1995 was the year Barb became pregnant, giving birth to Allie on October 5. We stopped making albums this year, so the photos and storyline from here onward are from various collections, boxes and memories.
I’m afraid I don’t have a good story about when and where we learned that Barb was pregnant, but it must have been in February or March. I vaguely recall a number of months of pregnancy test strips that came back negative until one finally was positive. With that, we tabled our preliminary plans for making a trip to Australia later in the year (it remained on our bucket list nearly three decades). I know we were excited by the prospect of a baby and began the process of preparing our home…and started doing a lot of shopping at Babies R Us.
I remember slowly getting a bedroom set up at the Davidge house, though we didn’t know if we were to have a boy or a girl. Barb gathered lots of input from many friends and relations. We got a proper crib, a nice gliding rocker for reading, and outfitted the new baby room with some cool (gender-neutral!) wildlife jungle stickers.
Barb learned fairly early on that she had gestational diabetes and would have to closely watch her diet. We thought that would be a problem but it turned out she was a very good patient and started eating the most healthy diet she’s ever had. In general, Barb seemed to have a happy pregnancy. She didn’t have a lot of morning sickness, that I knew of, and seemed to have boundless energy to get things done.
I remember taking Lamaze classes near Barb’s doctor in north Baltimore where we learned about the mechanics of giving birth, especially breathing exercises. Somehow it was all about breathing. This was about as much formal education as we had. As things turned out, I think there should have been a lot more classes on how to actually care for a baby. We didn’t know what we didn’t know, but it was an exciting time.
In March, Barb and I took one of our last pre-Allie vacations, a short eating trip to New Orleans. It was Barb’s first time there and I was eager to visit some of the restaurants that Mom and Dad remembered so fondly. I had been to the city a couple of times with Mom and Dad and more recently with conventions and trade shows. I think we planned to go by ourselves in April because we made reservations at a cute little B&B, PJ Holbrook’s Olde Victorian Inn (which seems to no longer be there; the address is now a hostel, the IHSP French Quarter House). One way or another, our plans changed and the Harders decided to join us — Ashley was also pregnant with their first child, Maddie. It was baby season.
We shifted the trip to March 10-13 and found rooms at the Lafayette Hotel. This turned out to be a lovely spot, very convenient with a nice buffet breakfast. We relied heavily on Frommer’s Guide to New Orleans — I downloaded a number of their walking tours and suggestions. Our itinerary included dinner on Friday at the Palace Cafe, the French Quarter arm of the Commander’s Palace empire. We took in the sights and sounds down Bourbon Street and the French Quarter, making a stop at Pat O’Brien’s for some walking hurricanes for Larry and me before ending at Cafe du Monde for beignets. On Saturday we had brunch at Brennan’s, including Banana’s Foster for Larry and dinner at Galatoire’s. I’m not sure what we did during the day…maybe took a nap, though there’s also a note of maybe getting tea at The Court of Two Sisters. On Sunday, we ventured out to Commander’s Palace for an official Sunday dinner at noon, followed by dinner at Upperline (for the sake of trying something relatively new). On Monday, we waddled back to the airport and made it home. New Orleans is a dangerous place for any diet, but still one of my favorite places to visit.
Barb and I snuck in one other trip later in the spring, a long weekend in Hilton Head courtesy of a timeshare offer from Hilton (or was it Marriott?). I think they gave us two nights at a very low rate and we added one more night, contingent on us sitting through a 90-minute sales pitch on Sunday morning. We drove down and I managed to play a round of golf at the very distinctive (and expensive, but very nice) Harbor Town Golf Links as well as at one of Jack Nicklaus’s Golden Bear Club courses. Barb got some sun at the hotel pool while I golfed. We had a touristy dinner in Hilton Head one night and went down to Savannah one afternoon/evening for a nice dinner. It was a pretty pleasant little trip but there was no great urgency on either of our parts to revisit Hilton Head. It was not the last time we would sit through a timeshare offer but I think it’s the last time we actually took a trip to do it.
Our photos for 1995 begin in May with Sara’s 4th birthday party at Betsy’s house. I’m not sure why there were no photos for the first four months of 1995, but maybe they will turn up somewhere.
Barb and Betsy being very big, at Sara’s birthday party. These are our best and pretty much only pictures of the two of them in expecting mode.
The next day brought some extended birthday celebrations.
The happy Embrey family, from about the same time.
Apropos of nothing in particular, Barb’s work friend, Dan Aibel, gave Barb this photo of Fort Fisher that he found in Waco, Texas…reusing some envelope he happened to have lying around, I guess.
On June 8, Keri graduated from high school in Marathon and sent this fancy announcement. Being the lame uncle that I am, I’m not sure if I even responded. I belatedly congratulate her!
Betsy and Joe welcomed Kristen into the world on Thursday, June 15, 1995. We visited two days later.
The following Sunday, it was time for Joe’s graduation ceremony from Strayer College. Joe had originally gone to Elon College in North Carolina after high school but left after a year or so. He eventually decided to complete his bachelor’s accounting degree while he was also working full time as a general contractor building houses. He put in three long years of evenings classes at Strayer’s Loudon campus in a building they conveniently opened close to his home. On June 18, 1995, he graduated with an accounting degree in a ceremony at the Kennedy Center. Under the circumstances, it appears Joe’s parents, Sara and I were the family witnesses.
Shots of Sara feeding baby Kristen and the new graduate Joe with his girls on June 27.
On July 17, Auntie Mary threw a Man Yue for Kristen at her barn home. I’ve just found this one photo — usually we have many more.
July brought two new babies for friends. Gloria and Alan Frank had their second child, Nathaniel (whom we called Natty until he got to the point where he had some say in the matter and it became Nathaniel), on July 16. Larry and Ashley had their first child, Maddie, on July 21.
We paid a visit to Larry, Ashley and Maddie at their house and took an outing to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, probably in August. Welcome, Maddie!
Our friend Leila hosted a baby shower for Barb at her house on August 27.
Barb getting the goodies, with ongoing assistance from Dillon Christ.
Guests at the party.
Time for cake!
Barb at home, resting and gestating.
Hanging out with someone else’s baby…I think it’s Natty Frank.
Maxie gets some love.
Sometime, probably in September, there was another Soccer Bowl for Barb’s office. Barb was the team manager and I was once again a recruit.
There was a party for Kristen on September 20 with a nice cake — not sure why or where, but it’s a cute photo of Betsy and Barb.
Just about done.
The folks that manage Barb’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid complex in Baltimore had the clever idea that they would decorate the office building with some large posters of people getting medical care. They used employees as models where they could, and Barb got a call to be “the pregnant lady.” In September, when she was at perhaps her roundest, she sat for a photo shoot with a “nurse.” A few months later, a huge photo banner appeared in the lobby of the building and stayed there for several years. A star was born…and another nearly so. Also below is a note I sent to my mom with these photos and a few from her shower. Not long now…
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