Better than Ironman

Miss Bridget Elaine Hurley made her appearance on Thursday, September 2nd at 5:14 pm, weighing in at 8lbs 1oz and 18.5" long. I was actually scheduled for a c-section tomorrow (Wednesday), but went for my regular check up on Thursday and got sent to the hospital for monitoring since my BP was a little high. A couple hours on the monitors and we got the word that my doctor decided it would be best to get the baby out that night. So we had about an hour's notice before I was taken down to surgery. Not really the way I had planned it, but at least I didn't have time to sit around and worry and be nervous! Hard to believe this perfect little thing was balled up in my belly for the last 9 months!

Things are going well, she's a bit of a night owl, so we're getting adjusted to running on a couple hours of sleep. But I wouldnt have it any other way :)

The other good news, is that my swelling is already almost completely gone! Hello feet and ankles! Don't *quite* feel like running just yet due to the incision and whatnot, but at least I should be able to get my running shoes back on now.

Oh, hai

1. Yes, I'm still here.
2. No, I haven't had that baby yet.

Does that about cover it? I thought so. (seriously though, people can stop asking me the two above questions ANY DAY NOW)

So yeah, 1 week to go. Well, more like one week and two days. Yep, I have an actual date and time. The good thing about this is that it satisfies my inner planner who needs to know exactly when everything is happening and where and why and who will be there and how long it will last. The bad thing is it means I have to have a c-section.

That's right, this child is breech and appears to have no interest in turning herself head down. I've tried everything; various positions and exercises, chiropractic, accupuncture, and.....nothing. She likes where she is. We even tried a version last week, which is where the doctor pushes on the baby (i.e. pushes on ME) to try to get her to turn. Let me tell you what this kid did. As soon as the doctor would get her to start moving, she'd duck her head out from under the doctor's hand, and stick out her legs to put on the breaks. Little Miss Attitude already!

I shouldn't be surprised. This is my child, afterall. She appears to be taking after her mama and will not be forced to do something. She likes where she's at, thankyouverymuch, and you can't convince her that moving just a little bit would be better for everyone involved. I predict a lifetime of us butting heads due to identical personalities.

So yes, it is a bit disappointing. I'll have to get the epidural that I was not going to get, and I'll have to meet my daughter while I'm strapped to an operating table, and all of those benefits of a natural, drug free birth that I was so excited about are out the window. Not really ideal. But, I know this is just the first of many things that I will have no control over when it comes to parenting, so I'm just going to have to roll with it. Because regardless of how it happens, I WILL get to meet my daughter, and at this point when I've been waiting nearly two and a half YEARS to bring home a baby, I just can't even fathom being upset about how it happens.

And let me just say that as much as I have enjoyed and felt completely blessed to even be pregnant in the first place, I'm done with it. I've officially turned into that crabby 9 month pregnant woman who would like to punch you in the face for asking how I feel. There's just nothing comfortable about the last couple weeks of pregnancy. But, it will soon be over, and I'm assuming there is some built in mechanism that makes women forget how shitty they feel the last few weeks, because plenty of people seem to go on to have more than one child. And I can only assume that the husbands somewhat forget too, because I'm pretty sure there would be no repeat baby makin' going on if they remembered clearly how "pleasant" we are to live with these last few weeks before the baby comes.

It doesnt help matters that we've had the hottest summer on record for the past several years, and now that it's starting to "cool off" and I'm starting to get hints of fall being around the corner, I am ready to put on my running shoes. One morning last week I walked outside and it was SO nice and cool, it just felt like a race morning. I dont know exactly what it was, but it felt so wrong that I was not getting into a wetsuit or lining up at a starting line somewhere. I am ready. Assuming things go as planned, I should be able to start running again by mid-October, which is PERFECT timing weather-wise, and I'll be able to start back up with Runners Edge in Januray. I can't wait. I'm literally chomping at the bit.

Now, to just get this child out!

39w

Chugging along...on swollen feet

Seriously, my feet are out of control. Out. Of. Control. I am running out of shoes that I can squeeze them into, even my Crocs are tight. And I'm not talking about "comfortably" squeezing my feet into shoes. Oh no, we passed that stage a long time ago. I'm talking about being able to have some sort of covering on my feet since it's generally required if you are going anywhere in public. Or work.

I put my old running shoes on the other night, and they went on, but barely. And rather painfully. I'm surprised the seams didnt bust.

In other news, Tuesday was night 6 of Bradley classes. Yay! Halfway done! This class was all about pushing, or Stage 2 labor. About what you'd expect. Lets just say that I heard the word "perineum" spoken more in that 2 hour period that I have in my entire life, or ever care to again.

I am starting to get sick of some of the people in our class though. (this is where my "I Hate People" disorder comes into play) One couple in particular. The wife is CONSTANTLY touching her husband. And not just holding his hand or something benign like that. Her favorite thing seems to be stroking his face. She is always stroking his face! I'm glad they're in love and all, but come on. It's a little sickening. I'm not big on PDA anyway, but I'm normally not totally turned off by it. These two just take it to a weird level.

And they ask the stupidest questions! Mainly the husband. Look dude, you dont need a detailed explanation of Kegels. You're not the one who's supposed to be doing them. And if you cant figure out where the cervix is even though there is a freaking DIAGRAM with LABELS right in front of your face, then go home and study up. Don't waste our (my) time asking about it. And for the love of Christ, when your wife is in labor you will "let" her move about whenever and wherever she damn well pleases. You dont need to ask for a detailed list of the times it is appropriate to let her move. Not to mention it is THEIR fault we have class in a church over in Mission Hills. Our instructor normally teaches it out of her house, which happens to be literally half a mile from our house. But because these two live in LEAVENWORTH, our instructor found somewhere a little farther north to accomodate them better.

I normally get irritated pretty quickly by people, but dang. These two just push my buttons more than normal. Even though I THINK I have done a pretty good job of keeping myself in check the last few months, I'm going to blame this one on the hormones.


28w6

Friday Randomness

I am seriously about to move to Alaska. For two reasons.
1) I am DONE with summer. And it's not even officially summer yet! I feel huge and uncomfortable and awkward and bloated and sweaty. My hands and feet will not stop pouring sweat from them. I'd walk around naked if that were appropriate, but I still dont think it would help much. So Courtney and I have decided we're going to go live in an igloo and adopt some penguins and a polar bear cub to keep us company. Sounds like a plan.

2) The Big 12 is totally fucked (well, it's basically GONE) and I am no longer looking forward to football season. I dont want to be in the Big 10! I don't care about Penn State or Michigan or Ohio State or Purdue. I like the Big 12. About this time every year is when I really start looking forward to football season, and that is just shot to shit now. UGH.

Oh, and thanks a lot Tom Osborne, I no longer get to look forward to the KU/Nebraska game every year and giving Dan a bunch of shit for it. And we'll never get to take our kids to a KU/Nebraska game. Sad. Oh sure, maybe we'll end up with a few non-conference match ups, but it wont be the same. It won't mean anything. Stupid as it may be, I was sort of looking forward to 20-some years from now getting to take our kids to games in Lincoln, and before the game go to the bars I used to go to in college, and play the same teams we've always played. Now I'll have to take them to a fucking WISCONSIN game. Who cares?!

I am so depressed. And gawd, I cant even drink my sorrows away. Ugh ugh ugh ugh.

The one bright spot in my day is that we finally get to pick up the nursery furniture tonight. Yay! That room has been empty since we moved into the house almost 2 years ago just waiting to be able to fill it up with baby stuff, and I finally get to. I felt sort of stupid ordering the furniture as early as we did, somewhere around 14w. But they said it would take 12 weeks to come in, and it did. I officially hit 3rd tri on Monday and have been silently freaking out that the nursery is still empty. I know I still have 3 months, but dang, for some reason it suddenly feels like TOMORROW.

Oh, and had Bradley class #5 on Tuesday. It was all about 1st stage labor and what to expect during it. Probably the most helpful part was a chart that's included in the book that lists various common physical signs, emotional signs, behaviors, etc, for each part of 1st stage. Our instructor said that she's been able to tell where each of her doula clients was at in their labor based off of that chart. So we shall see how accurate it is.

One thing that was funny, is that when I was reading the "mindset" associated with each stage, I was totally comparing it to IM. First there's the excited "yay, this is it!" stage = right before the swim. The "lets get down to work" stage = during the swim and the first part of the bike. The "this is starting to be really hard and painful" stage = the last part of the bike. The "this is too hard, I dont think I can do it" stage = last half of the run. And the "I'm almost there, lets do it" stage = the last few miles of the run.

I know I keep thinking it, but there has GOT to be some sort of correlation. I literally thought that I was actually dying during a few of those miles in the last half of the run. Or more like I WISHED I was dying because that would have put me out of my misery. I kept plowing along through that, so yeah, I'm not too worried.

27w 4d.

Bradley Part 3 & 4

Ok, the classes are starting to pick up, but still pretty general. Great information, and we're learning a lot, but still pretty general. Week 3 was just about general pregnancy stuff, week 4 was about the coach's role. Some highlights from the last 2 weeks:

- Experiencing mood swings? Eat a piece of fruit! This is where I really love our instructor, she's great about pointing out the parts of Bradley that she thinks are crap. She said Bradley apparently thinks that every pregnancy related malady is caused by some sort of nutritional deficiency, and fruit is the cure for mood swings. I'm pretty sure Dan would get punched in the throat if he told me to eat a piece of fruit when I'm having one of those days.

- A baby coming out of your vagina is a sign of pre-term labor. No shit.

- Analgesics are likely to just make you high and do nothing to help with the pain.

- Many of the medications commonly administered during labor are in the same family as cocaine.

Um, I think those are the main things. No, we really did go over quite a bit, nothing totally earth shattering though, but good to hear. And I know Dan has been a little skeptical of the whole natural birth thing, but he gets more and more on board every week with all the new information we get. Which is definitely good. He's all about doing things the old fashioned way, and you dont get much more old fashioned than that! Well, unless I wanted to go out and squat in a field and then come back in and churn out some butter.

Some other things of note:

- Holy woah! My feet do not like the "heat". It's been in the 80's for 4 days now, and they are about twice their normal size. It looks like I'm walking around on a couple of pork tenderloins. So much for being the cute pregnant lady walking around in sundresses and flip flops. Shrek feet dont really compliment the look.

- Mmmmm, pork tenderloin.

- It is virtually impossible for me to paint my toenails. I attempted it last night, and had to stop to catch my breath and reposition myself after every toe. Needless to say, I did not get a second coat on.

- Same goes for shaving. If it didnt mean I'd have to let it grow out, I'd just have Suzanne wax my legs while she's at it.

- LessthantwoweeksuntilthirdtrimesterandIdonthaveanythingdoneholyshit!

- Baby is getting a lot more active. I'm starting to be able to see movement from the outside now. Cool. But, weird.

- I think the dogs are starting to realize something is up, Penny won't eat unless I'm sitting right next to her.

25w 2d

Bradley, part 2

Oops, I'm a week late. So last week was our second Bradley class. Dan was back in town for this one, so no more feeling like a teen mother. This one was about nutrition, and to be honest, I was half thinking of skipping it. If it hadn't been Dan's first class, we probably would have. I feel like I know what I need to know about good nutrition, so didn't really see the point in sitting through a 2 hour class. That is not to say I practice good nutrition all the time, but I do pretty well, and feel like I have a pretty firm grasp on it.

I'm glad we went though! I did learn a few things. The class focused around good nutrition during pregnancy, which is (or should be) obviously not the same as good nutrition when you are trying to lose weight/maintain weight/train for an event/etc. For instance, I did not know that a daily protein intake of at least 70g has been linked to a drastic reduction in your chances of developing pre-eclempsia. And pre-E is bad, if you develop it, they pretty much just make you deliver your baby right then and there. We dont want that. There is a whole slew of pregnancy maladies that proper nutrition can virtually eliminate, but that is the biggie.

Aside from the protein, they arent so much concerned with hitting a specific number for calories/fat/carbs/etc, but there is a list of stuff that I'm supposed to eat every day. Including:

• 4 servings of dairy
• 2 eggs
• 2 servings of leafy green vegetables
• 1 serving of other vetetables
• 4 servings of grain, one of which should be whole grain
• 1 vitamin C source
• 3 servings of healthy fats
• 1 serving of fruit

Huh. Not hard, and mostly in line with general nutrition guidelines, but takes some planning ahead. I have ALWAYS been bad about getting my fruits and veggies. I just dont do it. I like raw fruits and vegetables, I am just not nearly as good as I should be about eating them. And the eggs, I like eggs, but who eats 2 eggs a day? That one is going to take some work. I also LOATHE whole grain products. I know, i know, that is not the PC thing to say. You're supposed to think they are super delicious and taste better than white bread. But, they dont. So I will have to figure out a way to choke those down.

So, our assignment for the week (and Dan is supposed to do it too) was to keep track of everything we eat, with the main goal of getting enough protein. I have done this off and on over the years, but typically when I'm trying to lose weight or lean up (down?) or something. Through using several online sites, I've found that www.sparkpeople.com is the easiest to use. So I logged back on, and of course had to right away change my daily "goals". Last time I used it, my daily caloric intake was 1,600-1,850 cal/day. Yeah. That one got altered quite significantly.

I actually had no problem hitting the protein goal (except for Saturday, but lunch at the bar + baby shower food + BBQ does not really light up the ol' nutrition scale). Everything else, uh, not so much. To give myself credit though, I did buy some whole grain english muffins, and on Sunday made myself a breakfast sandwich. It would have been much better on a regular english muffin. But whole grain, yay! And egg, yay! And bacon, not so yay. But hell, I had to dress up that cardboard somehow.

24w

5 on Friday

1. Confession: I love the Miley Cyrus song Party in the USA. I feel dirty now that I've said it out loud. But it's true, the radio always gets turned up when it comes on. Back in December my girlfriends and I had our annual sleepover (yes, grown women can still have slumber parties) and I discovered it's not just me! When that song came on, we ended up with an impromptu dance/karaoke party in the kitchen. Nothing better than a bunch of 20- and 30-something women dancing around in their pajamas singing Miley Cyrus songs. I know, it's every man's fantasy.

2. A while back, Nemmie passed along a recipe for a chopped salad. It's actually Ten Restaurant's signature salad. I have never eaten there, but if they came up with this salad, I might just have to. It is seriously my favorite thing to eat, I pretty much make it weekly during the summer. I dont know if it's the mustard vinaigrette, or the blue cheese (mmmm, blue cheese) or what. But I love it! I could eat it every day.

Make it. Eat it. Love it.

Nemmie's Chopped Salad (aka Ten Restaurant's Signature Salad)

Salad:
romaine lettuce, chopped (about half a head)
iceberg lettuce, chopped (about half a head)
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
4 green onions, sliced
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
penne, cooked and diced (not too much, about a handful of uncooked pasta)
blue cheese crumbles, to taste (I love blue cheese, so I dump in most of the container)
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, grilled and diced (season with salt & pepper before grilling)

Vinaigrette:
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs rice vinegar
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp water
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp dried oregano
dash black pepper
dash red pepper flakes

Mix all of the salad ingredients up! The mix all the vinaigrette ingredietns up, and pour it over the salad! Then mix it all up! Then eat it!

3. My dogs make me laugh every day. Sometimes they are a huge pain in the ass though. Having them around means the house is never clean. They have scratched the hell out of the hardwoods. Walter likes to occasionally mark his territory still....in the house. But even still, they make me laugh every day. The door that leads to the basement is all scratched up, because Wallter gets so excited to go in his crate that he tries to claw his way through the door whenever he knows it's time to get in his crate. The little ledge between the kitchen and family room is all scratched up because when Penny gets excited, she gets on the love seat next to it and paws at the ledge. I have had to give up my favorite blanket for snuggling up with on the couch because Max loves to snuggle with it more. The window frame in the living room is completely destroyed because all three of them go nuts and try to break through the window whenever somebody walks by. But how can I be mad about any of that?!

The previous owner of our house had installed a cat door from the family room to the garage. It is still there. And whenever I come home, if the dogs are out of their crates, the first thing I'm greeted with is Walter's head with his big googely eyes poking through the cat door to see who just pulled into the garage. And Max gets so excited to see you that he jumps in circles when you come home, and half the time damn near knocks himself out by slamming into the wall or the furniture in the process. And little Penny, she's so happy to see you that she practically starts hyperventilating, and she wont go out to potty until she has been petted by everyone. No person is ever that happy to see you.

They always make my day brighter, I cant imagine ever not having dogs in the house.
4. I have to work tomorrow morning, I really dont want to. I hate having to work on Saturdays. I only have to work about 3 Saturday's a year, but I still hate it.

5. However! I am happy just to have a job. This week, Gardner laid of basically their entire planning department. Which has made more than one planner in the metro a little nervous. If Garner was able to eliminate the entire department, what's to say that other municipalities won't soon follow suit?? Everyone is still having to trim their budgets, and since development is still slow, planning departments everywhere are not nearly as busy as usual. What's even more awesome, is that our 2011 budget is supposed to be approved at the end of July. So....if I were to get laid off, it would be about 6 weeks before I have the baby. Awesome. Just what I need to worry about. But, there's nothing I can do about it right now, so I'll just continue to keep myself as busy as possible and hope for the best.

Bradley, part 1

So. I am planning to have a natural birth. No drugs, no epidural. For some reason, a lot of people feel really strongly one way or another about this issue. There is the group that thinks anyone who tries to give birth without drugs is a complete moron, and there is the group that thinks anyone who gets an epidural is an uneducated fool. Personally, I couldnt give two shits how someone else choses to have a baby, but being that so many people feel SO strongly one way or another, I kind of feel weird even discussing it with anyone.

A lot of people, when they first found out I was pregnant, were like "get the epidural! Dont try to be a hero!" Mmmm, ok. It kind of makes me scratch my head, because so many people seem to think that it's about trying to prove something. It's not. Next time I want to prove something to myself or to the world, I'll do another Ironman. Women have babies every day, that proves nothing. I've done a fair amount of research, and feel that for me PERSONALLY, it's just the best option. There are plenty of statistics and other evidence that led me to feel that way, which I wont even try to quote. But for me, it's just the way to go. I know a lot of women automatically go on the defensive once they hear that you are planning on a natural birth, I guess because they think you are judging them somehow. Trust me, I couldnt care less if have the doctor knock you completely out and reach up in there and pull the baby out.

So anyway, that was my little "disclaimer" before I get to the point. We decided to take Bradley classes, which are a 12 week course on preparing you and your partner for a natural childbirth. I wasnt 100% sold on the idea of committing myself to 12 weeks of classes, and honestly, it seemed a bit unnecessary. But when we met with our doula for the first time (I know, doula doula DOULA), she talked about how helpful they are, espeically for the husbands. I'm more of a "I'll research it and figure it out on my own" kinda gal, but Dan likes the structured learning environments. So he was actually the one who was more for it. Plus, I think he's a little trepidatious about the whole no drug thing. I think he, like a lot of people, are of the midset that doctors and modern medicine make EVERYTHING better. And while that may be true in most cases, there is something to be said for letting your body handle a natural process the way it was designed to. So I think some schoolin' will do him good.

Last night was our first class, and of course Dan is out of town for work. Of course he is. Let me tell you, going to a birth class by yourself makes you feel like a huge tool. I totally felt like a teen mother or something. Now, I had read kind of mixed reviews of Bradley classes, some people have ended up with instructors who are totally militant and all "doctors and hospitals are the devil!". So I was a little apprehensive going into it. I was half expecting to walk into the room and find it filled with a bunch of hippie weirdos. But alas! Everyone is normal! There are 4 other couples in the class, and everyone is totally normal and seems like people I would actually hang out with under normal circumstances. So that's good.

The class was 2 hours, and mainly just focused on introductions and a general background of the Bradley Method. I did learn something interesting. I know a lot of doctors have kind of mixed feelings on Bradley, and now I know why (at least for the doctors around here). Apparently, Gloria Squitiro, Mayor Funkhousers wife, used to be the only Bradley instructor in the area. When she said that, everyone was like "oh God, that explains everything". For those that dont live in KC, the Funk's wife is INSANE. Just google her. So yeah, having her associated with ANYTHING does not help.

After the introductions and background, we talked a little about the basis of Bradley, which is relaxation. Talked about how we can identify ways that have helped us to relax and deal with pain in the past, and went over a few basic exercises. The exercises are meant to help you just relax in general, as well as target specific areas of your body that you'll be using during labor and the birth. There was a lot of talk about how there ARE plenty of things we can do now and throughout the rest of the pregnancy, as well as during labor, to help the baby get into the correct position and to help the whole birth process along. Apparently, and I didnt know this either, you dont want the baby just head down. It should be head down and facing your back. And there are ways to coax the baby into that position.

So really, class 1 was pretty general, but did provide a lot of good info on exatly WHY we'll be learning what we do over the next 12 weeks. Hopefully Dan doesnt miss any more of them, becuase I have had my fill of flying solo at birth class. I feel really confident that I found a good instructor, one who is pretty mainstream and is not going to make us sit in a circle and sing Kumbayah while doing weird visualization exercises.

22w2d

No more McD's

Last night after I got home and changed into my comfy clothes, I went to put on my Crocs (yes, I wear Crocs around the house, sue me) and noticed that my feet and ankles were swollen up like sausages. I had cankles. Oh. My. God. It's too early for this! I'm not even 22 weeks! And it's not summer yet! My feet cant be swelling already!! In a panic, I texted Courtney and she suggested that maybe I just need to start watching my sodium intake. Hmm. I did have McDonalds for lunch. Dammit. Now, I have been pretty good lately, it's not like a few months ago where all I wanted was fast food. But every now and then I just want something greasy. Guess I wont be doing that anymore!

And on top of the cankles, earlier this week I was complaining to my friend Nemmie about some pregnancy related aches and pains, and she said "maybe it's 'roids in your girl parts!" Wait. What!? No, that cant even be a real thing, you are mistaken, Miss Nems. So of course I had to google it, and let me just say that that is NOT something you should ever google. EVER. Suffice it to say, it is a real thing, and I am now scarred for life. Pretty certain that's not a problem for me just yet (and hopefully never), but Christ! They should warn you that it's even a possibility before you decide to get pregnant!

19 more weeks. 19 more weeks. I can make it 19 more weeks. I'm over half way, I'm on the donwhill slope. Oh shit, I have to take care of a baby in 19 weeks! Baby dogs I am good with. Baby humans, I really know nothing about. And here in a few months, I'm going to be expected to like, keep one alive and healthy, and stuff. There's got to be a class that will teach me everything I need to know, right? RIGHT?!?!

21w4d

Its a....

Girl! Woah, I'm going to have a daughter. I'm sure she'll be all sweet and cute for the first few years, and then hate me until she's about 30. It's just the law of nature, it can't be helped. The ultrasound was really cool, baby was moving around quite a bit but not enough for me to feel. She must be going absolutely nuts when I am able to feel her! We got to see her do a somersault and suck her thumb, so that was neat.

Here she is with her foot up in her face, about to poke her eyes out with her toes:

Speaking of feet, check out the big gap between her big toe and her second toe! She definitely gets that from me, I have freaking lobster claws:

Here's a shot of her legs all stretched out with her ankles crossed. She's got her arm resting on top of her leg. Long arms!

....Long arms and big hands. This is looking down from the top, she's got her little (big) hand up in front of her face. Those are some basketball playing hands! Dan is so proud.

And just as a comparison, here are her hands at 13 weeks. She's done a lot of growing in the last 7 weeks!

Here she is the first time we saw her at 6 weeks, just a tiny, indiscernable bean with a flicker of a heartbeat. So amazing that she has turned into an actual PERSON in such a short amount of time!

That tiny gray blob that the arrow in the middle is pointing to? That's the baby.

Let the pink shopping frenzy begin!

20w3d

Half Baked

Halfway there! Halfway there! Man, I cant believe this kid is already halfway done baking. If this were a marathon, I'd be past mile 13. Except, in a few miles I'd start hurting really bad and crying and wishing for death. So, uh, lets not compare this to a marathon. Because if the first part of pregnancy was the best part, then I am in for a world of hurt. So lets just nix that comparison.

The belly is definitley growing-

Aside from the ever expanding waistline (and still NON-expanding boobs, WTF), there still isnt a whole lot going on. I did start work on the nursery by getting it primed and the trim painted. I know priming isnt all that exciting, but if you saw this room before I did it, you just might be excited afterall. For some reason, I had decided after we moved in that I should paint the room red. We're talking bright, Husker red. Except, painting a room red takes about 500 coats, and I got fed up after 4. So it never really looked very good. Plus, I made a mess of all the trim in the process, so there were red smears all over the trim. Awesome. Oh, and the woman who owned this house before us had touched up the trim using about 5 different shades of white, all in a flat finish. Who uses flat paint for trim?? Also, she didnt actually use WHITE, it was more of a yellowish, antiquey-white color. Barf. This is before I did the trim, so you can see how yellow it looks:

You can see Ashley's house out the window. Hi Ashley!

Ah, much brighter. Also note the new windows! Eh, they really dont look any different than the old ones, except for the fact that they aren't rotting apart.

Annnndddddd......we should find out boy or girl tomorrow! Yay!

5 on Friday

Well it seems that these "5 on Friday" posts are pretty popular in the blog world, and since I apparently need every motivation I can find to post, I will jump on the bandwagon.

1. Did you know that being pregnant makes it hard to pee? True story. I had always heard that you have to pee a lot when you're pregnant, and you do, but it turns out it's because you cant empty your fucking bladder. I go to pee, and barely anything comes out. So when I get up, I still have to go. WTF. I am going to start wearing Depends so I can just go whenever I want instead of having to run to the bathroom only for nothing to happen.

2. I miss beer. I think I miss it more than wine.

3. When I was driving back to work after lunch today, I was in the turn lane to make a right hand turn, there was a green right hand turn arrow, and the person in front of me had to do a granny roll through the entire turn. Dude, you are driving an Infiniti G35, I'm pretty sure it can handle turns better than the Element, we dont need to slow to 2mph. And when I passed you 3 seconds later, it was clear that you were not an 85 year old woman with bifocals, so there is no excuse. I HATE people that do this! Seriously, I spend half of the time I'm driving having road rage. If I ever mention wanting to get a concealed carry license, please stop me, because I'm sure it would end in me getting into some sort of shoot out over someone driving too slow.

4. I was in BRU the other day, I went on my afternoon off to avoid the cluster it becomes on the weekends. Plus, it is out at 135th & 69, and it is just best that I avoid that area during heavy traffic times for the above mentioned reason. Well apparently every stay-at-home mom in JoCo had decided it was a good time for a trip to the ol' baby supply store, so there were women and babies EVERYWHERE. Which was fine, until one baby started crying, which made another one cry, which made another one cry....you get the idea. I about had a stroke, and it cut short my perusing through the cute teeny tiny baby clothes. I dont know if I'm ready for my own screaming kid. I have a lot of patience for my dogs, I just hope that transfers to the baby.

5. I am so happy it's finally SPRING. I feel like I've been in such a funky mood lately, and I'm sure it's because I've been a shut-in basically since Christmas. This weather makes me actually WANT to get outside and do something instead of laying on the couch watching Criminal Minds reruns all night.

Hooray for the weekend!
19w4d

I had a doctors appointment today, and for the first time in my life they had to move the BIG slider on the scale. Yup, officially passed the 150 lb mark. Oh well, that mean's baby is growing and getting bigger. Although, if you look at any of the pregnancy weight gain charts, they all say I'm gaining too much weight too fast. Those charts can kiss my ass.

Baby is about the size of a potato, and the big news for the week is that I can finally feel it moving! Everything I've read says that they already have a sleep/awake pattern established, and it figures that my kid would sleep all day and be up all night. I feel it the most in the evening, and whenever I wake up in the middle of the night I can always feel it. Although, if I jiggle my belly during the day, it wakes up and starts moving. Ha! Wake up kid, we're going to start work NOW on getting you on an acceptable sleep schedule. You always hear that the first movements feel like flutters or bubbles popping or whatever. I think it feels more like I have a giant tapeworm crawling around in there. Not that I would know what a tapeworm feels like. Whatever it is though, had a nice healthy HB of 150 today though, so right on track

Last weekend I was reminded again of why men arent the ones who get pregnant. We were headed up to Omaha, and as we were driving through St. Joe Dan asked if I wanted to stop at this bar that one of his friends owns and have a drink. Um, no thanks? The man honestly forgot that his wife was pregnant. So you know if they were the ones to get pregnant, they'd forget about it until they were 3 beers in and then realize "Oh shit!!!"

Only 12 more days till we get to find out! I still say girl, we'll see if I'm right. Although, the only baby dream I've had so far involved me getting an u/s and the tech pointing out the boy bits. So really, I won'tbe surprised either way.

18w4d

What they don't tell you

In browsing various pregnancy forums, I have learned one main thing. There are a lot of dumb as shit women out there. (no, riding a bike will not "give you an abortion". Yes, your baby is alive even though it is not breathing air while it is inside you). My friend Jules and I have had numerous (drunken, sitting by the pool) converstaions trying to decide if people are really just that stupid, or if we are just that smart. Because lets face it, everywhere you go, someone is always making you wonder how they manage to function. And apparently, pregnancy bring the morons out of the woodwork. Gives a bad name to pregnant women and moms, if you ask me.

But aside from being shocked at peoples' intelligence levels, I am almost more shocked about all of the "OMG I DIDNT KNOW THIS WOULD HAPPEN" comments you see. Yes, being pregnant makes you fat. Yes, being pregnant makes your skin freak out. Yes, being pregnant makes you moody. Yes, being pregnant makes you tired. Yes, being pregnant makes you constipated. Yes, being pregnant can make hair grow on your stomach. Yes, the baby has to come out of THERE. No, your husand does not give two shits about what kind of bottles you register for. Seriously, do you people not have friends, or mothers? Because, uh, if you have ever met anyone who has been pregnant, you have heard all of this stuff.

The thing that nobody ever really tells you though, is that being pregnant is boring. There just isnt much going on. Every day at least one person asks me how I'm feeling or how things are going, and I usually answer with "fine", and they keep looking at me expectantly like I am going to have something to add. I dont know what people want me to say. "Oh I'm doing great, peed 6 times between the time I got to work and lunch, my belly is getting strangely fuzzy, got winded walking up the stairs last night, and I officially can't button any of my pants". Do they want to hear that? Probably not. Just like when they ask how a race went, they dont want to hear "well I pissed myself at mile 12, had to make an emergency stop at a port-a-john at mile 16 so I wouldnt shit my pants, and had a blood blister pop at mile 22". It's just stuff that nobody wants to know.

Speaking of marathons, I actually got a little teary eyed when I got the notification the other day that Chicago has filled up for this year. Yes, I'm thrilled to be pregnant, and duh, I didnt expect to be running a marathon a month after I have the kid, and yes, it will still be there next year. But after I did it last year, I sort of got it in my head that I was going to do it again this year. So it just made me a little sad thinking about not doing it.

Thats another thing that nobody tells you about being pregnant; that you will start to feel like you are missing out on stuff, and that it's NORMAL. But nobody ever tells you that, because, well, I dont know why. You're just sent the message that you are supposed to be 100% overjoyed about the prospect of being pregnant and having a kid, and any thought otherwise means that you are going to be a shitty shitty parent. So then when you DO start feeling kind of bummed about not being able to do this or that, you start feeling totally guilty for thinking that way in the first place. But, everybody says that being a parent means that you are in for a lifetime of feeling guilty about SOMETHING, so I guess this is a good start!

And on the topic of missing out on things, the other day I was thinking about the fact that summer is fast approaching, and that we live close to the Prairie Village pool. What's nice about that? They have an adults only pool! Yeah! We can go there and avoid all the kids at our neighborhood pool, and sneak in booze in plastic water bottles! For a minute there I honestly forgot that a) there will be no laying by the pool getting drunk for me this summer, and b) from here on out I am going to be one of THOSE people who takes their kid to the pool. Woah, man. Reality check.

16w4d

Car shopping, Hurley style

Those of you that know me know that Dan likes cars. As in, likes to get a different one every year or so. It's a disease. He has a spreadsheet of all the cars he's owned in his life, I saw it once, I think there are close to, if not more than, 40 on there. And for someone that is 39.....yeaaaahhh. He has slowed down a bit in the last few years though, he's only had 3 different cars since we started dating in 2005. And 4 motorcycles, but I digress.

I have been saying for a couple of years that "this is it! No more cars!", but now I mean it. I dont know, somehow it just doesnt seem very responsible to be trading cars like they are freaking baseball cards when you have a kid. Call me old fashioned. His latest car was a PT Cruiser, which I HATED, and may or may not have made fun of him relentlessly for driving. And my friends may or may not have gotten in on the action. But in all practicality, it's a pretty small car, and with 3 dogs and a new baby, I just thought we might want something bigger. Especially since I'd like to be able to keep a car for a while and use it when we have a second kid. Two kids and three dogs in a PT was DEFINITELY not going to work.

So here is what happens when someone like that marries someone like me who is all "I need immediate gratification, stop hem hawing, just do it NOW!":

Julie: so, I think we should trade the PT in on something bigger.
Dan: How about a Crown Victoria? (WTF?)
Julie: Um no, how about a Pilot?
Dan: OK
Spend a few days finding links to used Pilots
Julie: Want to go look at this one?
Dan: Sure. Tonight?
Go testdrive Pilot, be underwhelmed.
Salesman: Well if you like Pilots, you'll love the CX-9. Want to drive one?(we were at a Mazda dealer)
Dan: OK
Julie: OK
Testdrive CX-9
Julie: Wow, I really like it!
Dan: Me too!
Julie: Want to get it?
Dan: OK.

And that is how car shopping goes in the Hurley household. Although to be fair, it DID stretch into two days, because the first night we went to look, the banks were closed by the time we were ready to talk numbers. So we had to deal with all that the next day. At least we slept on it.

14w3d

Its a....

Baby! Yep, definitely a baby in there. I had an ultrasound last week at 13w1d (13weeks 1day, for those of you not up on the pregnancy lingo) to check for certain birth defects. It's called an Ultra Screen (or 1st Tri screen, or NT scan) and includes a blood test. Then they plug in the measurements they took on the ultrasound and the results of the blood test and your age into some program, and it spits out the probability of your baby having Down Syndrome and a few other chromosonal defects. It's optional testing, though I think most doctors recommend it if you're over 35. I'm not, but since I'm adopted and dont know any family medical history, figured it would be a good idea. Ok I'm lying, I just wanted an excuse to see the baby. Because even though I KNOW I'm pregnant, and my doctor had found the HB with a doppler at my last appointment, and I had an ultrasound at 6 weeks and saw the little flickering blob in there, and have been feeling like death....I still didnt really believe it. In my warped mind the blob we saw at the last ultrasound could have been some sort of tumor, and the HB I heard could have been mine. Granted, it was 176 bpm, but hey, that is a pretty normal running HR for me, so not out of the question. Except, I wasnt running at the time. But still! You never know. Anywho, here is the little bugger:

See, definitely a baby. Not a tumor. She was wiggling around all over the place and getting pissed when the doctor jiggled my belly (like a bowl full of jelly. Har) to get her to switch positions so he could get the measurements he needed. And I am calling it a her, even though we obviously dont know yet. I just think of it as a girl, and I dont like calling the baby IT. Conjures up images of scary clowns. And with the u/s picture already making the baby look like Skeletor, I dont need to think of scary clowns too. I truly, truly dont care what it is. Dan on the other hand, is hoping its a boy. But doesnt every guy? I keep telling him that he's so scared of having a girl that that's what we'll end up with for sure. And on that note, I made my appointment for the BIG ultrasound, so we should get to find out on April 21. Not too much longer!

Other than that, things are good. I'm officially in my 2nd trimester, and starting to feel better. Still feeling pretty crappy first thing in the morning and at night, but much more functional during the day. And, it's starting to get nice out, which is giving me the itch to go run. One of these nights I'll have to give it a whirl....if any of my running shorts still fit, that is.

It's the small things

Last week was more of the same, laying around the house and eating out. On Friday we headed out to Pennsylvania to visit my sister-in-law and her husband. She moved out there before we even got married, and we still hadn't been to visit. Oops! They are also getting ready to put their house on the market, so between that and and the baby, we figured we had better get out there. Plus, we found out last Monday that she is also pregnant and due about 3 weeks after me. So our wee one will have a cousin the same age. Fun!

On Saturday we went up to Hershey, and while you might think that the CHOCOLATE was the highlight of the trip (especially for a pregnant chick), it wasnt! Nope, it was these too cute for words, tiny, single serving ketchup bottles at the Hotel Hershey!

I need to figure out where to get them and buy a stash. I love tiny, miniature things. Like those teeny tiny binder clips. You know, the ones that only go around like 10 sheets of paper. Those are the best. So anyway, if you happen to know where to get those tiny ketchup bottles, LET ME KNOW!

Sunday before our flight left we hung out in downtown Baltimore, and had a late lunch at a great little Italian place. When we walked down by the harbor after that, I made the mistake of setting my to-go box down on a bench, and this seagull decided to try to get into it. I guess I cant blame him.

Sunday happened to be a really nice day out there and there were TONS of people out for a run down around the harbor. That, and just being by the open water made me want to do a race BAD. Ah, nothing beats jumping into a big body of open water and taking off on a swim with a pack of other people. So I was all "dude, I could totally do a race at the end of May, I wont even be 30 weeks, and I shouldnt be too big yet". Right about then I bloated up so bad I thought my stomach was going to burst and my head started pounding and I realized I was EXHAUSTED from a weekend of eating and driving around....and a 15 minute walk. So that killed my race fantasy. But man, I cant wait until next year! And yeah, I'm smart enough to know that racing while one is pregnant, especially if said person has been a total lazy-ass for the last 3 months, probably isnt advisable. But there is nothing like knowing that you CANT do something to make you really, really want to.

So that was the excitement of the weekend. We missed out on some sleet here, and for some reason our plane was delayed leaving from Baltimore because KCI had run out of de-icer. Not really sure why that matters when you are landing, but mmkay.

My goal for this week is to make dinner 3 times, and by "make dinner" I mean MAKE DINNER, not fish sticks and fries. Cooking just really holds no appeal to me right now, which is weird, so we'll see how that goes.

I'm not dead

I know, again with the lack of blogging. But I have been doing stuff. Since I started this blog as a training blog when I was getting ready for IMFL, blogging about anything less than IM or marathon training seems kind of....pointless. With the three marathons last year, I was able to have SOMETHING to blog about, even though it was never as consuming as IM training. I DO want to keep blogging, I just need to reconcile myself to the fact that it may not always be about an 18 mile run followed up by an 80 mile ride. And if you are OK with that, so am I.

So, if you get bored with the direction I decide to take, I apologize in advance. But, I wont be writing too much about any awesome training adventures or races this year. In fact, I wont be doing any races at all. But I do have something pretty exciting (at least I think it's pretty exciting) planned for Labor Day, or thereabouts. Yup, we're adding to the family, and no, it's not another dog. This addition will be of the baby human variety.

As of today, I am 10 and a half weeks pregnant (and no I have not announced it at work, so keep your mouth shut you know who you are), so I have about 30 to go. So far, pregnancy has been "interesting". I always swore I would never be one of those pregnant women who ate junk every day and sat on their ass watching TV. But sadly, thats what I have been doing most of the time. I swear I dont want to though! But when your "morning sickness" lasts all day, and you are doing good to keep your eyes open past about 2pm, thats what happens. The closest thing I can think of to compare morning sickness to is a hangover without the headache, and it's been with me for about the last 4 weeks straight. They tell me it's supposed to subside when you get into your second trimester, so I've got another 3 weeks to tough it out. And really, I HAVE been feeling better, the last week or so I kind of get a break during the middle of the day. So Dan probably thinks I'm a total faker since all I do at home is laying the couch but manage to function at work.

And I'm not ashamed to admit that so far I've gained about 8 lbs, which can no doubt be attributed to the fact that my body has decided all it wants to eat are McDonalds french fries and chocolate shakes. Oh, and lets not forget the complete and total lack of exercise the last 2 months. I have become one of THOSE pregnant women. Yuck! But, once I stop feeling like I'm going to hurl every time I stand up, I plan to get back at it. Of course I realize I wont be out running any marathons in the next few months, but I'd at least like to keep SOME of my fitness this year. And pregnant or not, I'm just not used to being sedentary this long (and eating this much fast food), so it will feel amazing to get moving again.

So! I dont plan to turn this into a total pregnancy or baby blog, but that will probably start occupying a lot of it. Hopefully pretty soon I can start talking about the fun of trying to run with a passenger, and next year move on to the adventures of dragging along my child AND husband to some races. Should be fun :)