10 week wait begins

30 weeks today- its quite actually, very frightening. I decided not to say "10 weeks to go", instead I am saying 2 and a half months. It makes it sound so much easier in that sense.. I'm not scared of having and caring for Lincoln, more importantly I'm scared of the whole birth process itself. Crap, in the next 2 and a half months, I need to learn how to breathe, what contractions really are, how the heck do I know if I'm dialted. So much more vocab for me to learn! Then, I heard that if your pregnancy is completely normal, you should prepare for a hard birth! Gee thanks, advice givers!

A ton has happened in the last 30 weeks that I've failed to include in this blog, because, well life must go on, and I've realized I can't blog every moment. Although I really wish I could.

We had our first baby shower thrown by friends and it was quite the success. It was baseball themed and the cake, company and baseball style food (frito pie, burgers, hot dogs, cracker jacks) were phenomenal! We had our second shower thrown by our Ft. Wayne, IN family. It too was super fun! Sister in law Jodi, made these grilled ham sandwiches that literally melted in your mouth. Even, five sandwiches later! We are truly blessed to have such awesome family and friends, both near and far. Thirty-five thank you cards later, I am still standing!

I also did my very first pre-natal yoga class.. .. and I went back to Zumba after a full month off. (training for the half was taking up my time and energy, and I realized I couldn't do both).. Zumba is definitely  a class that comes natural to me. Unlike YOGA! I attended my first prenatal YOGA class on Saturday (about two weeks ago). They host them for free at Destination Maternity close by- so I figured may as well "try". I was scared going into it for sure- as I am SOOOO not the yoga type. Heck all I really know about yoga is what I see on movies. But I read its a great baby/ Mommy bonding activity and I always wanted to be like "those pregnant ladies" on TV shows that go to yoga classes while PREGGO! I was the first person there, so the nerves began. I brought my own mat and water trying to "fit in". I didn't use my mat. They provided mats laid neatly in two rows, 5 on each side, a water, and a waiver form. How neat I thought. I sat down, signed my waiver form and by that time another mommy walked in so I figured I would follow her lead. She sat down in indian style and stared at the mirror, so I did too.

About 5 more moms came in, we did introductions: "Hi my name is Cathy I'm 28 weeks and having a boy. I'm a runner and still running at this point and am hoping that yoga will help me to get all the aches and pains out due to running. And, I'm so excited because as of the last few weeks I can finally feel him move, I was a little worried. And, no I haven't felt the clinching pain above my stomach that all of you described..?" I sounded weird but of well.

Class began. First there was the "3 'oommms'- inhale on the oomm and exhale after." And so I began, "ooommmm"...I have not been back since.

I also purchased a new vehicle at last! No fighting with the dealer, just a clean, clear transaction and paid 1K less than I expected, and even got a free 32" Toshiba HD TV. I decided on a 2012 White Dodge Journey. Perfect transition between mom and sporty car. It has tons of storage and looks super cool. You do not need a key to open the door, its touchscreen radio and much more! It was fate- as I was sitting down about to tell the dealer, "lets make a deal" I recieved an email from another dealer offering the car for $300 less. I hesitated but Chris said go for it, so I showed her the email. She said, let me check on this, and she came back offering the car for 1K less if I bought that evening! So I did! Perfect! As we were getting into the car about to drive out of the dealer, I heard a male voice saying "you stole my car" I looked.. and the dealer said he was waiting for our transaction to finalized because he really wanted the car. The car I purchased was the LAST one for the lower price. She said, too bad he waited too long, and so he did! I love when things happen for a reason, makes me feel like they are so meant to be.  A phenomenal price was the only reason I bought brand new, heck the used ones were not even that cheap! I was able to my NEW for my used car budget so I went for it.

I know there is so much more to write, but I have to go get ready for two parties tonight. One sweet sixteen and another quincenera. I really don't see how people say the last ten weeks go by the slowest, they are literally flying by, I feel like I have one thing after another, and it never stops!

And, the nursery is not evne ready.. when people ask and I tell them that - they secretly freak out, but really I'm not worried, I know it will be put together, I have all the gear, just haven't made the effort to get it all in one place. Crib is at my friend Erikas, Basinet is at my parents house, Playpen is in the box waiting to be put together.. Soon.. soon, it will happen until then I will cherish my last ten weeks of my very first pregnancy. Doctors appointment on Monday. Stay Tuned!

"I ran a marathon while pregnant.." You?

Plenty to report since my last blog post.  It took me a while for this post on my first half plus one, because I needed time to remember and do a true report, so here it goes…

November 13, 2011- I wasn’t exactly cleared by my doctor to run the half marathon, however she didn’t say “no” either- she just didn’t say anything at all. So, exactly one week before the half I decided I felt well enough to run and went ahead and signed up. I waited to make sure me and baby were progressing well, and we were!

The race was a blur, but in a good way! Surprisingly, the miles went very very quickly.  My brother in law Craig and Chelsea (aka my running angels) were with me almost every step of the way (Chelsea took of at mile 12).   I wore a descriptive preggo shirt with a “Caution- Baby on Board- Slow” sign on the back. And: “Running for Two, First Time Mom, Fifth Time Marathon, Pace be with us” on front.

I was worried and a tad scared pre-race week. I was worried I would have to go potty often, I didn’t go once. I was worried I would be super slow, I wasn’t- I ran much faster than I trained at. I was worried, I would fall, I didn’t. I was worried there wouldn’t be enough water- there wasn’t. Well at least between miles 8-10! But no worries, my parents and brother Forrest were at Mile 9 with water to pull me through. I was worried I would get ugly looks and comments from anti-pregnant people doing anything other than sleeping. It was the opposite, the race was filled with motivators.  I received several pats on the back and probably at minimum three positive comments per mile! My little Lincoln is quite the STAR! : )

I had an absolute blast on the race route. It felt great to go out there without worrying about pace!  Of course I had a secret goal of 2:45 and a realistic sharable goal of under 3 hours. Every runner usually has those two goals!  But I knew there was no way in heck I would met my secret goal, but I did! I came out quite ahead with a time of 2:38!  I probably only walked a total of 10 minutes max, which is way less than I was training at. I think that was a great unplanned strategy on my part. Train slower and use the strength for race day.   

The race was a “big party” for me.. . I was surrounded by great music, I cumbia’d through one of the water stops because the music was so motivating. I found myself singing out loud to several of the bands, not worrying or caring what any one around me thought!  I was surrounded by great friends, I think I saw a familiar run group face at least every two miles. I would try my best to catch them, say “Hello, good job, looking great, keep it up.” And they smiled and I’m sure were thinking .. hell I’m being passed by a pregnant person (but in a good way).  There was even an array of food on the course. Does a small boy carrying a dozen of Shipley’s donuts count? Craig grabbed one for us three to share. They ran out of beer by the time we reached it, but that was fine this year.

That was my party in a nutshell.  I truly am thankful to be surrounded by great friends and family that pushed me through to gain the confidence that I did to finish the 13.1 miles, even with a 25 week old fetus in the tummy. Of course, there were those that didn’t think it was the best thing for me, but once I made them realize that running was in my blood- I think they simmered down a bit!

Crossing the finish line was phenomenal- truly! Its’ difficult to place words on what it feels like to finish something that you have dreamed of doing for so long. Its’ one thing to complete a half, but its’ another to finish with something so precious inside you- my first son. I once made fun of avid runners who ran marathons and called them crazy people who liked to brag about themselves and didn’t have anything better to do so they ran to occupy there time. The truth is- I was just jealous. It took a while for me to get over myself and realize that I could do it too! So, here I am five half marathons later- Not only am I an avid runner, I’m a runner who had the courage and the training to finish a half marathon with 23 extra pounds of true “baby” fat! I am now in the “I ran a marathon while pregnant” group and it’s the best feeling ever!