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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

3 Lines


Yesterday afternoon Michael and I got to see Baby G in another ultrasound. This was exciting because we got to find out the gender of the little person in my belly.



If you look closely in the top picture you can see three small white lines. Although Michael was thrown off at first he now knows he is going to be out numbered by girls. No worries, Baby G will still have blue crib sheets with airplanes on them but her grandmother is going to make her a quilt with some girly colored airplanes mixed into the sky.



The news of the gender seem to come as the biggest surprise to my brother and mother who seemed convinced we were going to have a blue bundle. Maybe they didn't see the airplanes on it ;)



I was very excited to have an appointment yesterday. After having a strange pain in my stomach during my Sunday run I was a little concerned. Then I got sick yesterday, twice. That's the first time I've actually tossed my lunch so I was getting a bit more anxious to head over to the prenatal clinic and see Baby G moving around.



All the measurements from yesterday look good. Baby G is approximately 9 oz right now and seems to be developing well. In a few weeks I'm sure she'll be kicking me all the time, right now I can hardly feel her.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

I forgot

On Thurs I was talking with one of my friends who had her baby about 9 months ago. I was telling her about my emotional woes and asked her if she'd had the same trouble. She said that she'd found it took longer to get over things but also noted her forgetfulness during pregnancy. She said she practically had to start writing lists of things she needed to tell people. I took note of this for future reference.

This morning I procrastinated my workout with some house cleaning, an online chat to a friend from college who's 20 weeks pregnant, and a call to my brother. Then I hoped on the trainer and followed it up by a transition run through the neighborhood.

After cooking myself some eggs and oatmeal for dinner I made my way over to Target to pick up some Rubbermaid containers. I decided this would help me organize some of the 'stuff' in the office. I wondered around target a bit, found the containers I wanted, and also grabbed a 4 ft long pillow. My brother had warned Michael that I would be searching for every pillow in the house eventually. I don't know if he'll appreciate the large additional pillow but it's probably better than loosing his.

I also made a quick peek into the baby area, searching for airplane items. I was quite excited to discover an airplane onesy, airplane blankets, and an entire crib set of airplane linens. It's quite likely that Baby G will be sleeping on blue airplane sheets no matter what (we don't know the gender yet).

I then made my way to register, got my items rung up, reached into my bag, and realized something... I had forgotten my wallet. There have been many times when I have knowingly left the house without my wallet but this was the first time in my life when I've gone to the store to buy something without my wallet.

But, I must admit, I'm much happier to forget a few things if it means I won't get as emotional. Writing a list is much easier than apologizing for saying something stupid or breaking out into tears for no reason at all.

Friday, April 24, 2009

The Gym

On Mondays and Fridays I've become a bit of a gym rat. This year I got a membership at Pure Austin and I've been making good use of it. I usually go twice a day on the weekday bookends, once to lift and once to swim (or maybe spin or run).

http://www.pureaustin.com/

My routine seems to be working pretty well and during the past few Fridays I've met a friend who has years of experience lifting. This is invaluable to me because she takes time to teach me about the equpment and good form and also has a general understanding of what we need to do to get in a good workout.

As we watch my stomach grow I wonder if we'll be able to see my muscle definition improve. We've joked a bit that I am going to turn into the buffest pregnant lady in town. Of course, I'm sure there's some lady over at Hyde Park Gym who would be laughing at this but for now I'll keep that dream alive. After all we all have to have goals.

I actually have two superficial goals that I joke about for my pregnancy.

First, I'm hoping my ankles don't get too swollen, I don't want cankles. Good thing about this, my stomach will eventually hinder my ability to clearly see my ankles so I might never know if I get them.

Second, I'd like to stay below my Freshman year weight until I'm full term. I've weighed the same amount since the beginning of high school, excluding my freshman year of college. I gained over 20 lbs that year because I was forced onto a meal plan that only allowed me to eat cafeteria food 3x per day. It was horrible yet Michael started dating me freshman year so at least I know he won't leave me when I'm 9 months pregnant. ;)

I also have two other goals for pregnancy.

First, get the office cleaned out before Baby-G arrives. This doesn't seem like a hard goal but I've done such an amazing job procrastinating lately that I don't know if it'll be done in time.

Second, learn to curb the emotions that seem to be taking over. I've cryed almost every day this week. I actually set today's goal as getting through the day without crying. 8pm - I'm still okay but I'm not in the clear yet. These super powered emotions have also resulted in some troubles with a good friend, definitely not excited about all the trouble this has caused. Learning to shake things off a bit and listen to Michael's daily advice, "Don't worry about it," would probably help a lot.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Some Tummy Pics

As with all other expectant parents we've been taking pictures of my stomach to watch it grow. We weren't smart enough to take pictures before or even during the first few weeks (conceived Jan 1st-ish) but I don't think I was showing much then anyways.

What do you think... am I getting bigger?


March 8th, 2009

March 15th, 2009














Group 2... I've gained some weight but I'm still told I don't look pregnant. Actually, I think during this time people were actually doubting the idea of my pregnancy.

March 22nd, 2009
March 29th, 2009













Group 3... do you see anything happening yet? These last two pictures were taken after I'd already been cut off from riding my bike on the road. Imagine that, we can't even see Baby G but it's too late to ride in the danger zone. No worries, I have plenty of Netflix movies and can listen to the U2 channel on pandora for hours. Personally, I'm starting to think I resemble a block.

April 12th, 2009









April 19th, 2009

Pack Rats

Michael and I are what you might call pack rats. I could try to justify it by saying we hold onto things that we might need at a later date or just happen to be sentimental but in reality we're pack rats. I have such a tough time throwing things away that I often try to make myself the goal of filling up the garbage can during the week. I don't think we've ever achieved that goal unless we have house guests to help create trash.

This weekend we made another effort to clean out the office. The office will become Baby G's room so we have a deadline to get the room cleaned out. Michael spent a couple hours tossing junk and making piles for donating and yet the room still looks like it was hit by a tornado.

We got a good laugh at ourselves from some of the items we've been holding onto. We have a shoe box filled with all the reply cards and gift cards from our wedding (we thumbed through them again too read the notes). We have a lot of items from college including a number of text books we've never opened. We did get rid of the doubles before moving down but kept almost everything else. Baby G has a collection of mom & dad's Leggos waiting to be used. We also have a good collection of somewhat 'useless' items like old ID cards. Michael is still holding onto his first diving license, I believe it was his only 'fake ID' since he lied about his age to get it early.

BTW, if anyone has some use for nick-nacks from the 100th Tour de France or 3M post-it notes let us know.

.................

This morning I went to the dentist office to have my teeth cleaned. The hygienist who worked on me is due in June. She asked me a few questions about my pregnancy and humored me when she asked, "Have you been exercising?" I told her I have and she asked if I've been doing cardio, she said she works out every day.

I told her that I do triathlons and the next question was, "Are you doing Danskin?" It's funny to me how often I get that question but this time is seemed almost surprising since she is also pregnant. She must not ride a bike or have a doctor who set as many rules for her b/c she wasn't expecting me to tell her I wasn't doing any more racing this season.

The most notable comment was saying how tough exercise gets in the 3rd trimester. She said it's no problem at the beginning but starts to get a lot harder after the 2nd trimester b/c it's a lot less comfortable. I've heard this statement from a couple other people. I'll have to report back on that in a couple of months.

Friday, April 17, 2009

It's a small world

Last night I ventured out for an easy run after work. Evening runs never seem to feel as good as morning ones and along with my exaggerated senses I also have an exaggerated workouts. When I'm tired I feel very tired and want to just stop. When I'm feeling good I seem to be at the same place I was in December and feel very confident. Yesterday afternoon I was feeling like I'd been stuffed for days and wasn't too confident about my run but in typical fashion I got myself ready and started to run.

As I hit the trail I saw an old co-worker from Samsung coming from the opposite direction. Without a moment of hesitation I u-turned to his direction and began to run with him, asking where he was going. He'd just started and was doing a few miles, "You'll have to slow down a lot to run with me," he said.

"No worries, I'm not in a rush. I'm pregnant so I'm just out to enjoy myself."

"Wow, congratulations but now you're going to make me run harder than I want too. I can deal with getting dropped by a girl but I'm not sure about a pregnant girl."

I continued along with him and enjoyed the run a lot more than I thought I would when I'd left the shop. I've had a few workouts like that lately, ones where I really appreciate the company of my friends and I'm glad to have the flexibility to do whatever I want for a while.

Although this friend only runs a couple times a week and I've never seen him running before, that's not where the title of the blog is from. The title of this blog post is based on how I met this friend for the first time. Seeing him yesterday reminded me of the story...

After I graduated from CMU, Michael & I took a to Italy, before I had to start working. Near the end of the trip we had to change trains in Pisa, en route to Chinque Terra. I'd heard from a friend's father that Pisa was only worth a quick visit to see the Leaning Tower.

When we hopped off our first train we didn't see a sign for the bus station and I began to think how nice it would be to spot someone to ask. At that moment I spotted a group of guys a few feet away, one of them was a 6'4" blond guy wearing a UT shirt, 'Bingo'. I walked over and asked if he knew where to catch the bus to the tower.

"No hablo Ingles."
"Yeah right, you're wearing a UT shirt," I replied.
"Oh. Just head out to the left and you'll see signs. You need to get the #6 bus. Here's a couple of tickets. We bought them but the bus driver never checked."

Perfect, we were quickly on our way to the bus, hopped on just as one was leaving, and made our way to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We took some pictures, read about the architecture issues of the building and hopped on a bus back to the train station.

We arrived back at the train station minutes before the next train was leaving and quickly bought a couple of tickets. Unfortunately, we had a lot of trouble finding any seats. I finally spotted 2, across from the big blond guy who'd given me directions to the bus. That humored me quite a bit, we had been so quick that we'd actually caught the same train we would've been on even if we'd skipped seeing the tower. So we would get to Cinque Terra before sunset and have time to find a place to stay and a place for dinner.

We sat down with the guys and began to talk. Not only did they just graduate from UT and live in Austin, the tall blond guy was about to start working with me at Samsung when we got back to the States. Wow, how's that for a small world.

But the most memorable part of the day was when they asked us if we were married or engaged. "No, we're going to wait a while," I told them. This was my way of regurgitating the comment Michael had told me a few months before. I had no idea what was really going on in his head. Later that night he proposed to me while we ate dinner at a restaurant in Cinque Terra.

As you now know, I met this friend on one of the most memorable days of my life and will probably never forget that story. You never know who you might meet on any given day or what small favor might lead to the most wonderful day that person could ever imagine.

......

As a side note, this friend of mine is the race director for the Bun Run on May 3rd. If you haven't already signed up you can visit them at www.bunrun.com

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Exaggerated Senses

Aside from my super human wetsuit busting powers I seem to have some improvements in my senses.

Smell - The smell of fast food has always been a bit revolting to me and has been even worse for the past couple of months. The mere mention of KFC made my stomach turn. I have also acquired an aversion for the smell of chicken and haven't eaten any lately.

Taste - Again, no chicken. I was also turned off by PB&J for a while but I'm back on board with that. But the taste of fruit is great right now. I can't seem to get enough of it, especially juicy and / or citrus fruits. Smoothies are good too, that's the one thing I would say I've craved at times. Of course, I don't know if it's considered a craving if you would eat it normally.

Hearing - Michael is currently downstairs singing about being on a boat. For those of you who don't have a clue what I'm talking about you can probably find the video on u-tube. Let's just say this song has been stuck in Michael's head for weeks and it's driving me insane. So as he's down stairs singing it I just blurted out, "I can hear you," in an effort to quiet him down. He answered back, "How did you hear that? I was singing under my breath."

Sight - Unfortunately this has not improved. Although I can't say I'd notice an improvement if there was one. After all, my vision is so dismal that it would take a lot before it was anything less than horrible. Thankfully I've continued to eat carrots my entire life.

Feel - I've taught myself to read Braille over the past few weeks. I feel this will be a useful skill assuming the improved vision never pans out. (That's a joke although I would like to learn to read Braille someday).

Monday, April 13, 2009

Can we patch this?



I've been saving a few things for pregnancy. Included in this collection was my old full sleeve wetsuit. Since I'd recently determined the XS was too small it was time to move up to the small.

I joined a few friends to swim at the quarry and started to pull on my old wetsuit. As I was pulling it on I realized there was plenty of room for my belly, "This wetsuit is much better... oh no."

Just as I was in the midst of complimenting my old wetsuit for filling it's job description as pregnancy wetsuit it ripped. Trouble is, this was no small rip which you get when your nails puncture the neoprene, this was a full on, foot long rip under my right arm.

Good grief! Unfortunately, none of the five engineers had a roll of duct tape with them and MacGyver didn't appear to offer up solutions.

The water is still in the mid-sixties so there was no way my wimpy body was going to swim sans wetsuit. So I hopped in the water, laughing about how large this rip would probably become in 30 min. I was not disappointed, the rip grew until hitting the seams. I had created a new drag suit. With each stroke I could hear a "gulp" as the wetsuit swallowed in a huge load of water and it swung around my back.

The first 15 min seemed okay, the temperature wasn't too bad and baby G was still swimming ahead of dad. The second 15 min was a bit more challenging and by the end I was shivering. So that was the end of that wetsuit... unless I find the miracle patch.

Friday, April 10, 2009

My Wetsuit is Tight

My wetsuit is pushing on my belly!

Although many people keep telling me I am not showing, I can see it and I can certainly feel it. The wetsuit that seemed to fit fine last weekend was quite uncomfortable today, good thing Galveston was last weekend. Good thing the quarry will warm up soon and I won't need the protective suit.

Yesterday at the pool I was telling a friend about the smells that repulse me right now, mainly the smell of fast food. He asked if there were any smells I liked, suggesting the smell of oranges would be good. I realized I had not been very smart about this aversion to the smell of fast food. He is correct, the smell of citrus is certainly a good one. So, for those of you who might be tempted to bring fried food close to me, don't be surprised if I pull out an orange and start peeling it just close enough to spray you with the juice.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Galveston Race Report

Last Tuesday I got the okay from my Doctor to go race at Galveston. She wasn't overly excited about the idea, because it sounded a bit dangerous, but told me to go enjoy myself and stick to the trainer after the weekend. She wasn't concerned about monitoring my heart rate, she was concerned about falling, "I can't promise your baby will be protected if you fall."

As I packed my race gear for Galveston I was still unsure what the weekend would be like for me. If it was windy, I wasn't going to race. I was also a little anxious about the swim, hoping I'd be able to swim in clear water and protect myself from getting kicked. But if I did 'race' I was going out there to have fun, not to worry about pace, just planning to have a nice aerobic workout with a bunch of friends.

We drove down to Galveston after work on Friday. Although I was not 'racing' I was more nervous for sprint race on Saturday than I was for IM Florida. I got about 1hr of sleep Friday night and spent the rest of the time hoping everything would turn out okay.

Michael entered the race for Saturday too so we got to compete against each other in another sprint. Last season we were less than 10s apart in all the sprint races we did together, I wondered what would happen this time.

Before my wave start I told Logan (a friend who was announcing) that I was pregnant. He proceeded to tell the crowd that he sees me five times per week and just learned my news. This was not the only time he'd tell that story over the weekend. Although I felt a little embarrassed by it, I found a lot of support from the others around. It was quite encouraging to have people tell me they were impressed instead of telling me I was foolish, I'd assumed the later would be a more common response.

As the gun went off for the swim I made a quick prayer to keep my baby safe. Somehow, the waters were clear for me. I felt horrible when I knocked someone with my hand but somehow nothing ever hit me, that's very rare. On the bike I saw a girl hit a cone and wipe out across the road, about 20 feet in front of me. Aside from feeling bad for her it was a bit scary when I realized I would've been in that mess if I'd been 3 sec ahead of my current position. I was very cautious the rest of the ride, yelling to others in plenty of time before passing them and coming out of my aerobars for the miles of the ride next to the sea wall (windy). I kept everything in check on the run and cruised around the course, trying to be sure I kept my core temperature low.

When I crossed the line I was unsure how I'd done. I told my friends that I didn't think I'd race on Sunday, the wind worried me. I eventually found out I'd won my age group but Michael had finished over a minute ahead of me... Star #1.

We checked the weather a few times on Saturday and realized the wind for Sunday was no longer forecast to be worse. I decided I'd get myself ready to race the Quarter IM on Sunday, still thinking I might bail out if it was windy the next morning.

I slept much better on Saturday night. I think I had a bit more confidence that I could be cautious and conservative enough to race safely. Maybe I had just convinced myself this was true in case I did decide to race.

Again, I toed the line to race. As my wave entered the water and people began to ask if I was the pregnant girl I made a little request to the rest of my wave, "I love you all, please don't kick me." Maybe they listened or maybe I just happened to get lucky again, either way the water was completely clear for me and I made it to the swim exit without any contact.

Less wind on the bike, I didn't have to utilize my bail out plan of stopping when I saw Michael at the turn around. I was happy to see him there. I think he was more surprised that I'd seen him before he saw me, I was not in my usual racing zone. On the way back in a saw the aftermath of another accident. This time a girl and a guy had crashed into each other and as I passed the girl was howling in pain and screaming at the guy. At that point I just wanted to get back to T2 safely. I also realized my right foot was bleeding, I think it had rubbed against something in my shoes. Worse yet, I realized my socks were at the bottom of my transition bag. When I got to T2 I decided to do the unthinkable, I sat down in transition while I dug through my bag and put on my socks. Thankfully Michael was still at turn for the bike course instead of sitting nearby with a camera.

When I got to the run course I was pretty happy I'd decided not to do the half Ironman, it was starting to warm up. I told myself to keep a nice moderate pace and not to worry about those around me. I grabbed water at every aid station and did my best to keep my core temperature in check. Somehow this moderate pace seemed to be working out okay although I could tell I was warming up. After I crossed the finish line I went over to the tent and ate 6 ice pops in an effort to quickly cool my core. I also shoved a heap of ice in my hat, another down the front of my singlet, and a third batch down my shorts. I think I was getting some strange looks from volunteers when they saw me do that.

Once the results were posted I found out I was 3rd in my age group. Once again, I got called up to gather my award as Logan told the crowd I was pregnant... Star #2. I later found out they'd given awards for the Texas Two Step, people racing both Saturday and Sunday. I had the lowest combind time for the two days and got another, larger star... Star #3. A short race season for me but not a bad one. I realized my aerobic base is still pretty solid and that gives me a good sense of confidence as I head to trainer season.

Aside from my own racing, I also got to watch a number of friends racing this weekend. There were a lot of great performances out there, including some stellar times in the half Ironman. Overall, I was glad I'd had the chance to go to Galveston this weekend. I had a great time racing and cheering. Good job to everyone who raced and thanks to everyone who cheered me on.


Some of the amazing J&A guys after finishing the half. Note: I spent about 30min next to the white cooler in the backround, that's where the ice pops were kept.