m2colvin: 09.11

Thursday, September 29, 2011

m@ Hikes... alone

To everyone's great terror... I went hiking... by myself... overnight. Cue the dark ominous music! This was a trip I had been planning for over a month and had already tried to do it several times, but since life's schedule rarely jives with mine it got pushed back to this week. I went back to Lost Creek Wilderness, which is where Dad Colvin and I went backpacking for 4 days last fall. I was planning to summit Bison Peak (~12,400 ft above sea level) which would have made a hike with an elevation gain of ~3,500 ft.

I camped at the trailhead the night before and let me say that I'm glad I have a sleeping bag that's rated for 0 degrees! Throughout the night I would wake up and have to lay on my side so I could get my nose into the hood of the sleeping bag to warm it up. I'm pretty sure it dipped down into the 30's cause when I got up I had a pretty thick layer of frost on the car and my tent.

The hike was beautiful. It didn't have the dramatic views with all the changing Aspens like last year's hike, but it had a huge beautiful alpine meadow and I could pretty much see Bison Peak and it's amazing granite formations for the entire trail. After I had climbed 2,000 ft in elevation over 5 miles, I stopped for lunch and was only a little over a mile from Bison Peak. I took off my boots to let my feet cool down and finally got to see how bad the blisters I had been feeling were.

Several large blisters plus being pretty tired and knowing that I had to climb another 1,500 ft over the next mile was enough to convince me to head back to the car. I had already had this idea that morning while I was reading the trail guide and seeing that if I did an out-n-back hike it would be just over 12 miles while the other option was to summit the peak and then come back to the main trail by bushwhacking down 4 miles of trail-less mountainside terrain.

The return trip was pretty easy since it was all down hill. The worst part were the blisters, which I was more than painfully aware of by this point. The drive out from the trailhead was 19 miles of Forest Service road, but it was worth it for the views of the Aspens and the free range cows!

Views from the drive in along Lost Park Rd

Making my way through Willow Gulch

Willow Gulch (viewed S to N)

Granite formations on Bison Peak

Can you still call this a game of Chicken?

View South from Kenosha Pass Scenic Overlook

Sadly I realized far too late that I had forgotten the SD card for my good camera, so I was forced to use my iPhone for all pictures - thus the crappy pic quality.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

We made it through the crucial months!

Phew! We made it to 12 weeks and I can't tell you what a relief that is. It doesn't mean we are in the clear for miscarriage but we have way less of a chance. They say I should get some energy back and that the 2nd trimester is the best one. Depending on what you read we will be in the 2nd trimester at 13 or 14 weeks (based on a 40 week pregnancy.)

7 weeks~ just before meeting Squirt
for the first time!

12 weeks~ 2 days after hearing Squirt's
heartbeat for the first time!

I had some routine pregnancy blood work done a month ago and just found out the results. After 28 years of life, I finally know my blood type. I'm A+, which is the same as Matt. I wonder what Squirt will have...

After recently fainting at the eye doctor and the doctor's office I insisted I had to lay down to get blood work done. The lab didn't have a bed or even a place for me to lie down, so we improvised:

This is going to be a lot harder to do when I'm further along but
for now it did the trick, I walked out like a big girl on my own 2 feet!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Mad Dog Mike Pays a Visit

Dad Colvin (aka Mad Dog) made a pit stop here in Denver while enroute to a job site in CA. Coincidentally, this happens to be the same weekend he came out for a backpacking trip last year. We got in a good hike and took in the Fall colors of the high country. Check out the pics!

Always happy to see his Denver kids

Panorama Point in Golden Gate Canyon State Park

Doo-rag-wearin' Hippie!

A contemplative Mike takes in the fall colors

Top of Loveland Pass

Semi-professional models posing with the changing Aspens - photo courtesy of Mad Dog

Loveland Pass in Fall

Always a fitness nut, Mad Dog couldn't resist a workout at altitude

Aspens changing color at Keystone Ski Resort

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Heartbeat

We had our second appointment with the OB today, and since we're new at this I wasn't exactly sure what all was going to happen. First, my wife, the one who has to pee nearly every 10 minutes it seems, couldn't pee. The medical assistant came in and asked the standard list of questions, then said, "Now we're gonna listen to the heartbeat." I don't think she realized that we hadn't heard it before. When Melissa said that she thought it was too early to hear it, the med assistant quickly back-pedaled and said that she was "going to check, but we probably wouldn't hear anything."

After moving the probe around a bit we heard a heartbeat... Melissa's heartbeat. I thought, "That doesn't sound like 100+ bpm?", but just then Squirt chimed in with 160+ bpm. It was pretty exciting and Melissa promptly started crying. The assistant kinda jumped because she thought the baby had kicked and didn't realize it was Melissa shaking from trying to hold back the crying.

Once she settled down, we got a more accurate read on the heart rate, which turned out to be 166 bpm. So according to the old wive's tale that attempts to predict gender based on heart rate... we'd be having a girl. Since the old chinese calendar that also predicts gender says it's a girl, it's all but set in stone... right? Sadly, we didn't get a recording of Squirt's symphony, but hopefully next time and maybe a new pic too. Oh how they grow so fast *sigh*.

m@

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Labor Music?

Today I was looking through some "to do" lists in preparation for the baby. There are so many common sense things that could easily overwhelm any pregnant woman, but there was also one thing I found really funny... Labor Delivery Songs. I guess it's important to have a collection of music for the delivery room. Good thing Matt is an awesome DJ! I'm sure he will have his iPod set with just what I need at that time (which will NOT be any of the following songs).

I googled some examples and thought I would share the really funny ones with you:
"Push It" by Salt and Pepa,
"I'm Coming Out" by Diana Ross,
"Under Pressure" by Queen,
"Hurts so Good" by John Mellencamp,
"I want to Break Free" by Queen,
"Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd,
"All that She Wants (Is Another Baby)" by Ace of Bass,
"King of Pain" by The Police,
"Labor of Love" by Randy Travis

I'm just getting over a horrible cold and starting to feel like my energy is coming back (sometimes). Two days ago I was taking a shower and when I got out I had to sit down. Tonight after making dinner I thought I would have to take a nap before I could eat it, but I'm no longer horizontal on the couch and I have finally started washing the laundry from our trip.

We have a group of about twenty-five 70-90 year-olds at the YMCA that come in for an arthritis class on Tuesdays and Thursdays while I'm life-guarding. Many of the people in the group have become like grandparents to me, and I wanted to wait till I was 12 weeks along to tell the patrons at the Y our news. I can't wait to see their faces next week!

m@ goes to MI

My (m@'s) MI trip was a bit different. Melissa had already been there for a week, and we went right to Stef and Jim's wedding once I was there. Got to take a great bike ride and hang with friends I hadn't seen in a while. After that, it was all about lounging and meeting up with other friends that I hadn't been able to see on our previous trips.