We had such a nice, relaxing Thanksgiving. We all packed up and went to West Virginia, where we stayed in a cottage at the Greenbrier. We ate a lot of food, walked around the grounds, toured a giant old Cold War bunker (from 1962-1992 it was prepared to shelter both houses of Congress in case of a nuclear attack!) and had lots of fun with the children. Oh, and Patrick and I discovered a love of checkers, which I let him win once or twice.
I got a miserable cold while we were there, so I didn’t take a whole lot of photos. We did get some nice shots of ourselves and the extended family for Christmas cards, though!
This weekend we’ll be decking the halls for Christmas. (Every other house on our street is already lit up like the Eiffel Tower!)
We are off to spend a few days with my parents, my sister and her family. I spent all day making pies, which I guess I will have to share with them …
We’re going to New York for Christmas this year! I hope that Champ will be kicking good and hard by then, so that Patrick’s parents can “feel” their grandbaby.
In the meantime, Mike and Mary (Michele too!), here’s a little gift for you. (It takes a minute to load, but it’s worth it!)
Today was our 12 week ultrasound! The purpose of this scan was to measure the size of the nuchal translucency, a clear part of the back of the baby’s neck. A measurement of 2.5 mm or more may indicate Down syndrome or other complications. Champ’s was well within the normal range at 1.6 mm. Whew!
As soon as the ultrasound tech pushed the wand into my belly, Champ appeared on the screen and threw his (her?) arms and legs up in surprise. The tech moved the wand around a bit, trying to get the right angle to see what she needed to see. During all this, Champ is squirming and waving like crazy.
At one point, he (she?) lifted one hand up to the brow in a little “salute.” I asked if we could get a shot of that, but as the tech went for the button that little arm went right back down. Too bad — it was incredibly cute!
I’m amazed at how much movement is going on in there that I can’t even feel yet. Go baby go!
Today was the second appointment for Champ and me. It was brief … the doctor listened for a heartbeat, answered a few questions and then we were done.
I remembered this time to bring my voice recorder so that I could get a recording of the heartbeat. I’ll figure out how to post that later.
This week, the baby is about the size of a peach.
In the meantime, here’s the hospital where Champ will most likely be born. Their OB brochure shows what the birthing suites look like. We’ll be touring the place one of these days … I’m eager to see if it looks as nice in person!
On Wednesday we’ll be having our second ultrasound. Champ should be looking a little more like a person and a little less like E.T. this time around.
I spent my Veteran’s Day weekend with my favorite veteran!
Patrick signed up several weeks ago to run a 5K in Staunton on Saturday. The race wasn’t until 2 in the afternoon, but we left early because he said we were stopping on the way … for a surprise.
It turned out to be the Virginia Safari Park, one of those places where you can drive around and the animals come right up to your window to eat!
It. Was. Awesome.
The first animals we saw were an aggressive gang of llamas, but then there were camels and ostriches and sweet, timid little deer. There were zebras, great big bison, swamp water buffaloes and emus. We got to meet all of them up close and personal (one sneezed/spat on Patrick) and then walk through the petting zoo area where we saw kangaroos, giraffes, lemurs, goats and piggies. We will definitely be going back there with children some time …
Then off to Staunton, where Patrick finished the 5K in less than half the time it took me. Showoff.
By the time we got back home we were starving, so we picked up some Chinese take-out and settled in with Lola (who was fascinated by all the different animal smells on us).
This morning we woke up with an urge to go see a movie. We decided on Bee Movie, which is every bit as cute as it looks!
Then we went to St. Mary’s hospital for a Birthing Expo, where they had lots of vendors explaining why you simply must have their prenatal massage gel or babyproofing products or postpartum Pilates classes. We also sat through a class on the phases of labor, which didn’t give us any new information but was still kind of fun. (They showed a video at the end, but it wasn’t the gory kind. Maybe next time!)
Tomorrow, I have my 12-week checkup at the doctor’s office, and then another ultrasound on Wednesday!
Joe Tremblay 