36 weeks... and a Babymoon!

How far along? 36 weeks today!
Total weight gain/loss: No weight gain since my last OB appt two weeks ago. We’ll see if that still rings true at my next appt this Thursday.
Maternity clothes? Yes. Tan and chocolate brown argyle maternity cardigan, khaki maternity cords, and brown canvas espadrille wedges.
Stretch marks? Yes.. and still counting.
Sleep: Had the best nights’ sleep on our babymoon in VT this past weekend. Since being home, I’m back to not sleeping comfortably or soundly, but whatevs.
Best moment this week: A couple of great moments, actually. First, the aforementioned babymoon. Two and a half days of rest, relaxation, great foliage, and an even greater bed and breakfast. And, 2nd, WE FOUND A DOULA! What a sigh of relief to know that Tony and I will have our very own advocate and professional to help guide us and support us through my labor. Now, we know we’ll have the best birth we can possibly have.
Movement: A lot! At this point, there isn’t a lot of room in there. So, even the slightest movement feels huge. Feeling her as well as seeing my belly move and jut out is beyond wonderful. While I can’t wait to finally meet her, I know I’m going to miss having her closer than any mother and child can be with each other.
Food cravings: Not really a craving, but this morning, I indulged in a French toast bagel with cream cheese and peanut butter.
Gender: A sweet baby girl!
Labor Signs: Random Braxton Hicks. And, I must say, I’m paying very close attention to any signs of preterm labor. Keep cooking in there, little lady! We’ll meet soon enough!
Belly Button in or out? Still on it’s way out!
What I miss: The sleigh bed in our amazing room at the B&B this past weekend. Most comfortable bed I’ve slept on since our honeymoon in Montreal two years ago.
What I am looking forward to: Tonight’s supplement to our Prepared Childbirth classes – Breastfeeding 101. And, we’re taking Rosa (my mom) along. I can tell she’s excited, because she’s reminded me of it about four times in the last 24 hours. Ha! Cute, that one.
Weekly Wisdom: At the B&B, we met several interesting couples, including the inn-keepers, all of whom had children ranging from 2 years old to 23 years old. Until now, everyone has really brought it home to us that our lives “will change completely” and to “enjoy this time now, because nothing will ever be the same after the baby comes”. While we know that to be true, we really don’t think it’s a death sentence once children come into the picture. We hope and plan to continue on with our lifestyle – with obvious adjustments, of course. The couples we met on our weekend getaway each confirmed to us that becoming parents actually opens our lives up to a lifetime of amazing, wonderful, and unexpected experiences, and to welcome the good with the occasional bad, and we’ll be just fine. Thanks, Noah and Becca from Newton, Mass, Gillian and Dennis, our innkeepers, and the fancy but down-to-earth power couple whose names escape me. Your encouraging words of wisdom to us were invaluable.
Milestones: Reaching 36 weeks today is a total milestone in my book, and each day from here until my due date will be welcomed one at a time with equal enthusiasm.

A weekend in Putney, VT

Last Friday, I took a half day and Tony worked from home. By 2pm, we were headed up to Vermont. It was closer than I thought – only 1.5 hours. That’s it. Hard to believe a place like Putney, VT is that close to us.

When we arrived at the B&B – Hickory Ridge House – we were given a warm welcome by Gillian, one of the innkeepers, as well as Jack and Gracie, the inn’s resident furbabies. They led us through the beautifully decorated inn and up to our room – The Autumn Room - which was very a propos to this time a year. Our “home” for the next couple of nights included high ceilings, windows on three sides with amazing views of the back garden and meadow, an amazing sleigh bed, gorgeously-kept antiques, and a large en suite bathroom (photos courtesy of www.hickoryridgehouse.com).

After getting settled, we freshened up and headed out for dinner in Brattleboro at this tiny and out-of-the-way gem called Alici’s, a Turkish bistro serving Mediterranean tapas-style dishes. Tony started of with the Bistro Mussels, which were drenched in a curry-coconut broth (so good!) and then ordered the kobe sliders, which looked fantastic. I started off with the Lobster Bisque, super chunky and flavorful with real crab and lobster, and then ordered the Mediterranean Mussels, which had chorizo and a really nice spicy tomato sauce. Dessert, which we really didn’t need, because we were beyond full at that point, included fudgy chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream for Tony and crème brule for me (photo courtesy of www.alicisbistro.com).



Breakfast Saturday morning was at 8am sharp and served family-style in the inn’s dining room. Gillian and Dennis really outdid themselves. We feasted on antique compotes of fruit salad, homemade banana muffins, mushroom and rosemary omelet, smoked bacon, and plum tomatoes topped with a sweet tomato salsa or chutney. Seriously. Can I please start every day off like that??

After breakfast, we headed out by car to explore Putney and the surrounding towns. Tony planned a day, that included a visit to a cheese factory, a scenic drive through southern Vermont, and then a stop at the yearly pumpkin Festival in Keene New Hampshire.

We arrived at the Grafton Cheese Company, located right next to one of those quintessentially New England covered bridges, and in who’s pasture were grazing a group of lazy cows.





Ah, cheese, glorious cheese! Inside the Grafton Cheese Company, we caught a quick glimpse at cheese making, and then got to sample so many varieties of cheeses, mustards, jams, and chutneys. We left with six pounds of cheese and two jars of artisan jams.

And then, we were off to continue our exploration..

Thanks to our Navigation System, we were able to get from point A to point B throughout our weekend relatively unscathed. While Vermont is filled with perfectly paved highways and roads, there are still off-the-beaten-paths that somehow were recognized by the navigation system as legitimate routes. Imagine our surprise when on two occasions, we wound up on a road that precariously narrowed and became less paved with every mile, only to end up literally in the middle of the woods in what seemed like a foot path flanked by a ravine on either side. Special… and quite the adventure! I laugh now, but at the time, I panicked and kept thinking about the possibility of getting even more lost in the woods a la The Blair Witch Project! Thank God my absurd melodrama is tempered by Tony’s level-headedness and humor!

The parts of Vermont we drove through were something out of a postcard - antique shops and white steeple churches in every town, farm stands and general stores on every Main Street, and local artists and bohemians everywhere. The foliage was already past its peak, but even the muted colors that spread themselves out along the hills and valleys stretched out in front of us like a carpet. Just beautiful – and a clear reminder to me why Fall is my favorite season.

The pumpkin Festival in Keene, New Hampshire was the perfect place to people-watch. Essentially, it was a huge street fair of vendors of everything from fried dough to chowder. Sorry, chowdah. Speaking of which, Tony and I shared the absolute best seafood chowdah, and we walked what seemed like miles from one end of the festival to the other. Keene is a college town. So, plenty of students, locals, tourists, and pumpkins! There was close to 30,000 carved pumpkins on display.



Later that evening back in Putney, we decided to stay close to the B&B for dinner and ended up at a great little local pub, where we grabbed Fish & Chips and a pint of Pumpkin Ale (for Tony) and a Cobb salad topped with grilled salmon (for me).

After dinner, we settled back in our room at the inn to watch a movie. We were so exhausted from our day of exploration; we were asleep within 10 minutes of popping in the DVD.

The next morning, we packed up our suitcase, and went down to breakfast, which included fruit salad topped with mascarpone cheese and an edible flower, homemade orange and carrot muffins, a cheese omelet, and a tomato and goat cheese tart. Tell me: What is NOT to love about this place??

After breakfast, we still had some time before checkout. So, we laced up our sneakers and decided to wander around the grounds of the inn. It was much cooler and more overcast than the previous day, but after feasting on so much food and in front of a wood stove, the air outside was perfect – cold and refreshing – and the exercise did us a lot of good.









We walked past the property, past a swimming hole, and up to the grounds of a neighboring school. Every person who drove past us smiled and waved. Loved that.

Back at the inn, we thanked Gillian and Dennis for such a lovely stay, said goodbye to Jack and Gracie, and packed up the car and left. Instead of taking 91 to return home, we took backroads, which fortunately didn’t lead us astray, but rather took us through more picturesque towns alongside the Connecticut River.

We really lucked out with the weather. Rain was predicted all weekend, but it actually didn’t start to rain until we were already on the road headed home Sunday afternoon.

This “last hurrah” before the baby comes was a much needed time alone for Tony and me. We really enjoyed the part of Vermont we saw, loved the Hickory Ridge House and the people we met during our stay there, and we can’t wait to return next year. It was a weekend of no pugs, no Rosa, and no other distractions, and yet, we found ourselves talking about them constantly. “Rosa would love it up here”… or … “I wonder what the puggies are doing right now”… or “we have to make sure we return next Fall with the baby, Rosa, and the pugs”.

We know they’ll love it as much as we did.