Good to your "self" - Week Three: Embrace

Well, we are three weeks into this body series Be Good to Your "Self" project, where we are talking about what we love or appreciate about ourselves. The first week was Engage, where we talked about our best facial feature, the second week was Enjoy, where we talked about our best body feature. This week is along the theme of acceptance and appreciation, but it's about the thing we are pushing against, our flaws.

I know, how can talking about flaws be positive? Well, it's all about perspective. We can talk about positive things in negative ways and make the whole conversation negative, it's all about structure and wording. I have flaws, just like everyone else. I see them every time I look in the mirror. I know exactly where they are and my eyes go to that point every time I go in front of the mirror. It's like my sub-conscious is keeping tabs on them to make sure I'm reminded. "Is it still there? Oh yep, right where it was before." Yes, they are still there but you know what happens? I leave my place in front of the mirror and get on with my life.

Yes, life still goes on even though I have flaws and everyone can see them! I'll wait and let you process that for a second, go ahead, I'm patient.

Bumpdate: 39 Weeks, the finale!

Wait, did I just say finale? I'm only 39 weeks, what happened to waiting until 40 weeks and beyond? Well...there is a story about that.

If you remember during my 38 week bumpdate I had mentioned that the baby had flipped breech on me. Well during my time with the doctor we agreed that we were going to do an external version to get the pumpkin turned back around in my belly. The procedure basically includes the doctor getting their hands and arms and my belly lubed up and they, using all their upper body strength, try to turn the baby around in my belly from the outside. Sounds like fun, right?

So Monday morning hubby and I headed to the hospital and got checked in for the version. Checked the baby on the NST and ultrasound, everything looked great. Doctor came in did some final checks and lubed my belly up. The movements were slow and graduated and hurt like a bitch! I'm sorry, I don't swear here very often, but damn, this was no walk in the park! She tried both directions to get him turned around and each direction she tried he would begin to move, then he would hit a pocket of fluid and slip right out from under her grip. I could feel it every time and every time it happened my heart sank a little bit lower.

Bumpdate: 38 Weeks

38 weeks...wow, I saw this week as a far off goal. I always felt like there was plenty of time to get stuff taken care of and organized. No need to rush and stress about putting the nursery together. It will all get taken care of in time for the babies arrival. Right?

Bumpdate: 37 Weeks

Ho-lee cow! 37 weeks? When did that happen? Thank you holidays for making time go that much faster. Guess who's behind the 8-ball with baby prep? This girl!

Speaking of the holidays, look at how lame I have been over the past couple of weeks!?! Not one post, not one update, my apologies. It's been so crazy! Between the holidays and my sister having her baby last weekend, we've been running in circles getting things done!

Oh yeah...I'm an auntie!!! My sister was induced on Friday and, after two long days of laboring, gave birth to a BEAUTIFUL baby girl on Sunday night. 7lbs, 12oz, 21 inches long. Her name is Aurelia, such a beautiful name and totally fits her. She is so perfect. 10 fingers, 10 toes and a pair of steel lungs! Whew...that girl can belt a good cry. I'm totally smitten with her, she is just so freaking adorable. I can't wait to get baby clothes for her, oh geez...Auntie is going to spoil this girl!

Today is my bumpdate and the theme is Discomfort Town! Woohoo! Or rather, ugh. Last night was an eventful night for me that has left me nothing but uncomfortable. Had my usual NST and ultrasound and everything looked good.

10 Days of Compression and Christmas Eve!

Hello all and Merry Christmas Eve! It's the day before Christmas and I'm at work, per usual. It's pretty empty here, lots of people with their families getting ready for the big day tomorrow. It doesn't bother me too much to be here today since I will be getting out a bit earlier today than normal, thank you to the CEO!

The extra time at home will give me a couple of hours to do some food prep for tomorrow mornings festivities. My sister and I usually take care of breakfast and pastries for Christmas morning, while my parents take care of dinner. On the menu this year is homemade cinnamon rolls (with and without pecans), two different quiches, fruit salad and mimosas. Well, no mimosas for my sister and I. :(  It will be a nice day where we get together early (7:30am, GASP!) have pastries and coffee and wake up a bit. Then we open presents and have breakfast. We then spend the rest of the day watching Christmas movies and putting together a puzzle, have an early dinner and play board games into the night. It really is a fun day and the last one we'll have with just us, next year we will have kiddos in the mix which will change the dynamic of this day going forward.

Today is also the final day of my 10 Days of Compression! Let's have a quick recap of the previous entries!

Momentum Monday and Days of Compression

T'was the Monday before Christmas and the house is a mess. The presents are all wrapped and under the tree, thank goodness! I'm so glad that I don't have to brave the stores for any last minute gifts and I am saying a prayer of peace and sanity for all those of you that will be braving the crowds today and tomorrow. I've got two more days of work until the holiday and then I'm off until after the New Year, WOOHOO!!! I am spending the time off after the holiday to be available just in case my sister goes into labor, she is due January 2nd! SO EXCITING!!!!
 
This year is going to be one of great change for the whole family and I can't wait to see every new moment that comes along. It all just makes me nervous about how I'm going to handle everything with all these new challenges. So when I saw today's Momentum Monday quote, I knew I had to use it.

Day 5 of Compression and "The Jam" Thursday

Happy Thursday everyone! Hope you all are having a great week so far, only one more day until the weekend! Woo hoo! But news flash! It is only 6 more days until Christmas!!!

ACK!!!

I still have two more presents to buy and stocking stuffers! Oye!! When will I find the time? Maybe tomorrow. I hope tomorrow.

Today is Day 5 of my 10 Days of Compression and I am featuring one of the first pairs of Pro Compression marathon socks I ever owned. The Marathon Pink!

Bumpdate: 34 Weeks and Day 4 of Compression!

As the weeks creep by, or rather FLY by with the holidays upon us, I am increasingly aware that there will be a new person in my life. A little addition to our family. Family. Not a couple anymore, but a family. Gives me pause every now and then thinking about that.

Then I remember that there will be many sleepless nights and diaper changes and feedings and crying (both baby and mommy!). Stress and sleep deprivation and anxiety and frustration and confusion will abound I am sure for many months (if not years) to come.

At the same time though I think about all the little highlights that I will watch and be apart of, walking, talking, playing with other children, learning, asking questions, growing and becoming a person like you and me. It's amazing to sit back and think about it all. Marvel at the cycle of life and all the unexplained nuiances that happen. It's just crazy.

Today is my 34 week bumpdate and my weekly picture.

10 Days of Compression: Day 3

To follow along with my post yesterday, I am sharing Day 3 of my 10 Days of Compression!

Today is the holiday luncheon at work and I was feeling in the Christmas festive mood. Today's pair of compression socks is Marathon Red!

Momentum Monday: Under (com)pression

It's Monday and 9 days until Christmas. I can't believe I just typed that, 9 days away from Christmas! Single digits people, SINGLE DIGITS!! Where has the time gone? I blame Thanksgiving being a week later this year for the sudden arrival of Christmas. We have had our tree up for over a week now, but it's still not decorated. It's got lights on it, but no decorations. Sad sight indeed. I need to remedy that today.

Along with the pressures and expectations of the quickly coming holiday, there are the changes that my body is going through for the last few weeks of my pregnancy. I am officially 34 weeks today, meaning there is only 6 more weeks until the baby is anticipated to arrive and that is just crazy talk, I tell ya! Along with the consistent movement of the pumpkin and new types of discomfort, I am now starting to experience swelling.

Oh yay.

As if I don't already feel uncomfortable in my own skin, my body has now decided to start retaining water with the main collection area being my legs, ankles and feet. Typical right? Most women that I have talked to have complained of  swollen ankles and feet through the latter part of their pregnancy. Mine becomes especially prominent due to the fact that I stand at work, so my feet and ankles definitely take a beating. So how do I combat this issue?

Compression socks!

Not just any compressions socks, but Pro Compression. I have been using these socks for over a year now for my running and recovery and they are the only compression socks that I will wear. I've tried Zensah and CEP and neither of those brands provide the same type of support and comfort as I've received from Pro Compression. Starting yesterday I've started to wear my compression socks on a more regular basis to help bring down the swelling in my legs, ankles and feet and increase the circulation that is needed for those parts.

So my Momentum Monday today is to do a lead up to Christmas with 10 Days of Compression!

Bumpdate: 33 Weeks

It's Wednesday and time for another bumpdate! It's been fun keeping track of what the pumpkin is doing and seeing the progress that is being made. Not to mention my expanding belly, oof!

This past week since my last update has been quite eventful to say the least. On Wednesday I had actually won an entry to my raceversary race, Seattle Jingle Bell Run/Walk on Sunday thanks to the drawing done by the local website Gametiime. I was so thrilled that I was able to participate in this race, but wasn't sure how I would do since I haven't run in weeks and my belly has really become pronounced and uncomfortable at times. I won't talk too much about it because I have a race recap to write, but all I can say is that it felt AMAZING to run, even for a little bit.

Bumpdate: 32 Weeks

It's Wednesday and time for a bit of a bumpdate! Last week was so crazy with the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday that I got little...well, actually no blogging done. Work was insane and life at home was just as crazy prepping for that whole weekend.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, how was yours? Mine was great. Got to hang with the family, eat some delicious food, have some great belly laughs and watch football. Then that night my sister and I stayed at my parents house because the next morning we, along with my mother, went out and did some Black Friday Shopping! The crowds were noticably smaller due to the stores being open the night before, so lines were MUCH shorter and there just wasn't as many people, it was quite nice!

However later that day I got sick, I have no idea what it was but I was just down for the count. Completely exhausted and weak. It lasted three days, so my long weekend where I was going to tackle the baby's room organization and getting things set up all went down the drain. I couldn't do much but spend time on the couch, getting dressed was a chore and exhausted me. I'm better now, not 100%, but definitely better!

Well I'm at 32 weeks now which means I am making more frequent trips to the doctor, yay or something. Here is my pic from this morning.

Bumpdate: 30 weeks

This week marks 30 weeks into the pregnancy, only 10 more weeks to go.

Wait...did I just type that out? Only 10 more weeks until the lil pumpkin is out of me and introduced to the world! Oh boy...panic is starting to set in now. Am I ready? Is anyone ever really ready though? Probably not, but it's coming whether I'm ready or not!

Bumpdate: 29 Weeks

So this morning while I was getting ready for work, I came up with the idea of giving an update on my pregnancy once a week on Wednesday, hump day. Yeah, not so original, I know but I thought it was kinda funny, humor me here. I'm not training for any running races, but I am training for another event in my life, parenthood. Now THAT'S what I call a marathon! :)

So Wednesdays for the next 2 1/2 months will be Bumpdates, where I will share information about how my pregnancy is going and open for discussion topics or issues I'm encountering.

I wanted to thank everyone for reading and commenting about my GD story, it was heartwarming and I'm thankful for all the support! It is something I deal/struggle with everyday and is no doubt shaping how my pregnancy goes!

Even though I have GD, it doesn't prevent me from having a treat now and again. It is not a bad thing to have the treats you want, you just have to have things in moderation. Today...I needed coffee in the worst way.

Okay, let me address this now as I know I get lots of questions about this. Yes, I have coffee during my pregnancy. It is advised that you not go over 200mg of caffeine a day during pregnancy. I used to drink large drip coffees which would have upwards of 300mg of caffeine, if I drank the whole thing. Now that I'm pregnant, I have decaf americanos, which have two shots of decaf espresso at a whopping 8mg of caffeine each for a total of 16mg of caffeine per cup. WAY under the limit that is advised and I get to enjoy a decent cup of coffee and get a bit of a caffeine fix. It's not much, but because I haven't had much caffeine over the past 7 months, a little goes a long way!

Dreaming of Wining and Dining

I wanted to start first off saying thank you to all that came by yesterday and read my blog post about my GD. It was a tough one to write but I felt that I wouldn't be honest on here if I didn't talk about that and how it affects my daily life. So thank you for all the kind words of encouragement and for people who shared their stories, it meant a lot to me.

On more upbeat news, the social sphere I'm a part of is swirling like CRAZY with talk about the runDisney Wine and Dine Half Marathon weekend coming up this weekend. I have wanted to be a part of this race weekend for the past two years and both years I've been sitting at home reading the posts, looking at the pictures and reading the blog updates on how much fun everyone is having. It literally is "the runner's night out", it looks like SO MUCH fun is had the whole weekend.

Gestational Diabetes: My Story

I think I've probably written this post a thousand times in my head before I even had the ability to sit down and type it out. I didn't want it to be something that is self-serving or trying to evoke any type of sympathy from those who read it, but that is unavoidable when you blog publicly about your life. I feel very vulnerable talking about this situation in my life, but it is one that I feel I need to let go of and "exercise the demons", so to say.

My story begins a lot sooner than most when people talk about being diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes, or GD for short. I was at my normal check up with the Midwifery clinic when we went over my blood draw results from my intake appointment a month earlier. Everything looked good and normal, however my blood glucose level was on the borderline of the pre-diabetes threshold. The Midwife knew that both my mother and father were Type-2 diabetic, so she ordered the two hour glucose test for me, just to make sure that everything was going alright. If I passed they wouldn't test me again until my 3rd trimester.

Alright...sweet, awesome. Yeah, I was not looking forward to this.

Momentum Monday: Back at it

Hello and welcome to Monday! Here we are again at the beginning of another week. The weekend went too quickly, as it usually does, especially when you had a packed schedule like I did! Two birthday parties, football games to watch, family to hang out with, grocery shopping to do, get my haircut and...finally get out for a run!

Yes...you read that right, I'm back in the saddle again. And boy was it not pretty.

I got together with my friend Danielle on Saturday morning, the rain had finally stopped and it was chilly. We were out for 3 or 4 miles, depending on how we felt. The first mile was BRUTAL. My body was saying "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?!?!?! I DON'T WANT TO!!!"

It was the hardest mile I have run in a long time. My body mechanics were all off, my breathing was atrocious and I just wanted to stop. By the time we got to 1.5 miles, our turn around point for 3 miles, things were getting better and we both agreed to keep going to mile 2 for the turnaround, we were going for 4 today.

We turned at 2 and both of us were back into our strides. I was feeling better. My form was coming back and my body was finally grooving with me. It's as if it finally remembered "oh yeah, I've done this before, this isn't so bad!" 

The last 1.5 miles went by quick, before we both knew it, we were only .5 miles from our cars. Then the abdominal cramping started. That stopped me cold. We walked a bit and ran the last .2 miles back to our cars. By that time the cramping had subsided, but I was still very conscious of it as this was my first run back with my bigger baby belly, so I didn't want to overdo it. Safety first!

When we got back to the cars and stretched, I looked at my Garmin for the time and was not really happy with it. An hour...for 4 miles. Ugh...I knew I felt like molasses, but I didn't realize that I was actually running like molasses. But I kept thinking to myself that it's my first run back in 3 weeks and I didn't do too bad considering I'm 25 weeks pregnant. I'm not out to break any records or try to best my own time, I'm out for exercise and the enjoyment of running, regardless of how fast or slow I'm going. So when I saw this quote, I wanted to use it for my Momentum today, because I really needed it.

I have to remind myself that getting out there and running, no matter how slow or fast I'm going, is better than sitting on the couch and not running at all. It is infinitely better for my health and well-being to be out there, pounding the pavement and getting some sort of mileage in. Even if it's for the fresh air alone, it is great for my body and soul.

It was great to get out there and I can't wait to get out there to run again. It felt so good and I want to run for as long as my body can phyically can handle it. After that, I'll walk. I just know that I don't want to take this long of a hiatus again from being physical, some of that time I couldn't help, but there was at least a week that I could have been out there. I'm excited to be back at it again and have even considered running a race for fun.  Nothing big, just a 5k. Am I crazy? Maybe...but damn am I loving these endorphines!

Now it's your turn: How is your running going? Have you had a return from a hiatus that felt good or bad?

"The Jam" Thursday

Wow. It's Thursday already? How did that happen? This week has been coo-coo-ca-choo crazy for me and all the days seem to be like a blur to me. Now I find myself at Thursday and realize that I have two birthday parties for small girls this weekend and I have NO idea what to get them. I'm thinking some cute clothes, but I have no clue what size they are. Is there a chart online that says if they are this age they would be this size in clothing? There probably is, I've gotta take a look.

Anyway. It's Thursday and I've been buried by work and appointments all week (see: house is a mess and all I want to do is sleep). Ugh. I'm also going running this weekend, FINALLY! It's been forever it seems since I've been running and I can't wait to get out there. I'm really curious how the preggo belly is going to handle running now, considering it has REALLY popped since the last time I went running. It's gonna be nice and easy and not too far, I'm just excited to get back out there and get some mileage under my belt.

So I've been feeling like my life is a bit out of control lately, like I don't have control over things that are happening to me and especially what is going on with my body. More on that later. I just feel like I am a spectator in my own life and not really running my life and that disconnect has really disturbed me. I need to take more control over things I can do and try to not sweat the stuff that is out of my control (growing a baby is hard and hard on your body, that's the secret they don't tell you in all those books!). So when I heard the lyrics of the "jam" today, I was thinking it would be a good one to post.

Bump Update: Gender Reveal!

So if you read this blog with any sort of frequency you'll know that I've been missing the past couple of days. No Monday post, which is a weekly occurrance and no Tuesday race recap about the Disneyland race weekend.

I apologize, profusely.

This is a lame excuse, but life has been getting in the way. I am SWAMPED at work (read: working while eating lunch, no breaks and still have tons of work that I haven't gotten to) and I've been taking care of a sick hubby while trying not to get sick myself, because well, being pregnant means that you can't take any cold/flu medicine. So if I get sick, I'm sick for the long haul!

Needless to say, I've had my hands full and have little time left to do much else. I'm exhausted by the end of the day and can do little more than relax on the couch and try to turn my brain off before I go to sleep.

Sleep...oh sleep, how elusive you are becoming. You know, I did read that sleep became more difficult as you progressed in your pregnancy. The growing belly, indigestion, etc would keep you up at night. How about....just not being able to sleep? Sigh...that is my curse right now. I am sacked out, fall asleep hard when I go to bed. Then almost like clockwork, at 1:30am I wake up and I'm WIDE awake. Staring at the ceiling, tossing and turning, watching the minutes tick by with burning fury in my eyes kind of not sleeping. Le sigh... I asked my OB about it and she said that unfortunately it is completely normal and that I should try what I can to get myself back to sleep. HA! Easier said than done!

Momentum Monday: A gift

Hello Monday, here we are again. The beginning to another week and already looking forward to the weekend. HA! This weekend was quite busy for me and also a good one for our local sports teams! The Seattle Sounders won on Friday, my alma mater the University of Washington Huskies beat Illinois on Saturday and the Seahawks beat the 49ers on Sunday. So lots of sports for me this weekend, I was loving it! 

It was also another big weekend for me because I ran for the first time since the Disneyland half. Yes, if you are keeping track at home, that is a two week hiatus. At first I was just physically tired and drained from that weekend and wanted to rest my legs. Then after that, the ball of my left foot was bothering me quite a bit, to the point it hurt to walk or even stand on it. However, that mysteriously went away and my foot feels back to normal again. So I figured, what the hell, I'll go out for a run and see how long I can go.

About a mile into my run, I was hating life. Everything was so out of sync I was just getting frustrated and started to doubt my ability to continue running during my pregnancy. Then around mile 2ish, it all got better. Breathing was easier and my strides were more fluid. Don't get me wrong, I still took walk breaks, more than I normally do. I've made the decision that I still want to run but I'm not out to break any speed records of mine while I'm pregnant, it will put too much strain on my body and the baby.

When my run was over, I had managed to get in 4 miles in just about an hour. Not my best time, but I didn't care, I was glad to be out getting the mileage in. Then I was thinking as I was stretching at how lucky I am to still be able to run while I'm pregnant. I have had friends that when they were pregnant, just getting out of bed each morning was a feat, let alone getting any physical activity in. At this point, this very quote ran through my head and I feel this way everytime I run, regardless if I'm pregnant or not, it still is true to all.