Happy 4th (week 26)

Wedding #3 was on the 4th of July. It was for Dan's high school friend Andrew and took place in Hartland, VT, about 30 minutes from Dan's parents house. The location was beautiful- the Pearce's have a gorgeous house on a huge piece of property. Of course Simon Pearce glass was everywhere! The centerpieces at the tables were all unique and designed around a SP "theme". We were at the Chelsea table, gorgeous!

Unfortunately, it was about 90 degrees that day and the entire thing took place outdoors. There was a tent for the dinner, but the ceremony and cocktail hour were mostly out in the open. I spent as much time as possible hiding in the shade of a few trees. Over the day two or three women said to me "man, I'm glad I'm not pregnant right now!!" But I wasn't the only uncomfortable one- everyone was sweating!

It was fun catching up with friends we hadn't seen in a while, and especially meeting Eric and Andrea's 6 month old baby girl, Ayela. She is absolutely adorable and so well mannered. We barely heard a peep from her all day. She just hung out happy as a clam, and turned into all smiles whenever her dad was nearby. Too cute. Looking forward to their upcoming move back east from Colorado- hopefully Ayela will be a playmate for BBH!

BBH has been a busy bee. I used to feel him move sporadically, and even would go a day or two here or there without feeling anything. But it's gotten much more constant over the past week. He doesn't seem to kick much, but Dan and I can feel him wiggling, rolling, squirming, head butting, whatever it is that he's doing! It's such a strange feeling, but I love it!

Home again! (week 25)

We had a great time on vacation. 10 days out west: 2.5 in Seattle, 2.5 in Vancouver, 2.5 in Missoula, and lots of time in the car. Seattle was cold and rainy (not really a surprise though, right?), but it was a lot of fun to stay with my aunt Cathy and uncle John at their gorgeous home in the Madison Park neighborhood of Seattle. It was an easy drive to downtown Seattle. We took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island one day, checked out the History of Flight Museum, and did a tour of the Boeing factory (wow, big building!). Cathy fed us really well while we were there too- what a treat!

A 2.5/3 hour drive took us up to Vancouver. When we got there the cloud cover was very low, making it hard to see the mountains that surround the city. But when those clouds moved off... wow! What a gorgeous place. It's amazing to walk around the city and see the mountains peeking out between the buildings. Even the unimpressive neighborhoods of the city were made beautiful by the backdrop. While we were in Vancouver we walked around Stanley Park, took a hop-on/hop-off tour, checked out the waterfront, and took a float plane tour. I started having bad sciatic nerve pain which limited my ability to move around easily, which was a huge bummer. I would have loved to be able to go for a run around Stanley Park. It was amazing there.

We then made the long drive from Vancouver to Missoula. It actually wasn't bad at all. After several days of walking and walking and walking, it was nice to relax in the car! And except for a boring stretch in Eastern Washington, it is a gorgeous drive. South along the Cascades, East through the Snoqualmie National Forest and past Mt Rainier, through the rolling hills of Central Washington, then the stunning Coeur D'Alene Forest... and finally, Montana. Just incredible views!

Missoula was a charming town with gorgeous scenery. It was a lot of fun to catch up with Derek and Katie, BTTers who moved to San Diego a few years ago. We hadn't seen them since our wedding, I think! Dave showed up the next day, and we all had fun at Donna and Seth's pre-wedding BBQ night at a park in Missoula. It was so much fun seeing Donna! Grace, Tony, and Ian showed up later and we had quite the fun gang. We did some hikes together, checked out Missoula's farmers markets, ate a few meals, and hung out at Missoula's fun Coffee Shop, Liquid Planet. The morning of the wedding we even ran into Donna there. She was in-between makeup and hair appointments, already looking gorgeous!

The wedding was amazing. It was about an hour and a half drive from Missoula, in Hamilton MT, at Seth's father's house. The weather was perfect, the setting was beautiful, the ceremony was touching... and the reception was fun. The BTTers had a great time together, which only made the day that much better.

The next day, after another hike of the "M" trail and a stop at Liquid Planet with the gang, Dan and I hit the road. We were in Seattle by 8:15, returned our rental car, and checked into the hotel by 9. The following day was a long one- 5 hour flight to JFK, lots of waiting for our (very delayed) flight to Boston, and the final plane trip home. We were both glad to be back... even if we are experiencing jet lag today!

Some things I learned on this trip:
1) 6 months is the latest I ever want to fly pregnant. I had a hard time getting comfortable, even though we had purchased seats with "extra legroom".
2) If I do fly again while pregnant, remember the compression socks! I forgot to put them on during one leg of travel and my ankles turned into cankles!! Yikes! Thanks to Jen for lending me hers for the trip, next time I have to remember to put them on right away.
3) Drink lots and lots of water when traveling and sightseeing. I started experiencing lots of BH contractions in Vancouver, which made me very nervous. A quick call to my doc had me understanding that even though I felt like I was drinking a lot, I still wasn't getting enough water. I'm supposed to be downing 1 gallon per day! Man, that's a lot of bathroom trips!
4) Always check google maps when booking a hotel and make sure the hotel isn't near train tracks (or a highway.... or anything else noisy). Apparently freight trains run ALL night long in Missoula and they love to blast those horns!

I see you baby (week 23)

Well, we're past week 23 now. I'm definitely getting bigger! The cool thing about the week 24 milestone coming up is that, should I go into premature labor, BBH has a decent chance of surviving (with massive help, of course). That's amazing.... hopefully we won't need to worry about that though!

BBH has been going through stages of activity/inactivity. Some days I might only feel him once or twice throughout the day, other times I will feel him bouncing around all day. I love to rest my hands on my stomach when he moves so I can feel from the outside too. It makes me laugh! I really wish I could see what he's doing. I've noticed recently that I can sometimes feel a body part with my hand when he moves. I can't tell what it is, and it doesn't last long. Maybe it's an elbow dragging across my belly or something. Last night I was lying in bed feeling BBH doing some karate kicks in there and decided to just watch my stomach to see if I could SEE the kicks. And yup, sure enough- my tummy was bopping around.

On Friday we leave for our western adventure. Seattle, Vancouver, and Missoula. The trip wraps up with Donna and Seth's wedding... I'm excited to watch them tie the knot, and see their cutie pie Ciaran. Can't wait!

Tri-Spectating and Doc's appointment (week 22)

Over the weekend I went to Newfound Lake in NH to watch Mooseman 70.3. BBH got to go along for the ride while I watched his aunty Margaret (and several other BTTers) race. Since I've already noticed slight swelling in my feet and hands with this hot and humid weather we've been seeing a lot of, I was wary about being on my feet all day. So I packed like a champ... I brought a comfy folding chair, a cooler full of food, lots of water, rain gear and set myself up under the BTT tent. Glad I grabbed that rain gear... cause it rained all day! Dan said that was payback for IMLP 2008 (I raced, he spectated... 12+ hours of mostly pouring rain).

It was still fun... great crew to cheer with!

Yesterday I had my monthly checkup with the OB doc. All looks well... BBH's heart rate is holding strong, and my uterus is measuring 22cm for 22 weeks... perfect!

Week 19

Dan and I spent part of the weekend up in Waterville Valley, NH, for BTT's annual training weekend. It wasn't quite the same experience without the long bike rides and moderate (ok, heavy) drinking that usually goes on. But, we managed to have fun anyway. We went on a muddy hike around WV and enjoyed the company of BTT. We did duck out early though, missing the Saturday night fiesta.

Last night when BBH was kicking strong I was able to feel a kick from the outside. Dan was able to feel it a few seconds later! Pretty cool. I think Dan was weirded out though... I could picture scenes from "Alien" flashing in his head.

Oh, Boy! (week 18)

Suspicions confirmed! Baby H is now Baby Boy H!

That was one fun ultrasound. A very nice (and 37 week pregnant) ultrasound tech talked us through the anatomy scan, showing us what was what. She looked at everything... brain, heart, kidneys, stomach, arms, legs, fingers, toes... you get the point. Very cool! BBH, as he now can be called, was moving and shaking for us. The ultrasound tech said "This is going to be an active one, he's going crazy in there!" Uh oh! He was jumping, twisting, kicking, and even trying to put toes in his mouth. When we confirmed that we wanted to know the gender, she moved the ultrasound wand to the right spot and said "Now, what do you think it is?". Haha... very obviously a boy!

Doc says that everything from the scan looks normal, and he is weighing in at about 10oz... which is 55th percentile for his gestational age.

Now... time to start considering names!

Good Vibrations (week 18)

I think I'm feeling movement in there! I thought I started to feel tiny movements about 2 weeks ago, but I wasn't sure- they were so subtle. But now, I am pretty positive that what I'm feeling is the baby. Sometimes it's just very subtle bubbles but other times it's more distinctive (but gentle) jabs. I don't think they they can be felt from the outside just yet, but hopefully soon! It's really fun to feel baby moving around, I'm looking forward to being able to share that experience with Dan.

I'm starting to realize that running won't be happening for too much longer. When I go for "runs" these days, I usually only make it about 2 miles before I need to stop and walk. It's not exhaustion or tired legs, but just a very uncomfortable feeling in my belly. I don't know how to explain it, but it doesn't feel good! I'm still able to spin on my trainer and do at-home strength workouts. Eventually I hope to make swimming part of my regular routine.

Big ultrasound is on Wednesday... very excited!