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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