Large & In Charge

Me, that is.  I'm incredibly large and in charge, well, of our household at least :)

Yes, still pregnant.  38.5 weeks.  Granted our due date isn't until Jan 10th, but I've been off work since December 21st and am bored!!  I just want baby to come so I have something to do - yes, I do realize how crazy this is.

I'm feeling good - getting uncomfortable/tired/winded easily, but nothing miserable.  I haven't slept more than 4 hours at a time in the past week, so I guess that makes me 'ready' to have a newborn.  The good news is since I am already off work (I work in a school and we're on break anyway), it doesn't matter if I have normal sleep or not.  It's cool to sleep from 5-8pm and then again from 6-10am - isn't that what everyone does?!!

My husband really wants a tax-credit baby - apparently we get an extra $5K if this baby is born in 2012 - but I don't see that happening in the next 22 hours.  I've had no labor pains/contractions/symptoms at all, so that's not gunna happen.  Honestly, I think I'll go after my due date, but who knows.

In the mean time, I've been relaxing, putting my feet up, catching up on some good books and watching some great old school movies.  A Time to Kill, A League of Their Own, A Few Good Men, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, you know, the good stuff :)

I hope you all had a great Christmas and any other holiday you celebrate.  Happy New Year!!

I'm alive and first time Daddy gifts

It's been a while since I've updated and frankly, not much to report.  Still not running; now 35 weeks pregnant and quickly coming up on our Jan 10th due date :)

For our family baby shower, I wanted to do something special for my husband since first-time dads often get shafted.  So I googled a bunch of stuff and tried to come up with some fun present ideas.  There wasn't much out there at all.

So here is what I can up with to give him at the end of the shower when he arrived to help pack up the gifts:

one heavy gift bag filled with goodies just for soon-to-be daddy

 a fun toy that Pat has been eyeing at the store since we found out we were pregnant

 some of his favorite snacks

 warm, fleece lounge pants that I steal from him :)

 Lions onesies - his favorite team

 Books specific to Daddys - surprisingly hard to find

 "For Baby's many messes - these may come in handy" - wipes, boogie wipes and boudreaux's butt paste

 gender neutral outfit that says "Daddy Loves Me" - another super hard item to find.  lots of 'mommy' things, not many 'daddy' things in general, especially gender neutral since we don't know what we're having

 Baby's first toy

 Binkies in the shape of footballs and some that say "I Love Daddy"  

I wouldn't have purchased binky holder clips except these said "I Love Daddy" so I couldn't resist    

 

Mountain Dew - his favorite pop!

He loved it!  It was a lot of fun to see him open each item and read the fun tag that went along with it.  After trying to put this gift together, I realize how few "Daddy" items are available.  Of course, there is "Mommy" stuff everywhere, but not much in terms of daddy things.  Weird.  

So here we are, just 4.5 weeks from the due date and I'm still feeling great.  Even have a come-back marathon in mind: Charlevoix June 2013.  Anyone in?

More baby stuff

It's been a little over 10 weeks since I got the order to stop running during this pregnancy, so I haven't had much updating on that front for you all - a very bizarre feeling.  

I am getting excited for our baby shower this Saturday; it'll be fun to see both of our families and talk about the arrival of baby Hacker!  (Due date is January 10th)

I have to confess that while I was first obsessed with updating our registry online to be sure I did plenty of research on every item, I have kinda been checking it now to see what's been purchased :)  I mean, it'll still be a surprise who bought it at the shower, right?  Is that bad?  I had the same problem when we got married, too.  Anyone else ever do this? 

So I'm currently 29 weeks pregnant and still feeling great!  Baby is apparently the size of an acorn squash now.  I get tired at the end of the day and need to rest and put my feet up when I get home, but that's about it in terms of pregnancy symptoms.  I've been very lucky so far and hope it continues for the remaining 11 weeks!!

For our shower this weekend, I wanted to include my husband - he's coming by at the end to help load up the gifts and I wanted to get him something special and help him feel included as well.  Clearly I'm new to this, but I picked up a few things as a 'New Daddy Survival Kit' just for him.  I'll give more details after this weekend on the off chance he actually reads this, but here's a preview which is exciting since the Lions finally won today:

Fake Thanksgiving!

Fall came kinda quickly in MI and with the cooler weather, my husband had the great idea that we should cook a turkey!  By 'we' he means he'll come up with the idea, I'll do all the work, and he'll show up at the table.  Works for me!

This morning I got up early to stuff the bird and get it in the oven.

I've only cooked a turkey one other time in my life - for Thanksgiving 2005 when we lived in Baton Rouge and weren't able to come home for the holiday.  Minus leaving some of the gizzards inside (I didn't know you had to pull stuff out of each end) and buying biscuits instead of butter rolls, it turned out pretty good.

I don't cook meals often - and I mean that in the way that I am in the kitchen often baking desserts and treats and making snacks, just not preparing actual dinners - that's my husband's role.  He's the BBQer/dinner-maker and I'm the set-up/clean-up/make desserts and drinks person.  It works for us.

Today we kept the menu simple and it turned out delicious!  Just a little googling to get me started...

And everything turned out divine!  I even made homemade gravy for the first time by de-glazing the roaster.  (I didn't like it, but it turned out very pretty - good thing I had can stuff warming up as a back up). 

Green bean casserole like my mom always makes (I never liked as a kid but my husband LOVES), mashed potatoes, white and dark meat, wet and dry stuffing (I'm a dry person, my husband wet), homemade and can gravy, and rolls rounded out the table.  We'll have to work on getting some color in there next time.  Man, did it turn out good. 

If I'm only going to cook dinner a handful of times a year, I totally make it count!  Now to watch the Detroit Lions not embarrass us - just like real Thanksgiving.  Happy Fake Thanksgiving everyone!

We have a crib!!

Jake read the directions

and Pat did all the real work :)

and now we have our first piece of furniture in our newly-painted nursery!

More not-running :)

I officially got the word last week that I will not be running any more during this pregnancy :(  Not the end of the world and I've been expecting it, so I've been productive in other ways.

I threw an awesome wedding shower for a friend of mine and made lots of goodies:

cucumber appetizers with hummus

deviled eggs - a staple at any of my family's functions

veges and dip in a baguette - totally from pinterest and delicious :)

 

caprese toothpicks

fruit mini skewers

and of course desserts, my favorite part!  sugar cookies (forgot to take a picture of), choc chip cookies and brownies in heart shapes!

 

The whole day was a lot of fun and my friend had a great time!

I finished painting the finishing touches in the nursery this weekend, so it's ready for furniture!  And the very next day, my parents suprised us by bringing over our crib!  I hadn't announced our registry to anyone yet, but my mom knew what was up and what a great surprise it was!  Pat and I will put this together soon and then will only have to wait on our dresser to be in stock at IKEA :)  Things are coming along nicely :)

Since I can't run, lift things, walk more than leisurely, or stress my body in any way, any suggestions as to what I can do? 

My house is clean, I made cookies, rice krispie treats and fudge this weekend and the pantry is reorganized.  I have 15 more weeks of 'light-duty' and need something to fill my time... Read any good books lately? 

Go Blue!

Yesterday was our first Michigan tailgate of the year and it was a perfect day!

The weather was great, we had lots of great food and it was awesome to see everyone I hadn't seen since we've been pregnant.  Fun to share the news and get some random advice.  

We did coney dogs for the first time and they were a huge hit.  Definitely going to bring them back again.

We had our 20 week ultrasound a couple weeks ago and while everything looks great with the baby, I have been diagnosed with placenta previa which means I had to stop running :(  I was really bummed about it at first in terms of missing hanging out with my friends and feeling so great after a run, but of course that didn't last long.  It's what's best for the baby and I can do it no problem.

So, I haven't been out for a run in three weeks but I'm finding ways to keep active and see my friends.  When we would usually meet for 6 miles during the week, I'll meet them all to chat, send them off and then walk around town until they finish.  Walking isn't nearly the same as running, but I'll take what I can get.  When they're all done, we still go out to dinner, so I'm still getting my friend time in.

We've been prepping the nursery and I'm proud to say it is almost done!  I patched all the holes, prepped the walls and painted the entire thing 'pebble gray'.  Now we'll just wait for that to cure to put up the fun border I absolutely love and be done.

Registering for baby stuff was fun and not as stressful as I'd imagined, so that was a fun not-running event I was able to enjoy.  Now I have to wait patiently for our shower in November.  My husband wants to go out and buy everything right now and fending him off has become pretty time consuming, which has been good since I have extra time on my hands :)

Other than that, I've still been feeling great!  I haven't had any symptoms that come along with previa and have been able to enjoy every other part of my everyday life, so I'm good to go.  I just hope the second part of this pregnancy goes as smoothly.

 

Once baby comes out in early January, I'll be ready to start training for a spring marathon - Charlevoix 2013 - I can hope at least :)

Numbers

I'm a numbers person, so this is a very exciting day for me:

This is my 200th post!  I'm not a big time blogger, but I enjoy sharing my life with many of you and learning about you along the way.  I've learned so much about running and enjoyed being able to look back on my development as a runner.  I still have to laugh for not considering myself a 'real runner' even after I ran 3 half marathons on my own; I was still too nervous to join a running group :)

Today I'm exactly 20 weeks pregnant and my baby is apparently the size of a banana!  I've had NO typical pregnancy symptoms (ie nausea, back ache, heartburn) and have loved my first pregnancy so far.  My husband complains it's boring, but I argue every time that boring is a good thing :)

I currently have 58 followers and have for awhile now.  58 is my hubby's favorite number - his football number in high school and our anniversary - May 8th, 2010.

6.5 miles is the longest I've run at one time since being pregnant.  And I loved it.  I still have the okay from my OB to run - as long as it isn't too intense and I'm okay with that.  I still love writing down my mileage on my running calendar on the fridge, even if there are week-long gaps from when I had to wait between doctor visits.

70.3 is the distance one of my awesome running buddies (above, in orange) covered this past Sunday.  Four of us made the 2+ hour road trip to cheer her on and it was awesome!  I would highly recommend spectating a triathalon to anyone that hasn't done so yet.  It was my first and definitely not my last.

Random Updates

Here's some random stuff going on in my head:

That's a maternity skirt from a long run about 3 weeks ago :)

I got clearance from the OB on Wed to run again :)  Just nothing too intense until my ultrasound in another couple of weeks.  I was so thrilled once I got out of her office!!

However, I still haven't run :(  It's been a busy and stressful week at work and all attempts to meet friends for a run were thwarted.  Not the end of the world - I'll get out there soon.  Just knowing I can brings a huge smile to my face!

This morning, I went to find a pair of workout pants (read: stretchy) and one of my husband's t-shirts to throw on to run a few errands.  I was elated when I found a pair of yoga pants that I had forgotten all about!  I always thought they were so sorority-girl but as soon as I tried them on I loved them!

I bought them 6 weeks ago for a field trip at work to go ice skating and forgot all about them.  I was like a kid on Christmas morning!  Now I don't think I'll wear anything else until the baby's born.

My hubby is all about having a boy - we aren't finding out until the baby is born in January - and keeps bringing home a bunch of boy stuff - football onsies, dinosaur pjs, you name it, he's bought it.  In turn, I found some fun girly stuff  to put on my wish list.

Wouldn't these just be so adorable!

As much as I'd like to think that these extra hormones won't get the best of me, I found myself in tears over Susan Boyle's first audition to Britain's Got Talent.  Don't ask me why I even watched that clip - my husband is a chronic shitty you tube video watcher - and I had never seen it before.  I just lost it.  The crowd was just so mean as she introduced herself and the she totally rocked it.  I was so proud of her and  crying like a baby at how great she was!! 

Maybe these hormones are getting to my head...

So Productive

I am so productive when I'm told not to run.  It sucks not running, but I still wake up bright and early at 6am on Saturdays, cause that's just what I do.  So this weekend I made it worth it.  I've been emptying our spare room to turn it into a nursery for two months now, slowly but surely and now it's time to speed it up a bit.  

We've lived in our house for almost 4 years and this spare room/office has become a catch-all for everything.  High School yearbooks?  check.  Drying rack for running clothes?  check.  books from childhood?  check.  Wedding receipts from 2+ years ago?  Got em.  Why?  I don't know.

Now that the room is just about empty, it was time to tear down one entire wall of wallpaper and a  room-full of ugly border.  The border was bordered (yeah, weird word choice) with trim nailed into the wall.  I started with that.  Thought it would be so hard to remove - yeah, it was styrofoam trim.  Who does that?  Needless to say, it came off easily. 

I found an awesome homemade mixture of ammonia, fabric softener and water that helped the paper come off so easily, all in perfect little sheets just about.  Thank you, Pinterest!  It worked way better than any store-bought thing I've tried in the past.  Best $5 I've ever spent.

The border was a little annoying, but made much easier after I woke up my husband and took him to Home Depot to buy this:

So much more helpful than this dinky thing we bought when my nieces and nephew were staying with us and couldn't reach the sink.

Truth be told, I really wanted a Home Depot hot dog with warm melted cheese.  That's why I woke my husband up and then I thought about the platform ladder thing.  And yes, the hot dog was thoroughly heated so I wasn't introducing salmonella or whatever hot dogs carry to my unborn baby. 

After washing down the walls to get the last bits of glue, all I have to do is patch up the holes where the crappy trim ripped the drywall and we'll be ready to paint.  We already have the color at home and ready to go, so I have no excuses :)

I find out tomorrow morning if I can resume running and I of course hope my OB says yes, but my husband hopes for no so I continue to be this productive around the house!  Screw him, we still have five months for the room to get ready!

Wish me luck :)

Spoke a tiny bit too soon

Thanks guys for all the pregnancy love!  We're just so excited and I wanted to be sure I met with everyone I wanted to tell in person before going "live" on the blog. 

As soon as I hit "publish", we had our first set of mini-complications with this pregnancy.  Nothing major and you all don't want me to go into detail, but I spent a lot of Monday at the Women's ER making sure everything is okay.  And it is.  Thank goodness.  Baby's heartbeat is strong and he or she even kicked the ultrasonographer a couple times.  I haven't been able to feel any movement yet, but the ultrasonogrpaher was certainly that's what the loud thud was.

So now I'm off running until my regularly scheduled OB appt next Wednesday.  It's only a week from today, but it seems like forever.  I really shouldn't be mad, since running is NOT more important than this lovely baby growing inside me, but I was just getting back into it from almost a month off and I don't want to stop.

Hopefully the appt next week will clear me again and I'll be back running soon.  Until then, I'll be walking (although clearly you all know that it isn't the same feeling after a good run) and a friend gave me a pregnancy yoga dvd that I'm going to try.

This is just a minor bump in the road.  Up until now, I've felt great!  Everyone keeps asking me how I feel and if I'm nausous and it almost annoys me now since I've been feeling so good :)  But I know that I'm very lucky and I hope this pregnancy continues to be this simple.  A week off from running is a piece of cake.

Great News!

The reason my hip and glute were bothering me is the same as why I haven't been very active on my blog lately:

We're Pregnant!

Yeah, I totally peed on that and then took a picture of it to show everyone :)

We're so excited for our first child!!  We're due January 10th and couldn't be more thrilled!

All the hip/glute pain I had in early June was all due to pregnancy hormones that loosened the tendons/muscles/ligaments in my hip and pelvis to make space for the baby.  My PT and OB seemed to agree that it just happened quicker than normal to me than in most women, causing some discomfort early on.  

Since the end of June I've been pain-free and built my mileage back up slowly but surely.  My long run is up to 6.5 miles and I've been feeling great!

So far, other than the brief hip/glute pain, this pregnancy has been a piece of cake!  No nausea at all.  I was ravenous for a couple months - eating everything in sight - and then really tired for a few weeks.  As of now, I feel great!

I got cleared from the PT last Monday - which was really exciting!  Instead of running on the alter-G treadmill that day, my PT put me on the real treadmill, which left me grinning from ear to ear :)  I walked 5 mins to warm up, run 30 seconds and walk 4.5 mins for a total of 35 minutes.  It wasn't as boring as it normally would be, since I was so excited to be running again!!

I planned to run a couple slow miles on Thursday with the group and then 4 for my 'long' run on Saturday with the group as well.  I got to the Thursday run and knocked out 3 SLOW miles, but they felt like crap.  My butt was tight the entire time, not painful, but tight and sore. 

Then Friday was a sore day.  Not quite limping like the original injury, but sore.  So I punked out on the Saturday morning 'long' run until the soreness subsides.  The last thing I want to do is go back out there too quickly and re-injure it.  I'm a little up in the air about the GR full in October, but there's still currently 16 weeks until the race, so I've got time.  (or at least I'm going to keep telling myself that)

So, what have I been doing for three weeks with essentially no running?  Lots of crap around the house.  And lots of sleeping :)

I painted out upstairs spare bathroom - well, my husband's bathroom.  I primarily use the one in our bedroom and he gets bounced to this one.  After I finished it, I still have a bit of jealousy since his looks way better than mine now.  

When we bought the house, this bathroom was so bright, the color was very 'coral'.  Bright pink and obnoxious, so it had to be painted right away.  I can't even find a picture of it originally; it is entirely possible that I never took one.  Here it is with 2 layers of primer before I bought a roller or decided on a new color.

Pat chose a green color and we painted it right away.  The problem is that the green was very bright, very 'shamrock shake' from McDonald's.  After four years of that, and never completing any other decorating in the room, I decided to change it up again.

The new bathroom is now our 'Sayulita' bathroom.  Sayulita is a little city on the west side of Mexico, where we went on our honeymoon.  We brought back a few cute ceramic critters and wanted to display them somewhere and this turned out to be the perfect place!

We took some of my favorite pictures from our honeymoon and blew them up to 8x10s.  I looked all over for frames to fit the theme, but I couldn't find anything.  So I bought plain white frames and bought acrylic paint that matched the ceramic lizard, pajaro, turtle and frog.  I'm so happy with the way they came out!

I'm still looking for the perfect shower curtain and window curtain, but that will come with time. 

Now all I have to do is try to have my husband keep it clean :)