a position of shock to a realization that this was actually going to happen. We needed to put the needs of the pregnancy and the child first. It’s just been difficult, but we feel we made the right decisions on how to handle it.”
The Savages said the other couple has expressed their gratitude at the Savages’ decision not to terminate the pregnancy. The Savages told the couple they understand how difficult it is for everyone.
“What we expressed to them is that we know they did not ask for this. They were at home with their family minding their own business. We are not going to impress ourselves into their lives,” Carolyn told Vieira. “Of course, we will wonder about this child every day for the rest of our lives. We have hopes for him, but they’re his parents, and we’ll defer to their judgment on when and if they ever tell him what happened and any contact that’s afforded us. We just want to know he’s healthy and happy.”
Friday, September 18, 2009
what's new at globe
BLIND WOMAN SEES AGAIN THANKS TO A TOOTH.
A woman who has been blind for nearly nine years underwent a first-of-its-kind surgery that allowed her to regain sight... and doctors used her tooth to make it happen.
Miami Tooth Fairy Grants Blind Woman Sight
University of Miami performs the nation's first eye-tooth surgery to restore a woman's sight
Usually when you lose a tooth, the Tooth Fairy will put a quarter or some chocolate under your pillow. If you have rich parents, you might even get a dollar.
But for 60-year-old Sharron Thornton, losing a tooth meant gaining vision. That's some trade off.
Thornton, who has been blind for nearly nine years, underwent a first-of-its-kind surgery at the University of Miami recently that allowed her to regain useful vision in her eyes, and doctors used her tooth to make it all happen.
The procedure, called modified osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis, implants the patient's tooth in the eye to securely hold a prosthetic lens. The surgery is usually recommended in only the most extreme cases when the eye is not a candidate for cornea replacement or some other type of corrective surgery.
"We take sight for granted, not realizing that it can be lost at any moment," Thornton said. "This truly is a miracle."
UM said Wednesday the procedure has never been performed in the United States. It was performed at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute.
The name of the tooth that's selected is called the eyetooth because it's located directly under the eye.
Doctors said you can't see the tooth in the eye because it is covered by other layers, but the tooth keeps the lens stable and bonds it with the rest of the healthy parts of the eye.
Science fiction to us, but a miracle to Thornton and her family.
Thornton now has 20/70 vision and can recognize people and read tiny newspaper and magazine print with a magnifying glass. She will wear glasses the rest of her life, doctors said. Thornton said her greatest thrill so far has been seeing her three children and nine grand children for the first time in almost a decade.
And to think she almost wasn't able to have the surgery because she was going to have all her teeth removed a few years ago.
"When they told me I was like, 'Do What? You're going to put it where?'" Thornton said.
Thornton underwent the surgery around Labor Day. She had tried stem cell surgery and other procedures to restore some vision, which she lost because of an allergic reaction to medication. But all of the efforts failed until now.
"Being blind was horrible after seeing for 51 years," Thornton said
A woman who has been blind for nearly nine years underwent a first-of-its-kind surgery that allowed her to regain sight... and doctors used her tooth to make it happen.
Miami Tooth Fairy Grants Blind Woman Sight
University of Miami performs the nation's first eye-tooth surgery to restore a woman's sight
Usually when you lose a tooth, the Tooth Fairy will put a quarter or some chocolate under your pillow. If you have rich parents, you might even get a dollar.
But for 60-year-old Sharron Thornton, losing a tooth meant gaining vision. That's some trade off.
Thornton, who has been blind for nearly nine years, underwent a first-of-its-kind surgery at the University of Miami recently that allowed her to regain useful vision in her eyes, and doctors used her tooth to make it all happen.
The procedure, called modified osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis, implants the patient's tooth in the eye to securely hold a prosthetic lens. The surgery is usually recommended in only the most extreme cases when the eye is not a candidate for cornea replacement or some other type of corrective surgery.
"We take sight for granted, not realizing that it can be lost at any moment," Thornton said. "This truly is a miracle."
UM said Wednesday the procedure has never been performed in the United States. It was performed at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute.
The name of the tooth that's selected is called the eyetooth because it's located directly under the eye.
Doctors said you can't see the tooth in the eye because it is covered by other layers, but the tooth keeps the lens stable and bonds it with the rest of the healthy parts of the eye.
Science fiction to us, but a miracle to Thornton and her family.
Thornton now has 20/70 vision and can recognize people and read tiny newspaper and magazine print with a magnifying glass. She will wear glasses the rest of her life, doctors said. Thornton said her greatest thrill so far has been seeing her three children and nine grand children for the first time in almost a decade.
And to think she almost wasn't able to have the surgery because she was going to have all her teeth removed a few years ago.
"When they told me I was like, 'Do What? You're going to put it where?'" Thornton said.
Thornton underwent the surgery around Labor Day. She had tried stem cell surgery and other procedures to restore some vision, which she lost because of an allergic reaction to medication. But all of the efforts failed until now.
"Being blind was horrible after seeing for 51 years," Thornton said
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