Aaron William Samuel

Aaron William Samuel was stillborn in the early hours of Monday the 19th October, after 37 weeks gestation.

Named after his paternal grandfather Ralph Aaron Samuel and great grandfather Aaron Tischler (Ron) and maternal great grandfather William Meade (Bill), we had decided on the name a few months ago, after the CVS test revealed the gender to us and said his chromosomes were normal. William was a family name used amongst a number of generations in Karen's grandmothers family and Aaron was also the biblical brother to Miriam.

We noticed that Aaron had stopped kicking on Sunday evening, and when cold water and cold milk had not coaxed him to kick, we promptly went into Frances Perry House, where the CTG could not pick up a heart beat.

An ultrasound and CTG during the week had both been normal, and Karen had been well throughout the entire pregnancy.

Karen's obstetrician was there promptly and an emergency c-section was performed with Karen under general anesthetic.

Aaron never took a breath. Resuscitation was attempted first by the team performing the c-section, followed by the team that responded to the pediatric code blue call from the Royal Womens hospital, but his heart was not beating.

It is believed that the most likely cause was that Aaron had a heart attack, though no certain cause of death has been determined (and is unlikely to be ever be determined).

Sudden cardiac death in utero is a rare documented phenomenon that can occur in any pregnancy, but is slightly more common in diabetic pregnancies.

One further theory is that we have significant cardiac history on both sides of the family and that this could also be a contributing factor. No genetic testing would currently be able to pick this up.

Although there are always risks with pregnancy, and we knew that we were of higher risk, there was nothing at all to indicate that anything was wrong ahead of time.

A small private funeral was held on Wednesday.

Karen is recovering well and Miriam is helping us with her cheeky grin and big hugs.

We thank everyone for your love and support at this time.

Volvo C30 Electric Car Confirmed

Electric cars are finally becoming a reality - even Volvo thinks they are feasible now.

See the blog post on GoodGreenCars.com:

Dreams Do Come True: Volvo C30 Electric Car Confirmed:

"A couple of years ago, Volvo introduced the ReCharge hybrid electric concept; now, it’s taking the idea a step further by giving the little Volvo C30 hatchback an electric motor with a 130-mile range.

A plug-in electric Volvo C30 will debut at the Innovation for Life event just after the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, according to a report in Autocar. Unlike the ReCharge, the C30 won’t have four small electric motors at all four wheels. It will instead have a more conventional single-motor set up.

The New York Times Wheels blog said the car could maybe possibly be part of a small test fleet. Fingers crossed. I’ve driven the gasoline C30, and for a city car, it’s brilliant. Swap out the gas pump for an outlet, and I’ll be in line. I’ll start saving my pennies.

Image courtesy of Volvo Cars."

2010 Prius - models and US prices announced

Toyota Pressroom has announced the prices and packages for the 2010 Prius in the USA.

Interesting is that the extras packages allow either safety or comfort, but not both.
That is - you can either get the Sunroof Package or the Advanced Technology package, but not both.

The sunroof package gives you SatNav + a Sunroof with remote control operated air conditioner.

The Advanced Technology package gives you radar assisted cruise control, radar assisted pre-collision avoidance system, lane keep assist (to stop drowsy drivers drifting lanes) and semi-automatic parking.

Looking out to see what the Australian prices look like, and giving it a test drive when it eventually arrives.

Latest addition to my friends blogs list.

Kaz is considering blogging more.  See her latest post for a description of what she might post about.

2010 Prius - Photos leaked and released

PriusChat has some pictures of the 2010 Prius which someone posted onto their forums.

It looks like the centre console has had a major revamp, with the gear selector moved to a more conventional location and the speedo/instrument screen looks like it has been revamped.

The front grill has also changed, with it looking sleeker than the existing model.

The "Prius Team" has also posted a teaser picture to the forums, which shows a logo saying "Welcome to Prius" - it looks like this may be the new startup screen for the display.

The 2010 Prius is slated to be launched in January 2009 at the Detroit Motor Show.

Honda Reintroduces the Insight Hybrid ahead of new model Prius

CNN Reports:

Honda Motor Co. unveiled a pure-hybrid concept car Thursday that hopes to go head to head with Toyota's wildly popular Prius.

The carmaker showed images of the Insight that will go on sale in the United States in the spring, it said. The car, which will be sold only as a hybrid, will be a five-seat hatchback and will be priced "significantly below hybrids available today," Honda said in an announcement.

The picture on the CNN website looks almost exactly like the current model Prius. It will be very interesting to see what price range they can make this car, what mileage is can get, as well as what features it comes with.

Toyota is also expected to announce new hybrid models, including a new Prius in January at the Detroit motor show. Detroit News reports that there will be a Lexus hybrid with a completely different design to the Prius, as well as the next generation prius.

Baby proofing the house

I think we missed a spot.