Alberto Horche
Tessa Semey
We Met
24/05/2019
Alberto went to Berdorf (Luxembourg) to climb outdoors with his friends. This was his first ever camping experience.
That same weekend, Tessa also went climbing there with her friend and fell in love with the clumsiness of the Spaniard in the camp site.
We Fell In Love
25/06/2019
Tessa proposed to spend the night of her birthday together on her natural habitat: the dunes of The Hague.
That night there was a lot of Dinoflagellates in the beach, which lit the water as we walked on it, making the whole night feel magical, as in something important was starting.
We moved in together
28/07/2020
After some time travelling and climbing we noticed that we were almost all the time together so we decided that it was time for Tessa to move in with Alberto. It was just more practical, and yes, we kind of enjoyed each other´s company.
So we endured the COVID lockdowns in a 60m2 apartment. We thought that would be the ultimate challenge, but keep reading…
We travelled a little bit
2020 – 2022
We bought our first house!
01/09/2022
The previous apartment was great but not futureproof so we started browsing the city for options.
Lucky us, a wonderful house in our neighborhood came up for sale and we jumped right at it.
After moving what felt like a million boxes down 4 floors (stairs only) and scaring of a gigantic spider in the curtains, we settled into Marshalllaan.
We travelled a little more…
2022 – 2025
We did adult stuff
05/07/2025
You know how that works…
The first test confirmed it!
19/07/2025
After 3 months of us not avoiding getting a new family member, we got lucky and we can now say that…
We Are Expecting!
First Echo
19/07/2025
In the middle of this clump of cells, you can see the baby upside down on the left side in the middle of the uterus.
That big circular shape attached to the baby is just the yolk sack (they said).
They showed us for the first time a couple of flickering pixels in a screen, and we were told that that was their heart. Tessa pretended she could see something. Alberto actually did.
Second Echo
09/09/2025
Now you can really tell that the clump of cells resembles a little human. With a large head, nose, ears and a little foot.
Currently the baby is 48.57mm and has been baking for 11 weeks and 4 days.
The due date is officially set to March 26, 2026.
Third Echo – Week 13
23/09/2025
During the sonogram, for the first time, without introduction, the heartbeat!
Admittingly, a little confronting to realize that this moving picture is actually alive and kicking by hearing the heartbeat thumping at 180 bpm like ‘Living la vida loca’ inside you.
Baby is baking at 74mm, 80gr for 13 weeks and 5 days. The back is closed, the heart is pumping around blood in 4 chambers and the brain has 2 hemispheres. Keep it up little munchkin!
Anatomy scan – Week 20
04/11/2025
We are halfway. Time for another ultrasound. If you assume, half baked is half a baby you are sorely mistaken. During the 20-week scan we got to see organs, bones, blood flow through the heart and umbilical chord and so far everything looks as it should. The face profile shows us the cutest button nose and we can’t wait to meet our little munchkin. In the picture you can see the right foot.
Healthy baby, happy parents (for now…)
Gender Reveal
08/11/2025
We are ready to share with you the gender of our baby, but we know some people prefer not to know.
Spoiler alert!!! Play the audio below if you want to know the gender of the baby!
Now we need to start looking for a fitting name… Do you want to help? Text us your suggestions!
What’s happenning?! – Week 24
08/12/2025
9:40 – Pain
Without any warning, Tessa felt a sharp pain on the right side of her belly. Very strong. Paralizing. She can barely move…
10:24 – Call the midwife
Alberto calls the midwife. Tessa is in so much pain that she cannot talk. They think it’s unlikely anything pregnancy-related and advise paracetamol and calling the GP if it persists.
14:25 – Visit the GP
Time passed but Tessa cannot even walk so we went to the GP. They are worried that something serious could be affecting the baby. Maybe it’s “just” a kidney stone, but maybe not so we are sent to the hospital for better screaning.
15:34 – Diakonessenhuis
We arrived at the Diakonessen Hospital and after some tests they cannot rule out that Tessa is entering into labour so they need to send us to the Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, specialized in neonatal care, This time with an ambulance.
This looks serious. We are quite shaken.
19:03 – Wilhelmina Kinderziekenhuis
They are expecting us. We go to triage and after multiple tests they make their evaluation:
There is a 20% chance that Tessa will deliver in the next 24 hours. Wait what? We are not ready and, most importantly, the baby is not ready!
21:18 – Choices
Our baby is now 24 weeks and 4 days. If a baby is born in week 24 or 25, their chances of survival are very slim and having a normal life thereafter is rare. They called this Extreme Prematurity and there is an official website to inform you about your options.
Not a nice read, but we need to carefully study it right now and choose what we want to do with our baby if Tessa does go into labour soon.
22:42 – Admitted to the hospital
After the hardest conversation of our lives, Tessa needs to remain in the hospital for monitoring. Alberto goes home to pick up some personal care items and goes back to the hospital to sleep together, hoping that nothing happens.
08:05 – A new day
We didn’t sleep much, but feel much better. Nothing progressed during the night and the pain is completely gone. Doctors cannot really determined what caused the pain, but they can determined that the baby has not been born yet…
12:24 – Dismissed
Considering the development of the situation and since the pain is gone they let us go home with the condition that we come back every week to keep a close eye on the baby.
Before we leave, doctors tell us that we need to take it one day at a time, one week at a time. They hope the baby stays in as long as possible, but it is critical to make the 28-week mark for improve the survival chances. If they could wish, they hope we can make it to week 32. Right now, thinking to deliver at term (week 37+) is just science fiction.
Growth scan – Week 29
12/01/2026
After several weeks with Tessa wrapped in cotton wool and having uneventful weekly appointments, we went for a new growth scan where they told us that, compared to the Dutch average, our baby is quite small (900gr vs 1150gr). We are also smaller than the average Dutch couple, so we are not too worried about it.
There was only one detail that made us a little bit concerned. It seems like the femur is very short but the size of the belly and the head is closer to average. That might be an early sign of achondroplasia, but doctors need multiple measurements to really suspect that diagnosis, so we kind of ignore it for now.
A magical moment – Week 29
13/01/2026
At night, winding down before going to sleep, Alberto uses Tessa’s belly as a pillow and starts to talk some nonsense to the baby. Suddenly his eyes become big. He checks Tessa’s heartbeat in her neck (to rule it out) and says: “I can hear the baby’s heartbeat! It goes like this.” and starts drumming the rhythm with his fingers on Tessa’s hand.
He is quiet and focussed only on listening, breathing, being. This is the first time he really connected to the baby. Hearing its heartbeat with his own ears and its kicking at the same time was really special. In an echography, thru a monitor is really not the same.
Fetal Growth Restriction – Week 32
02/02/2026
The baby starts to measure small consistently, not only femur, but now also belly and head. Now its weight is about 1.500gr and we are told there is a posibility of Fetal Growth Restriction. New concern unlocked! Yey!
From now on we will start measuring every week also de so-caller Doppler. How this works is fascinating: they use sound waves to measure blood flow velocity in fetal, placental, and uterine vessels to measure if there is high resistance in the umbilical cord, which could signal growth restriction. This basically monitors the performance of the placenta and allows intervention (when needed) before the baby stops getting enough oxigen and nutrients from it.
Baby in breech position – Week 34
16/02/2026
They start to monitor the position of the baby to determine which procedure we can expect for delivery. Our baby has been in the so-called breech position since week 20. This is not ideal and, apparently, doing some exercises help the baby to naturally move in the right position. Even if it doesn’t, pictures are priceless.
Some times the baby just turns before week 36. If that doesn’t happen, they can try to manually turn the baby, although it’s a 50/50 chance. In breech position we can still choose for a vaginal delivery, but there are some risks involved and a C-section intervention becomes more possible.
In the meantime our baby is 1.920gr and keeps growing, slowly but surely. A steady grinder we’ve got!
Latests news – Week 35
24/02/2025
Remember the discussion we had at week 24 about extreme premature labor?
It is just a distant (sour) memory now because “science fiction” is approaching fast… Actually, at 37 weeks the baby is officially fully grown and the delivery is considered to be “at term”. In our case that would be from March 5th and, if we end up making it, it would mean we might even avoid the need of an incubator for our baby.
Next week we will have the last growth scan and, if the baby is still in breech, we will need to have a new interesting discussion about what we want to do. Of course, we have an official website to help with that decision as well.
By the way, baby’s favourite position is on the left side of Tessa’s belly, happily kicking her in the crotch and with its head towards her heart. Lovely.