Date: Sat, 07 Jun 1997 20:47:10 -0700

Subject: Postcard from Portland

Dear Family and Friends,

June is busting out all over... as is Liz! ;-) Well, not really, but she
has started to "show". She has completed her first trimester, which went
very smoothly. She had very little morning sickness, and what discomfort
she had was easily cured by crackers or chips (a craving for vinegar and
salt is very common). At last month's OB checkup her doctor recommended
she have an amniocentesis done since she's 35 (going on 36 :-). I went
in with her nearly three weeks ago for the procedure. We were both more
concerned about the potential for problems caused by the test itself
than over any findings, but all went well [breathes sigh of relief]. The
first thing that was done was a high resolution ultrasound. The tech who
performed this had a great sense of humor, which helped put us at ease.
There is a remarkable difference in the level of detail produced by this
machine. We could clearly see the skeletal structure including fingers
and toes. The baby was quite active, sucking its thumb and seemingly
waving hello! We were also able to see the lobes of the brain very
clearly, which showed perfectly normal development.

Liz and I have had a lot of discussion about whether or not we wanted to
find out the baby's sex. I wanted to be surprised in November.
Originally, Liz thought she would, too - but has since changed her mind.
For a variety of reasons with which I won't bore you, we agreed to find
out now. So when the u/s tech asked us if we'd like to try and find out,
we said, "yes". The baby was so active, that he couldn't be sure, but
made an educated guess - adding that he's never been wrong! [suspense
builds, I know you're dying to know, but I'll tease you a while longer
;-) ].

Then Doctor Prescott came in. He was extremely patient and had a
wonderfully soothing voice and bedside manner. He explained every step
of the procedure to us and answered all of our questions and concerns.
It turns out, he is the first physician to have done an amnio in Oregon
- circa 1969, which predates u/s by six years! He was literally working
in the dark at first, having only external feel to guide his way. Liz
had very little discomfort as he withdrew the amniotic fluid and only a
very slight cramp afterwards. He explained to us that the fluid is
actually baby urine (something I *really* didn't need to know), but he
prefers to call it "baby champagne". When he was finished, he applied a
band aid over the puncture and told Liz, "I want you to leave this band
aid on for two weeks. As long as you have the band aid on, you are to do
no cooking, cleaning, or any other kind of housework." When I protested,
he turned to Liz and said, "Three weeks!" Wise guy! :-) (Liz did, in
fact, follow his advice!!) We got the results back a week ago last
Friday and everything is perfectly normal. This is a huge relief!
What's that you say? You want to know the sex? Oh okay, if you insist...

                        WE'RE HAVING A DAUGHTER!

The ultrasound technician was correct! Oh, you want to know the name,
too? Well, we have paired it down to a short list, all starting with "E"
in honor of my father (Elmer). But we're going to keep our decision a
secret until our little girl is born. There has to be *some* element of
suspense and surprise to coincide with the birth!

On the home front, we've made quite a bit of progress unpacking and
getting settled. We still have some "stuff" lining the periphery of the
living room (which is otherwise empty) and the extra bedrooms upstairs
(one of which we will soon be converting into a nursery :-). I have
learned that one of the entitlements of being part of the "landed
gentry" (or more to the point, "suburban gentry") is mowing the lawn. We
don't have a very large patch of green out front, but OY does it grow...
and grow, and grow!

And now, I'll let Liz fill you in on some of the other happenings of
last month. So let's give a rousing welcome to our next keyboardist, Liz
"Mama" Herring [the crowd goes wild...]


We (I particularly) have done a lot of traveling this month! Mother's
Day weekend I went to San Francisco to visit my Grandma Maxine, who
unfortunately is having some rather serious health problems. My mother
and aunt were there too and we all were able to enjoy a happy Mother's
Day (nearly _four_ generations!)

Memorial Day weekend Sandy and I were off to Chicago for my best
friend's wedding (no, not the movie!). The wedding was actually in
Evanston -- a neat midwestern college town (home of Northwestern
University). We were able to spend time with a number of my good friends
from elementary-jr. high school years; the kind of friends with whom you
can just pick up wherever you left off last. The wedding was beautiful,
with a 40's theme, and we all had a wonderful time reminiscing and
catching up on new developments.

Sandy has subscribed me to a mailing list for expectant mothers. It's
arranged according to the month you're due, so all the women I
correspond with are in the same stage (and undergoing similar physical,
emotional and mental changes!) It's great to know I'm not the only one
having some of these strange, wonderful feelings.

Speaking of feelings, I think the baby's hungry...I can feel her moving
a bit now! She flutters about before mealtimes and sometimes when I'm
driving. It's so exciting to know she's growing and stirring inside.
We've got _a lot_ to do to prepare for her before November, but it's
going to be fun -- shopping and decorating (two of my favorite things!).


Now that Liz has had the last word, I'll just say that our plans for
this month include more unpacking, starting on the nursery, and phase
one of my dental implants, where the oral surgeon gets to put the screws
to me.

Hopefully we will all have long and sunny summer days to enjoy this
month (note below that the last day of May accounted for nearly half of
the rain we had the entire month).


with love,
Sandy & Liz and baby daughter due 8 November
     _________________________________________________________________

climatic summary for portland oregon     
national weather service portland oregon               
312 am pdt sun jun 01 1997

 ...temperature...

high yesterday... 68 
 low yesterday... 57 
mean temp........ 63   departure from normal...    3

normal high for today...  71
normal  low for today...  50
record high for today...  94 set in 1970
record  low for today...  39 set in 1966

...degree day data...

heating
yesterday...      2 departure...    -3
month.......    116 departure...  -133
season......   4211 departure...  -220

cooling
yesterday...      0 departure...     0
month.......     37 departure...    37
season......     37 departure...    37

...precipitation...

yesterday.............   1.45
total for the month...   3.63
normal month to date..   2.06
total for the year....  23.58   total since oct 1...  52.04
normal year to date...  17.21   normal from oct 1...  31.35

...wind data in mph...

average wind speed yesterday... 8.3  
fastest 2-min wind yesterday... 15 from 150 degrees
peak wind gust yesterday....... 18 from 150 degrees

...astronomical data...

sunrise today...525 am    pdt
sunset  today...851 pm    pdt
sunrise tomorrow...524 am    pdt
sunset  tomorrow...852 pm    pdt

-- 
Sandy & Liz Herring         Tigard, Oregon         Peck of Pickled Pisces
webfeet@herring.org     bigfish@sns-access.com     http://www.herring.org/

                  And that's the news from Portland
       where everything is green, rolling stones gather moss,
              and the rainfall is always above average.

guestbook

Webmaster

Home, Sweet Home What's New Back to Postcard Index

If you are harvesting email addresses, I know shnorrer.28/Aug/2008:10:10:24/pfp_9706.html@herring.org and the gummint would be delighted to hear from you.