Experiments in Life

Hello Folks!

I hear that some of you have been inquiring as to how my doctor’s appointment went yesterday. Well wait no more. Here’s the update:

The baby’s heart rate is in the 150’s…

And I get to go to physical therapy. My back has been a little sore since day one of the pregnancy. So I mentioned that to my doctor and she gave me a referral. My first appointment is on Monday. They’ll evaluate me and see if there is anything they can do for me. Then we’ll set up any future appointments as necessary. So, that might be exciting

That’s it Nothing much else happened. They weighed me, took my blood pressure, and then listened to the fetal heart beat. The doctor had a hard time finding it though. Apparently my pulse was very loud and she couldn’t hear the baby’s over mine. I thought for a minute I might get an ultrasound, but no, she found it at the last second. And I swear that they put that gel stuff in the fridge before putting it on the monitory. Geez Louise it’s cold!!! Anyway, we’ve had the next appointment set up since I was 12 weeks. My 20 week appointment is in early January. Hopefully we will be able to find out the gender then.

Not much else is going on. I still haven’t felt the baby move…I don’t think I have anyway. That’s the next big thing that I am waiting for. Maybe by the time Christmas rolls around I’ll be ablel to feel something then. I’ll be around 18 weeks when Christmas hits.

So, that’s what’s up with me and Tater Tot. As far as we know, all is well with the little Tater. I’m sure the next update will be way more interesting

Come back in 4 weeks for more Tater Tot news

The pups got a small taste of freedom this morning. Not only did they knock out another fence board, they figured out that they could wiggle their way through the opening and escape into No Man’s Land between our fence and our neighbor’s fence. Did I mention that our neighbor’s have at least two, nasty-sounding, boxers? I wandered into the dining room after getting out of the shower and heard some nasty growling from the yard. I looked out and did not see any pups, but did see the missing board. I ran out into the back yard and peered over the fence to see Rosie huddled between the fences towards the back of No Man’s Land. The other dogs were growling from there property. I managed to call her back through the boards into our yard. There was still no sign of Dante. Apparently, the little bugger had run behind the neighbor’s property in the new subdivision. Several minutes of calling finally got him to come back through the fence. I threw both dogs in the house and dutifully went out to repair the fence, once again.

Of course, the story does not completely end there. Both dogs have been little pills the rest of the morning, raising high holy hell ever since I fixed the fence. With their taste of freedom, they seem to be acting that much more aggressive to the dogs next door, which will get them in trouble if they ever meet (did I mention the other dogs were nasty-sounding?).

To all of those who do not see us on a regular basis (Geof included!), here is Ashley at 15 1/2 weeks.

Dante is admiring Ashley’s first given maternity top, sponsored by my Aunt Leisa. Thanks again, Aunt Leisa! Rosie has spent the week sulking around the house due to her shaved leg and was too embarrassed to be in the photo.

Whenever we go out of town over night, we take the dogs to a place we lovingly call Puppy Camp. Our first Valentine’s Day after we got married, Ashley and I gave the pups to each other. The first few times we went back to Columbus after that, the dogs came with us; they were puppies and were still relatively small. At this time, Ashley was writing her thesis. As a reward for finishing it, I was going to take her on a trip to the mountains. Well, by mid-July, Ashley had finished her final edits and we turned in the thesis and were ready to go. Obviously, we could not take the dogs with us this time, so we decided that we would have to board them.

Ashley looked around at several boarding facilities in Huntsville, but we finally decided that it was more cost-effective to just board them at the vet’s office. Now, at the time, our vet’s office was a good half-hour drive into town from our home. That seems silly in retrospect, but it was the vet that the dogs were used to from the time they were sick before we got them. So, the morning that we were leaving for the mountains, we loaded the dogs into the car and dropped them off at the vet. On the half-hour drive back to the house, Ashley was simply heart-broken that she was having to leave her babies. Until this point, the dogs had never been away from us at night. She was worried how they would get along without her and how she would get along without them. She was afraid that they would be miserable at the vet with no one to play with or love them. So, I came up with a brilliant idea that has stuck ever since. “Do not worry about the dogs — I am sure that they are going to have a great time at Puppy Camp this weekend,” I said. Amazingly, those few simple words seemed to help her get through the weekend without the dogs. After all, if she had a great time at camp when she was a kid, then the puppies must be having a great time at Puppy Camp!

It has been two and a half years since the concept of Puppy Camp was born and we will use it whenever we talk about boarding the dogs. However, this does make me wonder what we will come up with to get through leaving The Little Monster at daycare or with a babysitter.