Life as a Mom

I still can't believe sometimes that I'm someone's mom!

Obviously this blog will be more baby-centered for awhile. Heck, I can't even workout for several more weeks! But in a few months when I can train again it will turn more back into a triathlon/baby blog :) So after 11 days, this is what I've learned about being a mom:

• The sleep thing is tough. Newborns are supposed to be fed every 2-3 hours, and this 2-3 hours is from the time of the beginning of each feeding. So if you're feeding the baby every 2 hours, maybe you start at 7pm. He eats for 30-45min, and if you're lucky he goes to sleep. If you're not, he's squawky and alert. But wait, you have to feed him again at 9pm! -- 2hrs later. So when exactly do you get sleep?
• I've been feeding Logan on the 3 hour schedule, and pretty much every time at night I have to wake him up to feed - some people have told me to let him sleep, others have said, no he needs to eat a lot. I let him sleep for 4 hours last night before I got up...maybe a little selfishly because that meant I got 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep.
• All told, I get 6-8 hours of sleep, it's just all broken up
• I don't want to make any assumptions, but he seems like a good sleeper right now. He is only 11 days old, and I'm sure this will change over the coming weeks.
• I did get to experience some projectile poop and then a fountain of pee right after yesterday morning. Hi mom!
• I am doing most of the legwork right now since Marty obviously can't breastfeed. I'm not going to wake him up just to change a diaper. There's no reason for both of us to be sleep deprived. But once I can start giving him bottles you'd better believe he'll be doing some nighttime feedings.
• Even though I do a lot right now, I think I have a bit of an advantage since Marty works out of the house for the most part. So if I need to take a shower, I can. I'm not totally chained to the baby like some moms who's husbands have to go somewhere for work.
• Speaking of, I even got out for fro-yo with my girls the other night. Marty took care of squawky baby - he seems to be most disgruntled in the evening. This can last for a short time or several hours. I'm not talking about hours of crying, just hours of wakefulness with bursts of crying and not liking anything we do.
• Also, breastfeeding hurts! I don't care that everything I read online said it's not supposed to, that's a bunch of bs. Probably he didn't have the greatest latch at the beginning which contributed to the problem, but now it's pretty good and it still hurts. A lot of mothers have assured me that after 2-3 weeks it gets better. I'm really hoping it does because I definitely want to continue. Even though it means I get not much sleep and Marty sleeps like a baby (a baby who sleeps through the night, at least). A friend pointed out to me that I must be doing something right if he has several wet diapers a day, he has bunches of wet diapers.
• My weight has literally fallen off. I weighed myself this morning and I'm only 5lbs over my pre-pregnancy weight, and my exercise has consisted of several walks with Logan in the Bob around the lake in our neighborhood. Things are different, though, like my belly although I only have a bit of pooch right now, is super soft, like dough. I can't wait until I can do some core to help that tighten up.
• Tassie is doing fantastic. She hangs out with me when I feed him, seems concerned when he's crying, and gets very excited to see him in the mornings. Like wiggly and want to lick him all over excited. Logan, for his part, doesn't seem to mind.
• I'm getting lots of reading done on the kindle while feeding him. If anyone has awesome books recommendations, send them my way
• I am continually amazed that Marty and I made this little guy!
  

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Baby Makes 3

I know I have been delinquent in getting an update out, but I feel like I have so much to say and it's now overwhelming. It's actually not because I'm sleep deprived and exhausted, just haven't had the mojo to write something. But after some prodding from Marty, (Bri, when are you going to make a blog update) I figured WTH.

Soooooo, quick birth story. If you're interested in the gory details, you can email me - I have no problem talking about it but don't really want it all out here on the world wide web. Sunday afternoon I started having contractions. We went to The Mellow Mushroom for a last supper then came home and watched movies. By about 3am the contractions were extremely painful and my water broke. I got Marty up and we went to the hospital where I immediately ordered an epidural. It took quite awhile for the doctor to get to my room and administer it (a couple of hours) and man those few hours without anything hurt. I don't know why anyone would NOT get one! Because once I was hooked up I was able to sleep for awhile. By 11:30am I was fully dilated and ready to push this baby out. That took a long time (2hrs) and with a little help from a vacuum, Logan Marton Gaal was born at 1:44pm on 12/12/11 weighing in at 7lbs 13oz and measuring 19.5 inches.







Marty and I are figuring things out. Up until Monday, neither of us had changed a diaper! It's been helpful having my mom and sister here - really nice to have others give us advice and help out. Newborns sleep a lot so that part hasn't been so bad. I'm not counting on it lasting forever, though. The hospital was the worst as far as trying to rest! Always someone coming in constantly waking you up to do something or ask some question - it was nice to come home on Wednesday.

I can't do any real working out except for walking for quite some time, which is fine so I can just concentrate on Logan and doing what needs to be done for him. Exciting times ahead for sure!

Our little glow worm:

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Pics and Randomness

I went to dinner with some good friends on Tuesday night. It was a "you can do this Bri" dinner but really just a good excuse for us all to get together. We had a great time with lots of laughs and even ate a traditional New Orleans cake with a baby Jesus tucked inside (thanks Kari). Heather came waltzing in with this poster:




What do you think? Should I hang that up in my hospital room?

Tassie is on the DL.

That would be the disabled list. Not the down low. Marty often lets her go out front with him to retrieve the paper. She never actually retrieves she just stands guard halfway down our driveway. Except on Saturday she spotted a bunny and shot off like a cannon (helped by the fact that our driveway is steep like a ski jump). To get to the bunny she had to navigate between a huge pile of leaves and parked car - when she went to make the extremely tight 90 degree turn at top speed she slid out and ran right into the car. Of course she didn't catch the bunny (she never does regardless of obstacles) but what we didn't realize until she got into the house was that she tore up some of her pads and broke a chunk of nail. Luckily, the pads she tore were on the high part of her leg, not the bottoms of her feet. After putting ointment on it all weekend which she would proceed to lick off, Marty took her to the vet on Monday.

Now she is bandaged up. She wasn't limping until they put the bandage on. Now it's like "oh poor me, look at how sad I am. give me a cookie"


I will say she is such a good, patient dog. I changed her bandage last night while Marty was at a CPR course and she sat their letting me pull and cut and redress and wrap without moving. I did give her a cookie after that.

Last night I was having difficulty sleeping (pregnancy pains) and got hungry so I wandered downstairs to the kitchen to stuff some unhealthy snack into my mouth. While I was munching on 1 or maybe 5 of these:

I noticed a new warning on the package - Please do not eat raw cookie dough

What the what? Isn't that was this is for? Oh, you mean I'm supposed to bake this?!

Then this morning they actually mentioned this on air. The universe is conspiring against me. Raw Cookie Dough Ready to Bake, Not Ready to Eat

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Home Stretch

I'm 10 days out from my due date. Will he come on time? Early? Late? It seems most first time pregnancies are late so I'm not counting on anything until after the 15th (just please not too late Logan!). I have finally started feeling the uncomfortable-ness that a lot of women talk about. For the most part I'm pretty good, but I'm definitely not sleeping as well as I used to and I'm having all sorts of little pains and pressure throughout the day. I have gained around 27lbs so far, and feel like a moose. People tell me I'm not but who is really going to say anything too horrible to someone 9 months pregnant? But I'm ready to be done and not have to lease space to another human in my body anymore :) I know we are in for a ride when he gets here but it will be nice to not be pregnant.

So here I am in all my glory. We've been taking weekly pictures (just a missed a few) with me in the same outfit. I thought that maybe I painted myself into a corner and wouldn't be able to fit into it at the end but it surprisingly does still fit. Even the shirt - I think right now just a bit of my belly peaks out on the bottom if I were to put it all the way down.


And here I am from the front. I think it's weird that you can still sort of see my waist, with what looks like a basketball placed on top.

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Cheering for Florida State

Marty said, "I forgot what you looked like!"

37+ weeks

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November 22

I got to cheer on one of my very best friends from afar while she did her first IM in Arizona. She did awesome finishing in 11:00:03 (her goal was 11 hours so I'd say she nailed it pretty good). Kari and I made her a video and lots of posters since we couldn't be there to cheer her on in person. Kari and I wrote the script and acted in it, Marty filmed, directed and edited, and Jimmy and Bobby also made appearances. I'll just say it - we are hilarious.

Tassie says, "Happy Turkey Day!"


She has lots of toys that she pretty much equally plays with (so that makes them spread all over our house). You may notice 2 other toys in this picture, all ingeniously named. Of course, there's 'turkey', then 'ducky' not too far behind her, and finally a bit of 'santa' in the far back.

Here's a Tassie story from this morning. Marty got up early (story of his life) to go coach Master's and Tassie was up with him. When I get up on days like this, she is usually right outside the door waiting for me. Not today. She was laid up in Logan's room and when I walked in there she didn't even lift her head. She did open her eyes and then very lazily lifted her leg so I could come over and scratch her belly. Spoiled dog.

Things I'm going to miss about being pregnant:

• Feeling him move around and kick. I thought this was going to be super weird and it was at the beginning but now it's just so neat and I know I'm going to miss it. At this point he doesn't have as much room so when he moves you can see his foot (or heel, or whatever) poking out of my stomach.
• Having thick hair. Okay, it's technically not thicker, but when you're pregnant your hair doesn't shed as much (or really at all). I have very fine hair and not a whole lot of it so this has been awesome. What's not going to be awesome is when it does shed after his birth (which it will). Then I'll be bald and overweight...not going to be a good look, that's for sure.
  

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Soooo excited! This weekend we're going to go see the latest Twilight movie - Breaking Dawn Part 1. All of these movies are totally cringe-worthy with the terrible acting but I can't NOT go see it. I absolutely loved the books.

Quote from a review in the NY Times, too funny:

"...as is the unavoidable truth that Mr. Lautner, whose pumped physique and flat affect bring to mind one of those friendly pizza delivery boys in a pornographic movie, remains a dish best served with as few words and clothes as possible."

How can you not want to see a movie as well done as that?

The other movie I can't wait to see (but I'll have to wait until March) is The Hunger Games.

Here's the trailer.

This book was awesome - and it's short for those of you anti-readers (I don't get you, by the way). It's a trilogy and I definitely feel that each book got worse, but it didn't stop me from blowing through all 3.

Pregnancy is still humming along. I'm 36 weeks now and don't feel any signs of early labor. I've heard that on average first pregnancies go 10 days late. Let's hope not as that would put him being born on Christmas. No one wants that, especially the little guy because you know he'll get screwed in the gift department for his entire life.

Total aside, but why does blogger insist on putting all sorts of spaces into my posts? How do I get rid of them? You add one picture and it wants all this blank area between every paragraph, no matter how many times I go in and delete them.

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Marty's 40th Birthday

What better way to spend a birthday then at a Foo Fighters concert? At least, that's what I thought. I imagine if you're not a fan you might think of other things you'd rather do, but for the Gaal's this was an awesome one.

So I'm bringing it WAY back - to the very beginning of me and Marty. When I first met him he had just been to a concert in Orlando with some of his friends; Foo Fighters/Red Hot Chili Peppers (what a concert!). I was super jealous and told him I LOVED Foo. If they were ever touring close we would definitely get tickets.

And they never toured close to where we were until now. The second I heard they would be in Charlotte I knew we had to get tickets. Oh yeah, I would be 8 months pregnant - is that safe? Google and several nurse friends assured me it was no problem. And I did see other pregnant girls at the concert, too.

We had a nice dinner before the shows and made it to the venue for the 2nd opening act (Social Distortion). They played for around 45min before the Foo Fighters came on.

It. Was. Awesome.

Best concert I've ever been to. Dave Grohl is awesome and funny and runs all over the place interacting with fans. They played for almost 3 hours but it went by so quick because it was just that good.

And they ended with Everlong - the song that turned me onto the band back in the late 90's. My phone of course, would never do them justice, but here's a little snippet.

A few pics:

Bobby, Marty, Me, Kelly, Heather, Alex and Kari (hiding my belly on request)

I beat Marty in pool before dinner

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Getting Close!

This week I'll be 35 weeks pregnant! At 37 weeks, you are considered 'full term' although really you want that bun to cook for the full 40 weeks. And that is fine by me. I hear a lot of women start saying, "I'm over it" or "I can't wait until this baby is out" but I'm over here saying "I'm not ready yet!" I almost feel guilty at how good I feel - I've admitted to a few people that there are a few times where I still forget I'm pregnant! A quick glance down at my belly or an internal kick to the ribs quickly gets me out of that mindset.

I haven't run in over a week and a half now, and may be done with that at this point. It's just sort of uncomfortable - lots of pressure and not really all that enjoyable. But I'm still swimming (and yes, still flipturning) and the elliptical feels great. I'm also taking walks which is so low on the exercise level but it sure is nice right now with our cool weather and beautiful fall leaves.



Marty and I both do feel a bit more confident in our overall knowledge at least. I drug him to a 5 week labor and birth course that just finished up this past week. We also went to a breastfeeding class and a newborn basics class. The latter at which I proceeded to rip the first diaper I changed. That cannot bode well for the future.

In other news, Marty's birthday celebration/end of the year triathlon party was a smashing success. LOTS of people came to the Flying Saucer - so many that you could hardly move in the back room that we rented (total fire hazard!). Everyone was dressed up and looking all spiffy - including the man of the hour. After an hour or so we all went out to the main bar where we literally overtook the place (apologies to the regular patrons) so we could see Marty's plate unveiling. There were lots of cheers and and a chant of "Marty! Marty!" throughout and then we finally got to see his personalized plate: It had his name and quote - "One Beer Beyond" Clever, eh?

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Fun with pictures

This past weekend I spectated the Beach 2 Battleship half and full iron distance races. Marty wrote a detailed race report you should check out (you don't get these very often from him). I spent most of my day running around Wrightsville and Wilmington with my good friend Alysia - it's always a good time when we're together. After Marty finished, he grumbled and stumbled around for a short time before we hopped on a boat to get back to downtown Wilmington. We quickly found a lunch spot and I have to estimate that the time from him finishing hunched over with a locked up back and to when this picture was taken couldn't have been more than hour.

We had big plans of dressing up for Halloween and cheering on the rest of the full distance racers but situations beyond our control foiled them. First, the awards ceremony was way later than advertised and by the time we were able to get back into downtown where the car was parked was several hours behind where we thought we would be. Now we really didn't have time to drive back to Wrightsville, shower, change, and get back into downtown. Plus, we were both exhausted. And the kicker - it was FREEZING! So we dressed up last night and took some fun pictures.

We have 22 years of Catholic school between the 2 of us, just FYI :)

Next Tuesday is Marty's 40th birthday, but this Saturday we'll be celebrating at the Flying Saucer with lots of people. Here's a picture of Marty with me and Anna (his sister) at his surprise 30th birthday. We were all babies!

And finally, I frequent several different blogs, some of people I do actually know and have met, and others that I haven't ever met, but feel like I know. Imagine my surprise when I went to Kim Schwabenbauer's blog yesterday only to see quite possibly the most unflattering running picture of myself.

That's Kim on the left looking all relaxed and that's me on the right looking like I'm about ready to crap my pants. Please notice how much of my midriff is showing -- this was not allowed by the NCAA at the time (I have no idea if that's still a rule) but my torso is freakishly long and none of my uniforms ever came down to my bunhuggers. I would have to slouch/hunch at the starting line so the officials wouldn't notice. It's also why people tell me I look relatively small for how many weeks pregnant I am - baby's got a lot of room in there. I guarantee he won't actually be small and am fully expecting at least a 9lb-er.

But I digress - this picture was shot at the Spiked Shoe Invitational my senior year. I have vague recollections of the actual race; I didn't run great but I also didn't run horribly (sort of like my entire collegiate career). What I remember the most is that for some reason we stayed overnight after the race which was not something we typically did (the night before, yes, but we were usually on a flight back home the same day as the race). So me and my friend who was also 21 called a cab from our hotel and went to a bar that night. We ended up at the Rathskeller and had a great time. We didn't exactly sneak out since we just walked out the front door, but we certainly didn't ask anyone if we could go out. I'm sure if we had we would've been met with an emphatic 'NO' Ahhh, college :)

The most frightening thing about the above photo is that it looks like it was a poster or media guide, meaning that picture was on walls or still in storage bins...of course I'm not helping matters by posting it. I promise never to make that face (while running).

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The Fair and Baby Shower

Last Tuesday was our annual trek to the North Carolina State Fair. I went with my intrepid partners in crime, Alysia and Kari. My scorecard included a chocolate covered frozen banana, red velvet funnel cake, a deep fried oreo and pizza. We also played balloon darts and each won a prize and got duped into paying $2 to see a bunch of fake stuffed 'oddities.' We ended the night with the pig races. Another fun year at the fair.



My sisters and momma came into town for my baby shower that they were throwing on Sunday. First though, Shana did another 5K with me. This time in Chapel Hill, where there were some hills (which I walked up. no worries, Marty!) We kicked it into the finish line and posted another PW (personal worst - just under 33 min, eeks!) but had fun nonetheless.

Look at my belly! (32 weeks)



Homestretch




Then I raced over to the pool because Marty put me to work at our last swim clinic of the year. Here's a funny conversation I had with him the day before:

Marty: I'll do the swim drills if you want and you can stand on deck and explain them.
Me: But I like demonstrating the swim drills...I can still do them you know.
Marty: Oh, I know, I just didn't know if you would be self conscious.
Me: (turning this over in my head) Ummm, should I be self conscious?!?!
Marty: (backpedaling) No. No! You look great! I just didn't know if...ummmmm.

I did the swim drills and everyone kept any comments to themselves :)

The next day was my baby shower! Thanks to everyone who came and gave me such awesome gifts. The present that was the envy of all the other mothers was the long onesie that was magnetic (instead of snaps). I think I need to get a few more of those - seems very useful for the nights where we'll be bleary eyed and hand eye coordination could be very low.

We also did a few games. We did the typical 'guess how big the belly is' with some ribbon and everyone was very nice and guessed bigger than I really am. Thanks, guys. Good for the ego :)

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The Internet has it all

Anyone who watched Saturday morning cartoons in the '80s may remember this PSA. I always liked it and would sing along (perhaps this is where my cheese addiction started). I was singing it last night when Marty brought home some yummy cheese from Trader Joe's and I just had to see if I could find the original. Easy enough - you can find anything on the world wide web. Does anyone still call it the world wide web?

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Busy Weekends

Our next few weekends are going to be jam packed. This weekend we're heading to Wrightsville Beach - me by way of car and Marty by way of bike. Marty is riding down there with one of my very best friends all day today and me and her husband will meet them in downtown Wilmington before heading to a beach house on Wrightsville where a few of our other friends will be. Tomorrow they're all going to the Wrightsville beer festival while Alysia and I hit the day spa. Should be a great weekend.

Next weekend is my baby shower! (and a swim clinic)

The following is B2B - looking forward to cheering on lots of friends and athletes and then dressing up for halloween in the evening to continue cheering on the full participants. I'm going to be a pregnant Catholic school girl and Marty is going to be a priest. Don't worry, pictures will be posted :)

THEN the following weekend is when we celebrate Marty's BIG 4-0 birthday. We've rented out the back room of The Flying Saucer and it also coincides with Marty's plate unveiling. Once you drink 200 different beers you get your own personalized 'saucer' on their wall. This has taken him 5 years and lots of $$ ;)

The following Tuesday we're going to Charlotte to see the Foo Fighters, my #2 all time favorite band (The Beatles are #1). I've never seen them in concert and can't wait. Baby's first concert should be a good one.

Speaking of baby, we've had 2 of 5 labor and birthing classes. They've been really informative and interesting so far, and I'm definitely glad we signed up for them.

Yesterday we went in for another 3D/4D ultrasound session since a local place was running a Fall special and we wanted to get a movie. We got some more cute shots of Logan, but he was totally burrowed up in my right side (which is where he always is). She said that when he gets bigger, which is pretty much the rest of the pregnancy, I'm probably going to be pretty uncomfortable since he likes to stay all tucked up in this one spot. It's also why whenever I lay on my right side he gets all punchy (because I'm squishing his area). The other thing she said is that way his face and skin folds are looking he probably weighs around 3.5lbs. I just don't think there is anyway around him not being a big baby. But I guess it's good because big baby's tend to sleep more.

I would post a photo but I don't have any with me, so maybe in another blog post.

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Observations

I’ve read other people’s blogs who are athletes and pregnant (or were pregnant, sometimes I go back and re-read their blogs while they were pregnant since now it’s more interesting and relevant to me) and there’s such a wealth of information out there. I feel like I’ve sort of glossed over a lot because I guess I assume people just aren’t that interested. This has always been more of a triathlon blog, and I’ve never had a ton of commenters but when I do it’s always race related or something of that sort. Now my blogs don’t get many comments at all which I can only assume means that the general reader frankly just doesn’t care.

Which is totally okay! I don’t expect people to care about the almost 7 months I’ve been carrying around this life-sucking force within my body.

I kid :)

But anyways, I decided to make some of my own observations about pregnancy thus far.

Everyone asks, “how are you feeling?” I supposed this is the go to question for pregnant people. It is tough to know how to answer this. Typically I say, “yeah, I feel pretty good” and then depending on who the person is I may add, “fat and slow, but other than that, I guess okay?” I know I’m not fat, I’m pregnant, but this doesn’t stop me from feeling like I’m fat. Slow, is another story. Case in point:

Heidi and I have been swimming in the same lane together pretty much ever since we started the Master’s program here. We’ve both gotten faster since the beginning, but our trajectories have been along the same path. Unless there was a specific reason or we had a new person show up in our lane, I would almost always lead (Parrish used to be the other piece to our “not former collegiate swimmers but better than most triathlete swimmers lane triumvirate”, but he has disappeared. Under the covers apparently. He has been showing up only on our holiday practices that start later). Anyways, I still swim in Heidi’s lane, but so much slower. Yesterday, we were doing 400’s pull. And she lapped me before I got to 300 yards. So the next round I made it my goal to not get lapped before she finished. It about killed me, but I touched the wall at 350 yards before she touched for her 400. Then the next one I was stick a fork in me done and I think she caught me at 200 yards.

Humbling.

And I don’t feel more buoyant, no matter what people say. I feel like I have a lead weight on my belly dragging me down. Yesterday, the flip turns started feeling not that great. You try and scrunch up in a ball when you have a belly that is rock hard and sticks out 20 times further than you’re used to. Yeah, not the best feeling. So I decided that maybe I need to stop doing flip turns. The thing is, I learned how to do flip turns when I was 8 and have always done them, so now trying to stop doing them is much harder than it sounds. I would say about 80% of the time I would forget and be half way around and think, “Ah! Belly in the way! Dammit.”

Also, let’s talk about weight. A local triathlete said to me a few months ago at a race, “Oh, my wife only put on 14lbs when she was pregnant.” Okay clueless men – file this under “Things You NEVER EVER say to a pregnant women.” First off, what the heck am I supposed to say to this? Uh, good for her and by the way that is not very healthy? I’m at 30 weeks and have put on that much weight. And no I’m not eating for two. I sort of think that’s BS. I’m eating pretty much what I normally did pre-pregnancy, just with less intense exercise. I may be eating a few more desserts, but anyone who knows me knows I have a gargantuan sweet tooth. It’s hereditary and totally not my fault. Anyways, when you’re pregnant, your body is preparing itself to sustain this entire other life and it needs this extra weight and will hang onto it as necessary. So go ahead and take those 14lbs and $%(*^*($)@$(**%(@!

I’m still quasi running/jogging/walking. I’m a shuffler for sure and I don’t go very fast but I still love being out there and will continue to be out there even if it means I need to walk more than jog. The weather is absolutely gorgeous right now and there’s no way I’m not going outside to enjoy it. Pretty much it seems that if I go for a run, I can count on some hip/pelvic discomfort afterwards, so I don’t run two days in a row anymore. On Sunday I felt awesome and made it to the bathroom (oh how landmarks change when you’re pregnant) faster than I have in a long time, without any heartrate walk breaks! Then on the way back though even though I still felt great my HR was skyrocketing up the hills. I ignored it for awhile until I saw a number that I thought was way past the line and power walked for a bit. Monday at our group run I just went for a walk while the others ran from station to station. At least the stations slowed them down so I could chat with people.

In a few weeks I’m having my baby shower which I’m looking forward to. We still need a lot of stuff for the little guy so hopefully most of it gets taken care of at the shower. Both my sisters and my mom will be in town for it, prompting me to tell Marty he may want to find different accommodations. Anyone want to put up a cute guy for a few days in a couple of weeks? He is funny and smart, does not snore (much) and doesn’t talk in the mornings until at least 1 cup of coffee has been thrown down his gullet.

Other things: Now that fall is upon us (fingers crossed, anyways) I have approximately 5 work shirts and 4 pairs of pants that need to get me through the rest of this pregnancy. I hope people start giving me a little leeway (yes, it’s Tuesday, that means its green sweater day!) Luckily, I still fit into most running shorts and tights. I’ve been able to use Marty’s shirts which tend to be longer, but even those are running low.

I have not been on my bike in weeks. Completely due to my own lack of motivation - riding outside isn't happening anymore because too much risk of falling because of being imbalanced and the trainer is plain boring. Honestly, out of the 3 sports in triathlon, in order of love for me they go: running (by a long shot), then swimming, then biking. I definitely have to have a race goal to keep me on the bike.

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Another 6 Weeks

I am feeling sort of huge. 29 weeks. About 2.5 months to go - YIKES!


For a refresher, here I am at 17 and 23 weeks.

I just can't imagine still having 11 weeks to go and how it will look like then.

You may notice the background looks a bit different. The baby room is slowly but surely coming together. You may also notice that my tank top has shrunk. Okay, it didn't really but I don't think I can wear that one in the picture 6 weeks from now.

I did get to hang with my besties this past Saturday.


Why so glum, dude in background?

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Random Thoughts

We went to Wilmington last weekend for the Wilmington YMCA triathlon. This was probably the first time I felt a little sad about being on the sidelines this year. The weather was nice and the last time I was here I won and had a solid day. It's hard to think about running that fast in my current state now. Everyone says, "oh you'll get back there" but from where I'm standing it seems so far out of reach. Anyways, Tassie and I watched and cheered and she got all sorts of attention (as per usual) which she looooooooved.

We stayed overnight and watched FSU almost pull out the W over Oklahoma (who didn't look like a #1 team in my opinion). The next morning we ran a swim clinic. We did the first half at Wrightsville Beach where the waves and current were fun. The water temp was probably mid 70's, but the air was a bit chillier so most opted for a wetsuit. It took some squeezing, but I still sort of fit into mine. Marty took a picture since I looked pretty funny in it.

Everything seems to be going smoothly as far as pregnancy is going. Of course, I have nothing to compare it to, but when I go to the Dr's and they ask if I'm having any trouble I can't really come up with anything. I'm sleeping pretty good (getting up to go to the bathroom a lot, but not too much more than normal), my back isn't hurting yet, my weight seems right on (and it looks like I WON'T pass Marty!)...and I passed the glucose test! I was worried since my mom had gestational diabetes and my score was pretty borderline but they said I just squeaked by. Phew.

He is very active in there. I didn't feel him until around 21 weeks or so but he has more than made up for it now. At first it just sort of feels like when your food is digesting, then it is more definite movement and bumping, and now I swear I can feel actual appendages. This morning before I went into work Marty was talking to my belly, "Have a good day in there, Logan!" to which I added, "Yeah, have fun punching mommy all day!"

Last night we had another open water swim practice at Jordan Lake. We've run several of these throughout the summer and have had a lot of fun. After most, people will hop on their bikes for a short time trial but the light is fading so we're probably done with that now. The water temp was around 77 so no need for a wetsuit but you better believe I whined like a little baby getting in. It was fine, though :) I swam some, cut the buoys when necessary, and took a break on the paddle board when I wanted.

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A few pics

My sister-in-law, Anna took some pictures at the beach one evening this past weekend.

Marty loves touching and talking to my belly

He also likes to lick me

Me, Marty, Anna, Jamie, Tim, Marton, and little Cate in the front

Anna's funny caption for this: "What are you running from? PARENTHOOD!"

Yesterday we had a 3D ultrasound at the Dr's office. Logan didn't cooperate very much having his arms and hands in front of his face and then totally turning away from the camera no matter how much the technician tried to get him to move. We still got a few shots of face and a good future embarrassing one of him from below. We had to go in for an ultrasound anyways to check on some abnormality that came up earlier in the pregnancy but it had resolved itself (as we were told it would, but they still feel the need to freak you out for a little bit). So luckily we didn't actually have to pay the full price of the 3D scan which can be pretty expensive.

He's measuring at the 65th percentile for weight which is relief for me at this point even though I'm pretty sure those things aren't super accurate. The relief is because I was giant fat baby (10lbs 14oz) and fear he will follow in my footsteps. So I'm hoping that he comes out closer to normal than sumo-baby.

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Annual Florida Vacation

This weekend is our annual 'Marty's Dad's Birthday Family Reunion.' This year we are at the Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast. First though, we made a stop in Jacksonville on Friday night to hang with my sister and bro-in-law (they would also be dog sitting our princess). We had a nice dinner with them, before dining on Publix cupcakes that my sister bought since she knows they're my favorite. I am spoiled :)

Saturday morning found us all at San Marco for a local 5K. My sister promised to 'run' with me but I don't think she quite believed how slow I go right now or how much I walk to keep the heart rate at a manageable level. Where to keep your HR while pregnant is always up for debate and it varies depending on who you talk to. My doctors have said that if I feel good then the baby is fine and not to worry about it too much. Although I doubt they know how hard I can push myself. I have read that others say you shouldn't go over 140 and then others say they never looked at their HR. I'm taking more of a middle ground. My best friend from college who is a doctor told me that when my HR gets too high it basically means that blood is not flowing as well to the baby -- this just doesn't seem worth it to me. So I set my HR monitor at 150 and see how I feel and walk when necessary. Sometimes I hit 150 early (I know, so crazy), but feel fine so keep on jogging. Other times I can tell I'm really winded. So I basically go by feel and use it as a loose guide. I've always been good about reading my body and this is no different.

ANYWAYS.

Shana jog/walked with me the entire way and we finished in a blazing time of 32 minutes. This is a personal worst for me (PW!) But my sister-in-law pointed out that I should be able to divide that time in two since there are two of us running :) I like that. That also means I beat Marty who ran a sub 19 out there (humid, but flat - not something we get often in our area). Marty was 2nd male and 3rd overall, getting beat by one woman. But when my sister was ribbing him for it, I told her he was used to that anyways ;)

I bought a cute t-shirt to wear for the race:

(I'm 6 months pregnant here. The countdown is on!)



After the race and a great breakfast courtesy of Shana and Scott, we drove the additional 1.5hrs down to Palm Coast to meet up with Marty's side of the family. So far we've had a lot of fun hanging out with our cute nieces and enjoying the awesome accommodations here. More on tap today before we drive back to NC tomorrow.

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Jury Duty

Yesterday, I had to go to the Wake County court house for a jury summons. I've never been summonsed before and although I know this is our civic duty, I was really hoping not to get picked for a jury. I even asked my dad (an attorney) the best ways to avoid being picked. After a tiny lecture from him that I shouldn't want to get out of the service, he gave me his best tips.

Made it to the courthouse with the rest of the general population - which I would normally think means weirdo's, but actually everyone was very professional looking. They recommended that you dress 'business casual' and I would say that out of the 150+ people only a couple were even wearing jeans. I guess this is a big departure from the attire in Orlando according to my friend who had to attend a few jury summons down there.

I had a book (Mary Roach's Packing for Mars, so far excellent) and my phone which is a good distraction, but it's just so boring to sit in an uncomfortable chair for so long. Finally after over 3 hours, a lady came in and said that all the civil cases had been settled, so she was going to need to draw 40 names. I was one of the 40 names and thought, ugh! I never get picked for raffles at races but of course I get picked here. Then when she got done reading the 40th name she said, "Okay, you all can go home!"

Little trickster! Ha! So I hightailed it out of there and will still get my $12 check in the mail. Thank you, Wake County.

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Earthquakes, Hurricanes and The Nuclear Swim

Yup, I felt the earthquake last Tuesday. I didn't realize what it was because right above my office they've been doing construction on a lab for the past 3 months. Then when I found out it was an earthquake I wanted a re-do! Really, it just felt like some slight vibrations. Marty felt it - he was just lying down for a quick nap and thought that Tassie and her friend Mocha were going crazy downstairs.



We got a lot of rain from the hurricane and it was a bit gusty throughout most of the day, but overall it was just sort of a really crappy day out. I got lots done around the house - reorganized the kitchen, folded 3 loads of laundry, took apart the guest room bed and put together the crib. The baby's room is...I wouldn't totally say coming along since it's full of bags and random crap. But the crib definitely helps when describing it as a baby room.



Marty is also dealing with a bit of this:





But he is putting up with me like a champ.



And finally, we had our last open water swim on Sunday. Because of the massive amount of rain we got on Saturday the water temperature dipped down to 77 degrees! This race is notoriously hot but we got lucky this year (Thanks, Irene?). There were a few Miss Cleo's out there who actually brought their wetsuits, but the rest of us enjoyed the great water temperature. My age group ended up being the most competitive of the day and I didn't get an award...but the perks of being married to the race director is I got one of the leftovers :)



I didn't swim horrible, looking at the results I was probably 2min slower then where I would be normally, but I still came out with a respectable finish and even sprinted the last 100 yards since 2 girls were right with me. Bet they didn't realize preggo was giving them the smackdown! That sprint hurt since I'm barely swimming twice a week and doing nothing hard at all.



But it's nice to be able to still 'race.' I think it helps a bit with my inherent competitiveness (is that a word?). I've said before I really haven't missed racing this year, and I still don't, but being able to get out there with others and do events like this obviously helps and maybe I wouldn't be saying I didn't miss it if these weren't here. I think in the long run it's probably going to be a good thing for my body to have this extended downtime. I have no idea if I'll ever come back to where I was but it's cool. I'm looking forward to this new phase of our life - it will be challenging and hard and rewarding...huh, kind of like racing :)

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So Clever!

One of our athletes gave us this at swim practice.

I love how it looks like instead of breaking the tape, toilet paper is coming out of his diaper :)

For comparison, here is the real logo:

We had a quick trip to O-town this past weekend. We got to hang out with our cute nieces and family. Anna hooked me up with some baby essentials, including a baby Bjorn which Marty is psyched about. Thanks, Anna!!

Saturday morning we went to Wekiva State Park which has trails (very hard to find in Florida) and an awesome spring fed swimming hole. It's a constant 72 degrees - what a great place to have when wanting to do some open water swims in the winter! A lot of triathletes were out doing swim/run bricks of some sort. I did a 45min jog/walk and then took a quick dip around the perimeter a few times. It was so pretty - so clear and you could go over big rocks that had crevices deep down where the springs came up and created a bit of a current.

Saturday evening I watched the Margarita Mile with some other hecklers. I was supposed to be timing Marty in the fast heat, but I got so excited about a possible record breaking run that I accidentally stopped my watch on the first place guy...oops! Dan's record is safe though, and will live to see another year. I have the girls record - both of us realizing that these were our only running records still standing.

Then we hung out with the crew in downtown - late night for us. I did feel a bit silly walking around with my preggo belly in downtown Orlando while every other girl was half naked.

6 weeks later

That title sort of sounds like a zombie movie. Anywho, today at work someone who I hadn't seen since mid May pointed at my belly and said, "Are you...???" She's the first one to outright ask! Yay! I have moved from the "huh, Bri has put on a bit of weight" to "yup, she's pregnant." I know it's a touchy subject and one that most know not to ask (never ask a woman if she's pregnant) but I was happy that she asked me.



I thought it would be fun to recreate the picture I took at 17 weeks, where I'm now 23+ weeks.



Here was the previous:



17 weeks





And here is today:



23+ weeks





Tassie heard a noise that scared her and she wouldn't move.

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