Movement!

I felt one of the babies move for the first time last night!

Janet was told that she should expect to feel movement starting anywhere from 20 weeks to 24 weeks in. When 24 weeks rolled around with still no definitive movement we were starting to wonder if we would ever feel them moving. Janet said she had been feeling a “flutter” from time to time but nothing that couldn’t be explained by borborygmi.

Apparently babies in utero tend to be most active at night while mom is sleeping as her daily activity tends to lull them to sleep and that fits with our experience as I felt the girl move while laying in bed as Janet and I were going to sleep.

Now that Janet knows what to look for she says she thinks she has only felt the girl move so far. We are both looking forward to feeling the boy move next.

General Tips for Cooking Wild Game

We were lucky enough to fill our freezers this year with wild game after a successful hunting season and that has allowed us the opportunity to share some of that bounty with friends and family.

Unsurprisingly, a lot of people don’t have much, if any, experience cooking with wild game and there are a few things to know. Before I get to that, I’d like to touch base on why some people think they don’t like wild game, specifically, that “gamey” flavour. Continue reading “General Tips for Cooking Wild Game”

January Ultrasound

I had an ultrasound appointment on January 12.  This was to measure my cervix and check up on the babes.  My cervix is long, which is a good thing, I guess, haha!  Heart, brain and kidneys are all developing on schedule for both babes.  Baby A is 1 pound 2 ounces and had a heart rate of 145 beats per minute, Baby B is 1 pound 1 ounce and had a heart rate of 155 beats per minute.  My uterus is all the way up to my ribs and Baby B is below my right ribs (which explains why my right ribs are sore).  Baby A is down below and continues to present first.  Apparently Baby A will always be on the left and Baby B will always be on the right, they just might switch presenting and trailing positions (lower and higher).   I will post the two free picture they gave me of the babes later.

New Year’s Eve Eve Bouillabaisse

Ostensibly, this blog is supposed to be about our family, but I love food and food is no small part of our family.

I love hunting and fishing for food, gathering and growing food, cooking and preserving food, experimenting with food, and to share both the food that I make, and my ideas with others, so I’m going to document some of my experiments/favourites here. If it becomes distracting or annoying we will figure out a solution to segregate any food posts that I make so as not to detract from the main purpose of this blog. I also love booze, so watch out for that too…

So, to get to the point, we sent some deer and elk meat from our bountiful hunting trip this year back east for Christmas with our friend Matt. Matt generously reciprocated by bringing back 4 nice lobsters for us which we made short work of, but the best was yet to come!

I had been wanting to make a bouillabaisse (a french seafood stew) for a couple of years and with the big pile of lobster shells we finally had the opportunity to make a stock which would do the bouillabaisse justice.

Below are recipes for the lobster stock and the bouillabaisse we cooked up for our dinner on the eve of new year’s eve.

Lobster Stock
Lobster Stock

Continue reading “New Year’s Eve Eve Bouillabaisse”

Detailed Ultrasound

Baby A
Baby A
Baby B
Baby B

Today I had a 2 hour detailed ultrasound that went over the details of each babe’s anatomy.  All organs, limbs, fingers, toes and bones were photographed and measured.  I wasn’t given measurements and won’t have those results until my next OB appointment on January 26, 2017.  I had an OB appointment this morning immediately after the ultrasound but the OB’s office didn’t have the results yet.

Both babes are developing perfectly normal.  Baby B still has an absence of a nasal bone but this isn’t anything to be concerned about.  Sometimes they just don’t develop.  The nose will still look normal and formed, it just MIGHT be a bit squishy when pressed down on. The placentas are not low lying (this is a good thing) but one of the babe’s umbilical cord is off centre. This is common with twins, it just means they will continue to track both babes’ growth through one of the many ultrasounds I will be attending over the next 4 months.

All organs are healthy and normal.  All limbs and bones are healthy and normal.  I was able to see baby B’s digits and toes very clearly.  All 10 are accounted for.

The babes are very active and moving around, although I haven’t felt any movement yet.  This will happen within the next 4 weeks according to the OB.   I’ve gained 20 pounds since the beginning of September and my blood pressure is 128/72.  The OB is not concerned about my weight gain, apparently the increase blood volume accounts for 6 pounds alone.   She said I am about to experience rapid weight gain.

Christmas Tree Hunting

Shortly after waking up today the snow began to fall, and then it really began to fall. Finally some legitimate winter weather!

We had planned to go and cut our own Christmas trees with Diana and Jeremy and our friend Sean and his son Solace. Unfortunately, Diana ended up having to work, and Sean was feeling less than chipper. Janet and I deliberated about postponing our plans until next weekend, but with forecasts calling for daytime highs below -20°C next weekend we decided to strike while the iron was hot, or, at least not quite as cold.

We loaded up the thermoses, and dogs and chainsaw and hit the road.

Back road out to our new favourite spot to get Christmas Trees Continue reading “Christmas Tree Hunting”

Twins!

We went for a 6 week ultrasound as prescribed.

The technician worked her magic and we got to see some exciting images up on the screen and as the technician was finishing up she turned to us and said “I can tell you right now that it’s twins.”

I was speechless.

I had barely signed on for one and now there would be two? At once?!

After some time to process (and a bottle of bourbon) I couldn’t be more excited. We can’t wait to meet and get to know these babies!

We have since learned that they are dichorionic and diamniotic fraternal twins, or in other words, they have separate placentas and separate amniotic sacs and they originate from separate eggs so they are not identical. This is great news as it is the lowest risk scenario as far as multiples go.

Not only are they not identical, they are not even the same sex, we’re having a boy and a girl!

boy or girl? I can't remember which is which!
Baby A

 

Boy or girl?
Baby B

Discovering the Good News

Janet discovered that she was pregnant a couple days after she got home from Burning Man, a whole 2 weeks after conception.

We were enjoying some home brewed hopped mead in our living room and Janet was regaling me with stories from her wild experiences in Black Rock City.

I had just opened a bottle of Merlot made from dad’s grapes and Janet stopped to rummage through some of her luggage looking for something while I poured us both a glass. Next thing I knew she was coming out of the bathroom to show me something, a positive pregnancy test! Naturally, I finished that bottle of wine without Janet’s help.