Baby Face?

Went for an ultrasound today to check on the status of my low lying placenta. Tomorrow I will be 28 weeks and officially in the final trimester of this pregnancy, so I guess right now is the last day of the second trimester. 

According to the various charts and sites on the internet, the baby is the size of a plate of pancakes, eggplant, head of lettuce, butternut squash, Kraft Dinner Mac and Cheese box, and the list goes on, all being slightly different shapes and sizes, making it really hard to understand how big she is. However, the tech asked if I wanted to know the baby's approximate weight - which is exciting data! So apparently she is currently 2.4 lbs (or 1.08 kg).

While showing Jason over the phone at the end of the scan the tech was able to get the front of her face - Jason let out a little squeal! I asked if we could get print outs and the tech was very excited about how 'cute' the face was, with its 'chubby cheeks.' I have included the images but made them small since I think they are super creepy and look ghost-like, click the picture to see larger. Jason claims that when it showed up over the phone it looked a lot better (it depends what 'slice' the images are as to what they really look like.) It was the first time he had seen something that "maps directly to a real face, a real human thing."

Bouncing About

It was a morning with some good news! I get to move forward with more steps along the flowchart that I outlined yesterday that maps out the next couple of weeks of this pregnancy - there was a heartbeat!!

In the photo from this mornings scan, you can see the fetus's head on the left side. The profile of the face is kinda blurry - Jason thinks it is sucking its thumb. The fact you can see the brain shape is so creepy and crazy! Apparently it is the size of a lime at the moment, a little over 2 inches long.

The appointment at the hospital went well, it was a quick ultrasound so I didn't get the eFTS testing done at the same time, I am keeping my appointment next Wednesday for that, and have fingers crossed that the NIPT will come in with results ahead of that anyway. The technician right away confirmed that there was a heartbeat and that everything was ok, in fact she said the baby was moving around a lot!! A few minutes later she was able to confirm that it was on track for size at 12 weeks. At the end of the scan she spent some time showing me images and printed a couple off. I saw it bouncing and twitching! She mentioned that my uterus is tilted to the back, which doesn't really matter except that it makes it a bit harder to see things during early pregnancy scans - just a cool fact to know about my insides.

The technician seemed familiar, I told her that I thought she was the person who did my emergency room ultrasound to diagnose gallstones. She told me she was - she had noticed in my chart that she had scanned me before and that it had been a few years ago. Small world (or only a few ultrasound technicians work at St. Joe's in Toronto.)

A Depressing Flowchart

So, in an effort to feel more control, or something, I have been mentally going through a flowchart of events for the next few weeks of this pregnancy.
------

Heartbeat - Is there still a heartbeat? - I say 'still' because there was one at the last ultrasound at Week 7, but we know from last time, where we saw the heartbeat twice before the eventual fetal demise, and that while seeing it early lowers the chance of miscarriage, it doesn't eliminate it. After days (weeks?) of worry, we will get this answer tomorrow (Thursday) at an early early hospital ultrasound arranged by my doctor.

-- Heartbeat - No - I should know right away during the ultrasound if there has been another 'silent miscarriage' the behaviour of the technician is quite different when things are fine vs. not. Though they sometimes stick really hard to the "technician can't say anything" and I will need to wait for the doctor at the hospital or my own doctor later in the day to give me the sad news. If this is the case then all further steps stop and I will get a reference to the Early Pregnancy Loss clinic to deal with another miscarriage that will be devastatingly similar to the last one. The following weeks going through that process will be awful and annoying and I am trying not to build out that branch of the flowchart except to know that this time I would like to go through the processes at the hospital so that I can be put under general anesthetic and that the tissue can be tested afterwards.

------

-- Heartbeat - Yes - As mentioned above, I should (hopefully) find this out during the actual ultrasound. If everything is still developing properly, not only with a heartbeat but proper size for 12 weeks then I move onto the next step.

Prenatal Testing - When will I get my Enhanced First Trimester Screen (eFTS) done? - My original hope was to not have to do the eFTS because the results are much later than the NIPT (Non-invasive Prenatal Testing, or the blood only paid-for DNA test that I needed to get a redraw for that started this whole emotionally challenging spiral.) The eFTS is also not as accurate so having to rely on those results instead of the NIPT means that we aren't out of the dark tunnel of worrying that we are sitting at the end of this pregnancy. More on this below.

-- Prenatal Testing - Tomorrow - Because my doctor's office was sending out urgent ultrasound requests to multiple clinics and hospitals, they were unsure if the one I have tomorrow will be just a 'viability scan' to basically check for the heartbeat and that is it, or if they will have time at the hospital to do the full eFTS. If there is time, than the ultrasound will just continue on for 45 minutes or so with a ton of measurements being made and I will be sent for blood-work tomorrow as well. This is preferred because we will get the results sooner and everything will be done at the same time.

-- Prenatal Testing - Next week - If they only have time for the quick scan tomorrow then I will be keeping the clinic appointment I have for the eFTS on Wednesday June 29. This will delay results by a week, and as my own doctor is away next week, possibly delay us learning the results even longer. (Obviously if there is no heartbeat, or if there is and the hospital ends up doing the eFTS, I will cancel this clinic appointment.)

NIPT - Did it work from the blood redraw? - I gave blood again this past Friday to try to get results through the DNA system, after my first blood draw the week before came back without results. Based on my weight and the low FF (Fetal Fraction is a measurement of the amount of the DNA found in the blood that isn't mine) from the last blood draw the chance that I can get results from the second blood draw is only 41%. This is why we are moving forward with the eFTS in the likely case that the NIPT comes back inconclusive again. I should know by early next week what happened with the blood redraw.

-- NIPT - Yes and Low Risk - This would be the best outcome of this flowchart, if I was drawing it out the box it sits in would be a starburst or something. The NIPT low risk result is very very accurate, it would mean that we could move into the second trimester of this pregnancy with a huge feeling of relief that the baby is currently healthy and doesn't have the three most common chromosome differences. (We would ignore the chromosome speculation in the eFTS in this case.)

-- NIPT - Yes and High Risk - This would be a very very worrisome outcome. Since NIPT is more accurate than eFTS, heading into the Diagnostic Testing it would be highly (greater than 90%)  likely that there are chromosomal abnormalities which would mean a termination of the pregnancy. The next step would be Diagnostic Testing, see below.

-- NIPT - No - This is fairly likely and would mean we have to wait for the eFTS results. The 'no result' as a result in itself actually signifies a slightly higher chance of chromosomal abnormalities which isn't good. The next step would be to wait for the eFTS results which depending on when I got the testing done (see above) will be ready between Aug 3 - 12.

eFTS Results - What is my risk factor? - It will be a long wait for these, but if the NIPT is inconclusive for a second time it is our only option for screening on chromosomal abnormalities.

-- eFTS Results - Low Risk - Definitely a good outcome, this would give us about the same level of relief that a NIPT Low Risk result would, that the baby is currently healthy and doesn't have the three most common chromosome differences. It would just come almost three weeks later.

-- eFTS Results - High Risk - Strangely not as bad as you would think. Because eFTS uses fetal anatomy measurements along with my hormone and protein levels to determine the risk factor it has a really high rate of false positives. It would still be cause for worry but a lot of room for hope when moving onto the Diagnostic Testing, see below. In fact there would be only around a 10% chance that there are chromosomal abnormalities which would mean a termination of the pregnancy.

Diagnostic Testing - Another whole flowchart - If we ended up in this box, either from a High Risk result coming from the NIPT or eFTS then there are a bunch of considerations that I am not dwelling on at the moment. Firstly there are two types of testing depending on how far into pregnancy you are. Depending when I get a High Risk result I made not be afforded a choice between them but if I get it early enough then I can choose between the two, one of which would involve waiting a few weeks. In both cases this type of testing is considered invasive and carries a risk of miscarriage from just undergoing the procedures. There are other health risks for both me, the baby and the pregnancy depending on which test taken. The results take between two and three weeks, so again more waiting and the potential of terminating well into the second trimester, a horrible outcome. The results from either test are considered diagnostic (stronger than screening). But let's cross that path, make that flowchart when we get there.

------
Hard to make a flowchart vertically using only blog-word-processing. I can definitely see this making better sense in the more traditional visual form with boxes and arrows. However, this let me get the thoughts and timelines and steps/stages floating around in my head down onto 'paper' to some extent and hopefully help me sleep better tonight ahead of the first step coming my way really early tomorrow morning.

Going To Be A Long Month

The following notice arrived in my email, outlining a 12-week shelter-in-place plan. I am having a hard time considering this isolation lasting for the month of April, let alone longer...

The City of Toronto has implemented the following measures that will be in effect for up to 12 weeks:
-- All individuals with COVID-19 are ordered by the Medical Officer of Health to stay home, under the Health Protection and Promotion Act for 14 days
-- All individuals who have had close contact with someone who has COVID-19 are also ordered to stay home by the Medical Officer of Health for 14 days
-- Anyone who is not ill or has not travelled, is strongly directed to stay home except for the following reasons:
- accessing healthcare or medication
- shop for groceries once per week
- walk their dogs and/or get daily exercise while maintaining physical distancing
-- People returning from international travel must stay home, already a federal order
-- Anyone over the age of 70, as the province announced this week, is strongly encouraged to stay home as much as possible
-- Only essential businesses remain open, and those businesses maximize physical distancing and infection prevention and control practices, and limit in-person access to those businesses, as much as possible

Cramps With Less Meds

Since getting pregnant I haven't paid a lot of attention to 'the rules' because I pretty quickly discovered them to be based on bad studies, no science, disproved theories, etc. I would totally recommend reading Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong--and What You Really Need to Know by Emily Oster, it was great to have someone go through the studies and provide the facts and statistics around them instead of just getting an absurd lists of dos and don'ts.

However, for the past couple of weeks I have had really bad cramps in my lower stomach. I don't know if it is gas, or constipation, or my uterus expanding or implantation pain, or what have you, but it hurts! To the point of crying some evenings after dealing with multiple periods of sharp and constant pain throughout the day. Luckily I can keep it in perspective with my gallstone pain, which was way worse. Those gallstone attacks are still the most painful thing I have ever experienced!

One of 'the rules' that I have been paying attention to is medications while pregnant. (In fact I have decided with my doctor that, while I will continue to take my two anti-depressants, I am going to go off of the Adderall I take for my ADHD for at least the first trimester.) Anyway, while I would normally just take Tylenol or Advil, which ever I found first for pain, like cramps, soreness, or headaches, it is advised that Advil (or ibuprofen) should be avoided. However, Tylenol (or acetaminophen) is fine to treat pain and/or fevers. It sucks a bit that I am a bit more limited now on my pain killer choice and I really need to stock up on the one that is okay, because I am frequently very uncomfortable!!

Pixeled PacMan

Did our first pregnancy ultrasound this morning. Had to drink a whole pile of water first, was very uncomfortable. This is so the bladder pushes the uterus up more making it easier to see. However, after taking a few pictures it was determined that they couldn't see enough so had to switch from the stomach wand to a trans-vaginal (it is what it sounds like, they use a stick.) The nice thing about this is that they let me pee first.

After the technician had finished, she called in Jason and we got to look at the pictures. As I mentioned before, this was a dating ultrasound. So it doesn't give a lot of information. We could see the yoke sack, because that part is the first thing that is around giving nutrients to the embryo. The placenta will form later. The embryo looked like a little circle with a pie piece cut out (like the PacMan character.) We could also see a few flashing pixels that the technician thought was probably the heartbeat but it would need to be further evaluated to confirm.

They wouldn't let us have or take a picture!! Not until the 12-week ultrasound, it is their policy. I was pretty disappointed but it was still really cool to see - still in shock that this is happening.

So Tiny!

It was a good appointment today! My doctor is very excited for us, so her and Jason will probably get along great. What is awesome is that even though she is my family doctor, she also has additional training in obstetrics, with hospital privileges to provide obstetrical care at St. Joseph Health Centre Toronto. So she can manage my pregnancy!

We got some information sheets with dos and don'ts, talked about my care options (I chose staying with her, I wasn't interested in a midwife or OB-GYN specialist), got requisition forms for blood tests and she is sending me next week to day a dating ultrasound. While I thought my cycle was consistent, apparently it isn't regular enough to date the pregnancy accurately.

The estimate is that I am around 4 weeks pregnant, since I JUST took the home test yesterday! Everything seems to measure baby size by fruit, which I think is weird and depending on the fruit it can be confusing. I found a fun article that does a Millennial Baby Size By Week using things other than fruit comparisons. Apparently this early on the fetus is the size of spec of eye shadow glitter. For reference that's 0.014 to 0.04 inches in length and not quite 0.04 ounces. So very very tiny!

Whaaat?!?

I have made a doctor's appointment for tomorrow. We were trying to get pregnant but I am still in shock that it happened! Also, that I was just a bit bored this morning and decided to take a test, I hadn't really even registered that my period was late. Jason is over the moon and we have already started to tell everyone (mainly through texting - the modern era.)

Go Team Go!

Yesterday was Isaac's Trek for Treats, the annual event held by Jason's sister for her son. I missed it last year because I was running an event for work on the same day. So glad to be a part of it for 2018! Teri and Greg came out, we had a little team going. It was a fun event raising money for Duchenne's research through Jesse's Journey. Looking forward to 2019.

Happy Weed Day

The day has come - Cannabis is legal in Canada. This has been a long time coming and I totally agree with all the arguments for legalization. At the moment there are still quantity restrictions and edible products won't be allowed for another couple of years, but we are totally moving in the right direction with this.

My one concern comes with driving under the influence. Impaired driving has always terrified me, growing up in a small town it was a huge issue that took many lives. While the breathalyzer is far from perfect it has provided a quick and convenient tool to assess alcohol impairment. It is harder to determine what is going on when someone is driving high. At the moment there isn't a federally approved fluid screening device that can be used roadside for cannabis.

On top of the testing challenges, right now, there's no set limit on the amount of cannabis that you can have legally in your blood or urine when driving. Driving high has always been illegal, and covered under Impaired Driving, but it doesn't get charged as much, even though drugs now show up more often than alcohol in blood tests of drivers killed in crashes. So scary.

I am excited to see the start of legalized cannabis but please - don't drive high!

Just Like Us

Driving home today, yesterday we visited Harvard and MIT campuses in Cambridge, just across the river from Boston. (We also went kayaking on that river and had a picnic lunch in Harvard Yard.)

Harvard Students - They are just like us!
Seen on campus: 
Student with an armful of obviously stolen toilet paper.
Overheard:
"Yo, if a girl matches you on Tindr means she is go to go!"

MIT Students - Less like us
Seen on campus: 
A juggling club practicing in a hallway with a variety of materials.
Overheard: 
"When you amplify the sample size, you decrease the error rate."

Grrrr Two

The cat has cost us over $1,200 this month! That is just medically, not even looking at food or litter.

It started early in September with a scheduled surgery - she has these strange Cutaneous Horns on her paw pads and they had reached a size that I decided to get them cut off/back.

Cutaneous horns are composed of keratin overgrowth. They may affect one or multiple footpads. Often thin and horn-like (hence the name), they may appear like second "nails" close to the nails on the digital pads. If not on a weight bearing surface, these lesions usually do not cause lameness. Cutaneous horns may be spontaneous, and this is often the case on the footpads. If the horns are not causing lameness the lesions are often ignored. The horny growth can removed by trimming, however, the horns will often recur. Horns causing discomfort should be removed and, if it is possible to do so without causing a large pad defect, the base of the lesion should be excised to prevent regrowth. -- DMV360 

They have be growing for years and were never something I felt comfortable trimming myself. This summer they reached a length that was bothering her when we were trimming her claws. I decided to have her into the vet for surgery and get them cut them down (they weren't able to dig everything out to prevent regrowth and they are already regrowing, but it helped). Also had them clean her teeth at the same time. That was $585 and she went in for it about a month ago.

Then a couple of weeks ago, I got concerned about a mark I noticed on her bum, because Binx had an abscess issue once that was awful. After a $85 examination it was determined to just be a scratch and I was told to watch it for the next couple of weeks but that it would just heal up and go away - it did.

Last night she tore a claw - another trip into the vet. She did it back in December too but I don't think we caught it right away back then because the fur around it was all clumped together. In December the vet had a hard time determining the issue, having to cut back the fur first. Last night we noticed it quickly (just by chance because both times she was walking fine) and I took her in this afternoon. They treated it and it cost $610. In December, it had been $470. The difference was that they didn't sedate her last time. I guess by the time they had trimmed and cleaned the fur she was in enough distress that they just cut back the claw, cleaned it up and gave her antibiotics. We weren't given a choice in the method at the time, she was taken to another room and treated. This time the vet explained that style to be a bit more 'down on the farm' and while it was an option since this time he could see everything and knew what needed to be done - sedation and pain killers were recommended. Of course I agreed, I hate pain why would I make the cat suffer.

Basically this rant isn't about the cost of veterinary services - because while they are more expensive in The City, it is an understandable increase for more expensive rent etc. Across all vet practices I find the costs are almost always worth it - I value the expertise and care. Mainly this is a rant at the fact that my particular cat keeps costing me money, or that it has all been concentrated recently. Luckily she is cute!

Follow Two's life in her own words with photos on Instagram - @twodeecat

One Study And I Added The L

I had read somewhere that including a middle initial on your resume increased the likelihood of being hired and having it in your name of an academic paper could lead to higher marks. It turns out that this has been written about a fair amount but upon review it all goes back to just a few studies by a couple of social psychologists.

Still, I wanted as much help as I could get so during my last job hunt I added the middle initial into my name on the letterhead that appears above my coverletter and resume - Christine L. Sweeton. (My middle name is Laura, after my late aunt.) I then also got it added to my business cards for the BIA.

There are a lot more studies related to gender bias in hiring (compared to the small studies on middle-initial-inclusion.) It is a complex issue but I suspect the fact that I have an easily understood as female name might have minuscule negative effects, but this is too depressing to think about. For now I will continue to take whatever leg-up my L. gives me!

Motherhood - Epidural

Excerpts from New York Times article 'Get the Epidural' by Jessi Klein

No one ever asks a man if he’s having a “natural root canal.” No one ever asks if a man is having a “natural vasectomy.”

“What are you trying to win?” What was I trying to win? I thought about it and realized — nothing. There’s nothing to win.

“There is science showing all the risks of an epidural!” Well, again, I am not a doctor, but I do have the internet.

There are so many debates in this life in which there is some evidence of one thing and also some evidence of the other. At such a point, you just have to decide to believe in and do what is best for you. So here’s a radical idea: Why not do the thing that makes you happy?

There is so much pressure on women around birth and labor and mothering to do it this way or that way. It’s so easy to believe the notion that having a baby demands complete and total self-abnegation, and anything short of that is not enough.

If you’re worried that skipping the pain of childbirth means you’re somehow cheating your baby, or yourself, you’re not. Because the truth is, life offers more than enough pain that you will not be able to skip. 

Yup, give me the epidural! There has never been any question in my mind, if I am ever giving birth I will be getting the epidural and any other pain killers/drugs they can throw my way. I like modern medicine - I like making pain go away.

I have heard the positives from the other side, friends and acquaintances that wanted/tried/had a drug-less birth or some variation. For the most part their reasons made sense. Rarely are these people conspiracy-theory hippies, or self-flagellating mommy-martyrs, though sometimes. For the vast majority they made (or tired/planned to make) a personal choice based on what was important to them.

What is great from all my conversations on the topic is that this seems to be very much a personal choice and an understanding that there are reasons to make the decision either way. Some pregnancy or parenting subjects have strong reactions, judgement, and opinions about right/wrong, unlike what the article suggests, I don't get the feeling that the choice to get an epidural is one of those.

Those who have been through it: Please share in the comments if leading up to birth, during, or afterwards friends, family or event strangers were sharing strong hurtful opinions about your choice to have or decline an epidural?

I am inclined to say, and have said, to someone planning on forgoing an epidural, "Are you crazy? What about the pain? I would totally get all the drugs!" Which I hope isn't viewed as hurtful, it is the same response I would give someone who is suffering through a headache and not taking an Advil. It is an expression of awe at someone else' pain tolerance and not a judgement about the choice they are making for their body.

In my experience, the most common reason against getting an epidural has been the ability to walk afterwards instead of waiting until the drugs wear off, and with that a faster departure from the hospital. Personally I love hospitals so that reason doesn't apply to me. Also I just absolutely hate pain, I used to take Tylenao 3s (from my high-school wisdom teeth removal) to get my legs waxed. Hit me up with the drugs! But you do you.

Doctor Numbers

Flying home today and I still keep thinking about the intercom call for a doctor that happened on our flight down. It seems like such a strange policy. And for sure it is some type of policy because airlines have procedures for everything. I decided I wanted to look at the numbers:

Cooling My Feminist Jets
So, I had been very happy/surprised that it was a female doctor answering the call. Turns out, not that rare. There is probably still a wage gap, and possibly still a 'senior position' gap, but the gender gap for Canadian doctors has shrunk considerably. 41% are female; 59% are male. Two thirds (64%) of family physicians under age 35 are female.

What About Specialists
Almost half of the over 83,000 Canadian doctors are specialists of other disciples, instead of Family Medicine. Students in medical school in Canada will experience many fields of medicine and decide on their specialty during 3rd or 4th year. After that choice, residency training can be anywhere from 2 years (Family Medicine) to 6 years (Neurosurgery). Most specialties are a 5 year program. So they have the medical base, but a specialist can really be pretty specialized, and there are 37 specialties available in Canada. Would a urologist be that much help to someone who fainted in a plane?

Seems Like A Long Shot
Based on the total population of Canada there is only about 1 doctor for every 500 people. The plane we were in seats 100. That is a 0.2% chance there would be a doctor on board. When looking at people who fly, mainly those who can afford to fly, than doctors would be more likely to be on board a plane while the general population less so - this increases the chance. Often planes would be larger than the jet we were one, increasing the passengers to maybe 200. Huge planes can have more than 600 seats (in a two-tiered class configuration. Actually 800 in single-class, but I have never seen that.) I still don't like the odds, or many I don't like the fact that they are relying on odds.

Improve Your Odds
If they had asked "Is there a doctor or nurse on board" that would really improve the chances of a generally trained health care professional. There are lots of different types of nurses, including those in advance nursing practice, like nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists. There are 4 times as many nurses as doctors in Canada.

Source information:
Look at me citing things like a good girl who went to university and grad school!
- Canadian Institute For Health Information
- The Canadian Medical Association
- University of British Columbia Medical School
- AirBus Corporate Site, Aviation Blogs

Further Reading:
I am like my own Wikipedia article here. If you found this as fascinating as me, the likelihood of that might be small, then these are some interesting international articles on the same topic:
- July 2017 - ABC News (Australia) - Is there a doctor on board? What happens during a mid-air medical emergency
- March 2017 - The Telegraph (UK) - What really happens during a medical emergency at 35,000 feet
- January 2017 - Singapore Medical Journal - What to do during inflight medical emergencies? Practice pointers from a medical ethicist and an aviation medicine specialist
- April 2013 - Quartz (USA) - What it’s like to be the “doctor on board”, and why airlines shouldn’t be relying on them

The Warmest Water

I cannot believe how warm the water is here!! We went out on a sailboat trip yesterday, that included kayaking into a mangrove tree island thing - totally looked like what I pictured the floating island in the Life of Pi book to be. We also went snorkeling but I didn't really like it so took off the mask and just floated/swam around in the water.

I have never been in natural water this warm in my life! (However, after saying that Jason reminded me that I have been to quite a few hot springs, but let's not count those.) The people crewing the boat kept saying it was 27, degrees Celsius, and then everyone else on the boat complained about how cold that was. At the time all I could go by was the fact that it felt like bath water, and I knew that one year we did a Toronto Try-Tri in 19 and the Azores was 16. Looking it up online now, it seems that the super quick swim that Kristen, Noah, Jason and I did in the Indian Ocean near Durban in South Africa probably had water temperatures close 27, but it was very wavy and windy, so didn't feel that warm. I found a website that details sea temperatures around the world - so cool! The great lakes don't ever get much over 20.

Unrelated - Here is a bird photo inspired by Mom's Blog, which now even features bird pictures on her 'at home' posts. Jason and I did a short stroll along a boardwalk in The Everglades named after this bird. There were quite a few of them, some making quite the racket as they did mating displays. I preferred the quiet ones that just hung out on logs near the water. Saw one trying to eat a fish, that I think was way too big for it, greedy bugger.

An Anhinga in The Everglades

Photo by Jason, with his phone, April 2018

More Rhymes For March

I am really into this whole March - In like a lion, out like a lamb thing! I keep going back to it. Have to say, it is a much better than my usual internet wormholes that normally end up with me reading long, detailed Wikipedia articles about serial killers.

Here are some other proverbs related to this month:

A dry March and a wet May? 
Fill barns and bays with corn and hay.

As it rains in March, so it rains in June.

So many mists in March you see
So many frosts in May will be.

A Peck of March-Dust, and a Shower in May
Makes the Corn green, and the Fields gay.

March many-Weathers rain’d and blow’d
But March grass never did good.

I can't really get that last one to rhyme. How are they pronouncing blow'd so that it matches good? Also, it isn't a word, the past tense is blew. Really that one is just terrible. Lastly, there is an expansion on the well known one, that includes March:

March winds and April showers? Bring forth May flowers.

One of my favourite jokes as a kid was, "If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring? Pilgrims." Oh, so clever. (And distinctly American.)

Out Like A Lamb

I decided to follow up yesterday's post with a bit of research on the strange animal proverb used for the month of March:

"In like a lion, out like a lamb."

Turns out it has been around forever! The Paris Review claims that one of the earliest know use of the phrase is from 1732. Here are some theories of where it may come from:

Changing of Seasons
When March starts, it’s still winter, and by the end of the month spring has started. Though technically true, the Spring Equinox (for our hemisphere) is March 20 this year. However, it usually doesn't feel like spring until well into April.

The Balance of Life and Weather
The long held belief that things should balance. So, if a month started with bad weather, it should end with nice, calm weather.

Religious
Jesus's first appearance was as the sacrificial lamb, but he then returns as the Lion of Judah. Like in Narnia! I hadn't heard of the Lion of Judah before, but this theory puts the animals in the wrong order.

Horoscopes and Constellations
At the start of March, Leo, or the lion sign, is the rising star constellation and by April, it’s Aries. Aries is a ram, a male sheep. (And lambs are baby sheep!) This one is my favourite theory.

56 Hours In Iceland - Sunday

We didn't have much time today, since Jason likes to be at the airport so early, we only got to spend the morning touring around (flight leaves at 3:30pm.) We headed north to Borgarnes to swim at the public pool (outside, heated with geothermal technology, large pools or soak in one of three different hot tubs of different temperatures, all with amazing views of mountains and the ocean.) This little trip also let us see more of the west-coast, and experience a pretty impressive traffic tunnel under a fjord.

Here are a few more shots from my phone:

Our Last Selfie In Iceland

Hafnarfjall Mountain behind Jason

I seem to be struggling to keep the horizon straight.

Jason And Good View Of Hafnarfjall Mountain

Seawall/Shore at Borgarfjörður Seawall/Shore in Borgarnes

A bit better with the horizon in this one.

56 Hours In Iceland - Pingvellir, Iceland

The Path To Another World

Pingvellir National Park, Iceland

Photo taken with my phone

(Excited to see what the photos on our new camera look like.)