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Todd’s First Trip to the Mountains (Mt Baker, WA)

November 24, 2014 in Family Activities, Hike, MINIVEGAN | Tags: Artist Point, Backcountry, Bagley Lakes, columnar basalt, hike, Mt Baker, Mt Shuksan, North Cascades, Ptarmigan Ridge, Ski, SR 542, stroller-friendly, Table Mountain, Washington | 3 comments

Baby Todd, you are one lucky boy! You were born to a family of hikers, mountain bikers, skiers…mountain lovers! Adventure awaits! Naturally, your first trip to the mountains would come early…

FIRST TRIP – 9/27/14
Artist Point & Bagley Lakes
Mt Baker, WA

On September 27th, when Todd was 5 weeks old, we felt ready to take on a long car trip. We were itching to get out into the mountains, so we drove to the end of the Mt Baker Highway (SR 542), to Artist Point, elevation 5210 ft.

(By the way, this is where you access the Ptarmigan Ridge Trail. Check out these spectacular pictures of Mt Baker and Mt Shukshan, from the route.)

Todd does great on car rides of any length. He falls fast asleep! I’m not positive, but I think this trip took about 2.5 hours each way.

Once we arrived at the popular destination, we pulled out some chairs and fed the boy. Mt Shuksan was in the clouds.

Fueling up

Eric & Todd with Mt Shuksan in the clouds

Todd & Eric

We walked along the stroller-friendly nature path, to views of a partially clouded Mt Baker. I don’t think Todd opened his eyes to look.

Elisa, Todd & Mt Baker

Some nice people offered to take our picture, with Ptarmigan Ridge in the background. I’ve hiked that trail before, and we also once did a backcountry ski trip along that route.

Family pic with Ptarmigan Ridge in the background

Eric and Todd with Mt Baker in the background

We took our first family selfie. No one smiled…

First family selfie

Mt Baker from Artist Point

After we topped off Todd’s tank with some more food, we drove a short stretch down the road to the Bagley Lakes Trailhead. Another stroller-friendly path greeted us.

The stroller-friendly Bagley Lakes trail

We tried to show him the columnar basalt, but all he would do is sleep…

Columnar Basalt

Sleepy Todd

Pictures of Bagley Lakes…

One of the Bagley Lakes

Another of the Bagley Lakes

Clearly, Todd’s first trip to the mountains was memorable for him! He slept the whole way home, too.

Todd with Table Mountain in the background

By the time we left, the clouds over Mt Shuksan had lifted…

Mt Shuksan

20 Week Ultrasound

April 27, 2014 in MINIVEGAN, Vegan Pregnancy | Tags: #minivegan, Alta, anatomy scan, Evergreen Maternal-Fetal Medicine, gender, gestational age, Harmony Prenatal Test, pregnancy, Ski, Snowbird, ultrasound, Utah | 4 comments

Well, #minivegan is now 25 weeks gestational age (on Monday, April 28, 2014). This pregnancy is flying by, and I’m long overdue posting an update. I’ve been working my ever-growing-larger ass off, working to save up extra $$ for my maternity leave.

We went in for our 20 week ultrasound (US) on day one of our 2014 ski vacation to Snowbird, Utah. What a perfect way to kick off our trip! The sonographer and perinatologist that we saw at Evergreen Maternal-Fetal Medicine were wonderful. Dr. Kline said she had a baby in her 40’s, too! She was pretty excited for us.

For many couples, the 18-22 week ultrasound (“anatomy scan”) is the procedure that reveals the baby’s gender for the first time. We definitely wanted to know!

But, we chose to have the Harmony prenatal blood test done prior to our 20 week scan. Harmony tests for three trisomy abnormalities (trisomy 13, 18, and 21) with >99% accuracy. It also tests for the presence of a Y chromosome (Y chromosome = boy).

My blood was drawn on March 5th (at 17 weeks + 2 days). I expected to wait 2 weeks for the results, but thankfully mine came sooner than that. On Friday, March 14, 2014, I got the phone call while at work. I was with a very sweet man, with quite severe dementia. My patient, Tom, was the first person to hear my good news: that our baby does NOT have trisomy 13, 18, or 21…AND…our baby is a BOY!!! (The next week, Tom had no recall of this.)

I didn’t call Eric right away. Instead, I stopped by Target after work, to pick up a little gift for Eric that would reveal the gender to him when I got home.

It’s a BOY!

Sunday, March 16, 2014 – Sportin’ the Purple Pregnancy Pants at Week 19. (Mission Ridge Ski Area)

The ultrasound was performed on Friday, March 21, 2014 (at 19 weeks + 4 days). Our boy appeared healthy in all ways and weighed about 10 oz. His growth measurements were between 43% and 62% for his gestational age, and the heart rate was 147 bpm. The placenta is posterior and without previa. My cervix is long. Excellent!

We received a DVD of the scan. I took this short video clip with my phone, that shows baby’s face: moving his jaw, yawning, moving his tongue, and even smiling. You can also see his forearm in front of his face. Watch it again and look for the heart beating. Precious!!