I've reached another milestone in my pregnancy progress - my gym membership is now on hold through the end of the year. I took my last indoor cycling class last night. As I told the instructor, "I'm here and I'm cycling, but I'm not cycling. I can still play along, but I keep it pretty mellow."
Since finding out I was pregnant, my gym routine went unchanged for about four months. I maintained a steady routine of weight training, indoor cycling and my favorite class... WillPower & Grace - a hybrid mix of pilates, yoga, squats and lunges. As my pregnancy progressed, I tapered-off my weight training routine and then in June the WillPower & Grace instructor headed to New York for the summer. In July, I started to replace some of my gym workouts with yoga class. Cycling was my last hold out.
I wondered just how comfortable I'd be sitting on a bike seat with my baby belly bouncing along on the long hill climbs. I stuck with it for quite a while. My first transition was raising the bike seat up, increasing the space between my legs and my growing belly. My next adjustment was moving the seat forward, closer to the handlebars, so that I could sit in a more upright position. Then came the decreased intensity. With a busy social schedule in September, and a due date in October, now seemed like the right time to freeze my membership.
So, from here on out, I'll stick to yoga and long walks for my endorphin rush!
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
She has hair!
We got another sneak peek at Miss Mather today. The ultrasound technician could see that she has hair! All of her landmark structures (skull, femur, etc.) indicate that she is growing right on schedule. She weighs 3 pounds, 5 ounces. She also had a belly full of amniotic fluid which indicates that she has learned to swallow... I thought I had been feeling some hiccups - now it's confirmed.
The midwife got a good listen at her heartbeat and he talked us through how to tell which way she is facing. She was positioned with her head down (already getting in position for the big day) and her spine in line with the right side of my body - hence all the kicking and punching on my left side. The midwife also suspects that my vertical uterine growth, from public bone up to ribs, is complete. So the rest of Mather's growth will be pushing out, instead of up.
Emily at Week 31
We're now taking bets... what color hair will Mather have? I was born with red hair. We both had blonde tresses as toddlers but obviously that didn't last - Daniel's hair turned dark brown, my hair is a hybrid shade of "honey caramel" with hints of red, blonde and brown. What color hair do you think Mather will be born with?
The midwife got a good listen at her heartbeat and he talked us through how to tell which way she is facing. She was positioned with her head down (already getting in position for the big day) and her spine in line with the right side of my body - hence all the kicking and punching on my left side. The midwife also suspects that my vertical uterine growth, from public bone up to ribs, is complete. So the rest of Mather's growth will be pushing out, instead of up.
Emily at Week 31We're now taking bets... what color hair will Mather have? I was born with red hair. We both had blonde tresses as toddlers but obviously that didn't last - Daniel's hair turned dark brown, my hair is a hybrid shade of "honey caramel" with hints of red, blonde and brown. What color hair do you think Mather will be born with?
Friday, August 18, 2006
New England Vacation, abridged
I'm leaving the detailed travel posts up to Daniel. These are a few of my favorite things...
We arrived in Providence, Rhode Island on Friday, August 11th (thanks, in part, to a Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards FREE roundtrip ticket!) and began our New England adventures with a two-day stay in Boston with family friends Polly and Frank Smith.
Our main focus on Saturday was a walking tour of Boston which included a ride on a Swan Boat
in Boston's Public Garden. Also located in the Public Garden are statues of the feathered characters from the children's book Make Way for Ducklings which is sure to be one of Mather's favorite stories!
Our other big task for the day was the acquisition of lobsters and mussels for our evening feast - gotta love the lobsters!
On Sunday morning we headed out of Massachusetts to Vermont. We stopped at Copp's Hill on our way out of town to visit Mather Tomb. In the afternoon, we arrived at the Kedron Valley Inn in South Woodstock, VT to meet up with the Ransom clan (Daniel has the details for you in his Flock of Ransoms post). We had a fabulous dinner at the Inn and some of us stayed up late playing a convoluted version of Trival Pursuit with a box of questions from the Silver Screen edition.
Monday's highlights included the tour of Green Mountain Academy, the Ransom-Kendall Cemetery, a walk around downtown Woodstock (Vermont Maple Walnut Ice Cream, yum!) and a swim in the pond.
We checked out of the Inn on Tuesday morning and headed up north to the Ben & Jerry's factory in Waterbury, VT. Free samples of American Apple Pie ice cream kept everyone smiling.
We parted ways with the extended family and David, Julie, Elsa, Chris, Dan and I headed back south in the afternoon and arrived just in time for David to make the opera performance in Lebanon, NH. The rest of us proceeded on to the funky Hotel Coolidge in White River Junction, VT to make our arrangements for the night and sit down for a delicious dinner at the Tip Top Cafe.
We kept busy on Wednesday with a walk around White River Junction, a visit to Quechee Gorge, glass blowing and pottery demonstrations at Simon Pearce and a tour of the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller Historical Park where we learned about one of the first conservationists. My favorite part of the day was our visit to Sugarbush Farm.
Daniel and Elsa hand-fed a calf and several goats. We tasted many of the Farm's cheeses, four grades of maple syrup and a plethora of mustards, jams and other assorted spreads. After a highly competitive round of miniature golf, we had dinner in Woodstock, VT and bid adieu to Chris and Elsa who were heading back to New York the next morning.
Thursday took us north into New Hampshire via highway, byway, and backroad. We stopped at Saint-Gaudens Historic Site and saw beautiful sculpture. Then we drove through the White Mountains, past what was once the Old Man in the Mountain formation (the formation fell in 2003). Our highlight destination of the day was the Cog Railway at Mount Washington, the highest peak in the Northeast.
Daniel and I embarked upon the steep climb, the locomotive engine burning literally a TON of coal on the way up. The views from the top were well worth the 1 hour and 20 minute ascent. Our seasoned brakesman got us down safe and sound. We spent the night at a charming little housekeeping cabin in the ski resort town of Bartlett, New Hampshire.
We headed back down into Boston on Friday, stopping in the town of Plymouth, NH for breakfast and window shopping. The town is home to Plymouth State University, whose women's rugby team was handily defeated by the U.C. Santa Cruz Banana Slugs in the Division II National Championship this year! We traveled south through New Hampshire down scenic highways through the Lake District. None of the lakes can hold a candle to Lake Tahoe.
The evening found us back at Polly and Frank's house where Daniel made his famous roast chicken and potatoes for dinner. We're headed back home tomorrow afternoon... enough fooling around, gotta get ready for baby!
We arrived in Providence, Rhode Island on Friday, August 11th (thanks, in part, to a Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards FREE roundtrip ticket!) and began our New England adventures with a two-day stay in Boston with family friends Polly and Frank Smith.
Our main focus on Saturday was a walking tour of Boston which included a ride on a Swan Boatin Boston's Public Garden. Also located in the Public Garden are statues of the feathered characters from the children's book Make Way for Ducklings which is sure to be one of Mather's favorite stories!
Our other big task for the day was the acquisition of lobsters and mussels for our evening feast - gotta love the lobsters!
On Sunday morning we headed out of Massachusetts to Vermont. We stopped at Copp's Hill on our way out of town to visit Mather Tomb. In the afternoon, we arrived at the Kedron Valley Inn in South Woodstock, VT to meet up with the Ransom clan (Daniel has the details for you in his Flock of Ransoms post). We had a fabulous dinner at the Inn and some of us stayed up late playing a convoluted version of Trival Pursuit with a box of questions from the Silver Screen edition.
Monday's highlights included the tour of Green Mountain Academy, the Ransom-Kendall Cemetery, a walk around downtown Woodstock (Vermont Maple Walnut Ice Cream, yum!) and a swim in the pond.
We checked out of the Inn on Tuesday morning and headed up north to the Ben & Jerry's factory in Waterbury, VT. Free samples of American Apple Pie ice cream kept everyone smiling.
We parted ways with the extended family and David, Julie, Elsa, Chris, Dan and I headed back south in the afternoon and arrived just in time for David to make the opera performance in Lebanon, NH. The rest of us proceeded on to the funky Hotel Coolidge in White River Junction, VT to make our arrangements for the night and sit down for a delicious dinner at the Tip Top Cafe.
We kept busy on Wednesday with a walk around White River Junction, a visit to Quechee Gorge, glass blowing and pottery demonstrations at Simon Pearce and a tour of the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller Historical Park where we learned about one of the first conservationists. My favorite part of the day was our visit to Sugarbush Farm.
Daniel and Elsa hand-fed a calf and several goats. We tasted many of the Farm's cheeses, four grades of maple syrup and a plethora of mustards, jams and other assorted spreads. After a highly competitive round of miniature golf, we had dinner in Woodstock, VT and bid adieu to Chris and Elsa who were heading back to New York the next morning.Thursday took us north into New Hampshire via highway, byway, and backroad. We stopped at Saint-Gaudens Historic Site and saw beautiful sculpture. Then we drove through the White Mountains, past what was once the Old Man in the Mountain formation (the formation fell in 2003). Our highlight destination of the day was the Cog Railway at Mount Washington, the highest peak in the Northeast.
Daniel and I embarked upon the steep climb, the locomotive engine burning literally a TON of coal on the way up. The views from the top were well worth the 1 hour and 20 minute ascent. Our seasoned brakesman got us down safe and sound. We spent the night at a charming little housekeeping cabin in the ski resort town of Bartlett, New Hampshire.We headed back down into Boston on Friday, stopping in the town of Plymouth, NH for breakfast and window shopping. The town is home to Plymouth State University, whose women's rugby team was handily defeated by the U.C. Santa Cruz Banana Slugs in the Division II National Championship this year! We traveled south through New Hampshire down scenic highways through the Lake District. None of the lakes can hold a candle to Lake Tahoe.
The evening found us back at Polly and Frank's house where Daniel made his famous roast chicken and potatoes for dinner. We're headed back home tomorrow afternoon... enough fooling around, gotta get ready for baby!
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Chris & Elsa
I'm going to take a momentary break from baby news & Vermont travel to mention another important event. My sister Elsa took advantage of the opportunity provided by our family reunion to announce her wedding plans for this spring with her boyfriend, Chris Pape.
Elsa and Chris will wed May 6, 2007 in New York's Riverside Park. Chris is a wonderfully droll fellow whom Elsa adores; everyone is very excited. Mather will be six months old by the time the wedding rolls around so it figures to be her first interstate travel.
While the Ransom family is full of artistically inspired individuals, we sometimes fall short of actual artistic talent. Chris brings that in spades. His history includes an important legacy in New York's urban art scene, where he was the primary graffiti artist (and namesake) of the legendary Freedom Tunnel (he tagged under the moniker "Freedom"). His work in the Amtrak train tunnel, which runs under Riverside Park, includes this self portrait, a disturbed Mona Lisa (since partially painted over), and a Venus de Milo. Perhaps his masterwork was a full subway car rendering of the Sistine Chapel's famous hands, a photo of which is in MOMA's collection.
Chris joined us in Vermont and has gracefully put up with our usual family bickering, my father's Opera obsession (we drove halfway across Vermont in fading light so Dad could make it to a local production of il Trovatore), and trickiest of all, my sister.
They are very happy. I couldn't be happier for them.
Congratulations to Chris and Elsa.
Elsa and Chris will wed May 6, 2007 in New York's Riverside Park. Chris is a wonderfully droll fellow whom Elsa adores; everyone is very excited. Mather will be six months old by the time the wedding rolls around so it figures to be her first interstate travel.While the Ransom family is full of artistically inspired individuals, we sometimes fall short of actual artistic talent. Chris brings that in spades. His history includes an important legacy in New York's urban art scene, where he was the primary graffiti artist (and namesake) of the legendary Freedom Tunnel (he tagged under the moniker "Freedom"). His work in the Amtrak train tunnel, which runs under Riverside Park, includes this self portrait, a disturbed Mona Lisa (since partially painted over), and a Venus de Milo. Perhaps his masterwork was a full subway car rendering of the Sistine Chapel's famous hands, a photo of which is in MOMA's collection.
Chris joined us in Vermont and has gracefully put up with our usual family bickering, my father's Opera obsession (we drove halfway across Vermont in fading light so Dad could make it to a local production of il Trovatore), and trickiest of all, my sister.They are very happy. I couldn't be happier for them.
Congratulations to Chris and Elsa.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
A Flock of Ransoms
Greetings from White River Junction, Vermont!!!
Emily and I have been vacationing in New England since last Friday in the company of my parents and other assorted Ransoms - we're reunioning in our onetime home of South Woodstock, Vermont.
While Vermont is the focus, we've managed to touch Rhode Island and Massachewysets as well, staying a couple nights (along with my folks) in Boston with family friends Frank & Polly Smith. Frank & Polly go back to the South End of Boston with my parents, living a few doors down on Dwight Street, my home from 0 days to 3 years. We were hosted regally, dining on grilled steak Friday night and a fresh lobster feast on Saturday (what would New England be without lobster?). While in Boston, we took a little time to tool around our old digs in the South End as well as the greatest hits tour -- Beacon Hill, the North End, Paul Revere's House, the Old North Church, and of course the swan boats in the Public Garden.
We also visited Copps Hill Burial Ground to visit some old kin. More on that in a future post. After Boston, we drove through New Hampshire (Live Free or Die!) on our way to the Kedron Valley.
South Woodstock, Vermont
As relayed in the "What's in a name?" post, the Ransom family emigrated to Vermont in the early 1780s, after the Revolutionary War. Vermont was largely unsettled then, and the Ransom's came with a wave of families from Lyme, Connecticut. Lieutenant Richard Ransom, a Revolutionary soldier, was the family patriarch, and he bought land in the Kedron Valley, little more than a turn in the road south of the already established town of Woodstock.
Along with Richard came all of his family, his brothers George Ransom and Elisha Ransom (a preacher), his sister Lydia Ransom and her husband John Sterling, his son Richard Ransom Jr. with wife Betsey Mather, and Betsey's father Dr. Frederick Mather.
There he and his son started a farm and built a store. One of their early homes survives to this day, pictured above. This beautiful white house was sold to the Kendall family in 1842, and they live there to this day.
Over the years, the Ransom operation expanded, and they built a store facing the road (dubbed The National Store, but called the Ransom Store), The National Hotel, and the National Hall, a place for dances and social events. While the National Hall did not survive posterity, both the store and the hotel exist today as part of the Kedron Valley Inn.
The store is pictured to the right. The brick is original, built by Richard Ransom Jr., but the porch and deck are more modern affectations. This building was constructed in 1822 and is in use to this day.
The hotel, pictured left, now serves as the main building of the Kedron Valley Inn and was built in 1828. Again, the brick is original, but the porch, deck and third floor were built later. My father stands in front. We stayed two nights in what was once our family hotel with the entire Ransom clan, plus the Warrens and Hillmans and Stokers who married into the line just as the Sterlings and Mathers did so many years before.
When Daniel Ransom sold the store and hotel in 1850 to move West our family did not lose all ties to the Kedron Valley. Daniel's son Lake Ransom was sent to board with some remaining family in 1860 and study at the Green Mountain Liberal Institute, a forward-thinking Universalist School about a hundred yards down from the Ransom Store. There, Lake met Lucy Bacon, his future wife, and we (the modern Ransoms) were priviledged with a personal tour of the School, now vacant a hundred years but immaculatedly preserved by the caring members of the South Woodstock community. We saw the school ledgers with Lake and Lucy's names, graffitti from Dick Ransom, and photos of Lake's schoolteacher -- who would later go on to mentor Lake's son William as fellow professors at Tufts University in Boston.
Savi Ransom, Daniel Ransom, and Guin Ransom Hillman in front of the Green Mountain Liberal Institute. The Ransoms have been proudly liberal over 150 years!
Emily and I have been vacationing in New England since last Friday in the company of my parents and other assorted Ransoms - we're reunioning in our onetime home of South Woodstock, Vermont.
While Vermont is the focus, we've managed to touch Rhode Island and Massachewysets as well, staying a couple nights (along with my folks) in Boston with family friends Frank & Polly Smith. Frank & Polly go back to the South End of Boston with my parents, living a few doors down on Dwight Street, my home from 0 days to 3 years. We were hosted regally, dining on grilled steak Friday night and a fresh lobster feast on Saturday (what would New England be without lobster?). While in Boston, we took a little time to tool around our old digs in the South End as well as the greatest hits tour -- Beacon Hill, the North End, Paul Revere's House, the Old North Church, and of course the swan boats in the Public Garden.
We also visited Copps Hill Burial Ground to visit some old kin. More on that in a future post. After Boston, we drove through New Hampshire (Live Free or Die!) on our way to the Kedron Valley.
South Woodstock, Vermont
As relayed in the "What's in a name?" post, the Ransom family emigrated to Vermont in the early 1780s, after the Revolutionary War. Vermont was largely unsettled then, and the Ransom's came with a wave of families from Lyme, Connecticut. Lieutenant Richard Ransom, a Revolutionary soldier, was the family patriarch, and he bought land in the Kedron Valley, little more than a turn in the road south of the already established town of Woodstock.
Along with Richard came all of his family, his brothers George Ransom and Elisha Ransom (a preacher), his sister Lydia Ransom and her husband John Sterling, his son Richard Ransom Jr. with wife Betsey Mather, and Betsey's father Dr. Frederick Mather.There he and his son started a farm and built a store. One of their early homes survives to this day, pictured above. This beautiful white house was sold to the Kendall family in 1842, and they live there to this day.
Over the years, the Ransom operation expanded, and they built a store facing the road (dubbed The National Store, but called the Ransom Store), The National Hotel, and the National Hall, a place for dances and social events. While the National Hall did not survive posterity, both the store and the hotel exist today as part of the Kedron Valley Inn.
The store is pictured to the right. The brick is original, built by Richard Ransom Jr., but the porch and deck are more modern affectations. This building was constructed in 1822 and is in use to this day.
The hotel, pictured left, now serves as the main building of the Kedron Valley Inn and was built in 1828. Again, the brick is original, but the porch, deck and third floor were built later. My father stands in front. We stayed two nights in what was once our family hotel with the entire Ransom clan, plus the Warrens and Hillmans and Stokers who married into the line just as the Sterlings and Mathers did so many years before.
When Daniel Ransom sold the store and hotel in 1850 to move West our family did not lose all ties to the Kedron Valley. Daniel's son Lake Ransom was sent to board with some remaining family in 1860 and study at the Green Mountain Liberal Institute, a forward-thinking Universalist School about a hundred yards down from the Ransom Store. There, Lake met Lucy Bacon, his future wife, and we (the modern Ransoms) were priviledged with a personal tour of the School, now vacant a hundred years but immaculatedly preserved by the caring members of the South Woodstock community. We saw the school ledgers with Lake and Lucy's names, graffitti from Dick Ransom, and photos of Lake's schoolteacher -- who would later go on to mentor Lake's son William as fellow professors at Tufts University in Boston.
Savi Ransom, Daniel Ransom, and Guin Ransom Hillman in front of the Green Mountain Liberal Institute. The Ransoms have been proudly liberal over 150 years!While in South Woodstock, we also had a chance to visit the Ransom-Kendall Cemetery, still well tended on a hill above the valley with the stones of Lt. Richard, Richard Jr., Betsey Mather and many other key figures in our family history. I'll post some images of the stones in a future update. My Aunt Guin provided newly typed copies of Daniel Ransom's life journal, a fascinating document I had not seen before, and gave Mather-to-be a framed sketch of the ancient Mather family coat-of-arms, a treasure that I hope Mather will appreciate.
Tonight my father, mother, sister & boyfriend, and Emily & I are lodged in the 1926 Coolidge Hotel in the railroad town of White River Junction, down where the White flows into the Connecticut. It's a fascinating little town, but more on our adventures since leaving South Woodstock later...
Tonight my father, mother, sister & boyfriend, and Emily & I are lodged in the 1926 Coolidge Hotel in the railroad town of White River Junction, down where the White flows into the Connecticut. It's a fascinating little town, but more on our adventures since leaving South Woodstock later...
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Does anybody know morse code?
This fetus is a genius! I am convinced that she knows morse code for "Mom, I need more room. Please pee... now!" She can pound it out with her feet and fists... in-between somersaults, of course. Maybe she is practicing to be a gymnast? When she first started getting squirmy, I was convinced that she would be a soccer player or a tennis star. I was sitting on the couch watching World Cup soccer and Wimbledon, she'd go nuts!
In all truthfulness, today the doctor confirmed that the baby knows everything she needs to at this point... she keeps her heartbeat steady and strong. The other great news is that 6 blood draws later, I have passed all of my glucose tolerance tests.
The doctor visits will start to increase now. We'll go every two weeks, instead of every four weeks. We'll also have the opportunity to meet other doctors and a midwife from the practice. There is an on-call rotation, so it's nice to get familiar with everyone who might be around when Mather decides it's time to arrive.
We were supposed to meet the midwife today, but his schedule got a little hectic. Yes, the midwife is a man... does that make him a mid-husband? I've heard great things about him from two of my pre-natal yoga instructors (they are also doulas who are familiar with all the local midwifes). We've got another appointment to meet him in two weeks.
That's all for now... Mather thinks it's time for lunch, so I better get on it!
In all truthfulness, today the doctor confirmed that the baby knows everything she needs to at this point... she keeps her heartbeat steady and strong. The other great news is that 6 blood draws later, I have passed all of my glucose tolerance tests.
The doctor visits will start to increase now. We'll go every two weeks, instead of every four weeks. We'll also have the opportunity to meet other doctors and a midwife from the practice. There is an on-call rotation, so it's nice to get familiar with everyone who might be around when Mather decides it's time to arrive.
We were supposed to meet the midwife today, but his schedule got a little hectic. Yes, the midwife is a man... does that make him a mid-husband? I've heard great things about him from two of my pre-natal yoga instructors (they are also doulas who are familiar with all the local midwifes). We've got another appointment to meet him in two weeks.
That's all for now... Mather thinks it's time for lunch, so I better get on it!
Monday, August 07, 2006
Week 29
Speaking of growth, here's Emily at Week 29:
A wee bit bigger than Week 25. Growth will continue to accelerate for the next few weeks. We are now firmly into the Third Trimester.Oh, and a comment on comments: we love 'em! It's the only way we know people are visiting the site. So please don't be silent. A few comments are always encouragement to keep posting updates.
Plus, if you check the site and don't see an update, click "refresh". Sometimes an older posting will be cached in your browser and the latest posts don't appear.
Saturday, August 05, 2006
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