Turkey Trot: A Family Affair

Well Baby B, we made it 40 weeks!! You are due today or yesterday (depending upon what ultrasound you want to follow).  I cannot wait to meet you!!!  Dad and I are sooo excited (and Wubby too, well if he got that I was actually pregnant).

40 weeks!!!!

But in the meantime, while we wait for your arrival, we decided to do what we do best -  RUN a.k.a walk/waddle or TROT!  This morning my town had a very low key 5k and it was the perfect race for our family.  This race was so low key that I had only heard of it through word of mouth, there was no website, all I knew was the time the race started and where to show up.  We were worried that this race would not even exist and thus had a backup race.

We showed up at 7:30 to a card table set up and a big sign that said Turkey Trot and about 5 other cars.     We did get numbers and gave a donation (there was no actual cost you could donate food or money)! By 8:00 a.m., there was music playing, about 200 people, babies in strollers, and 10 dogs!  The highlight of this race - dogs could run and place as well! We knew we could not deny Wubby the opportunity to debut in his first 5K.  Boy, was he excited and competitive staking out the competition with quite a few jumps, barks, and sniffs!

Raring to go!

At 8 a.m., we started with a "Gobble" "Gobble."  No Garmin but we did rock the dri-fit clothing including my pre-pregnancy running capris (ok so they can't go anywhere across my belly but I will take it and they worked well).  We had to start in the back because of the puppy, but no big deal there today as I was not planning on passing so many people.  To my surprise, however, in the first mile or so we passed a ton of people and did pretty well.    Wubby was totally feeling it, eyeing the competition and even passing a few dogs.  Unfortunately, after a while, pain set in and I slowed the Wubs down.  I kept getting this pain in my right upper inner thigh and that was enough to make me walk.  I tried a few more running trots but knew that we would be walking much of the remainder of the course with this pain.  Can't win them all!  I felt bad because Wubby could have killed it with top dog - next year Wubs, next year.  Instead, we continued steadily walking to the finish with determination.

 Everyone on the course was great and cheered us on and were highly impressed with the three of us hehe. We came in probably second to last with a time of 38:59 but to a large cheering crowd!!!  We also won a prize - youngest participant!

Youngest!

All in all, a wonderful, low-key community race.  People were so friendly and supportive.  Next year though we will be back and Wubby will take that first place puppy prize!

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoyed a fun turkey trot of their own!

Operation Get Baby B Out & Running

Operation Meet Baby B is in full swing in my household.  To say Aaron and I are excited would be the understatement of the year.  And yes I know you are all shaking your head at me and want to tell me to enjoy this time and that our lives will never be the same again.  I understand that, I get it.  And we are enjoying ourselves, I promise we are enjoying ourselves with dinners out, massages, staying the extra few minutes in bed, and cajoling friends over with the enticement of baking and video games (more on that later).

And baking with friends of course!

But, just but, with all this fun happening the number one thing always on my mind is when Baby B will make his grand debut and being the Type A person that I am I can't help but try everything possible to help him arrive on time. Again, I  know he will only come out when he is ready, but, just but, you can't blame a gal for trying all these crazy old wives tales.

We really want to meet you baby

In the spirit of Operation Meet Baby B, I was on a mission yesterday.  Google pretty much knows that my favorite topic is "natural ways to induce labor."  So yes bring on the evening primrose oil, spicy foods, eggplant, acupressure points, some other activities, and walking.  It is the latter that brings me to the topic of this post today.  This week I have been trying to exercise the baby out and he is not having it.  I usually do 3 miles on the elliptical in the morning and another 2-3 miles  of walking with friends at lunch.  Yesterday, was technically a rest day for me...but you know Baby B has got to come out somehow so late in the afternoon Aaron, Wubby, and I set out for what would be a cold walk.  I bundled up with a sweatshirt, Aaron's winter coat, and gloves.  But as soon as I got out there I decided that walking was just not going to cut it.  My reasoning, if I have already been walking and ellipticalling, a leisurely walk was not going to be enough to coax Baby B and thus I started to run - if you can call it that.


Verdict? If nothing else, it was quite hilarious and Wubby may be the most in shape of our family right now.  Mind you, we were not planning on running.  I have this big pregnant belly and was wearing jeans and too many layers, Aaron the same. And Wubs, well Wubs is good to go anytime.  I was mighty impressed with our efforts however.  We made it about 3 miles which included a lot of run, walk, stop, bathrooming (for Wubby), but it was a blast.  I gave up running about 10 weeks ago because it just did not feel good anymore.  I can't say it was easier this time around but the aches and pains were different and this morning my knees and hips are quite sore (hmmm wonder why).  But 4 days away from my due date I am not complaining.  Can't say I will be making a habit of pregnant running for the next few days and can't say that the run helped move the baby closer to the birth canal, but it was a blast running with my whole family again, laughing up a storm at just how crazy we looked.  You are talking to a gal who never goes out without body glide and tech shirts who all of a sudden decided that it was OK to "run" 3 miles in jeans.

Pregnancy will do crazy things to you...Speaking of which, nesting continues over here when I woke up with an overwhelming need to bake.  A facebook message and trip to the store later and Aaron has himself a video game date and me a baking pal!

Boys playing video games while girls cook :)

Happy Sunday!

Did you ever try anything crazy to coax your babies out?

Fear of the Baby Registry

It may seem silly but one of my biggest fears during this pregnancy has been tackling the elusive baby registry.   Clearly, this comes after the fears of Baby B being healthy etc., but otherwise my first fear was not originally about breastfeeding well or baby sleeping techniques (those came later), the first big fear was the Baby Registry.  It just seemed overwhelming!  What does a baby need?  How do I know what to get?  What do I need absolutely as soon as the baby is born and what are the "extras?"  I know, I know, people kept telling me that babies do not need that much and that it is not that big of a deal, but honestly, if you know me and my Type A personality those statements were never ever going to fly or calm me down.

Luckily, back in June, a good friend of mine recommended I go out and buy the Baby Bargains book and it saved my life and a lot of stress for me and for my very supportive husband. 

*Source

At first, this book also seemed pretty big and overwhelming, but taking it one step at a time, one category at a time made it much more manageable and much much more fun.  Essentially, the book consists of several chapters each focusing on different products (e.g., one chapter on car seats another chapter on bedding another on clothing etc.).  Within the chapters, the book gives some general advise on what to look for in the general product (e.g., what to look for in a car seat) and then lays out all the different manufacturers and their options.  If you don't want to read through each option, you can also just look at their recommendations which range from the "O.K." to the "Great" choices.

So every few weeks, I took up a new topic whether it was car seats or strollers, read up on it, and then Aaron and I hit the stores.  I know a lot of people swear by Babies R' Us but are favorite place is Buy Buy Baby, I have literally spent more days at this store in the past few months than anywhere else.    Imagine Bed Bath and Beyond but for babies and you've got Buy Buy Baby (in fact even better they send us 20% coupons just like Bed and Bath as well as take Bed and Bath coupons as long as they are not expired).  The place has it all including really knowledgeable staff (which I am embarrassed to say probably know us by name by now).  Regardless, by breaking down the registry this way, the trips to Buy Buy have been really enjoyable!  We registered, but only tried to tackle one or two areas at a time.  This way we were not overwhelmed and it was not too much.  And in the end, it worked out really well.  Plus it always allowed us to relax afterwards and hit up our new favorite pizza place!

One other thing that was key, I enlisted a very dear running/mommy friend's help for one visit to Buy Buy.  She was so well informed that the staff literally followed us around to hear her views.  She gave us the details that the book did not - what to use for a diaper rash?  what kind of shampoo to buy? what clothes were really useful etc.?  This really helped me complete the registry.

 Running buddies know all - especially how to dress for Holiday 10ks

In the end, did we get everything on there that I think we need?  No, probably not.  Do I still continually update it?  Yup.  But have I moved on to being neurotic and worrying about other things?  You bet!

How did you tackle the elusive baby registry?

Wubby Bootcamp!

Hi all!  I know I know, I never post, no one ever reads this blog, I am unpredictable, but you know what that is pregnancy for me.  So I will continue my random posting and maybe someone out there will be interested and if not, again, at least I still have a record for when the baby is a bit older and can read (you know, at like 5 weeks because our baby is clearly going to be a genius hehe).

Lately, one of my biggest baby worries has not been about Baby B but about our other baby, Baby Wubby. 

I love love Baby Wubby and he is overall a good dog/puppy - we are very lucky.  But that does not mean I have not been super worried about how Baby Wubby and Baby B will get along.  Actually, I was particular worried (a) sleeping arrangements (because up until Sunday Wubby slept in our bed) and (b) Wubby's new found desire to chew random things at random times when our back was turned.

 Wubby thinks he owns the place, apparently this is a problem!

A few weeks ago, we came home to what we refer to as a "tornado" in our bedroom as Wubby had eaten a ton of random things while we were gone.  And, well, this sent me into overdrive - can I blame the pregnancy hormones yet again? Poor Aaron had to listen to many talks of how I felt overwhelmed about the idea of caring for a baby and watching Wubs 24/7.  At that point, I really did not think it was possible.  I was super super nervous about the idea of turning my back for a second and what Wubby would do, or rather chew in the meantime.

Luckily, in the past week, we have initiated what I like to call "Wubby Bootcamp" and I am feeling a whole lot better.  Earlier last week, Wubby's trainer came for a home visit.   And we got some great ideas on how to best calm my fears and work with Wubby.  For instance, I was worried that if I had to run upstairs when the baby woke up from a nap, for instance, and Wubby did not follow me, he might start chewing on the toys, swing, or whatever other baby item was strewn about.  We came up with the idea of having a "Wubby gated area" downstairs to manage that situation (which is harder than it seems because we have no doors and a very open 1st floor).  We also worked on the idea of teaching Wubby "down and stay."  So that he would stay down when I needed him to.  Wubby has been a champ at doing both things although he really does not like to go "down."  He knows what we want him to do but he would rather just stay up for fun (I cannot understand why he gets lots of cheese when he does go down and Wubby loooovveess cheese).

This weekend my fears were eased even more and the "Wubby Bootcamp" really kicked off after we attended Isis's Babies and Barks class led by the owner of the Pawsitive Dog.  (Isis is a Boston base company that provides a number of different parenting resources for New England parents everything from stores, consults, classes etc.)  Aaron was actually the one who suggested we take the class and I was so happy we did (although he may have been ready to kill me as I asked a question about every two minutes).

The class pretty much taught us that we have been doing everything wrong.  OOPPS!!!  Its not that we are bad puppy parents but little things that we are doing could add up to problems.

Apparently as cute as he is sleeping on the couch this is a big NO-NO

So changes have to be made to really (1) show Wubby that we are the leaders of the house and (2) get him ready for a baby.  How do we do that?  Well, mainly drive Wubby crazy and act like crazy people while doing it! We are working to teach Wubby who is the boss through not letting him on the furniture and scheduling his feedings.  We are getting him ready for a baby by taking out all the baby stuff and teaching him what is and is not his.  We are also acting like lunatics by screaming, clapping, carrying around a baby doll, playing Barney, and we are changing up our schedules - all so Wubby gets used to what it will be like to have a baby - and us too for that matter.

Overall, Wubby has been taking it really well, probably better than me. It is tough to kick him out of the bed and keep him crated or gated at night.  It is tough to ignore him when we first get home or when we have been away for a long time.  However, in the end, I know that it will be better for Wubby, Baby B and us and at least for now I am little more calm about having a Wubby and a baby.

 Because how can I not love these boys...

Do you have a puppy and a baby/child?  How do you prepare your dog for their new brother or sister?

Baby B: Weeks 28-32

Oh gosh, to say I am behind would be an understatement hmm...the last time I blogged was September 10th.  Trying to get a grand total of two posts in for the month, not the stellar blogger in the least huh?  I doubt anyone still even checks this little old blog of mine, but I do really want to have these posts for my baby one day. so for Baby B and anyone else out there here is the update of, well the past month.

Week 28

How have I been feeling?  Exhausted.  I guess that explains the lack of posts.  Well between being exhausted, incredibly busy at work, incredibly busy baby prepping, and the fact that Aaron brings my computer to work now, there is not much time for blogging.   Generally, through Weeks 28-30/31sh I was not too terribly exhausted.  In fact, we got a TON of stuff done.  Weekends have been full of baby prepping - my poor husband, I always come up with something "fun, new and exciting" for us (or him) to do.  Really, it is fun!  The house is getting cleaner by the day as I find it necessary to clear out and make space in every nook and cranny from cleaning out the entire kitchen to emptying the "office."  Aaron has been so graciously dealing with my nesting by helping paint, put up shelves in the garage and third floor, and making weekly trips to Buy Buy Baby.  I think I owe another post to baby prep so I will leave it at that for now.

Week 29 

How have I been feeling emotionally?  I am on an emotional roller coaster.  It has evened out a bit this week but last week was not pretty.  Again, poor poor Aaron.  I may have had one or two or three emotional breakdowns going from anger to tears.  They generally come towards the end of the day when tiredness and hunger creep in and I sort of, well, loose it.  I am working on it.  Can I please blame it on the hormones?

Week 30

Cravings and Aversions:  I have started to get sick of food.  I am too tired to care.  Whatever works has been just about good enough for me.  Nothing has truly appealed to me and I have a very hard time figuring out what exactly to eat, again not making it easy on the husband - do we see a theme here?  This week, however, I have been much much hungrier.  Maybe baby growth spurts?  Maybe the exhaustion.  Well, whatever it may be earlier this week I could not get enough food in me.  Unfortunately, there is not so much stomach space now-a-days so it is a juggling act for sure.  Other problem, last week I was too tired to even get to the store.  This week I made it to the store, but I have been too tired to cook and Aaron has been working hard hours.  Luckily, I have a very wonderful friend who allows me to "drop-in" for dinner all too often where I always get a well rounded meal and good company.  I owe her, her adorable daughter, and her chef of a husband a ton of thanks as well as about a thousand homemade dinners.

True cravings - seltzer!  I used to "guzzle" seltzer as my dad would say and that is back! Poor poor poor Aaron forgot to bring home seltzer last week.  It was not pretty, luckily the next day I woke up to this...

Yes that is my fridge the day after Aaron forgot seltzer, I woke up to the fridge being STOCKED!

Week 31

Other craving, apple pie ice-cream.  Do you remember that I love fall?  How could I not be craving apple pie ice-cream?  No, I have not gotten it yet but I did make an apple pie from scratch including picking the apples and making the crust.  My first time truly making it from scratch and it did not turn out half bad!

My very own apple pie!

Exercise:  I officially threw in the towel on the running earlier this month.  It just hurt to run.  It was not worth.  Aaron, however, has been running in my place!  He promises to post about his experiences soon, new PRs, upcoming half marathons and the like!   In the meantime, I walk during my lunch at work and elliptical.  I pretty much don't plan anything and just listen to what my body wants for the day whether that be 30 minutes on the elliptical or an hour - usually 30.

Week 32

Doctor's Visits: Today!!! YAY :)

Baby Kicks:  Two weeks ago baby was kicking so much he would not let me sleep.  I have also decided his dance parties are the reason I have no energy.  There is only enough energy for one and he is it!  Regardless the little guy is a mover and a shaker.  I still love the twists and turns and seeing my belly "jiggle" even if it sometimes is uncomfy (e.g., when he kicks me in the ribs!).

Any good ideas for quick meals? How is everyone's running season?

Down but not out completely anyway..

Well, it is official.  I knew it was coming.  But Friday, I went into Physical Therapy and announced my new training plan - to not run at all!  I did not bother trying to ask my P.T. for ideas on how to keep me running, I did not digress into a 20 minute tangent on what exactly hurt and what we could do for it.  Instead, I just stated the obvious.  I was not looking for a fix.  I know and have known for a while that my time has come, at least for now.

Corn mazes that allow dogs are more fun than running in the heat anyways

I love running.  And to keep running in the long term, I know that I have to take this pretty extensive break from running, likely we are looking at 4 months of no running, at least.  And yet, oddly I am doing O.K. with that.  Maybe because at this point there are just so many more important things and people to think about than running (GASP I know!)  But it is true.  Running will be there and as my PT said, I will be back!  But for now it is just not worth it.  Everything hurts when I run and I am more likely to end up injured than logging glorious miles if I continue to run.  Sure,  I am a bit envious of those running pregnant folks who are still hitting the pavement well into their 34th, 35th, and 36th week of pregnancy.  But that is not me and that is O.K.   Running comparisons (which I try to avoid but cannot always) are the same whether you are pregnant or not - there will always be someone out there who you equate yourself with who is going faster and longer.  Comparisons and competitions with those people are not only in one's own mind but not what running is about for me, at least.

So for now the plan for running is no plan at all.  I am still doing some weights, elliptical, and walking and that is good enough.

I knew we invested in this elliptical for a reason!

And if my body did not think my mind totally got the message, this weekend and even today I am completely sidelined from all physical activity or moving from the bed with a good "End of the Summer" Cold.   So today Wubby and I are taking it easy.  I really have to take a page from his book - he knows how to recover from the weekend - the little big guy has not left his crate and has been sleeping since Aaron left for work a few hours ago, whereas I keep getting up and having trouble settling myself down.  Here I think that Wubs pines away for us when we leave during the day and in actuality he is snoring his little head off.

Enough said

In the meantime, I will run vicariously through all of you guys!  Any good races coming up?  I cannot wait for the start of all these wonderful marathons and hear all the races reports.

Slowing Down

It's Saturday.  We are on the Cape.  Usually, I would have woken up nice and early to get a run in this morning.  Last time we were here I think I did 6 plus miles - that was in July.  No such luck today, no such luck this week actually.   In fact, I have not run since last Saturday during which time I ran a slow 4/5 miles and suffered the rest of the day from lower back pain.  The next morning, I woke up and felt like I had run 20 miles - I assure you, I did not.

My PT had previously warned me, when he watched me run two weeks ago, that he was worried mostly about me hurting my lower back and the potential for me to compensate  due to the added front weight.  At the time, he told me to run 2 miles on Wednesday and 4 on that Saturday and come back the next week.  Pre-pregancy, running Stephanie would have come back in bright and early Monday morning to report the lower back pain and see what options we had.  At the very least, I would have called.  I did neither.  I told myself I would go in Wednesday (my PT works mornings on Monday, Wednesday and Friday).  Wednesday came and the idea of trekking into PT at 5 am only to trek back out in the opposite direction for work sounded awful.  So I just let it go.  I ellipticaled and walked and told myself I would check in next week, as I will be in the area for work anyway.

The thing is I get it.  I am 29 weeks pregnant and am getting bigger by the second. When I run, just like my PT said, I am compensating.  I cannot help it and it is not so fun and kind of down right painful. I  told myself I would order a maternity belt.  It took me until Wednesday to actually do that.  There was a time that if I thought a product would solve my running woes, I would drive two hours to get it, in traffic, if it meant that it would keep me  that very day as opposed to the next day or G-d forbid several days from then.

So as I said, during this past week, as I did not go to PT and did not have the maternity belt, I ellipticaled and walked each day.  But even if I could have run this week, I don't know how well it would have gone even without the lower back pain.  My ellipticaling is getting slower, I am not pushing as hard, or really even breaking a sweat.  Do I care?  Yes sort of.  Do I have the energy or true determination at this point to push harder?  No, not really.  The "hardcore" runner in me hates this.  Hates that it is Saturday and instead of an hour long run I took an hour long walk.  "It" feels pretty lame and jealous of all of the other runners out there logging miles.  But then the mommy-to-be/pregnant woman inside of me pipes up and wins out noting that we would much rather be pregnant and not running than not pregnant and running for now.  In fact, we are pretty darn lucky.

So, my body is slowing down.  It is getting more tired, more easily sore.  And that is O.K.  Sure, I may try on the maternity belt and all my problems may go away or my P.T. may have a magic bullet (I am not optimistic on either), but if not, that is O.K. too.  I will continue to do what I am doing and that will be just enough for now.

Wubby slows down too after a day of fun!

How do you accept not running?  Did you ever find a maternity belt that worked for you?