Welcome to the world, Lillian Marie

At 10:46 a.m. on Thursday, October 2, we welcomed a beautiful 6 lb. 15 oz. baby girl.  Lillian Marie came into the world via C-section after an exhaustive 30+ hour labor.

Despite some rough nights, we are so incredibly smitten.  Being new parents is exhausting (so.incredibly.exhausting) but we catch ourselves staring at her in awe, still unsure we created this little being.  

I wasn't sure if I should post a birth story but if anyone takes comfort in our experience, it's worth it.  Story to follow...

Pregnancy is not always glamorous

We're well into the second trimester & days away from the official halfway mark (gasp!).  I'm still feeling very good - knock on wood - & the baby bump seems to pop more everyday.

13 weeks

17 weeks

We're due for another picture (as of blog post date, I'm now 19.5 weeks) & I believe there is a fairly significant change, but then again, the baby bump seems to grow significantly more by the end of the day (bloat, food, you name it).

Due Date: September 27, 2014

Symptoms: Nothing significant, just a few small nuisances.  In the first trimester, I was starving all the time & had to keep food with me everywhere I went.  It was crazy.  After 15 weeks, I hit the magical "honeymoon" phase & noticed increased energy & a decrease in extreme hunger.  I still keep food with me in case of emergencies but if I'm late eating my lunch, I don't turn into a catatonic, food-crazed bundle of hormones.  

Nails are growing rapidly but I haven't noticed a significant change in my hair.

Pregnancy comes with a wide variety of experiences - heartburn, hemorrhoids, acne, weird rashes, dry skin, stretch marks - & I will neither admit nor deny any of those listed.  It's not always glamorous.  If you haven't seen the movie What to Expect When You're Expecting, I highly recommend it.  It's [mostly] hilarious, with a few heavier, more serious topics thrown in, but it sheds a funny light on the joys of pregnancy.  One of my favorite, & now most relevant, clips:

Clothes: Now into full on maternity wear.  And damn these clothes are comfy.  About 16-17 weeks, I could no longer comfortably wear my pre-pregnancy pants (jeans or dress).  I was lucky to have a bin of donated maternity clothes from a friend that I was able to pull out several tops & a few jeans to wear; a few weekends ago, we hit a few stores to pick up a few more items.  

Weight: As of today, I've gained approximately 14 lbs; approximate because I weighed at the end of the day & typically I weigh first thing in the morning. In my world, time of day can be a difference of 2-3 lbs.  I'm not stepping on the scale regularly & happy to not focus on weight; if my midwife is concerned, she can discuss it with us (& thus far, she has not expressed any concerns).  Since reaching the second trimester, I've noticed the rapid weight increase, as second & third trimester average a pound per week.

Running/Working Out: I'm still comfortably running & training for my June half-marathon.  My increased energy levels assisted an increase in motivation.  I'm trying to maintain light strength training 1-2X/wk.  I bought a maternity band, highly recommended by a few women runners as their baby bumps expanded & the need for ligament support during a run became a necessity.  No matter how empty my bladder feels, I've now reached the stage I must potty before a run.  The jostling is no bueno on the bladder already being squished by growing baby.

Cravings: Oranges, orange juice, chocolate milk, grilled cheese.  Dessert will always be a passion but I noticed I'm more particular about what I fancy when it's time for sweets.  Smoothies for breakfast are a must - I can cram plenty of protein & a day's worth of fruit into an easy drink.

Aversion: Meat.  Except fried chicken.  More specifically, chicken strips.  I'm like a 5-year-old when we go out to eat - chicken strips & french fries.  I can eat meat if it's put in front of me but if I had to choose at every meal, I'd probably avoid meat.  Hamburgers, meatballs, steaks, ham...it just doesn't sound appealing.

Rings: Still comfortably fit on my fingers.

Why I don't always get along with Old Man Winter

I'm not made for cold weather.  I love the change of seasons.  But Old Man Winter has a way of reminding me that I am no match for freezing temperatures.  Evidence below...

Raynaud's Phenomenon.  The glorious thing about Raynaud's is it doesn't have to be cold & I can have an attack.  Reaching into the freezer, holding a cold drink...I used to have photo evidence of my fingers turning white after a trail run in 80 degree summer weather.   It can affect my toes, but they have the luck of gravity on their side - the blood is forced to flow to my toes.  This picture was taken a bit over halfway through our 20-mile training run this morning.  It doesn't help my body was working to move as much blood flow to my legs.  But I had heavy duty leather mittens on during the run.

When it hits, it hits hard.  It can be fun to scare people with my fingers when they turn white.  Some get really freaked out when they see fingers with no blood in them.  It's like Halloween every day for me.

After warming the fingers & changing to another pair of gloves, we completed the run.  20.6 miles.  Can't complain about that.

Foam rolling hurts & argyle compression socks are cool

Marathon training has been proceeding swimmingly well (knock on wood!).  Many factors have changed since my first (disastrous) marathon attempt in 2008, but most important is experience.  I've lived & learned quite a bit in almost 4 years of running & racing - first race was a half-marathon in 2007 - & a lot of that knowledge has materialized through trial & error.

Recently, I've become intrigued with foam rollers & compression socks.  Foam rollers are best described as a torture tool for the non-compliant stretcher.  *Ahem*  (Guilty)  They're an innocent-looking log of dense foam.  And you roll around with it in the floor (naughty!).  Side effects include much swearing-like-a-sailor, grimaced faces, & very deep-tissue-massaged muscles.  It's a love/hate relationship.  See here for demonstrations.

I became the most recent victim of the Running Demons & before I knew it, my credit card was being charged $15 & I was holding my very own yellow foam roller.  The UPS guy delivered it approximately 15 minutes before we bolted out of the house on Friday night for a beer at the brewery.  Somehow still possessed by the Running Demons, upon returning from the brewery, my bravery kicked in (or perhaps the delicious beer?) & I attempted foam rolling.

 Love the striped pajama pants?  Don't worry, I didn't wear them to the brewery.

 We have three dogs that seem to think our furniture is their furniture, so we have to put random objects on the couches to keep them off.

 This is me slowly collapsing in pain from rolling my IT band.  Apparently that's one spot that I don't stretch because it HURT.  In an oh-so-good hurt.

 Steve was enjoying documenting this.

Either I'm laughing or crying.  Probably both.

I have yet to try the foam roller again.  It's on the kitchen table, taunting me as we speak.  My IT band is still angry with me.

Please excuse the dirty camera lens.

The next item in my new running toys was a pair of compression socks.  Read Peter Sagal's description here. And yes, that's Peter Sagal of NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me.  I was intrigued - a sock that could potentially keep my legs feeling fresher during long grueling runs & make recovery less painful?  Sign me up.  After another $35 charged to my credit card (compression socks aren't cheap - this pair was on sale, most run between $40-60 per pair), I was ready to take them for a test run.

It's the latest fashion, wearing compression socks under your capris.  All the cool kids are doing it.  Even cooler is the argyle pattern.  (Probably why they were on sale)

Steve & I went for a 15-mile run yesterday & these socks kept me looking fashionable the entire run.  The first few miles were interesting - as the name says it all, these bad boys compress your calf muscles - and my calf muscles felt slightly cramped.  Think girdle for your legs.  Left leg eventually warmed up & I didn't notice the sock, but my stronger right calf muscle was more stubborn & took a bit longer to warm up.  The tightness was not enough that I had to stop & stretch, so I kept moving.

The biggest difference I noticed was toward the end of the run.  After 10 miles, anytime we stopped (usually to eat & walk, sometimes for a potty break in the bushes), starting back up was not a problem.  Usually the opposite occurs - we stop running for a quick break & the farther into the run, the more difficult time my legs have getting back into a groove.  These socks prevented that - they kept my legs feeling refreshed & gave me the ability to kick it in at the very end.

Much less torturous than the foam log.

What do you do when you lose motivation to run?

Why, you sign up for another marathon.

Race plans thus far:
3/26/11: Napa Valley Trail Marathon
6/18/11: Grandma's Marathon

There will most definitely be a mixture of local 5K's & 10K's, but these are the Big Kahunas that we've signed up for...& paid.  Steve's also looking into some ultras in Montana - I'll cheer him on from the side for those.  I'm having recurring flashbacks & nightmares to my marathon experience at the Nike Womens Marathon, so what better than to sign up for two marathons to beat down those painful memories?

On a side note, I'm almost positive I suffer from SAD.  Ok, suffer is a heavy word.  More like I'm "affected."  Seasonal Affective Disorder.  Winter rolls in & I turn into an unhappy, unmotivated little ball of antisocial irritability.  Let's not get into the validity of psych issues, because I'm well aware those are often scoffed at by normal functioning members of society, but winter is not happy time for me.