Orange Drink

After swim practice I made myself some eggs, spinach, and tomato before downing my orange drink. From that point I had exactly 1 hr to arrive at a specified lab and get my blood drawn for the mandatory gestational diabetes screening.

At my last doctor's appointment I'd been warned of how horrible the drink was, how it made people feel sick and throw up, etc. I assumed it would lead to an interesting blog post. No such luck. I guess the sugary drinks don't taste so horrible when you've gotten your body accustomed to sports drinks and recovery drinks. My stomach wasn't feeling so great when I was waiting at the lab but the taste of the drink wasn't too much trouble.

To be honest the most interesting part of the adventure was the sky opening up. It was a downpour of rain when I needed to get in my car and drive over. Not too common in TX so it was actually a bit exciting. Especially since the overcast and rain earlier today resulting in sub-100 temperatures all day. Yippee, run outside tomorrow morning!

Nerd Road Trip

Michael and I made the trip to Lubbock this past weekend to watch the 70.3 race. We'd been a bit undecided on going but when we checked the weather report, and realized it would be about 15 degrees cooler in Lubbock, we decided to make the trip.

Michael wanted to fly so he convinced Beaux to join him since I was not in the mood to get in the hot airplane with my bulging belly. Note the location of the double seat belt - not so comfortable with a kicking kiddo.


Instead, I took the longer method and drove there with some friends. Along our way we stopped for gas and couldn't help but take a picture of the drink we saw in the cooler, "NERD." Although Joe is trying to point me out as the nerd we had an car full of engineers so I'm pretty sure we all count as nerds.


Although it was still hot on Saturday we got a great bit of rain and colder temperatures on Sunday. I'm pretty sure I would've run the entire 1/2 marathon course if the water stops had been set up when I went through. Instead I just ran 8 and did some spectating along the way.

Joe & Michael took 1st and 2nd in their AG in the sprint. They are doing quite well with their minimalist training regiment. They keeping talking about forming a training group of people who would rather eat pizza and brownies so let them know if you're interested. Of course, I don't think their theories will speed you up but they might help anyone who needs to gain some sympathy weight while their wife is pregnant.

After the race we had a heart to heart with Carla. Translation: "No, we are not driving home yet, we're going to wait and see if the Kona slot rolls to 3rd." Joe (aka super driver) took a nap while the girls went to the awards ceremony. Unlike past years, this year's ceremony was at a bar, with garage doors and very dark walls. The band played for a lot longer than we'd expected and the awards were giving in reverse age. That made for a long night but we did get to see a bunch of friends go up on stage and got to celebrate with some people who got their roll down slots :) The spot in Carla's AG went to 2nd so she was one away, just as she'd been at IMFL :(

By the time we picked up Joe and got some more food it was 10pm. That lead to an arrival in back in Austin at about 4:30am Monday morning. It was a long ride but we had some good laughs along the way including a discussion of the best location to stop and use the bathroom.

There were a few ups and downs along the trip but overall I'm glad we got the chance to leave town and cheer for some friends. A big congratulations to Amy for winning her first 70.3 and to Brandon for finishing 4th.

Monthy OB visit

I've always heard about all the doctor's appointments you have when you're pregnant. For some reason I had the impression there would be a lot of activity at these visits. After all, why else would you need to go so often? Now that I'm starting the third trimester I get to begin going every 2 weeks.

Personally, I think they just like to charge insurance as much as possible and therefore spread out all the fun into as many visits as possible.

I went to the OB's office on Tuesday morning. The big activities of the day were weighing in, measuring my blood pressure, measuring my stomach, and listening to Baby G's heart beat. And what did I learn from all this? ...Yes, my baby is developing correctly.

I also had the excitement of getting my bottle of orange syrup to drink. Like all other pregnant girls out there, I get to take the gestational diabetes testing. Rumor is this orange drink, which I have to down in less than 5min, does not taste very good and causes a number of people to feel like they are going to loose their stomach. I'll be sure to report back after the experience.

26 weeks

I'm now at the end of my 2nd trimester. I thought I had finally gotten big enough that people would stop questioning me. For the most part they have but just yesterday I met someone who didn't believe I was pregnant than asked, "Are you sure your baby is developing correctly?"

Seriously, with this type of questioning is it any wonder that pregnant women are said to be moody?

The picture to the side was taken yesterday morning. I attached this one because I think it makes me look most pregnant.

I've got a kicker!

Baby G appears to be a bit of a spazball. I guess I can't say I'm too surprised, my mother tells me I used to wake her up in the middle of the night kicking. Of course, waking up in the middle of the night isn't quite as frustrating as not being able to fall asleep in the first place. There were a few nights this week when Baby G didn't seem to calm down until 2 or 3 am.

My biggest concern is what this might imply for the future. Will she be a late night type person or will she continue to take after me and have trouble falling asleep at night? When I was in elementary school I recall having horrible leg pain at night. My mom used to tell me it was growing pains but I still don't know if I can believe that, how could so much growing pains result in such a short person?

I keep hearing people talk about different ways they get their kids to kick, cold water, loud music, etc. It seems the easiest way to get Baby G to kick is sitting still. She seems perfectly content when I'm moving around but once I sit down, wack!

There was an unexpected attack at the pool yesterday. At the end of long course practice we did a fast 100. As I approached the wall, getting ready for my turtle turn, I felt a kick. To be honest, it felt like the leg was going straight through my belly at that point. I haven't decided if she was telling me to hurry up, telling me I was going to hard, or had figured out the gliding into the wall happens just before the turn. It's obviously one of these choices, not a mere coincidence, because all mothers know their unborn child has superior intelligence already. After all, I did say she takes after me ;)

Airplane Baby

Those of you who know Michael probably know about his love of airplanes. For the past few years he's been making every effort he can to convince our friend's kids to like airplanes. His most notable efforts have taken place with the boys of our friends Dave and Amy.

We visited them in the hospital today, their baby girl was born yesterday at lunch time. He of course, spent some good quality time holding her and informing her that she and Baby G will love airplanes. Reese seemed to be pretty content with Michael so maybe he'll convince her to love airplanes.

Of course, Baby G will have little choice in this. She'll be wearing airplanes and will have her very own airplane baby blanket(s). Michael is so convinced that she'll like airplanes that he seems to have forgotten that she'll be born in the hospital instead of at the airport. I think he slipped up about 3 times this weekend and made comments about driving to the airport when it's time for Baby G to be born.

So... if I happen to go into labor and Michael isn't the one driving me, could someone please volunteer to let him know I'm at Seton, not the airport?!

In other news, we've started a list of things you should not say to your pregnant wife:

1) Your belly is going to get huge (when looking at a newborn and your wife is trying to figure out how she'll ever fit something that size into her belly)

2) You're getting heavy (when your wife sits on your lap at 25wks of pregnancy)

3) Ha Ha your belly button is going to pop out (after mentioning how you think outtie belly buttons are ugly)

4) Nobody can tell your belly has grown b/c your boobs are so big right now (when your wife is frustrated that she's not showing yet)

5) Hello running ability where did you go? (complaining about your slowed running as your wife is struggling to run with a kid pushing on your bladder the entire time)

Please... if anyone has others to add to the list, it might save Michael if he's warned of them before he says them ;)

Good Luck at CDA!

This weekend is Ironman Coeur d'Alene. There are 85 participants signed up from Austin TX and over the years I've met a lot of them.



CDA was my first Ironman, in 2004, so I hold some fond memories from that race and also know how nervous some of my friends might be as they head up north to race.


By now everyone has heard they've done the training and rest is all that's left. But seriously, even with the best preparation everyone gets nervous before an Ironman race. Michael always tells me not to worry, I always worry.


Here I am trying to get my wetsuit on before the race. He took the picture so he could show me the look of panic later on. I had no idea I looked so worried before the race. I have now learned, I look this paniced before EVERY race.

Thankfully, too Michael's surprise I was very happy during the race. For those of you who may have seen me racing before, you might think I tend to look pretty serious, but this was not the case at CDA. Instead, I was just out to enjoy the day and keep a smile on as long as I could.

That's the best advice I can give, keep a smile on your face. No matter what happens, enjoy it, you've worked hard for the race. When it hurts, smile more.

I've had some good races and some bad ones and I can tell you for sure, the best ones always unfold on the days when I take the cards I'm dealt and go with flow.

But, just incase that advice doesn't seem useful enough I've got one more key to a good race, don't forget to eat! Before the race, eat. If you are hungry, eat. When your mood changes, eat. If you pass a guy who's watch is going off, eat. As you pass an aid station, eat. When you cross the finish line, eat! And when you've eaten so much that you have to go to the bathroom, visit the porta-pottie and do the math later to calculate how much time you lost in there.

Have fun in CDA.

PS To the Sherpas - Although you might feel a bit under appreciated at times, you are the key to a great race. It will be a long day but well worth the efforts. Don't forget to eat!

Hiccups

Over the last few weeks I've had quite a string of hiccups. I've had them while working, while swimming, whatever... they just happen. Luckily they don't seem to last very long, usually on a few of them at a time. But they come on without warning and they are loud. Loud enough that people around me turn to look at the source of the crazy noise they've just heard.

Like most other expectant moms I have a stack of books at my house, giving me a lot of advice and information on all the possible side effects I might encounter. Thing is... I only find mention of hiccups coming from the baby, felt inside your stomach. Nowhere does it mention these hiccups will be transferred to the mother and become audible to innocent bystanders. I haven't felt them from Baby G, I just hear them from myself. Maybe it's not her at all, maybe it's just me.

Could be worse, I've heard stories about horrible gas during pregnancy. Luckily mine is not worse than before (knock on wood). As of yet, Micheal has not been forced to sleep in the guest bed due to stink bomb attacks.

Don't cry over spilled coffee

It seems that coffee is one of those things you either do or don't do. Michael and I are among the people that don't do coffee. We have no coffee maker in the house although we often seem to have house guests who enjoy their daily cup. No worries, I can easily give them directions to nearby coffee establishment.

As a segue, our house guest for Cap TX works at a coffee shop and apparently has skills in latte art, along with his skills in triathlon. Although I don't appreciated the Latte, I do think the art is pretty impressive.

Back to my post...

My mother is a coffee drinker. She's among those house guests who looks for her coffee in the morning. When she's visiting she walks 1.5 miles to Starbucks to get it. But, when she was pregnant she didn't like the smell of it. My grandmother reported the same thing. She said it was horrible to fix my grandfather's coffee every morning.

About half the people working at the shop drink coffee and sometimes have a cup of the Java stuff in the morning. Although I think the disposable coffee cups are a huge waste and poorly designed, they are quite popular and have not been outlawed in the shop. That's unlucky for me because I have become a bit of a clutz lately and knocked one over yesterday without even noticing it.

I realized what had happened when the smell of coffee made me feel sick and I looked down to see 24 oz of brown liquid all over the shop floor. NASTY! I ventured to the bathroom and collected a huge pile of paper towels to soak up the smelly liquid below. I must have had a revolted face on as I piled the towels on the ground and pushed them around with my shoe. Lukily Meredith was in the shop at the time and offered to help me clean up the mess, instantly realizing my displeasure with the situation.

Sometimes the little things are appreciated more than you realize. A big thanks to everyone who has helped me out in little ways lately, giving advice to questions, reaching something above my head, or listening to my useless banter.

Thank you Meredith for helping me clean up the mess!

Elevation Burger

On Friday night a group met up at the Quarry for a zen swim. It's quite amazing how many crazy tri-geeks head over there to swim after work on Fridays. I'm one of them too and I was quite content to spend my evening swimming and hanging out with friends.


Total expenditures for the day included a 50 min run with 6 x 800, 1 hr of weights, and 3 loops at the quarry. I was feeling pretty good and riding on cloud 9 since I'd been able to keep up w/ Joe, Ali, and Jim when I pulled. But... I was hungry!


The decision was made to head over to Jollyville Rd for dinner and a visit to Krispy Kreme, in celebration of national donut day. Upon arrival at Elevation Burger Jim told me he'd thought the burgers seemed a bit small the last time he'd visited. After his previous meal he said he could have eaten 3 of them. I wasn't in the mood for 3 buns so I decided to compromise and order the Vertigo burger. Apparently there are very few people who order the stack of beef b/c the guy bringing out the tray asked, "who got the vertigo burger?" and seemed quite excited to find out it was the small girl. As you can see from the picture below, I was quite tired and used every last bit of energy to fit that stack of meat into my mouth.



After dinner we made the trip down the road to visit Krispy Kreme and watch the life cycle of a few donuts. It was fun to watch them travel up the conveyor belts, float down the pool of grease, and pass under the sheet of sugar. I have no clue how my friends all managed to eat those things after witnessing such an event. Of course, I ate a triple decker hamburger so who am I to talk?!



A few more belly pictures (taken 6/7) to show the progress over the past week.

From the front...



From the side...


If you look closely you can see where Baby G is poking out from under my ribs and my 'old stomach.' I've been told I'm still not looking overly pregnant but I was reassured that I'm on track after a google images search of other women at 6 months. There are some shockingly large bellies but quite a few girls who looked about as big as I am.

National Donut Day

I thought this might be a good time to list out my key learning from decades of Simpson's teaching...

1) Lasik will make you blind in 20 yrs

2) Blond girls are very intelligent and creative

3) Babies with pacifiers will never learn to walk or talk

4) Donuts make you fat and bald

Apparently today is national donut day. I find this mildly disturbing although I seem to be the only one.

I did a little searching and discovered there are numerous national food holidays. My birthday (12/15) is national lemon cupcake day. It appears I was born a day early because 12/16 is national chocolate covered anything day.

http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/National_Symbols/American_Hollidays.html

Not sure about the true accuracy of this listing. It labels Nov 5th as national donut day instead of June 5th.

I did spot a national strawberry day and a national watermelon day but overall most of these holidays appear to be celebrating deserts and other baked foods. Could this have anything to do with the obesity issues in the US?

Sleeping Mich

I want to sleep on my back,

Spread out long, not in a stack.

On the back weighs to much says the Doc.

Personally I think that's a bit of a crock.

Is Baby G happy if I lay as I please?

If not will she kick hard with unease?

The fear of a mother is quite hard to bare

When you worry your wishes are being unfair.

A sleepless night I had to endure

How I got to my back is no more than a blur.

I woke in the morning stretched long as a board

Anxiety peaked and my heart rate sored

I can not correct the choice of the past

I hope the feeling of guilt will not last.