Full term = 37 weeks!

Tomorrow I will be full term. Whew. Made it there. There were definitely times along the way where I thought I might be going to a doctor appointment and be told that I needed to go on bedrest or stop working out, but I guess my skillful eating habits throughout the baby growing period (picture what I want = eat it) worked! I have been pretty good, actually. I feel like I need to eat more crap before I go into weight loss mode. I'm in the mode where I can wait until my due date for this little peanut to arrive right now. The thought of him/her coming next week or within the next 3 is kind of scary! I feel lucky as ever that I have been able to run throughout this whole time. It wasn't easy, it wasn't fast - but it was running!!

Running updates for this week - I have been guilty of not taking rest days this week. The snow day yesterday (SWEET!) didn't help, because it is my normal swimming day, so I've ran everyday this week. My knee is bothering me a little bit (overuse!) and the achilles problem lingers but I can run through that. Thanks for the stretches Angela! This weekend I am going to try to do another long run on the great old treadmill with my GU. I did order some HAMMER gel - Abby really likes this and used it for her IM back in September so I'm being a little bit of a traitor but I thought I'd try it for less cost and free shipping @ Amazon.

Thank you for your thoughts/advice for the doula. I found the best of both worlds and asked her if she could take away the meetings that were included and charge half her cost to just come assist us with the labor/delivery, and I feel really good about it. She's not the type to make me feel bad if I want drugs, but she is there as a support and to help me to get through the process. So I'm going to try to skip the drugs with some assistance of someone that knows what to do and what to tell Bill to do to help me to survive the whole thing.


My bellybutton never fully became an outtie but the top ridge hangs out - gross. If I grow any more, I think I'll be ready asap to have the baby on the outside! I started running into things with my stomach this week.


Your guesses:


My Naturally Nutty was supposed to come Wednesday but the snow delayed it until tomorrow so that will be tomorrow's treat!

baby talk

**Pardon the baby themed post on my running blog. If you prefer, skip down to the last paragraph about running!


To Doula or not to doula...

That is my current dilemna - so I ask for your help on that - again!

Here is my goal: QUICK RECOVERY so I can get up and run to be ready for Boston asap! To meet that goal, I have mostly read there is less intense damage with a natural birth and that would be the best thing, but I am not set on it not knowing what to expect. I would like to go without drugs (and don't feel great about losing feeling in my lower body and not being able to walk around) but I am not going to go in there close minded. The many of you who have had epis said it really wasn't bad. My other huge fear is needing a C-section and not knowing what is going on. I've read up on everything, watched videos, and feel that I am educated on all of the drugs/terms, but what will I be like when I'm in pain? Normally I am the type of person that turns inward and doesn't want anyone near me or anyone to touch me whatsoever. It sounds like they give you a nurse that is only working with you - will this be enough? Doulas are big in nursing and I don't want to be pressured in anyway - that whole thing freaks me out completely. Do I want someone ELSE there in my face about that? And after the baby is born, will I just want peace without another person around? The cost is $850 which is a deciding factor. If it were free or say, half that cost, I would just do it. Let me know your thoughts...again. I need to decide and my personal deadline is tonight - as I was up at 5am this morning with a piercing headache thinking about it!



Most of you have voted for a date, sex and size here. I have been updating them as people vote so I will keep doing that! It keeps it fun! We don't know the sex - it is a surprise!

Running - still running along! I got in a long run on Sat on the TM of 11.2 miles. It wasn't as good as last week, but it was still a long run! Sunday Bill and I went running outside and it was FREEZING at a half mile loop near our house. Running with Bill is a great thing!! and this was the second time we did the loop park, so we'll have to keep that up! I give him alot of credit as it was definitely freezing outside with wind.

Yesterday I ran on the TM and then went to yoga - I hadn't been in 3 weeks! I really needed the stretching - I am such a slacker about it! I'm enjoying reading everyones training updates for spring races and marathons!

Today I am at a workshop and just came back from a lunchtime (11am!) jog! It is chilly out but was a nice fresh air jog to try to clear my headache!!

Thanks for your help!

One extreme to the other

Emotions are flying high at this point and between one day or hour and the next I can go from one extreme to the other! On Friday I was thinking about reading on ways to speed up labor and by that night I became terrified and decided I can wait 4+ weeks and be fine! This is scary! In the 1st and 2nd trimesters I was mainly terrified of labor but also anxious, but I calmed down the last few months and kind of chilled out about the labor & birth. Now that it is looming I have gone back to being scared of labor, birth and thereafter - and trying to talk myself to be calm about it.

At school they are in the process of hiring a sub to take my place until May 1. All 3 candidates are just out of school, so it should be interesting. I'm not going to worry about that so much but it is weird to be leaving in the middle of the year and thinking everyday could be my last for a few months. I'm sure once I have the baby I won't care but thinking of the transitions right now is kind of stressful. Some days I feel like a couple of weeks would be good so the baby will be a good size & I can get back on my feet earlier and start training sooner and others I think March 1st would be just fine due to how our lives are going to flip upside down (in a good way but still)! I guess overall I want to have a healthy baby and not be induced for being late. Sleeping isn't the most fun with the # of times I have to get up and then reposition, but other than that, I'm really not that uncomfortable. Just picture having a basketball under your shirt all the time and that is about it.

Here are the votes so far:

Make a vote! ( I just bought 12 jars of naturally nutty and I'm blaming Run to Finish - some PB may have to be a prize for the winner to get it out of my house!)


And the tag by Aron - thanks aron! Your blog is quite fabulouso!

These are my top 4 addictions:

1 - running
2 - blogging & reading blogs about running
3 - Gu
4 - peanut butter

36 weeks

GROWING!!!

Alright! A few weeks to go let's hope! Kind of weird to think that anytime we could have a baby in the world with us! So I'm going to try to enjoy the time with just 2 of us and the sleep!

The baby is head down so thank you for the well wishes! The weight was estimated to be 5 lb 10 oz which I hope is good so far, it is the 45th percentile. Small is good for me. It is time for weekly appointments now which is kind of exciting, and I wasn't dilated yet but maybe that happens quickly and doesn't matter. Let's see - I think if I had to choose the time, it would be one first 2 weekends in Feb. What do you think? Leave a guess for date, sex and weight if ya want!

Last weekend, my friend Michelle came over and brought a traveling shower with her. She brought me all these gifts like a mini shower. (I didn't want a shower). Also at work this week we had a low key luncheon shower with all the women math teachers which was cute.

Running this week - still at it. Yesterday I had a long day: midterms (one of them was giving technical difficulties), grading, dr appt, then ran 6 miles on the TM, and after that I thought I was going to collapse for sure. It took alot out of me! I meant to take off on Wednesday but ended up going to the gym with Bill (can't resist going to the gym with a partner!) and running slowly. Today I swam and I promised I wouldn't run today, my legs need some rest. I'm going to try to do a longer run tomorrow but we'll see!

Kara Goucher wants to have a baby!!! Sweet - it will be great to read about her pregnancy and running!!! This is after we run together in Boston of course.

So... 36 weeks

• Getting more tired after a long day!

• I could cry at something really stupid on T.V.

• I have to go to the bathroom almost every time I stand up! and at least 3 times a night.

• It is fun to feel the baby kick, and now I know exactly what is where which is cool.
  

So leave a guess!

** I'm still deciding on the doula!! Agh! I met with 2 this week and I just don't know if it is worth the hefty amount of money they charge!


35 weeks
Monday: Run/Walk 3.83 miles (45min) + yoga 30 min
Tuesday: Run 3 miles (42min)and kickbox 30 min
Wednesday: Swim 2550 yards (54 min), 4 miles (47:00)
Thursday: Run 6 miles(1:03:14)
Friday: Swim 2550 yards (50 min) and walk 10 min
Saturday: Run 11.26 miles (2:10)
Sun: 2.66 miles (31:55) outside, 25 out! with Bill :)


Total this week running: 30.8 miles / 5:59:09 (11:40 min mile)

one month to go!

1.20.09 A historic day.. also one month to go until my due date. Actual due date: 2.19 - but I'm sorry, the number 19 wasn't working out for me and I liked 20 better so I changed it! So, one month from today, maybe we will have a baby! Or maybe add a couple more weeks to that. Either way, it is soon! I was busy this weekend making blogs for my fundraising for Boston (http://natalieavioli.blogspot.com) and for baby updates (http://ditullios.blogspot.com/) so that was fun. I didn't want to mix them with my running blog. This is midterm week at school (my favorite week of the year not counting finals) and I wanted to work through that for sure and after this week I'm ready for the baby!

In the spirit of midterm week I was able to go for a run near school midday. There was still snow on the ground in some parts and it was pretty cold but the fresh air felt good! It wasn't the best run but still parts of it I was RUNNING, outside, and it felt good! My calves and achilles have been KILLING me the last 2 days I ran. I should have taken an off day from running for sure. I think that I also need some of those recovery socks and they might help! I think my running stride is weird now which is affecting my achilles maybe - otherwise I've never had this weird pain before. Imagine my dismay that after running what felt like 2 hours (42 min), maybe 10-12 miles, I went to g-map and found that I had only ran/walked 3 miles. I had to stop alot because my legs were really screaming in pain. No running tomorrow for me! Going to swim and do lots of pulling, my legs need a break! After the 11 miles on Sat on the TM, I had the most energy, it was ridiculous. I was cleaning floors, doing wash, vacuuming, all of this cleaning like a madwoman. I couldn't even fall asleep when it was time. Then Sunday, it hit me more. Today I am completely exhausted, but that is mainly because I woke up starving at 4:30am and wide awake. I went downstairs and ate an english muffin w/ butter (yum yum) and ran the dishwasher! I realized last school year I woke up only 20 minutes later every morning to work out but it felt like the middle of the night last night!

I go find out tomorrow what position the baby is in, so keep a good thought that the peanut is facing down! No C-section please! I will be doing jumping jacks, headstands and flipturns 24/7 if the baby is breech!

week 34 stats
Monday - off travel day! (when was the last day I took OFF?)
Tuesday - 5.05 miles
Wednesday - 4.7 miles, swim 2500 yds
Thursday - 2 miles, 4 miles (split)
Friday - swim 2500yd, wii fit
Saturday - long 11 miles
Sunday - easy 3.3 miles, lift

Review: Win Detergent & "Long Run"

I was sent a bottle of WIN DETERGENT to try out and review. Over the summer my running clothes were smelling HORRIBLE so I started to do a hot water wash which seemed to do the trick. The problem is that hot water probably decreases the life of my clothes - so I was excited to try this detergent which is endorsed by some Olympians and claims it gets the embedded sweat out of workout clothes. So I washed all of my nasty smelly clothes from this week with a small capful of this stuff. Couple hours later did the smell test. Literally shoved these clothes in my nose and gave them an intense smell test - every single shirt and pair or shorts or pants. No smell! I'm impressed. I will definitely use this detergent on my running clothes instead of hot water. Good stuff and I was super happy to be able to try it out! You can get it here and Dick's Sporting Goods, also other specialty stores. It is around $6.99/ 21 oz. Try it out!

Pros - need a small amount for a large load, it WORKS!, you feel special using athlete detergent
Cons - Price is quite hefty for a small bottle of it

________________________________________________________________

I was a machine today. Since we were in Florida last weekend, we had to get away all of our christmas stuff, and I also wanted to get the nursery closet organized and take things out of boxes. We didn't have a shower so basically our parents have bought us stuff and mailed us things. I also wanted to run 10 miles. Abby and I were going to go outside but it was a bit chilly so instead decided not to. Over what seemed 3 hours from start to finish I was able to finish 11 miles. It took just over 2 hours, but I took mini breaks between miles. After 2-3 miles in my Asics the bottoms of my calves were aching very badly. I crawled up 2 flights of stairs in pain to get my other shoes and once I switched to my favorite Mizunos it was much better! I still stopped here and there with side stitches and such and did some blog comments, and sending my progress updates to Abby, like a virtual run. Also, I forgot to mention that I found some chocolate mint GU and Bill picked it up for me at REI this week. Yummy stuff! I thought it was a new flavor, but found out it was seasonal. Abby told me about it & I got it on sale! Anyway, got through that...



then was a cleaning machine for hours on end. I feel accomplished but I am exhausted! At least our house is clean and organized! I love throwing things out. Lots of trash today.

35 wks - tag- bars

Dear Belly Button,

Please stay inside! You can do this! 5 more weeks!!


35 weeks is:
Running along
Boston training
Visiting the bathroom all the time
Heartburn
Kicks and shifts in the belly :)
Some lower back pain
Swimming makes me sleepy


Fellow Philadelphian Laurel tagged me so here goes:

4 favorite memories from 2008
Outside long runs in the cold winter air & spring races
Celebrating 3rd anniversary at B & B
NBA finals game in Boston last minute
4th of July spending it with Bill & sibs at beach
Start line of the philly marathon


4 favorite T.V. shoes watched in 2008
LOST - to return 1/21/09!!

4 of my favorite foods in 2008
Pizza
Cheese
Protein Bars
GU!

4 places I loved in 2008
The beach
Caribbean Cruise in March
My basement - treadmill : )
My comfy bed

4 events (running) I loved in 2008
Broad Street Run
Philly Distance Run
Cherry Blossom 10 miler
Kennett 10k where Bill was at the finish chute :)

4 things I liked in 2008
The Mofo Quilt
Being in the same wedding with Bill
Being able to be a prego runner
Baking


4 things I am looking forward to in 2009
Baby!
Boston Marathon
4th anniversary
Spring races


4 people I tag
Abby
Nicole
Heather
Kristina


X country2 told me about this recipe from the food network. I have to say it was pretty delightful. I wish it had the nutrition facts but it is chock full of protein. Thanks XC!





I love this picture & my sis. Who looks this happy running a marathon and then never wants to do another??? Working on that !

8 months and training for Boston

I got my official confirmation today in the mail and earlier this week on email that I'm into Boston. It is on my fridge for motivation. "Training" officially started this past Monday - which was actually an off day for me (travel!) I'm not sure how I will play this one out, but my goal is to continue running 25-30 miles a week, not have a c-section and start running as soon as possible after the baby comes! So I hope he/she comes a bit early so I have more time to train. The WDW really did get me even more psyched than I already was. I felt like it was meant to be that I got in to the race with charity, so I hope that nothing crazy will happen and that I can recover quickly and be able to finish it! So that is the plan. I printed off a maintenance plan from smart coach and the novice plan from the Boston website and hope to mix and match them. Let me know what you think or any advice on how to train for this one - APRIL 20!

Tomorrow is officially 8 months!

I know I am very behind @ comments, and will catch up. We have midterms next week so it's the final crunch to get them together. Also I'm starting to stress that everyday may be the last day I am at work (wishful thinking maybe) so I'm on edge! I'm ok with working a few more weeks and do have March 1st in my mind for now and I'm being patient since that is a while away.

I was thinking today as I was running on the treadmill (most runs now-a-days) that it was pretty crappy weeks 28-30ish and then started to improve and has been feeling pretty good lately, albeit slow.

One & Done

It was a fun day yesterday - but HOT!! IT was fun being a spectator and then buddy runner, too hot to actually run that whole thing, I don't think I'd want to do it. We started out getting off a monorail around mile 8 and I spotted my sister running by from afar (crazy that I was able to with the crowds!!!). Got back on a monorail and headed to the Magic Kingdom to see her run by the castle and we were able to see her again, this looked like a fun part! She was in good spirits and happy.


We hopped a bus from there to get to Animal Kingdom and waited there a while, this was between miles 16-18 and it looked like it was going to be a slow/boring part for a while so I hopped in just before mile 18 and was able to run to the finish with my sis! It was alot of fun for me! She was going at a pace that I could manage and taking some walking breaks so it worked out great. I'd have to say, I don't know that I was too impressed as a whole with the race. There were several fun spots and characters but also back entrances to parks, highways, and dead spots. I guess maybe I thought it would be even more Disney? But your normal race doesn't have much going on, just spectators that kind of make it. So it was decent in my view - but very warm out even though they started at 6am.

By mile 22, my sister was starting to lose it and shouted out "22.6 to go!" Then realized it was 22.2 and started laughing. "Whatever the hell we have left!" The last few miles she was drained and didn't want to hear anything. It is hard when you aren't sure how to motivate, I wasn't sure what to say or do so we ran with some silent patches. Everyone is different in terms of what gets them to the finish, so I was trying to think of what I would want, but I remember the feeling of just wanting to be done and just having company is nice. It will be a great memory for sure!

She said that was it for her - one and done! But she raised money for a great cause (leukemia) and followed through with it. And running by her side with all of the support that she got from the Team in Training crowd, it really made me want to be a part of TNT, so maybe a TNT race in the future. It made me really excited for Boston for sure!!! It will be great to run a race 20 pounds lighter!

No sun today, but it is Monday and no work! Have a great day!!
Think about what you like in those last few miles - what would motivate you?

34 weeks

34 weeks

In Florida, jealous of everyone running this weekend. Good luck to anyone who is! Great weather, and the week ended well, positive things!

Recently became a house? See picture below. Loving the weather here!!!!! Went for two mini runs today in shorts and tshirt!


33 weeks (last week)

Like feeling the baby move, getting used to this, it isn't bad!
Going to the bathroom ALL the time

Monday: yoga + elliptical 30 min
Tuesday: 4 miles, elliptical 22 min
Wednesday: 4.5 miles + 13 elliptical min
Thursday: 6 miles
Friday: 2200 yds swim
Saturday: 3.10 miles (37 min) 2.94 (37 min) miles
Sunday: 8.5 miles with my sister in the WDW marathon :)

Total: 29 miles(average 11:51mm), 2200 yds swam, cross train: 1:05

Wicked Wednesday

Today was a good day for Wicked (for you bostonians) and Wondrous Wednesday. I forgot that on Monday Bill told me there was a message at home that I won some basket at the gym. There was some survey and you got entered in a raffle. So I went to yoga on Monday night and got this random basket of weird gym stuff. My gym is totally weird and opened up a weight loss center right next door and I feel like they are totally shady and just take supplements and weird stuff. So this basket is not made for a pregnant girl!

Some of the stuff in it: Bottle of Relora pills (I looked this up - mood regulation/stress related eating - anyone heard of it?), bottle of apex advanced calcium pills, and a multi vitamin by apex. Then these 3 weird bars, 2 of which have no ingredients so I won't touch them and a one of which is a cookie "nutrition" bar. A DVD which I'll probably do as a giveaway soon! The good things in the basket were a water bottle, stretching cord thing, and mini gym bag. There is also a certificate for one free training appointment and one free 1/2 hour massage. The massage room is this shady room that says massage in big sticker letters on the door, and the trainers there - yeah, I know more than they do. I always wanted to have a personal trainer so I went this summer and had one appointment. They set me up with a guy who was probably 22 and I definitely had more information than he did. The plan he wanted to put me on was basically eating egg whites, fruit and vegetables. I'd then have a skeleton baby. But - I am so lucky, I win random things all the time. I just had a flash back to freshmen year in college I won a mountain bike in a drawing in the cafeteria! I also won a fuel belt from the bootie buster (and got that last weekend, hooray!)
So that was funny.

Today at school a kid I taught last year who was kind of my project to get him to work (but I failed) saw me in the hallway and stared at me in shock and said " WAIT! You're pregnant???"
It was hilarious. I see him all the time! I told him I had eaten too much for breakfast. That made me laugh because I am a basketball belly right now!

I was able to run today and it felt great!
I am thankful for legs that carry me and for my health.
I was a bit more social today but I didn't want to be.

My quads are STILL sore. Seriously!!!

One Last Hoorah

Mish-Mosh of what's going on...

Terrific Tuesday
I kept telling myself today was a terrific Tuesday. Clearly, I didn't feel as upbeat about work today as I did yesterday. One day later and it got old, right? We went for a tour of the maternity wing last night (scene of the crime/terrifying in my view), during which I was thinking I should go find a midwife and stay away from that place (even though it was nice, I'm totally scared). That coupled with thinking about the doula just overwhelmed me and made me teary. Needless to say, I didn't sleep well last night and was kind of cranky today. But I did work on my socializing be nice goal and was able to do just that.

Sugar
Do you have a favorite bar that has low sugar (< 10) ? Let me know what it is if so!! I like high protein on the go bars for when I don't have a chance to sit down and eat properly.

HBBC
I think this contest was the coolest thing ever. In fact, today, I feel lost not knowing where to keep track of what I did! But I have to say that the million squats and lunges I did on Sunday killed me today. My quads are super duper sore. Note to self - do not do these exercises close to baby's due date! Will not be able to move. The soreness feels kind of good though!

The Last Hoorah

My sister is running her first marathon with team in training this weekend in Disney World. I was iffy that I'd be able to go but got "clearance" today at my doctor's appointment. I'll be 34 weeks on Friday and the rule is usually no flying after 36 weeks. I'm not really nervous at all, more excited for a mini vacation weekend. I'm excited for her, and hoping she'll get into running, but throughout her training, this was not the case! She is an all around athlete and swam D1 in college but running is not her thing. Good luck to NCrunner this weekend!

Doctor's appointment went well. I saw a different doctor than last time's fiasco and also a different one than my normal dude. I took off my shoes and sweater to get weighed this time and weight was down 2 lbs. I overreacted last time. At 33.5 weeks I've gained 19 lbs give or take I guess? If I can stay right there, and the baby can somehow get to a happy weight, that would be great!!! But I still have 6.5 weeks to go, even more. This doctor was ok, said everything looked good and let me know in 2 weeks around 36 weeks I will get another ultrasound (news to me!) to find out the size of the baby and position. Is this standard procedure? He said by feel that he would guess the peanut will be in the 6 pound range, maybe 7 lbs. It was a pretty uneventful appointment otherwise, and I go every 2 weeks now until early Feb and then every week! I can feel the baby shifting ALL the time. At times I'll have a lopsided stomach or something sticking out one side like an alien!! It is so weird and neat.

I was able to get in 2 miles twice on the treadmill and some elliptical today. Yoga yesterday with my sore quads was a bit brutal. And I officially have a basketball belly. Sometimes it feels really weird to reach down and pick things up.

Continuing my goal for the week - be nice @ work.
Today I'm thankful that I could still plod along and call it running.

On to Wondrous Wednesday!

Good attitude Monday

Back to work for everyone. I was surprised I wasn't more depressed yesterday having to go back after a long break - but I think it was time! I think that I needed to get back into the routine and stop eating junk food and sitting around. It was a good day and good to be back! I am thankful for a job that I enjoy doing! I am writing this down so that I can come back to it on a day that I feel otherwise.

This school year I switched rooms and now I am around people who work less and do the bare minimum. Upon seeing this, I have been super bitchy all year long and kind of feel bad about it. I guess I just know how hard I and other people work to do our best and it angers me that other people don't put in the same effort.

Why am I surrounded by friggin idiots??

Anyway, I think I come off as very bitchy and snobby, so this week I am working on being more social and nice to people that I work with. I usually just want to get my stuff done and am very focused but I think it is good to have some down time and be friendly. Goal for the week.

I have to say thank you very much for all of your advice regarding the doula situation. Within hours, I had links, emails and personal stories as resources and I feel like I will be more informed about making that decision!

HBBC - I think I will be in denial in a few days when I need to work out longer and won't be getting any points for it! Thanks to Amanda for keeping motivation high throughout the difficult season! She did a great job securing prizes and motivating tons of people! I ended with 182 points and worked out every day of the challenge. There was some bogusness with someone posting 500 + points which I don't buy for a minute(sorry!). I think it was a typo. Yesterday I did so many squats and lunges to try to rack up more points that my quads are super sore today and will probably be *killing* me tomorrow!

Week 32 recap:
29-Dec ellip(30), yoga(1hr), lift(30)
30-Dec 3.27 miles(37:55),3200 yards swimming
31-Dec 7 miles
1-Jan 5 miles + 30 min yoga
2-Jan 6 miles, 30 elliptical, 15 lift
3-Jan 3 miles, 30 min on bike
4-Jan 6 miles + 45 min strength

miles 30.2 time 5:34:22, average pace 11:05mm

Goal for week - be nice at work. Thankful for today - job that I like

Food & More

I'm reading Dean Karnazes 50/50 book and came across this part where he said if something has more than 10g of sugar in it, to avoid it. Then I checked some of the things that I eat - bars that I practically live on during the work day (balance bars, clif bars, etc), granola bars for snacks, and they have more than that! I'm going to look for some less sugar items, but let me know if you have any suggestions on that.

I'm a vegetarian and in my head just like logging a workout, I try to make sure I get enough veggies and fruits for the day and the past couple of months I have been somewhat slacking off but I'm bored of their incorporation! I know soup is a good way and I try to be creative. One thing veggies do to me is totally gas out my stomach. So if I have them for dinner, the rest of the night is nasty! If I do them for lunch then running after work can be difficult stomach wise. Maybe I'll have to avoid the beans and broccoli and move on to less gaseous items.

On a completely different note, I've been looking into getting a doula mainly for help with childbirth. I have been reading up and it seems like there may be a faster recovery if you don't get an epidural, and a doula gives you a better chance at going natural, less chance of c-section. Since we have no idea what to expect, I was mostly thinking to have someone there to advocate for us, and to give a better chance of going drug free, and to know what is going on incase an emergency C-section might come up? The part that is iffy to me is that I'd only know this person for about a month and how comfortable will I feel with another person in the room, and will it take away from just the 2 of us working through it. Also they are pricey, like 700-900 bucks! I guess I want the best chance of going natural only to have more control and less injury so that I can get up and run as soon as possible and start preparing for Boston. Any mamas out there who have any experience or advice please pass it along!

It is back to work tomorrow for most people who have had a nice long vacation. Have a happy Monday!

33 weeks - happy new year!

I started off the new year mad at the treadmill. It went from BFF to dreadmill slowly. Seeing the numbers in front of me pressures me too much and it put me in a downer mood.

Today I had a fantastic outside run with Abby though and I am still savoring the feeling of running outside with another person at a decent pace! It felt nice and normal and reminded me of the summer days when I was much smaller and running was a bit more comfortable! It was too easy. It felt so nice out and fun to catch up with Abby - it had been since the summer, when we were doing some long runs in preparation for her IM(IW)! She is recovering from an injury so lucky me I am not holding her back too much from a more normal pace, but soon she'll be off doing speedy runs (hopefully right around the time I am ready to start racking up faster miles again!) Right towards the end of the run (5 miles) I started to get a side stitch, otherwise I felt like I would have liked to keep running for hours and hours on end. The first mile I did feel like I was running in a race (huff/puff) but then I was able to settle into a pace. It felt so good!!! It makes such a difference having someone to run with, I can't say enough about it.

Today marks 33 weeks.
7 to go, but hoping for 4 I think? Trying not to be anxious.
I feel like overall I've been having a pretty easy pregnancy. I hope I can run up until it is time but we'll see!

This past week (33):

• Sleeping isn't the most comfortable
• I haven't had any indigestion anymore for the past couple of weeks!
• More pressure on my bladder for sure!
• Holding on to an innie belly button. Please stay in there!!
• More shifting, less kicking on the inside
• Running is still the same!
• Definitely anxiety about the whole birth thing/bodily changes for a while
• I can't help but to keep logging my miles
• I counted what I was eating for about 1 day and from then on, have just been more mindful (minus every holiday outing)

It is back to work on Monday. I hankered down for a bit and got some work done this afternoon. It is kind of a nice benchmark to know that I'll have off in a couple more weeks and be able to start preparing for Boston and won't go back to work until after I've finished Boston, and then I'll only have about 6-7 weeks left of the schoolyear to finish out. It is weird to think how much our lives are going to change in such a short amount of time though. I guess what most people say is that you don't know what to expect or how it is going to be, so it is a little scary - and exciting too!

Savor the weekend !