Day ~199! Week 30

I had a fabulous time at the coast last week ... for those following along, yes, that means everything with the tests came out just fine. I not only had another Non Stress Test, which she passed with flying colors, but my ever-thorough doc ordered a second ultrasound just so we could "take a peek" and count her movements. I was secretly really excited that I was getting a second ultrasound! Oh, how I have wanted to see the shape of her head and watch her legs move again! They planned to watch her for an hour - but after five minutes, the technician said, "She already has all the points she needs! She's moving like crazy in there ..." Apparently, they forgot to tell me that I have an anterior placenta (meaning, it's at the front of my belly) and those extra inches of padding can make it hard to feel gentler movements. Everything measured perfectly (though her head measured 30 weeks, not 28 - she takes after her mama - let's hope she can get through that passageway down there!), the four chambers of her heart were "beautiful," we saw her legs swinging and feet kicking, her mouth and lips opening and closing. It was lovely. My mom was with me, and was speechless, marveling at all of it. DTB rushed over as soon as the ultrasound was ordered, and I was so sad that they went so quickly - he missed it. The disappointment on his face! It made me love him even more.

The technician gave baby her "first A+" and sent me on my way. All my blood work came back normal. And so, it was off to the coast for 7 days with my very best girlfriends, their husbands, and their babies!

I have been one of a foursome known as "The Girls" for as long as I can remember. We met via our parents in kindergarten - they were in the morning class, and I was in the afternoon class, but we shared a special chart of gold stars on the classroom wall ... we were all advanced readers. We stayed best friends through elementary school, junior high, and the perils of high school ... we stayed best friends even after we all went away to different colleges, scattered across the country. (Thank goodness email has just barely been invented ... we braved the new world of Pine electronic mail together, between postcards). We were in each other's weddings, and lately, we've been at each other's baby showers. Miss Belly will be the fourth baby born to The Girls ... and L is due with her second just 6 weeks later!

While Portland experienced a rare 100+ degree week, we reveled in blue skies lofted above the cliffs of the pacific northwest coast line ... played with the babies ... and me? I slept, and did a lot of nothing, and walked on the sand with DTB, and ate two scoops of ice cream at the cheese factory tour, and even watched some cable television (I miss the Food Network!). And Miss Belly? She loved the ocean air, or she loved that mama was resting, because she moved and rolled, jabbed and jumped, all week long. DTB took dozens of pictures of me, and I watched the rolling blue sea and white lacy foam racing up the sand, and let it ... all ... go.

It was perfect timing, being with the girls and their husbands, and watching them all be parents. They do it so well. It was Baby Immersion, Baby Bootcamp ... DTB was wonderful and adorable, the way he watched everything so closely. He told me he wants to be like V and R - partners in parenting, relaxed and methodical at the same time, sharing the load and laughing at the right moments.

Yesterday, upon returning to work, three people told me I looked "amazing!" and "different" and "like a new person!" Uh, yeah. That's what the first 10 day vacation in 7 years will do for a girl!

Miss Belly ... just 10 weeks to go! (Unless you're early!) Your room is still piled with things - we're picking up a dresser this weekend that your uncle J and aunt S found at a garage sale, so, very soon, all those sweet little shirts and jammies will be washed and put away. Maybe your mama will feel some small illusion of "being ready" for your grand entrance ... we're a little bit afraid of this adventure ...