Ok I Broke a Sweat Alright

*note* I'm not that concerned about my weight gain....just frustrated at the doc a bit...this will come out in the following post.

So all good at the docs yesterday except my apparent elephantness. Even though when I look at myself in the mirror all I see is baby belly bump. No nothing anywhere else. In fact I would say my arms have gotten a bit thinner. ANYWAYS.

TheDoc apparently doesn't agree and so I took her advice and went for a 45 minute cardivascular workout yesterday. Does anyone else think it's strange that she is telling me that I should be doing that much working out every day WHILE I am also dealing with some high blood pressure issues at 28 weeks pregnant. Not that I think 45 minutes of working out is hard by any means, but I just think it's strange.

SO FINE. I'll break a fucking sweat alright. So I walked to the lake front path in about 14 minutes (quickly!) and then ran for about 10 minutes and then quickly walked back home for a total of about 50 minutes. No problems except some pretty bad round ligament pains which is just more uncomfort than something to worry about. I'm going to try and do the same tonight although might cut it down to just a 30 minute brisk walk since we are going to meet a possible pediatrician at 5pm and then Mrs. Bridgette is getting here at about 7:30. But I think we can do both.

I'm going to keep eating healthy and just see what happens at the next appointment. I also should have a plan of what our birth plan is...I think its a positive plan. I plan on having a baby. I bet that doesn't cut it. My plan right now is to go as naturally as possible. I'm going to hold out on the epidural if I can, but if I get one I won't be super dissapointed. I'm going to try and not be induced unless the doctor thinks it's the way to go and has a good reason...other than, well we need to schedule it so it fits into our schedule. So yeah, that's my plan right now. As always I'm guessing this will change as time goes along.

Going Cloth and Lucy at 28.5 Weeks

I've mentioned in the past that we are going to cloth diaper our baby. So you make that statement and then there are like 8000 different options to choose from. For example there are Fuzzibunz which have one sized diapers as well as something called the perfect sized diaper. Then there are prefolds and covers and other all in one diaper brands. It's an endless amount of information!

What are people out there using. We are starting with prefolds and covers because it seems fool proof for the most part and when she's so little she won't be moving that much. We have no idea what we'll do in the future, but maybe as she gets more mobile we'll switch to a pocket diaper or an all in one.

Any tips and or advice from anyone out there?

In other news, Lucy had her 28 week appointment today and is looking good. SEE:


I apparently have gained too much weight. I didn't look at the number when I was weighed but then Mrs. Doctor woman was like, "Ha ha ha let's talk about your weight gain this month". And I was like um ok. It's not like I'm eating that much and I've way cut out eating out and I don't eat a lot of salt in general. So I have to workout more because I'm not doing that. So I have to walk 30-45 minutes and work up a sweat. Yeah, that's almost like running 10 miles.

I'm a little frustrated at that but so happy that our little baby girl looks so beautiful and is healthy. Oh and her head size is in the 66th percentile (ouch!) and she already weighs 2lbs 15oz! And she's right on track for being at 28 weeks. So that's all good news.

Hold the Phones...It's Not Just Me & You?

Ok. So right. This is an obvious one.

In about 3 months Lucille Jean R. will be here. In our lives. Consuming them. And we'll be consuming her with love and kisses and pictures and excitement.

Now here is where I get to sound like the worst soon-to-be-mother ever. What happens to You and I? And by 'You' I mean JasonR and by 'I' I mean LeahC. Jason and I have known each other for over 10 years now. We are both a little on the odd side which we recognize and it's because we walk on that side of weird that I think we love each other so much. In addition because we worked together for so long with a group of people that we didn't really fit in to we spent a lot of time together alone.

We found that we love hanging out with each other. The fun thing about being friends for a year and a half before dating is that we are still best friends. People always have these packed weekends filled with fun Chicago parties and outings and whatevers and when they ask what I did I always say, "Um...well Jason and I went for a walk. Then we sat in the park and read". Or something to that effect. We don't have to have any plans to have a great time together, in fact it is the weekends and the evenings where "we don't do anything" that I enjoy the most. Of course we are doing stuff, but it's not anything that would be interesting or fun sounding to anyone else.

Well what happens when a third party enters the party? Will we have time for just him and me? Will we care? Will we notice? I think what's important is recognizing that this could be a question and is a new situation that will arise. A baby changes everything as we all know. And it changes it for the better. But recognizing situations that could be a little tough or stressful is a good thing. Well that's my opinion anyways.

Ok. Thus ending my worst soon-to-be-mother rant, I'll go on to say that Lucy has been kicking up a storm and I love it. She moved a lot when I was getting my tooth drilled out for a cap that is going on a back tooth and I'm wondering if it was loud for her. Hopefully she get's her father's teeth and not these awful teeth that come down the LeahC line.

Hi there, it's Jason. And yeah, I also hope she doesn't get the LeahC teeth. She can have all the rest of LeahC's traits though (and whaddya know, she does!), but the teeth we can pass on.

I think having a baby is a funny thing. It's like, hey, things are great between us and we're happy so maybe it's time to have a kid. I mean, it's only a decision that will effect our lives UNTIL WE DIE. No biggie. And if we lose us, no biggie, it's not like it's a irrevocable decision or anything.

Oh wait.

And so, yeah, it's a scary concept. I guess I just try to look at the people who don't stop living their lives because they have a kid. The kids just become a part of their lives and joins the fun instead of the parents rewriting their lives completely because they had a kid. I look to the parents who didn't erase who they are and what they enjoy in the name of having a family. Perhaps there are times that has to be done, but I'd hope that's a last resort.

And what I most take to heart is that nobody has ever said that a kid has changed their lives for the worse, which is pretty impressive. So while changing a dynamic that has been working pretty damn well for the last 10 years is certainly scary, I think it's just another challenge to incorporate Li'l Lucy into our family the right way. We just have to make sure we don't lose "us" when we upgrade to "all of us".

(oh, and don't believe a word of LeahC when she says anything about being a terrible mother. It is not physically possible for her to be anything less than a spectacular mother. She just don't have the capacity to be anything other than great. So there.)

Quick Week

Wait it's Friday already.

And Hold. The. Phones. Today is August 28th. Ok so then. September 28th = 1, October 28th = 2 & November 28th = 3. Shit. That means 3 months from right now Lucy could be here. Knowing my luck she'll being enjoying herself too much not joining us and so I'll still be large and round and just hoping she comes out soon. Either way. 3 months. That's crazy! I feel like we found out we were pregnant like just a few weeks ago. Time flies!

To ring in her 3 months to go she's been moving like crazy. After the Software Craftsmanship North America conference we went out to a meetup and I stood around and chatted with people for oh about 4 hours. When we got home and I had the chance to lay down the child went crazy. Jason looked at my undulating stomach and then at me and asked, "What the hell is she doing in there?" Who knows...what do the babies do in there. Maybe she's like her father who can never get comfortable (seriously..have you ever sat next to him in a movie theater? It's infuriating.) and so she's just trying to find that impossible perfectly comfortable position.

We also think she's really shy because I'll be sitting there reading or knitting and she'll be moving and I'll call people over to look at it or feel it and then she stops. All together stops moving. So there, she doesn't like to be looked at and already wants to be left alone. When I was a little girl and I would get mad I would always shout, "DON'T EVEN LOOK AT ME!!!!" As if not looking at me would solve all the problems and thus I would win the fight. I never won the fight.

Great day at work yesterday. Finally was able to help the code base a little and fix a teeny tiny part of it. But baby steps is what it's all about. Hopefully people pay attention to the e-mail about where to keep parts of the code so that we can keep things nice and neat!

We have another packed weekend this weekend although I'm about 1/2 through The Hunger Games and I might have to cancel everything to finish it. My cousin Lisa has been telling me to read this for about a year now and wow is it good. I already highly recommend it. Looks like book 2 in the series is coming out soon and I'm already itching to read it. But other than the reading we are meeting friends for breakfast tomorrow morning, then we have a wedding for the rest of the day. Then on Sunday we have the cloth diapering class and that's about it.

So yeah. We bring in the third trimester and we keep up with the busy. I think that next week will be pretty calm which is nice. Also if you live in Chicago start using the Chicago Public Library online holding system. You can search for books and then send them to whatever the cloest library to you is. Then you get a nice e-mail telling you when your book has arrived. I have not taken advantage of the library like I should have been and so it's been a nice find. Also the Lincoln-Belmont branch is very nice and I highly recommend it.

100.

So according to that little widget over there ------------------>

There are 100 days left until Baby Lu comes to greet us. Give or take a few days.

100.
Days.

That's ... well...that's close. When we got the positive pregnancy test back in March we were in a bit of shock to say the least and it seemed like we had so far to go. But there were milestones to look forward to. Our first ultrasound at 8 weeks to see her little heart fluttering, getting through the first trimester free and clear, the big boy ultrasound at 20 weeks to find out if we would be greeting a son our a daughter and of course making sure that all the parts were in place and 100 days has been on my list of ok, now we can start counting in double digits. After this there is week 28 to start to the last third of the adventure, and then just holding on until she arrives. Well maybe 36 weeks is a good one too....a month to go seems like a good milestone.

When I run a marathon I have similar ways to get through the race. I look forward to parts of the race because I can't think about the whole thing because I'll just curl up and cry at the beginning. But if you just think about getting to the next big thing then it's not so bad.

Oh I have some baby showers coming up too...so that will be fun to start getting the baby's room put together and organized. Not at all terrifying. Right?

This weekend Jason and I travel to the Artdeck and are really looking forward to a relaxing trip. Also always fun to hang out with the Jake and the LaurA! I had planned on getting to the lake front path to take some pictures very early in the morning tomorrow but turns out that even though the sun doesn't rise until 6am, I would have to be set up taking pictures by 4am to get the dark light that I want for the experiment that I want to run. So I'm guessing we won't be doing that. Jason is hoping anyways.

First Half of the Last Half

You know...that part. You've crossed the half marathon point and you are all, "Whoah I'm halfway done!" Then you run another block and you go, "Holy hell, I'm only 1/2 way done." Then you put your head down for the next 6 miles or so and look out for that 20 mile marker where you can feel like there could be a possibility of an end in sight.

I hate that part of the race.

I got better at racing it as the years went on, but I never enjoyed that part. Especially in the Chicago marathon as miles 13-17 are not the most exciting parts of the race.

So I just finished week 22 of this pregnancy, so I'm finding it very similar to that point in a marathon. Wow, it looks like she'll never get here! I know I know we have a ton to do and the time will fly and blah blah blah. But that doesn't make it seem any less endless right now.

My friend Corey once told me that when she was pregnant she just missed wearing jeans and drinking coffee. I totally feel that. I have two maternity skirts and a couple of pair of shorts. AND I'M SO SICK OF THEM. I want to wear regular jeans. I know it's stupid. But I love jeans. I love MY jeans. With buttons, not elastic. And coffee ooooh the pots of coffee how I miss them. With all the extra work I've been doing and classes I've been taking I could use more than one cup of coffee....and I might have mentioned it here before, but they say that excess caffiene lowers head circumference and birth weight. Now looking at what I need to do in the 18 weeks or so, those seems like two good things. Especially with the head size that runs in my family. Perhaps Lucy will have her father's perfect normal size head.

So yeah, for me being in the first half of the last half is a little annoying, but then last night I had my hand on my stomach and Lucy gave me a nice big kick. Which was nice.

Hey Little Lucy

How's it hanging in mom's uterus? Good? Comfy? I know you don't like sour filled twizzlers or when I sleep on my back so I'm trying my best to stop the sleeping on the back thing. Wow do you know how to cause some pain little girl. I know it's not you...but rather you sitting on all my vital organs. Don't worry I still like you a whole lot.

So I'm guessing you are wondering why we are naming you Lucy. Well actually your full name will be Lucille Jean, and those two names come from my grandmothers. Now you are going to say,"But Mooooooom that name hit it's peak of popularity in 1910, don't you know it's a century later." To which I'll respond, well the Cubs haven't won the World Series is *over* a century, so consider yourself lucky. Also the name Lucy is making a comeback as it's currently listed at number 112 in popularity, so you'll have that going for you. Plus you get lots of cute nicknames : Lu, Luce, Lucy, Lulu, and of course when you're bad the full on Lucille will come out. But you are never going to be bad so we won't have to worry about that. Right now your Dad and I are enjoying calling you Little Lucy.

I am enjoying being with you very much these days. They say that the 2nd trimester is the best part of the pregnancy and I have to agree with these people. I have a ton of energy and doing all kinds of things. I'm working late hours at the office, taking knitting classes, meeting friends for movies in the park and all kinds of other exciting things that fill most hours of the day. I like when you let me know you are in there, it's such a strange feeling but I really enjoy it.

This weekend your Baba will be home and she will for sure be talking to my belly (well she'll be talking to you *through* my belly...which at this point I say is still just at my belly and kind of weird). Then in two weeks your grandpa and grandma Sue will be coming home to stay with us for awhile. They will be with us for about a month and then they'll just be living about a 1/2 mile away. You'll be seeing a lot of them in the upcoming year.

Alright, well my 30 minute build at work has finished and so I need to figure out if my changes are the things that were breaking things last night.....probably but I don't see why they would. Alright, kiddo enjoy the rest of the day!

Heartbeat! Running! No Moving :(

So yes as you saw in our last post we amazingly got to hear the heart beating. It was so great to hear it right away and not have a problem finding it. Makes me calm down *a little*. Not a lot mind you, but just a little. I am really looking forward to the 20 week ultrasound where we can make sure that everything in on track development wise as well as find out the gender. I care more about the first part of that, and the gender will just be a nice little bonus.

I haven't felt the baby move yet. I know I know, it's early and why would I assume that something is wrong when everything else looks good. It's not that I think that something is wrong, I would just like to be assured that everything is fine. Plus it might be moving at night and I am a really really hard sleeper and so I might not wake up when the thing is most active. But where are the damn "bubbles" I'm supposed to have. GRR.

Even if the baby is lacking on the active, I've continued to be active however. I ran 4 miles 3 times last week and ran about 42 minutes on Saturday which is the best it has gone for me since the pregnancy started. I wonder if it's like training. I'm mean I'm not "training" but I'm running about the same distance and so I would think that the training and the weight gain will offset each other for awhile and so I'll be able to keep on running well and feel more comfortable as time goes on. Eventually of course this will not be the case and my mileage will probably be cutting back/I'm going to slow down a bit. But until I feel really bad I'm going to keep on keepin' on with the 3-4 miles, 3-4 days a week.

Jason's training is going pretty well. Since it's not a race he particularly cares about he's not as strict about runs as he would be if the race mattered (needed it to qualify, working for a PR). That way he can drop some of his run and run with me if he wants to. I like when he runs with me, especially with the weather getting warmer I feel better having him next to me. Plus it's more fun.

It looks like summer has finally come to Chicago with degrees in the 80s for the next 10 days. I love summer in this city and so I welcome it and the heat with open arms.

Baby's First Art Fair

This morning I opted out of running to try to get over this cold that is plaguing my system. In super exciting news (ok, it's not exciting at all unless you're me....or your pregnant and understand the waking up in the middle of the night), I slept through the night...FOR TWO STRAIGHT NIGHTS! I think I needed to get some good sleep so that my body could fight the cold and it seems to be working. So I didn't run and instead reshut my eyes on the couch while Jason ran.

After he got home we both got ready to go and walked out to the Wells street art fair. We were talking about how next summer we would have a baby with us (that's you in my tummy right now!) and how much fun that would be. We stopped at Fleet Feet on the way and pushed around the baby joggers that they have. Wow are those pricey.....but I know the little nugget would enjoy the ride in it. I mean the thing had shocks on the wheels. I think that's something that you don't want to skimp on either. Especially since we'll be using it A LOT next summer. I think that's the only thing I have really thought about getting for the baby....I mean diapers and stuff sure....but running jogger = #1.

So to the baby...

We are right now sitting on our back porch and your Daddy is blowing on the charcoal to try and get it to relight. You'll think it's normal to use a bottle of lighter fluid when you grill and I'm here to tell you that when there is a fire 5 feet tall coming out of a grill that is only like 1 foot in diamter that's not right. We gotta find those damn matchlight charcoals.....

The people upstairs from us are a really great older couple who have a puppy named Murphy. The man is from Brazil and they are always outside enjoying the city. Right now they are playing some really good music and asked if it was bothering us. I said no way we think it's great! I hope we become like that when we grow up. Yes your mother is almost 30 and still wonders what's she'll be like "when she grows up".

We were talking about you today and how excited we are for your arrival and how much fun you are going to have growing up in this city. Sometimes it'll get to you, I'm not going to lie. But we are going to make sure we take lots of camping trips so that you know there is a big world outside of this big city.

You are 16 weeks along today. which means that we'll all get to meet you in a short 24 weeks. Wel that doesn't sound short at all...but it's now less than a half a year so it's an improvement. We go see the doctor on Wednesday and your mom is hoping that she's a big calmer this time around...or at least is planning on talking to the doctor about dealing with my nerves when I'm there.

So I hope you enjoyed your long walk today. I probably over did it...I mean it was 8-10 miles..but until you complain louder, I'm going to say it was ok.

Alright, enjoy your development in week 17. If you feel like giving me a big ole' kick go for it! I can't wait to feel you moving around in there!

Full Weekend

Well kids, it looks like LeahC is back (well....almost I guess) to her pre-pregnancy fighting self. As I'm sure we all remember before the ever expanding tummy came to be I would be busy and have a million things planned on our weekends and we would go for epic long walks just to have stuff to do. Then the first trimester came and everyone asked, "Where did LeahC go?", as I would be asleep on the couch for most of the weekends, and forget doing anything after work.

Last week I finally finally started feeling better. It's like when you are sick and you think you'll never get better and then when you do it's like...oh wow, the cloud lifted and I'm all better now. Very similar feeling to entering the 2nd trimester...at least for me. And while I still don't feel like myself, it's a ton ton better.

This weekend was full of good stuff. On Saturday morning I got a facial at a spa in Wicker Park and from that Jason and I walked downtown where I had a knitting class at 1pm. It's such a good walk and one of the things we miss the most about living over on the west side was how easy it was to walk downtown. On the way we stopped at the Blommer Chocolate factory and picked up some treats and holy hell does that place make a good chocolate. Jason and I both highly recommend the dark chocolate covered pretzels.

After knitting (where I finished a sock! yay me!), we took the train back home and got ready for dinner and then took the bus back to the bucktown area where we met some friends for dinner at Club Lucky. Fun kids to hang out with and hoping to hang out with them more in the future. We got home at like 11pm (I know! It's like I'm up with the big kids!) and Jason had a few martini's with dinner and wasn't feeling the get up at 6:30 to race a race that doesn't really matter. So we scratched the race from our Sunday dance card and started watching Terminator 2 (we are on a Terminator kick in preparation for seeing the newst movie).

We still got up early on Sunday...ok ok, I got up early on Sunday and the proceeded to jump on the bed until Jason got up. We went for breakfast at Ann Sathers (always delicious) and then headed home and decided to read on our back porch. As soon as I sat down in our papazon chair on the porch with the sun hitting me, my eyelids suddenly weighed a few tons and I was out for the count. So we each took some naps. After which Jason decided that since he already blew the race he might as well blow it totally and decided to run with me for my slow 4 miles. Feeling better in general makes for feeling better as I run as well. I wonder how long I'll be able to run in this pregnancy. I hope for the whole thing as I just feel so so much better when I'm running.

After the run we went for a walk to Lincoln park to enjoy the weather and then we were sufficiently all walked out. We had a relaxing evening at home, watched the Cubs get pummled by the Dodgers, tried to not throw things at the the TV in annoyance at the ESPN announces. We know, we know, they are the best team in baseball, they score the most runs in the national league....BUT really....Mr. Morgan? You think that Juan Pierre is a better player than Manny Ramirez and would rather have him in the line up. They kept talking about his first at bat...how about the second where he struck out in 3 pitches (that's the Juan Pierre I remember from the Cubs). Seriously it was just a Dodger love fest for 3 hours....well I'm assuming they continued the same behavior because we gave up on them and watched some recorded DVR instead.

It's rainy and crappy Monday today and I'm happy that the crap weather held out until Monday and let us have a nice weekend to play in.

What's That? Hunger? A Taste for Something?

I was so excited last night because the first time in a long time I was excited for dinner.

We went for a run last night and Jason did a "recovery" or run slower than slow with me to keep me company and I went an extra 1/2 mile because that's what his plan called for. So we did 3.5 miles in a long amount of time. We ended our run near a grocery store and got some food for dinner and somehow made it home before it started raining super super bad.

We got home and we made one of those caesar salads that come in the bags with all the parts that you need. I added some grape tomatoes and went at it. And holy hell did it taste good. I mean I don't know the last time that I was able to eat dinner AND be excited about it. It's been more force feeding myself to try and get some protein into my system before bedtime. Jason then made tostadas which were also delicious and I was really proud of myself when I ate the whole tostada (and almost cleaned my plate...couldn't quite finish the rice). BUT the point is that I ate dinner and it's a big deal and I realize that this post is all about the fact that a 29 year old woman ate dinner, but it's more that she was also excited and hungry to eat dinner. And since it's my blog I can talk about whatever I want to talk about. :)

Work is going good, and got to learn some new stuff yesterday on sending html e-mails and hope to finish off that project today. Running tonight includes just 2 miles for me and Jason is doing a 6x400m speedwork out so he'll do that and I'll do some regular running and then we'll see how spaghetti sits with me as it's on the menu for tonight!

Here's the Lot of Them

Like I mentioned in the post yesterday Jason and I have been writing secret blog posts for the past 12 weeks and as now everything is out in the open we are publishing them tonight. To get to just the posts about the pregnancy you can go to this link:

http://jasonleahrun.blogspot.com/search/label/pregnancy

And for them to make sense I would read them from the oldest to the newest, although you can do whatever you like...I mean if you like to do things out of order and it doesn't make the little vein in your head pulsate like mine would, that's your choice. :). I like order, leave me alone. ...and yes, you even have to click for older posts because there are too many for one page!

We went for a 3 mile run today and I didn't feel as good as I have in the past. I think that I have a really hard time running two days in a row and so I just have to try and do my best to avoid that in the future. So that's all from here. Enjoy the posts!

We Got a New Running Partner

Why has Jason had to start training alone for the Rock and Roll Half Marathon?

How come Leah can't beat Jason in a sprint anymore?

Is that Leah wearing two sports bras?

The answer to all these questions is yes! Wait. The answer to the last question is yes. The answer to the first two questions is

Because Leah's Pregnant! YAY!
(pause for effect)

Yep, for the last 12 weeks, Leah has been running for two and at a much slower pace (gotta take it easy, you know). About, oh, 14 weeks ago we decided to try for a baby and 2 weeks later - well, you've seen Look Who's Talking - and two weeks after that: pink line! Holy Crap! Didn't really expect it to happen so fast (that's what she said).

As so now we are taking a new turn in life as we try to deal with bringing a baby into this world and not ruining it once it gets here. So answers to questions you might have:

• Yes, Leah's already starting to show a bit, although it's the kind of show that's much more visible in the evening than in the morning (which we don't understand at all, but over the past few days even that's starting to change)
• Yep, she's still running. The doctor cleared her for 30-45 minutes of easy running. The rule is that she has to be able to talk. So she's been doing 3 miles 3 times a week and 4 on Sunday at about 11 min/mile or as Leah likes to say a lot slower than her normal comfy pace of 9 or less.
  
• No, Leah isn't runnning the 1/2, but Jason is. And, while he's sad to be training alone, he's surviving. Luckily it's only a half. Leah is now just Coach Leah and tells Jason what to do (insert joke here).
• Is the baby a boy or girl: yes
  
• We are in the 12th week of pregnancy and so just getting out of the first trimester, which is awesome.
• At 8 weeks we got pictures from the ultrasound when the baby was only 1.87cm long. Now the baby is the size of a lime. That little guy (or gal) grows fast! We think it looks like a gummy bear at this point. Which is good cause we know how much we love our gummy bears. Here are some blobular photos (there will be way cooler photos in the future...I can't help how blob like it is at 8 weeks!):
  

So yeah. Baby. Should be fun.
-----------------------------------

Leah speaking now:

Yep, we are oh so excited about this new turn in life. When we got back from our trip to Zurich we thought well we could start trying to have a baby because you know it's going to take a few months to get things going and by that point we'll really be ready and so on. Turns out it didn't take quite that long and 4 weeks later we had a positive pregnancy test. So yeah, we were a little shocked with the pink line (I might have taken 4 home pregnancy tests).

Jason and I have been writing secret posts (which I accidentally published a few of over the past 8 weeks or so, so you might have gotten a sneak peak if you were on your google reader on time). I am going to publish all of those in a day or so and you can read them all, by filtering on pregnancy, and I'll include a link when I let those out. Of course these are going to be in reverse order of when things were happening and we highly recommend you read the earliest post first and work your way to the most recent. There is a lot of them, but they are pretty funny (at least we think so). There will also be a lot more posting in the future, it's hard to not talk about something this fantastic and so that's why there was such a slow down in our posting.

We hope you enjoy the posts, and we hope you enjoy reading about this next challenge in our lives. I am going to continue running for as long as I can, so that should be an interesting experience and I know I'll be looking for tips from any women out there that are currently pregnant and running or have been pregnant and running.

Enjoy!

12 Week Visit

Baby-

You are going to be shocked when you get here and realize that your mother is a complete maniac and your father is a nice calm perfect man. Ok perfect might be stretching it...but not too far, you'll see.

Today at our 12 week doctors appointment they took my blood pressure and it was a bit high. And it was high because the nurse was terrifying and completely unfriendly and I want to ask her how she expects my blood pressure to be when she's just a terrifying robot in a nurses uniform. So that had me a little freaked out and the the doctor came in and gave me some tips about dealing with these fantastic headaches I've been getting lately. Turns out I need to drink more fluids. Apparently my blood volume is going to double (!) during the duration of your life in me and I just need to drink more fluids. I guess it's true that my headaches are a lot worse when I drink less, so there is probably something to that.

Then she used this little doppler machine to try and find your heart beat. The first thing she did was let me hear what my heartbeat sounded like and she was surprised because it was racing (I wasn't surprised) then she started looking for your little heartbeat. And she looked and looked....and I started to panic, and I might have cried a tear or two. She said it was totally normal and went to get the ultrasound machine. Your dad tried to calm me down which didn't work because I couldn't believe that I couldn't hear what you sounded like and yes....you'll find I tend to panic for no real good reason.

So she came back in with the machine and we got to see your very strong and beautiful heart beating and I had an easier time seeing it this time around. You currently have a *huge cranium* which is expected as I guess right now you are 50% head and 50% body. Then I was sad because you were sleeping in there and you wouldn't wake up....until I started laughing. I laugh a lot, so maybe you like when I laugh....I have a good loud laugh, I think you'll like it.

So everything looks great with you in there, and your mom is just manic and your dad is going to be your calm stable go to guy. You'll see, he's really the best.

Hey there, you are now somewhat less tiny!

Hey baby -

Today you Mom (or uteral-exterior-mass as you know her) and I had a twelve week visit with the doctor in the hope of hearing your heart beat. Turns out, no dice. We couldn't hear anything.

But don't worry! You have a heart beat! Geez, I bet I scared you there. You were all, whoa, are things not working, I bet. Actually, that's not true. You actually were probably thinking "what's a heart beat? I'm only 12 weeks old." Or maybe you were thinking "hey, I can't read. How did I know you said anything about a heart beat?" I will accept any of these as valid answers. But anyway, let's get back on topic. We didn't hear a heart beat because you were hiding your heartbeat from the nice doctor lady and her sonar machine. She tried for a bit to get a signal, but no go, and finally she gave up and went to get the real ultrasound machine. I probably don't have to tell you that your mom got a little upset and panicky when the doctor couldn't find the heartbeat. You know how she is.

Wait, you don't? Well, you will soon enough.

But with the ultrasound, we were able to see your itty bitty heart flutter and see you hanging around in there. Turns out you were actually sleeping and wouldn't move. The doctor kept pushing at your uterin home, but you wouldn't wake up. Perhaps a good sign for you future sleep-deprived parents? But finally a couple laughs from your mom woke you up and you started to move around all crazy like. Actually, it looked kind of like me dancing at a wedding.

Sleeping and a bad dancer? Maybe you really are my child.

See you in 28 weeks,
-Dad

Fun Things For You To Know

Hey there Baby. Well I'm feeling better which I'm excited about. Thank you for not making me feel like I'm coming down with a flu every day, it's the small improvements.

We went for a 3 mile run without your Dad last night. Dad is starting to train for a 1/2 marathon that's on August 2nd and he can't be running 11ish minute miles with us if he wants to finish the race in any kind of reasonable time. So we three ran together for 5 minutes and then your Dad took off. This was fine except without him next to me, I wasn't sure if I could have a conversation and hence I didn't know if I was going too fast. I think I finished a bit faster than usual, at about 31:30 instead of closer to 33:00, but still not too bad.

I've decided that I'm going to train with your grandpa for the 2010 Chicago marathon. I'm guessing you'll be going on a lot of those runs with us, hope you like your baby jogger!

So I thought I was over the tired, and into the feel better phase, but after the run last night and a yummy dinner (that's right! you get to eat dinner cause my evening nausea has passed) I thought I would pick up some knitting and work on a blanket I'm trying to finish. Instead I was curious as to what would happen if I tipped over on the couch and it turns out I would fall asleep. 8pm Baby. You made me fall asleep at 8pm. At about 9pm, your Dad suggested we go to bed so I stumbled into the bathroom, brushed my teeth and feel asleep in bed in about 5 seconds flat. Yeah. Then I slept till 6:30. I hope that this sleeping pattern continues for you after you arrive.

We are currently in our 12th week, which I think marks that we are exiting the danger zone. We have a doctors appointment in a week where your dad and I are hoping to hear your heart beating.

I'm feeding you some coffee this morning. Don't freak out, it's going to be a bit more than you are used to. That's because as you'll find out that "small" doesn't really mean small, it means 12oz and that's the edge of the edge of my limit for coffee. Yeah that's right...I'm drinking coffee after sleeping 10 hours. I just find the taste to be delicious!

Finally Food You Seem to Like!!!

Baby JasonLeah you have the best Dad in the world.

You've been making me not want to eat anything. Daddy will say to me, "Do you want some .... um...pasta for dinner". And Mommy will glare back and him and say, "Does it freakin' look like I want pasta" as my eyes droop down, and tear up as I realize I'm just so sleepy that the effort to eat food is above and beyond anything that I can handle right now. Add to that fact that all food sounds super gross just makes me mad because I know I have to give you all kinds of good food to grow well in there.

Lunch has been a continuing problem as I thought Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches would be a good solution, until last week when I looked at said PB&J sandwich and wished I could just stomp on it rather than eat it.

You Dad has been trying to come up with combinations of food that I will think are delicious and tasty and he did it for lunch today! He grilled up some chicken last night, and made me a sandwich out of it. Add some pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, mayo and mustard and I have a really happy belly right now. I think you like the spicy because I always seem to be able to get that down without a problem.

So enjoy your sandwich and we'll talk soon.

Running Long...or should I say "Long"

Hey there Baby.

Today I decided that we were ready to attack a 4 mile run. I was told by the doctors (you'll be meeting them in a short 30 weeks) that I could run for 30-45 minutes. Given how slow I've gotten lately, 4 miles should take me between 40 and 44 minutes, so given that it's Sunday (your Dad and I's usual long run day), I thought we should give 4 miles a try.

So off we went. I wore shorts and a white tank top and I'm noticing the belly you are giving me more and more. I especially notice it when I'm running. I'm wondering if you expand when I'm running...I don't know but it's weird for me for sure. I *might* look at myself in windows when I'm running and these days I'm like holy hell what is that below my chest...oh that's you!

Anyways. off we went. The test for if I'm running too fast is if I can keep a conversation going. Your dad has been great in slowing me down when he notices that I'm laboring a bit to tell some super boring story so he lags back a bit and forces me to slow down. I got a bit of a side stitch and so I had to walk for about 5 minute, but finished up the 4 miles in 44 minutes. SO our goal is to run 3 miles Monday, Wednesday and Friday and then 4 miles on Sunday.

Well that's my plan. Your dad is going to start training for a half marathon next week and so I'll just be running on my own, which makes me worry about the talking test as it will just look like I'm a crazy person talking to myself, but ah well, I'll just be one of the many in this great city. I'm going to miss training with your Dad, as I'm realizing this will be the first race we won't run together. I'll be coaching him though and making sure that he sticks to the plan. And I'm guessing I'll be making him some running mixes to put on his iPod during the speed workouts which I suspect will be more difficult for him to do on his own. Your Dad's really tough though and so he'll be fine.

Alright, well I didn't let you take a nap yesterday and so we'll say that it's you who got really cranky last night and as we don't want that happen again, I should probably go get in a nap.

Hi

Hi Baby Inside Your Mommy's Belly -

It seems that you've been letting up a bit on your mom recently, which is nice. She stayed up all the way until after 10 on Saturday and she's been up until after 9 on multiply weekdays now! It's really very exciting! We're like Britney and K-Fed with our new nightlife (are they still together? Is that reference about 11 months out of date?).

We've been wondering a lot recently whether you're a boy or girl. Everyone seems to think you're a boy, but I have to admit I go back and forth. I'd say I'm about 50% certain you're a boy. Yeah, that's about right. But what I hear is, if you are a boy, your testes (heh) are going to start making the testosterone. I don't know why, but I think it's absolutely bizarre that the little sleeping grey blob we say inside your mom's belly is going to start making testosterone if you're a boy. I guess, just in case, now's when I should tell you that wrestling isn't real and no, I don't know where to find the nearest monster truck rally.

If you're a girl, I'm not 100% sure what would be happening (presumably no testes). I didn't read that part. It seems to me that, at least in the womb, what you don't have is more important than what you do have (you'll note that they always say, "there's the penis" or "nope, not a penis to be found" and not "oops, no vagina. It's a boy". And, of course, you're a baby so I should have said Hoo-Hoo and Pee-Pee. I've got a lot to get used to before you arrive). I don't really think that's fair.

I'm not sure that I had a lot of point in this post, other than to be amazed at the fact that, inside that womb, is not a thing but something that's trying to becomes a baby boy or girl. That's crazy. So Congrats on the continued development of body part and good luck in your quest to have a gender.

Do You Like Running?

Hey there Baby, so your Dad and I have been running... although I suppose you can't tell if he's running but I'm wondering if you can tell that me and you are running. Do you bounce around in there? Are you holding on to things going, "What the What is this woman doing?" I feel better if I run, so I'm assuming you like it. I've slowed down quite a bit, but I'm still trying to run 3 miles 4 days a week. I'm thinking I've got much more slowness to go as the time goes on but even if I can continue with slowing running/walking 12 miles a week I'll be happy. We also took you for a 7 mile walk on Sunday, which I think you thoroughly enjoyed.

In other news around your world, I like to think that I'm starting to feel better, but you've made me very tired these last few days and yesterday while I was at work, I'm pretty sure I was sleeping with my eyes open at times during the day. You also made me throw up in a dirty alley downtown on Saturday morning...although I'm not blaming you for that. I'm a pretty smart lady as you'll find out...but I took some vitamins before I ate anything....and then rode the el downtown to meet cousin Lisa (you'll really like her, she's fun!) for breakfast. So that one is kinda on me...but wow, that wasn't a good time. I think your Dad was laughing at how mad I was at the situation...I'm hoping he wasn't laughing *at* me, but I'm sure he actually was.

We get more and more excited to meet you and are already planning your first summer, along with trips to visit your Baba in Florida and your Grandpa wherever his boat is. We are going to be running the Chicago marathon in 2010, so you'll get lots of long rides in your baby jogger next summer. So....right, I think you'll think it's fun. Do you think I'm kind of crazy for planning things a year+ in advance? Most people do, but that doesn't stop me...you'll find out I like having things planned :).

I hope you're enjoying your Week 10.