Movin' on over

Time for a new blog! Follow if you like :)
http://joggingstrollerdiaries.wordpress.com

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