The second ultrasound

I had a few stressful days last weekend and the beginning of this week. For 4 days I didn't feel almost any baby movement at all. For about 7 weeks before that the baby would kick up a storm every day, 5 or 6 times a day. Then there was nothing. So Tuesday afternoon I saw my doctor who sent me for an ultrasound the next morning. Peter and I were relieved to find out that everything looked fine with the baby. The technician said that the reason why I wasn't feeling much could have been because the baby had turned from laying sideways to being upside down and the kicks were less intense in that position. We were fascinated by watching the little person on the screen, we hadn't had a lot of chances to see who was in my belly. We did ask the big question again though, whether the lady could tell if we were having a boy or a girl. To our surprise, she said: "I know exactly what you're having". The legs were uncrossed this time and it was clear to see that we're going to have a little girl! Of course, it's not a 100% until she's born, but the lady looked from all angles, and from all angles, it looked like a girl. I can't describe how excited we were.
To me it didn't matter what we had, but Peter had said many times, he wanted a girl. It looks like he's going to get one. We weren't able to get many pictures this time because our baby was too big for the screen. Unlike with the first ultrasound, her whole body could not fit on the screen anymore. She's healthy and growing. However, this ultrasound confirmed what we had suspected after the first one. My due date was off. Because of my irregular periods, my doctor had a hard time coming up with a due date when I found out I was pregnant. The ultrasound showed that I was actually about 2 weeks behind. So my due date has been changed from October 8Th to October 25Th. Now Peter and I will have to sit down and figure out a new date for me to stop working. I will have to give my notice at work shortly. Even though, I told people at work a long time ago, that we were expecting, there are still people who are just finding out. My belly has grown quite a bit, and I've been using the pregnant parking spot for weeks now, some people still haven't clued in.
I still feel pretty well, I do require a lot of sleep and a lot of food though. So far, I've gained about 18 pounds. I have an unbelievable appetite, I could eat day and night. Yesterday afternoon, Peter and I, my parents and Peter's mom went to Victoria Park for the annual BBQ Rib cook off, and beer show. We had 2 big racks of ribs cooked on open fire smothered in an award winning sauce (yummy) and the boys tried out some of the craft beers. I ended my meal with home made ice cream and chocolate syrup on top. Our baby girl did not complain!

Algonquin Park

We spent 4 days camping in beautiful Algonquin Park. After working all night Sunday, I got 3 hours of sleep, then we packed up and left for the 4 hour journey. It was a hot and sunny day (long live the person who invented air conditioning). We got to the park late afternoon, where we met up with Denton. We quickly put up our tent and got settled in. Peter had brought a whack of blankets to make sure I was as comfortable as possible sleeping in a forest.The washroom and showers were about 100 metres from our site, an easy walking distance. To my surprise they were very, very clean and inviting. I especially liked the showers. They were completely separate, private little rooms, with a small area for changing. The push of a button in the wall started the water, which ran for about 3 minutes, but we could push it as many times as we wanted, it was free. The water temperature was preset. Peter found it too hot, but I enjoyed it. That evening we made friends with a couple of curious chipmunks. Denton had brought a bag of peanuts with him, that our new little buddy could not resist. He took them right from our hands. The next day we went on a hiking trail. After studying the many trails and what's to see on them, we decided to take the famous Log Museum trail. While walking through a lovely park, we stopped at 20 interest points, where we were introduced to the lives of men, who cut down and transported enormous sized logs from the forest all the way to England, back in the 1850s.
We got to see a replica of the house they lived in and the primitive equipment they used. It was definitely not a job I would have wanted. They didn't have power tools of any kind, that we have these days. They had to rely on manpower and horsepower. They didn't even have trucks to transport the logs, they used the river to carry them down to the city. It was an interesting tour that made me appreciate my comfy job a little more. That afternoon we took another walk though a forest and a small lake. In the evening we set by the campfire and cooked up moose steaks and delicious sausages, that were so good, they made the baby start kicking. Yummy! The next day we drove to Whitney to visit Peter's aunt and cousins. One of his cousins had had a baby a few weeks earlier, who was born very premature. At the time of our visit she had still not reached her due date. She was very tiny, but healthy and kicking. It was neat to see such a small baby, she was only a few weeks older than the baby in my belly.We spent the rest of the afternoon at our campsite, feeding our new little friends. It was extremely hot that day, so I spent a few hours laying down it our tent. Later, when the weather cooled down a touch, we walked down to the lake, where the boys did some catch and release fishing.
I set on the shore and watched them. Just as we were about to leave, I looked to my left, and saw little, furry ducklings walking up to me followed by their mother.
They weren't afraid one bit, the babies were about 1 metre from my feet. Once I had their pictures taken, they went for a swim in the lake, and we returned to our site. The next morning we packed down and came home. Here, we were greeted by an all excited puppy dog. He'd spent the last few days at my mom's house. We had a great time camping in Algonquin Park, but nothing can replace the feeling I had when I finally, after 4 days got to lay down in our huge and comfy bed. Home sweet home!