The Rabbit Died

The rabbit test was an early pregnancy test developed in 1927 by Bernhard Zondek and Selmar Aschheim. The original test actually used mice. The test consisted of injecting the tested woman's urine into a female rabbit, then examining the rabbit's ovaries a few days later, which would change in response to a hormone only secreted by pregnant women. The hormone, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), is produced during pregnancy and indicates the presence of a fertilized egg; it can be found in a pregnant woman's urine and blood. The rabbit test became a widely used bioassay (animal-based test) to test for pregnancy. The term "rabbit test" was first recorded in 1949 but became a common phrase in the English language. Xenopus frogs were also used in a similar "frog test".
Modern pregnancy tests still operate on the basis of testing for the presence of the hormone hCG. Due to medical advances, use of a live animal is no longer required.
It is a common misconception that the injected rabbit would die only if the woman was pregnant. This led to the phrase "the rabbit died" being used as a euphemism for a positive pregnancy test. In fact, all rabbits used for the test died, because they had to be surgically opened in order to examine the ovaries. While it was possible to do this without killing the rabbit, it was generally deemed not worth the trouble and expense.

[edit] In popular culture
The rabbit test was featured in the episode of the television series M*A*S*H entitled "What’s Up, Doc". A rabbit (Fluffy) belonging to Radar O'Reilly was used to test for pregnancy in Margaret Houlihan. To assuage Radar, rather than killing the rabbit, Hawkeye Pierce performed surgery under anesthesia. When Houlihan later thanked Radar for the use of his pet, he responded that he was sure that she would have done the same for the rabbit.
The Aerosmith song "Sweet Emotion" refers to the test: "Can't catch me 'cause the rabbit done died."
Country singer Eric Church also references this in his song "Two Pink Lines" saying "these days the rabbit doesn't die"
In the BBC comedy The Vicar of Dibley, in a purposefully absurd variation of the rabbit test mixed up with home pregnancy test kits, Alice Tinker Horton tells the vicar she can't be pregnant because she "wee'd on a hamster" and it didn't turn blue.
In the I Love Lucy episode when Lucy finds out she's pregnant with Little Ricky, she telephones a friend and excitedly reports, "The rabbit died!"
In an episode of The Golden Girls, Sophia Petrillo claims that she believes she is pregnant. Her daughter's response is, "What happened? The rabbit died laughing?"
An independent short film titled Redemption Maddie centers on the idea of testing pregnancy with rabbits.
In Squidbillies, the rabbit test was used to determine if Early was pregnant. However, the rabbit died when Early's acidic urine "melted" the rabbit into an ooze, rather than as a result of the test procedure.
Billy Crystal starred in a 1978 movie Rabbit Test in which he became pregnant.
A collection of essays by Teresa Bloomingdale, columnist and mother of ten, bears the title I Should Have Known It When The Rabbit Died (1979). The title refers to an anecdote (1956) in which the rabbit used in her first pregnancy test died from jumping off the examination table, thereby shrugging off any responsibility for her ever-growing family.[clarify]
In Philip K. Dick's novel The Game-Players of Titan, pregnancy is tested by biting a strip of "rabbit paper"

Guess what: The Rabbit Died!!!
8 weeks and counting..................................................

Michigan Avenue

I met my Mom in Chicago last weekend (just the two of us!) and we hit Michigan Avenue hard!

We shopped our tails off for 2 1/2 days visiting almost every store including American Girl Store which I've always wanted to see. I know now I have a few years before I will start thinking about taking Cecelia there.

We saw A Christmas Carol at the Goodman Theater following a very nice Italian meal. The city was beautiful, all lit up and decorated to the nine. The pictures above are from our view on Saturday night at the Signature Room - this is the 95th floor of the John Hancock building and I strongly suggest checking it out if you ever get the chance. My favorite picture is the one with the ferris wheel at Navy Pier. Amazing.

It was so much fun spending time alone with my Mom. Three days of conversation and leisurely meals and, again, shopping! Thanks Mom for everything!!!!

Bill was kind enough to take a personal day on Friday to take care of the girls. Thank you too, honey!!

I'm hoping to do this again more often - what a great weekend.

Christmas Pictures

Okay, so sue me. I just didn't have the time, energy, money, ambition, you name it, to have the girls' pictures taken professionally for this year's Christmas card. However, I did make a weak attempt at my own photo session at home - alone. Bad decision. Trying to "pose" the children and take the pictures was a nightmare! As you can see, Delaney wanted to kiss and hug her sister pretty much the entire time and when I tried to place her on her bottom with crossed legs just like the professionals she would either A)think it was a game and instantly slide down in to a semi-laying-down style pose or B) just scream and flip out.

I managed to get one shot of the girls at least looking in the direction of the camera and with the help of shutterfly turned it in to a pretty cute card. Look for it in the mail sometime in and around Christmas, the New Year, or at the very least, Valentine's Day.

Random Observations

Kids copy everything they see and hear. This is a 100% fact. Those who think they're getting away with something with their kids are horribly mistaken.
CeCe asked me the other day after the usual "Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom...." and no response "Mom, do you have ears on your head, can you hear me?" That is a direct quote from yours truly.
Today, Laney was wiping her butt (over her pants) with a wipey.
That's all.

Ah, Cute

The girls have been having so much fun together lately. They are just two peas in a pod. Laney adores her sister and copies everything she does.

They had some fun playing out in the leaf pile on a unseasonably warm day recently. I can't believe soon we'll be playing in piles of snow.

We hit the 8th floor at Macy's on Saturday afternoon. This year it is the Nutcracker. The display was gorgeous and the girls were just mesmerized. I've always enjoyed seeing the world through the eyes of my children. The holiday season is always particularly romantic and their delight in it is beautiful.

Too bad it can't be Christmas everyday.

There is more to come on our little family, but you must stay tuned.

My Color

And now I'm stealing from you, Bonnie.
My color is PINK. ( Spacefem.com).

Your dominant hues are red and magenta. You love doing your own thing and going on your own adventures, but there are close friends you know you just can't leave behind. You can influence others on days when you're patient, but most times you just want to go out, have fun, and do your own thing.Your saturation level is high - you get into life and have a strong personality. Everyone you meet will either love you or hate you - either way, your goal is to get them to change the world with you. You are very hard working and don't have much patience for people without your initiative.Your outlook on life is very bright. You are sunny and optimistic about life and others find it very encouraging, but remember to tone it down if you sense irritation

Video???

If this works, then you will see a video taken a month or two back of the girls dancing.