Nothing.
This past weekend we went to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA for their annual Howl-o-Scream event. The entire park is transformed with ghouls and goblins lurking around every corner. Each country has a different theme in scariness, i.e. England had ravens and strange men and women lurking around wearing completely black masks, Germany had vampires, and French-Canada had men with chainsaws (in keeping with the logger theme, I suppose). Throughout the park are various haunted houses and trails with a rating from 1 to 5 pumpkins, 5 being the scariest. After 6:00 pm all but one of the haunted houses has a 5 pumpkin rating. They also have a warning sign posted at the beginning of each that basically excludes the following people: those with heart conditions, asthma (the use of fog), seizures (the use of strobe lights), and pregnant women…because it would seem pregnant women are in the same category as an older gentleman with a pace maker.
It also should be noted that nearly every single ride warns pregnant women they should not get on said ride. So, for $60 I had the pleasure of walking around a park for 7 hours and enjoyed an exhilarating 15 minute ferry ride, a raucous 10 minute train ride, and the pièce de résistance, a turn on the carousel. In case you were wondering I got the pretty white horse and Marcus had to ride the ugly brown horse. I think the only people who might get the importance of being able to ride the pretty horse are the women who remember as little girls anxiously waiting as the carousel comes to a stop and then bolting to the horse they picked out only to discover someone else had that particular horse in their sight. Not this time, suckers! I may be pregnant but I'm not that pregnant. I can still run.
In the end my consolation prize for being a good sport during the trip (read: couldn’t ride any rides, drink any of the delicious Anheuser-Busch products, or have the crap scared out of me) was an additional $20 for a picture with one of Busch Garden’s famed Clydesdale horses. Any other time I definitely would not have been able to convince Marcus that this was a good idea. The way he looked at it was any other time I would be drinking well over $20 in delicious Anheuser-Busch products, so he looked at this as a savings. Maybe we can put that little bit I saved towards something for the baby?
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| Can I keep him?! |
For a little perspective, your barring from amusement rides will last 9-10 months. Those with total hip replacements (THR) are cautioned to abstain for the rest of their lives. Silver lining for me is I can still drink. So next summer while you and M are riding rides, I'll be the slightly intoxicated one chilling on the bench beside the stroller.
ReplyDeleteOther activities THRs cancel out: skydiving, hang gliding, parasailing, bungee jumping, jumping rope, baseball/softball, basketball, football, handball, volleyball, wallyball, dodgeball, hockey, broomball, gymnastics, squash, tennis, karate, racquetball, lacrosse/field hockey, soccer, waterskiing, wrestling, running (except for your life in case of an emergency), mixed martial arts, and boxing.
So I'm allowed to walk, dance, hike, row/kayak, bowl, golf, cycle, yoga, pilates, ski (downhill/cross country), and swim.
Seems to me that you took this warning a little too seriously, after all these are suggested warnings. Obviously roller coasters are not a great idea, high velocity g-forces and lots of shaking and jerking around is common sense not to attend. However, pregnant women are not banned from being able to go to the haunted houses, it's simply an advisory. In the end it is up to you and whether or not you think you can handle the level of elevated stress associated with each haunted house. I myself attended HowloScream just last night (I am 7months pregnant), and I happily and enthusiastically attended every single haunted house. I do have the added benefit of not being easily scared, and while I found the entire night quite enjoyable I was more amused than scared. Ultimately only YOU know what your threshold is for these types of things, maybe keep that in mind for next year? :-)
ReplyDeleteAgreed. I wrote this more in jest than anything.
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