Marathon Sunday

Hi friends! Remember when I used to blog? Things have been busy around here, and as much as I love what I do, I'm looking forward to summer vacation.

At 34 weeks, the reality that another little being will be joining our household very soon has become very real. I'm stressed out, per usual, about anything and everything that's out of my control. Running is now completely done, and taken over by walks and prenatal yoga.

Last weekend, Jack and I got into the marathon spirit by heading into Burlington to cheer on the runners in the marathon. I won't lie, walking down I started to get a little teary about not running in the race. It doesn't seem like a year ago that we were here. Once we saw our favorite runners, my mom, Tom, and new marathoner Melissa!!!, any jealousy I had went away (well, most of it). Jack was an excellent cheerleader, yelling "Go!" and ringing cowbells on Church Street. I think Marathon Sunday in Burlington is one of my favorite days of the year.

3 AM

I am usually one to hate the quotes and inspirational messages posted all over Pinterest, but today I saw this and I love it. Lately I've been feeling really worried about having a new baby in the house again. I like my sleep, and am worried about all those sleepless nights that are inevitably to come.

But then again, some of my best memories from when Jack was a newborn are the ones from the middle of the night. Midnight feedings, cuddled up on the couch in his room, getting to know each other. Those nights create such a bond between mama and baby, I wouldn't trade them for anything.

Sick Day

I'm home from work today with a sick baby. Adam's mom, Grammy, usually watches Jack on Wednesdays, and although she is more than capable of taking care of him when he's sick (much more capable than me, actually- she's a nurse), I couldn't bear to leave him. He wasn't feeling well yesterday, either, and he was just waking up when I was leaving for work and I could hear him calling "Mommy!" from the crib as I walked out the door. It broke my heart.

It's hard to believe it was a year ago we were dealing with this. I'll never forget when one of the ER nurses told me that she loves the cuddles she gets from her kids when they're sick. I just kept thinking, I'd rather have a healthy baby. Or maybe I'm just spoiled, I get snuggles when he feels fine.


I knew last night that I would be staying home with him today, unless for some reason he miraculously felt better this morning. And even though I knew school would be fine without me, I couldn't help but feel guilty for calling in sick. Jack saw the doctor today and they want to see him again tomorrow if the fever doesn't break by morning.
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In pregnancy news, I met with a doctor yesterday for my 30 week appointment. We had the VBAC talk, and as of now, it looks like something I'm a good candidate for. The big factor is the baby's size, if we have another ten pound baby on our hands, it's definitely not going to happen. Weight gain and measurements are right on track, so right now everything looks good.
I think it's time to start pulling the baby stuff out of storage and install the carseat. And get Jack out of the crib. It's a little overwhelming thinking of everything that has to be done before the baby arrives, but I know it will happen.

It's Monday

Is it really May? I'm happy to report a mileage total of 70 miles for the month of April. The first 45 or so were purely running miles, and the rest being a combo of walking and running. A mile is a mile, right?

Melissa and I met up at the waterfront for a walk on Sunday. It was such a beautiful day!

I'm guessing we walked close to five miles. I didn't wear my Garmin, even though I thought about it. I'm trying to remember that I don't need to know my distance covered for every single step I take.

It was an amazing, relaxing walk and so nice to catch up. I'm secretly jealous that Melissa is training for her first marathon this month (!!!) and picked her brain about all things training. I can't wait to cheer her on and see her cross the finish line.

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It was a little rough going back to work today after a week off, but I made it :). Happy Monday!

It Was A Good Day

It's been two years since my little bff had surgery to repair his right kidney (more on that here).

Waiting in Pre-Op

He regularly has follow-up ultrasounds and visits with his surgeon which will continue until he's five years old, and up until now results have mixed. Last October's scan showed little to no improvement in the swelling of his kidney and a lack of growth in both kidneys. Today was another ultrasound day and I'm happy to report that everything looks good. The doctor told us swelling is down and even though Jack's kidneys will never be 100%, he said if they stay the way they are right now, he'd be pleased. "See you in a year" were the best words to hear.

I need to remember this day. When my stress and anxiety is getting a little out of control, I just need to take a deep breath and be thankful my baby is healthy.

Boost

Just when I thought I'd hung up my Mizunos until August, I had a great run. I went to they gym yesterday and ran 3.5 miles on the treadmill. I think the key to this successful run was a long warmup (half mile walk) and plentiful water. It was such a nice little confidence booster to find out my legs still have a little running power in them!

29 Weeks

Today is the 29 week mark of pregnancy! I thought I would do weekly recaps and pictures but clearly that never happened. I've felt really good during this pregnancy, but the one thing I can't help but remark is how different it is than when I was pregnant with Jack.

This photo was taken a month before I had Jack. At this point, I had gained a lot of weight and was feeling pretty miserable. I remember at the end being so incredibly anxious that I just couldn't focus on anything. Now, being pregnant with a two-year-old, I feel bad that I'm not focusing on my pregnancy as much. My focus is on the many other things I need to do everyday.

There were a few complications during pregnancy with Jack that caused me to have many visits to the doctor and midwives. I'm thankful (knock on wood) that there have been no such issues so far. My pregnancy brain is freaking me out though, causing me to believe that something will go wrong because nothing has gone wrong yet. My current thread of worry involves my next door neighbor (who doesn't particularly like me) who just happens to be a labor and delivery nurse. I've been up at night worrying that she will get assigned to me and then proceed with sabotage.

I'm finding my worries (whether rational or irrational) are often dissipated with exercise. Endorphins make you happy (maybe that's why my neighbor is so unhappy).

I'm also getting really excited to find out if it's a boy or girl. I can't believe I was able to resist the urge to find out and that it will be a surprise. At first I felt like I just KNEW it was a girl, and now I'm thinking it's a boy. It's one or the other, right?

Since I have no real theme for this post, here's a recap of pregnancy up until now:

Feeling: Physically great, emotionally up and down
Weight gain: 20 pounds
Cravings: No real cravings, and no real aversions- but really, really ready for a Switchback
Wearing: All maternity clothes and non maternity workout clothes- they're VERY tight
Running: Slowing down big time

In  other news, after a seven month hiatus, I rejoined facebook today. I'm not really sure why, but within five minutes, I remembered why I left to begin with. I'll see how long I last.