Running During the 2nd and 3rd Trimesters the Second Time Around

I was working on a postpartum running update and realized I'd never published my post about the 2nd and 3rd trimester.  I wrote it a couple of days before Elise was born and with the flurry of her birth and update posts, I forgot to post it.  So here it is now.

Running while pregnant with Elise was so different than it had been with Carter.  Read about running during the 2nd and 3rd trimesters when I was pregnant with Carter here.  The 1st trimester I had a lot more energy and was running much faster than I had with Carter.  When we hit the 2nd trimester I didn't get the huge surge of energy like I had with Carter, I think mostly because my fatigue hadn't been as intense.  So running during the 2nd trimester was more similar this time around although I was running much faster this time.  I was hitting the same paces I had when I was pregnant with Carter but this time I was pushing the stroller.  Without the stroller I was able to run 9 minute per mile pace.  My races were also much faster.  I ran my fastest 2nd trimester 5k this time in 23:05, almost a minute and a half faster than my fastest 2nd trimester 5k when pregnant with Carter.

Running was also a lot more comfortable.  My hips weren't sore and I didn't feel off balance and wobbly.  Honestly, up until the very end I never felt that big and swore I wasn't waddling like I had with Carter (but I'm sure I was).  Most of my soreness was in my lower back/upper buttock.  I think it stemmed from carrying Carter around because I noticed on days when I didn't carry him as much I wasn't as sore there.  I believe I have my pregnancy with Carter to thank for being more comfortable.  All my muscles were already stretched out so I didn't feel so tight and sore.

Ready for the Jingle Bell 5k.

When I hit the 3rd trimester I expected to slow down quite a bit.  I was surprised that it never happened.  I did slow down, but not much.  My training runs were at the same pace they had been, it was my races that slowed down.  I ran my fastest 3rd trimester 5k less than a minute slower than my fastest 2nd trimester 5k in 23:54.  That race was almost a minute faster than my fastest 3rd trimester 5k with Carter.  Once I hit 34 weeks my doctor recommended I take a break from running because I was already starting to dilate and he didn't want me to go into labor prematurely.  He said if I made it to 37 weeks I could start running again, so I stopped running from 34-37 weeks.  If he'd asked me to do that with Carter I would have been slightly thankful because running was becoming so uncomfortable at that point.  With Carter I was having contractions during runs and even had so many during a run at 35 weeks that I had to stop and walk.  This time around I was bummed.  I had been feeling so good and figured when I started back at 37 weeks I would be miserable.  I mean, I didn't even make it to 37 weeks with Carter so I couldn't imagine what running at that point would feel like.  I was shocked to find I still felt really good when I started running again.  I was hitting 9:40-10:30 pace and feeling comfortable.  It wasn't until the last half mile or mile that I'd start to feel a lot of pressure in my lower pelvis and be tempted to walk.  I didn't have contractions during runs nearly as frequently as I had with Carter.  My biggest complaint would have been the pressure I felt.

Walking to the start of the last race during our pregnancy with Elise.

Overall running while pregnant with Elise was way more enjoyable than it was when I was pregnant with Carter.  I think it was most likely because my muscles were already stretched out from my previous pregnancy so I didn't have as much soreness.  I think it also helped that my body had plenty of time to recover from Carter's pregnancy before we got pregnant again.  I had read it is best for your body to have 18 months between pregnancies to recover.  We got pregnant with Elise when Carter was 19 months old, so we were right on track with that.  It was nice having been through pregnancy before and knowing what my body could handle.  I wasn't afraid to run, especially after how easy I took it during our pregnancy that ended in a miscarriage.  I knew if I took it that easy and had a miscarriage, running had nothing to do with it.   

Race PRs

As a runner when I find another running blog or meet someone who runs I'm always curious about their times and I get excited when I find someone whose times are comparable to mine. I really enjoy pages on blogs where the writer lists out her fastest times. I was recently looking at one such post and felt inclined to write one of my own, listing out PRs overall as well as pregnant and after having children. I feel it will show my progress and change as a runner through huge life events as well as help me track my times. Some of my pre-pregnancy PRs I know I will never touch so it's nice to have post-baby PRs to focus on. Here are my fastest times pre-baby, pregnant, and post-baby listed out by distance.  There's something about the 10k distance.  For some reason I never run it.  I've run so many 5ks and half-marathons I couldn't even guess the number, but I've only ever run maybe five 10k races.  I had a hard time even finding race times for that distance, so I think the time listed is my PR.

5k

Pre-baby:

18:27 (2007 MSSU Stampede)

Pregnant 1st Trimester:

23:11 (2014 Zoo Run at 13 Weeks)

Pregnant 2nd Trimester:

23:05 (2014 Jingle Bell Run at 23 Weeks)

Pregnant 3rd Trimester:

23:54 (2015 Runway Run at 28 Weeks)

Post-baby:

20:59 (2014 Get Busy Livin 5k)

2007 MSSU Stampede last quarter-mile.

Finishing the 2014 Get Busy Livin 5k.

Finishing the 2014 Jingle Bell 5k pregnant with Elise.

10k
Pre-baby:
42:something (I haven't run very many 10k's and unfortunately the only ones I've run were small and didn't have online results.  So I'm going off running notes I took years ago that don't have much detail.)
Post-baby:
49:52 (2013 Aquarium Run, my 4th race back after Carter was born and the only 10k I've run since)

Posing with Carter after the race.

Half-Marathon

Pre-baby:

1:31:35 (2007 Mighty Mo Half)

Pregnant 1st Trimester:

None Completed

Pregnant 2nd Trimester:

1:56:44 (2014 Prairie Fire at 14 Weeks)

Pregnant 3rd Trimester:

2:19:57 (2012 Route 66 at 32 Weeks)

Post-Baby:

1:36:51 (2013 Jenks Half)

Running the 2012 Route 66 Half Marathon pregnant with Carter.

Finishing the 2013 Jenks Half Marathon.

Finishing the 2014 Prairie Fire Half Marathon pregnant with Elise.

Marathon

Pre-baby:
3:40:05 (2008 Route 66 Marathon)

Running the 2008 Route 66 Marathon (my first and fastest marathon).

Other Favorite Races

Wedding Day 5k:
My mom came up with the idea of running a 5k the morning of our wedding.  We ran the race out at the trails where Ty proposed to me.  I ran the race with Ty and it was the most time we had alone during the entire day.  The race ended up being one of my favorite memories from the day.

Gorilla Dash:
This was my first obstacle course race.  Ty wanted to sign up for it after running a race that morning.  At first I thought he was crazy, but he talked me into it along with my mom and dad.  We all ran together as a 4 person team and it was a blast!

 
Tough Mudder: 
Another race Ty wanted to do that I thought he was crazy for doing!  This one was an 11 mile obstacle course race.  Jeremy and Thomas also ran it and it was a blast running all together!  The most memorable moment for me was making it across the monkey bars!

Week 27 Bumpdate

We actually remembered to take the pictures when we got home from running rather than after dinner and bath time!

 

January 6, 2015

Baby's Size: Baby is around 14.5 inches long and weighs almost 2 pounds.  Her lungs are still immature but could function with intervention if she were to be born this week.  Survival rate is up to 90% this week!  I'm feeling really good about that!

Weight Gain: When I first stepped on the scale this morning it said I'd gained 16 pounds.  I was so excited that I hadn't gained anything and even lost a pound, but I was skeptical.  So I stepped back on and it said I was up 19 pounds.  I was disappointed and got back on and it again said I'm up 19 pounds.  Darn!

Maternity Clothes: Still rocking out in those few longer non-maternity tops, thanks to my maternity tank tops.  Everything else is maternity all the way.  Although my running clothes are still just my regular running clothes.  I wear my tights below my belly and roll the waistband down so it doesn't press on any sore areas.  I have a couple underarmour tops that are nice and long and cover my entire belly.  It's also nice to run in yoga pants where I can pull the band up instead of folding it over.  That way I can get away with a shorter spandex top without exposing my belly.  I think I'll be able to make it through the winter with all my regular sized running clothes.

Sleep: Carter man is back to his regular 8pm-7am schedule, praise all things!  My sleep has been really good other than getting hot and throwing off all my covers only to wake up freezing!  I did that one night and in my half-asleep stupor reached over and pulled off Ty's extra blanket (he gets cold at night because I am so overheated and need a cooler temp to sleep) instead of grabbing our quilt like I thought I had.  Ty pulled it back and I tugged it back over to my side so he got up and found a different blanket to use, poor guy!  Ty says I snore really creepy almost like I'm drowning if I roll over to my back in my sleep.  Luckily I pretty much always sleep on my side wrapped around my body pillow.  For some reason I wake up at midnight every night.  I don't wake up because I have to go to the bathroom because I usually don't feel like I have to go, but I do anyway because I'm awake and a pregnant lady can always pee!  I've been skipping naps because I've felt like I didn't need them most days and wanted to get more done during naptime. 

Symptoms: I've hit the point where it's getting difficult to tie my shoes.  I also can't see past my belly in some situations.  Which is funny because I still don't feel super pregnant.  In my head I'm not that big and then I walk by a mirror and think holy sh#@t that's a huge belly!  As I was adding my link to my bumpdate from Carter's pregnancy I was thinking how huge I was then.  I laughed as I added this week's pictures because I look the same, I just don't feel that big.  I guess that's a good thing?!  My tailbone is still super sore and I wake up with sore hips some mornings.  Luckily my back hasn't been sore like it was with Carter.  Some days it was almost unbearable with him.  Sitting here I just realized I got out of my plank routine with the holidays and haven't done planks in weeks.  If I missed a day when I was pregnant with Carter I paid for it with back pain.  My lower pelvis has been sore lately though.  Carter took off running toward me and head butted me right where I'm sore and I cried.  It was so painful!  My gums bleed quite a bit when I floss.  I know pregnancy gingivitis is common, occurring in about 50% of women, but it still bugs me!  My belly button is still hanging in there.  The top half is even with my stomach and the bottom half is still tucked in.  I'm thinking it may hold out just like it did with Carter.  I'll keep you posted!

Running: My weekly mileage was 12 miles.  I had a few days where I just wasn't feeling it and stopped at 2 miles.  I'm really hoping keeping my mileage down will keep Elise in longer.  It's probably not the case, but I like to believe part of the reason Carter was premature was that I trained for and ran a half-marathon during the 3rd trimester.  I like to believe that because then it's something I have control over.  My plan is to continue to run, but keep my runs short (no longer than 5 miles) from here on out so Elise will stay put until at least 37 weeks.  It was around this time when I decided to go for the half-marathon and started bumping my long run up from 6 miles to eventually 12 miles when I was pregnant with Carter. 

Food Cravings: Nothing that I can think of.  My appetite is off and on.  Last week I was so hungry I ate 17 bone-in buffalo wings without realizing how many I ate.  Other days I feel like I could skip meals.  It's weird.

Food Aversions: Smoked stuff still grosses me out.  I had green beans and couldn't believe how disgusting they were.  Then my mom tried them and said it was because they were smoked.

Movement: She is still moving quite a bit, but now it seems like she's getting to be more on a schedule.  Before she moved anytime I sat down.  Now she is sleeping sometimes when I'm sitting down.  One day I felt movement a couple inches above my belly button!  Typically I feel her right around my belly button.  Sometimes I feel her down low, but those movements are typically not as strong.  I'm hoping that means she's already getting in a head down position and I'm mostly feeling her kicks.  I still get so distracted watching my belly to see her move.  I love when she has a big enough kick that I can see it out of my peripheral vision.

Best Moment of the Week: Starting the new year and knowing Elise will join our family in 2015 was so exciting.  Now that we've entered the year she will be born in, her arrival seems so much closer!  After this month we just have the months of February (Valentine's Day, my favorite) and March (yay, Spring Break)!

Currently Loving: Our play room!  It is such a functional space and I love playing in there with Carter.  Now we have so many different little play areas.  We play with Duplo in the nursery, Carter's room has tons of toys, he loves his train table and cars in the living room, and then his play room has the trampoline, markers, ball pit, cars, puzzles, and bikes.  It's so much fun to move from room to room.  Before we spent most of our time in the living room.  Carter also loves to run laps through the house using the big open space in the play room, going down the hall and into the nursery.  I was running laps with him yesterday and Harper joined in with us.  I'm also love, love, loving the nursery.  Once the dresser and ceiling were painted and we got all the pink and gray baskets and totes in the room I started to stress out.  It was just too much pink!  I'm not a huge pink fan, I like it but it's not one of my favorites.  I was hoping for the paint to be pink and most of the accents to be our teal/mint color.  We just couldn't find any teal baskets in a light enough shade.  They were all really dark and overpowering, so we went with pink.  I kept fretting that it was too much pink so my mom brought down the fabric we picked out for curtains and had my dad hang them so I could get a better feel for how things would look.  Man, did the fabric make a difference!  It really pulled in the teal and broke up the pinks of the ceiling and the dresser/baskets.  I loved it!  Then Ty disappeared into the garage for a while and re-appeared with elephant cutouts he made of wood.  Our plan is to paint them our teal/mint color which will also bring in more of that color which is my favorite color and I can't wait to have more of it around!             

Miss Anything: Nope!

What Big Brother is Up to This Week: On New Year's Eve we took Carter to a party at the aquarium.  He had a blast and ran circles with a group of girls for part of the time.  He also loved celebrating at home and said cheers every time he touched glasses with someone else.  He proclaimed New Year's day "Happy Day" and has since started saying that most days.  He'll even yell "happy day" after he does something he likes.  It's adorable!  One day we were sitting on the floor playing with puzzles.  My tailbone was getting sore so I told Carter I needed to get up because my back was sore and showed him where my back was sore.  He stood up, ran over, and started rubbing my back.  Then he went over to Ty and had him stand up so he could rub his back in the same place.  It was the sweetest!  My Week 27 Bumpdate with Carter.

Carter wasn't interested in the pictures this week and Harper couldn't even entice him.

 

 

 

Week 26 Bumpdate

 

December 30, 2014

Baby's Size: Baby is around 14 inches long and weighs about 1 and 2/3 pounds.  She is practicing breathing amniotic fluid which will help with lung development.  That is a main reason why her chance of survival if she were to be born this week spikes up to 80%!

Weight Gain: I was up 17 pounds this morning.  Eek!

Maternity Clothes: Same as last week.  I still have about 4 regular tops that are longer than my other tops and have still been in my weekly rotation.  They are getting to the point where they are pretty short and I'll probably have to stop wearing them soon, but it's nice to have a bit more of a variety.

Sleep: Carter was still having some trouble during the night, waking up around 2:30 or 3:00 am crying.  On the days he didn't I only woke up once or twice to go to the bathroom which was nice!  I started getting more tired this week and went back to napping 20-30 minutes during Carter's naps a few days.  My allergies flared up over the weekend and I'd wake up feeling terrible because my nose was so stopped up I was breathing through my mouth which made my throat sore and all the drainage was already making my throat sore!  On our way to Ty's parents' house for the weekend I got really upset because I realized I forgot to pack my body pillow.  When I don't have it I really toss and turn and struggle to fall asleep, sometimes for hours.  I told Ty how disappointed I was and he told me he had grabbed it.  The feeling of relief and appreciation for Ty was immense!

Symptoms: Allergies started kicking my butt this weekend!  My tailbone is still pretty darn sore, especially right after running or sitting on the floor.  My skin is really starting to itch so it must be stretching.  I still don't have any stretch marks, I didn't get any with Carter so here's to hoping!  The Braxton Hicks contractions really kicked it up a notch this week.  Reading back over my bumpdate with Carter, they did this exact week with him as well.  I went out for a run on Monday and I could feel the entire bottom portion of my uterus tighten up and it stayed that way for a long time before releasing and doing it again.  Then on the drive home I had to go to the bathroom, but Carter was napping so I held it.  I kept having contractions and that along with having to pee was very unpleasant.  Finally I had Ty stop and thankfully Carter went back to sleep afterward.  Traveling when I was big and pregnant with Carter was tricky because I had to pee all the time.  This time it's even trickier because I have to pee all the time and we try to time our driving with Carter's naps so he naps in the car for part of the drive.  If I have to pee I don't want to stop and wake Carter up.  It's such a dilemma!  This morning I was leaking milk a little bit.  It's exciting that my body is preparing to feed Elise.  It definitely makes everything so real!

Running: My weekly mileage was 15 miles.  I'm still able to hit 9:00 minute pace without the stroller which is so much faster than with Carter!  At this point in his pregnancy I had slowed to 10-10:30 pace during runs!  I ran 4 miles with my dad on Christmas Eve and, man, did I pay for it.  I was sore and achy the rest of the day.  I figure I won't run farther than 3 miles anymore unless I feel really good and want to go for it.  After runs I'm a little sore and waddle for about an hour or so afterward.  On days I don't run I get calf cramps during the night that are so painful they wake me up, so I'll take the waddling! 

Food Cravings: Smoothies!  I can't get enough fruit.  Ty's mom got out stuff for me to make a smoothie this weekend and now I need to go buy frozen fruit for our house because it was so delicious!  Oh and I really wanted a pretzel with cheese from Quik Trip all week so Ty got me one last night and it's all I can think about today!

Food Aversions: At this point I can't stand the thought of smoked bologne.  Everything else doesn't seem to bother me.

Movement: So much movement!  Little girl is a bit of a stinker though and tends to stop moving right when someone puts their hand on my belly to feel her.  Despite that Leina, Paul, and Ty's Aunt Netta all got to feel her this weekend.  She has been doing these movements where it feels like she's flipping or rolling over and sliding her body against my stomach.  She definitely moves more and stronger than Carter did.  Her movements tend to all be during the day.  Carter would wake me up moving around at 4-5 am, but anytime I wake up to go to the bathroom she's sleeping and not moving.  I'm hoping that means she'll be a better nighttime sleeper than Carter was!

Best Moment of the Week: Christmas and time with family was amazing.  Carter got so excited for Santa to come and was hilarious pouring milk over the cookies!  Anytime someone asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I told them stuff off our registry for Elise.  My family delivered big time!  We got everything off our Target registry and a few things off our Buy, Buy, Baby registry.  Carter is now sporting a pink diaper we got for Elise because I figure, why not?

Currently Loving: The nursery coming together.  While we were visiting Ty's family this weekend my mom painted the ceiling and stripe along the top of the wall in the nursery pink along with the sections on the dresser drawers we had painted blue for Carter.  We picked up pink baskets for the cubbies in the nursery.  Everything is looking so good!  This morning I had that nesting feeling something fierce and cleaned out/arranged the playroom, mopped the floors, put together the cubbies for Carter's room, organized everything in those baskets, and vacuumed the whole house.  Now that I'm sitting down, I'm exhausted!             

My mom painting pink over the blue.  Picture courtesy of my dad.

Working on the dresser.

Dad and Jeremy put the room back together after my mom painted.  It was a team effort.  Elise is so loved!

Miss Anything: Nope!

What Big Brother is Up to This Week:  Carter had such a blast over Christmas.  He loved his Santa gifts and all the toy cars he got.  He got to see his Uncle Paul and Auntie Amanda again which he loved.  He sure is smitten with Auntie Amanda!  He'll run through the house looking for her when he's not sure where she is.  He's started pointing into the nursery while saying sissy.  He'll also look into the crib and point at it while saying sissy.  I'm not sure he really understands what will happen, but he knows things in that room are changing because of "sissy".  When we change his diaper he looks up at the ceiling and exclaims "pretty!"  I think he likes the pink!  My Week 26 Bumpdate with Carter.

I laughed so hard when I saw this one.  That is some look on Carter's face!

Off he went!

I was able to lure him back into the picture with Harper.

The boy loves his dog!

Week 25 Bumpdate

 

I liked the bit of a different view in this picture.

December 23, 2014

Baby's Size: Baby is around 13.5 inches long and weighs about a pound and a half.  If she were born this week she'd have a 50% chance of survival!  She is beginning to plump up and look more like a newborn.

Weight Gain: I was up 15 pounds this morning.  It fluctuates so much from day to day and I swear it depends on what I eat.

Maternity Clothes: The non-maternity tops I've been wearing are starting to get a little bit short to where if I'm not paying attention they ride up and expose my tank top.  I'll probably keep wearing them for a while so I'll have more of a variety of long sleeved shirts.

Sleep: This week I didn't have as many nightly restroom breaks, but Carter was struggling and woke up almost every night around 2:30 am just screaming.  My big problem is that I can't fall asleep.  I lay in bed for 1-2 hours tossing and turning.  So when Carter wakes up I usually lay there for an hour even though he's back to sleep.  I think part of it may have had to do with Carter's birthday party and Christmas and everything I needed to do to prepare so my brain just wouldn't shut off.  I'm hoping I'll go back to falling asleep normally next week.  Despite my lack of nighttime sleep, I haven't felt quite as tired this week and didn't take naps when Carter was napping so I get could more done.  

Symptoms: I just don't feel that big even though I know I'm starting to look big.  People will make comments and it brings me back to reality.  A mom in my stay at home mom group asked me when I was every going to start looking pregnant because I was so tiny, but then when I relayed the conversation to my brother his eyes grew wide and he laughed.  On Sunday my dad, without even thinking, blurted out "You were this big with Carter?!!!?"  So I guess I am looking pretty big!  Then when I showed up for a playdate the older brother of Carter's friend looked at me and immediately asked if I was pregnant.  So although I don't feel too large, I must be looking it!  I do have trouble bending over and getting up when I'm sitting on the floor.  I huff and puff and get out of breath when I sweep, vacuum, or move furniture.  Ty's finally getting to the point where he doesn't want me to move furniture or lift stuff which is nice when he's home, but when he's not I just do it anyway because stuff has to get done!  My tailbone gets sore, especially when I sit on the floor.  After I've been on the floor when I stand up it is really painful!  I had my first Braxton Hicks contractions this week.  They felt just like the ones I had with Carter.  They tend to happen most often when I hold my bladder for too long.  Then when I finally go, I feel the contractions!

Running: My weekly mileage was 15 miles.  Last week was an amazing week as far as running went.  I was running fast and feeling great.  This week has been a mixture.  I've had a few days where I just felt rough and only ran 2 miles because my legs were burning, my hips were sore, and I was struggling.  Then I've also had a couple days where I felt really great and ran a lot faster than I thought I was.  I remember it was around now that I started feeling really good on runs and contemplated doing a half-marathon when I was pregnant with Carter.  That's definitely not something I plan to do this late in pregnancy again! 

Food Cravings: All the Christmas goodies have been killing me!  My mom brought fudge last weekend when they came for Carter's party and I can't walk by the stuff or I cut off a chunk and eat it!  I'm not craving anything though, I'm just eating stuff because it's there!

Food Aversions: The smell of smoked meat still gets me, but I've been able to eat barbeque sauce.  My family wanted to go out to eat on Sunday and I suggested Rib Crib because I wanted to see how barbeque sat with me.  I had a pulled pork sandwich and was able to eat it just fine.  It didn't have a smoked taste to it.  I think if I had smoked meat with a really smoky flavor that would be a whole other story.

Movement: Little miss is definitely still moving around quite a bit.  She had a few kicks this week that were a little bit painful for me.  Last night in bed she was really giving it to me.  She also likes to press her body up against my stomach to where I can see and feel a bulge.  I love it!

Best Moment of the Week: Carter's birthday party was a blast and it was so much fun to watch him play with his friends.  It was also super exciting to pick up Ty's brother, Paul, and sister-in-law, Amanda, at the airport.  Carter had his 2 year check-up today and our doctor said he would accept Elise as a new patient and got really excited, congratulating us.  I can't believe it's getting so close!  We only have the months of January, February, and March and then she'll be here at the beginning of April.  I'm getting to the point where I get giddy when I think about April.  Before it seemed so far off I didn't get that excited!  

Currently Loving: Getting things ready for Elise's arrival!  It's so nice this being our 2nd because we have way less to do to prepare for her arrival.  We already have a doctor picked out and know she will be accepted as a patient.  We also have all the major necessities such as a crib, changing area, pack n play, and fun stuff like activity gym and jumperoo.  Now that Carter's sleeping in his big boy bed I've moved most of his stuff over from the nursery.  His clothes are now in the dresser in his room so I've washed, folded, and put Elise's newborn and 0-3 month clothes in her dresser.  I've left a few bins of toys in the nursery figuring Carter may want to play in Elise's room while we're in there getting her dressed and such.  For a while I've been pondering how we could turn this wasted space by our kitchen into a playroom.  We had our futon in the middle of the room and then had a bookshelf and a desk in there, but the room just wasn't functional and we never used it.  I mentioned it to Ty and he immediately jumped on board talking about moving things around and getting rid of furniture.  We donated the bookshelf and listed the desk on Craig's list, moved the futon against a wall, and will probably get rid of the other large piece of furniture in the room.  Last night we bought a square cubby storage set from Big Lots with Christmas money from my grandparents and I'm working on organizing all the stuff we took out of the desk into the cubbies.  We'd like to add a rug on the laminate floor so I could put Elise on the floor on a blanket or her activity gym while Carter plays.  We also have a rocking chair in the room so I could nurse and/or rock Elise while Carter plays.  I love picturing all the possibilities!  Carter is already loving the room because he can drive his cars across the floor so easily!           

Miss Anything: Nope!

What Big Brother is Up to This Week:  Carter had his 2nd birthday party and had a blast!  He was so excited to see his Uncie Paul and Auntie Mandy (the way he says it is sooo cute).  He accidentally called Paul, Auntie Paul a few times so he switched to just calling him "Pau".  One of the cutest things he's started doing is calling his Uncie Thomas, Uncie Taco.  Last week he kept trying to say Thomas and just gave up and decided to call him Taco.  It stuck and I love it!  It makes me think of the hilarious uncle from the show, The League.  We visited Santa twice this week.  First we went on Thursday, but the Santa was odd and Carter looked miserable in the picture.  So then we went to a different Santa who was great and got Carter to smile.  It was fun to think of Elise being in the picture with Santa next year.  I'm loving how real this is getting and picturing how life will change with another baby in it!  I know it will be different and stressful, but I'm so excited!  My Week 25 Bumpdate with Carter.

Jingle Bell 5k

We've been running the Jingle Bell 5k which benefits arthritis for years.  We continue to run it because we like the cause and because the race is so much fun.  They give you jingle bells to wear on your shoes and the age group awards are always holiday related.  One year they were Christmas ornaments and another year they were large bells on a pretty ribbon.  I'm not sure what they were the last time we ran it as I was 35 weeks pregnant with Carter and didn't place in my age group.  Last year we had so much ice the weekend of the race it was deemed unsafe and canceled.  This year mom signed Carter up for the 1 mile fun run figuring he would love it.  Each year they've run the mile fun run before the 5k so she knew we'd all get to watch Carter run.  Then when we looked at the schedule of events we saw it was to start 15 minutes after the 5k.  We were all disappointed because that meant the rest of us wouldn't get to watch Carter run.  Mom decided to sign him up for the fun run at the Turkey Trot so we could all watch him run his first race and then we'd just miss his 2nd race.

Ready to run!

Group shot with the Christmas tree after the race.

Standing at the starting line they announced the fun run was to start at 9:30 rather than 9:15.  I got so excited when I realized I would finish before Carter started and could even run the fun run with him!  From what I remembered the race was run on a hilly course.  I went into the race prepared for it to be decently hilly.  The course was changed a little bit from previous years and had only mild hills.  I took off at a pace that felt comfortable and cruised through the first mile in 7:31.  I was shocked!  I figured I was running just under 8 minute pace and couldn't believe I was running so much faster!  The highlight of the first mile was about a half-mile in when I was running past a couple of really young girls.  One turned to the other and said, "I'm getting tired, are you?"  I didn't hear the second girl's response, but then the 1st girl said, "You know we can walk, right?"  I was cracking up.

Waiting for the start.  You can see us over to the left of the sign in the picture.

Mom, dad, and Carter found Santa while they were waiting for us to finish the 5k.

I felt so good during the 2nd mile.  I focused on maintaining my pace and staying comfortable.  My belly wasn't feeling big or in the way.  At one point I was thinking, people probably can't even tell I'm pregnant.  Then I happened to glance over and catch my reflection in a store window and was brought back to reality when I saw my large and in charge belly leading the way!  When my 2nd mile split popped up I was impressed that I ran a 7:29 split.  I had been worried I would get too hot during the race as I borrowed a long-sleeved underarmour from Ty and wore it with my Jingle Bellies tank top, shorts, and tall Christmas socks.  The temperature was around 45 degrees at the race start.  I did get pretty sweaty but never felt too warm because it was drizzling which kept me from getting too hot.  I didn't feel like I had sped up too much during the 3rd mile but went through mile 3 in 7:19!  My watch showed my finishing time was 23:05, over a minute faster than my time at the Turkey Trot!  Looking at the online results they have my time as 22:47.  I have no idea how my Garmin could've been 20 seconds off as I didn't start it until I crossed the start line, I stopped it crossing the finish line, the clock showed 23 minutes as I crossed the finish line, and a 22:47 is 7:20 pace which I didn't hit with my mile splits.  So I'm going with my Garmin time although it would have been cool to run under 23 minutes.  I finished 3rd out of 41 in my age group, 6th female out of 293, and 45 out of 505 total finishers.

Notice the finishing clock says 23:09 here.

Jeremy was rocking it up front like usual finishing 7th overall with time of 18:36 putting him 1st in his age group.  Thomas finished in 23:59, 5th in his age group and 56th male finisher.  Ty didn't run because he came down with bronchitis earlier in the week.  He decided to stay home and sleep in rather than come watch or run/walk the fun run with Carter.  Dad also sat the race out because he was sick and mom was only registered for the fun run so she could run with Carter since the race was supposed to start 15 minutes after the 5k.  

Jeremy finishing.

Thomas crossing the finish line.

Posing with our age group awards.

I ran a cool down and then met up with mom, dad, and Carter on the course.  As I caught up to them it was adorable to see Carter holding his Oma's hand on one side and his Opa's hand on the other as he ran along.  I took some pictures and speed walked alongside them for a while before Carter asked me to pick him up.  When he was ready to run again he said "ready!" so I set him down and he took off running again.  He loved running along with the three of us and especially enjoyed when we got passed by a group of runners with dogs.  At one point he got really distracted by a train going by in the distance and wanted to be carried so he could watch it.  With about a tenth of a mile to go we got passed by a group wearing a giant box as a present.  They cheered for Carter which scared him and he wanted to be carried for a little bit, but was quick to ask to be put down so he could run the rest of the way to the finish.  I had such a blast run/walking the fun run with Carter and I know his Oma and Opa did as well!  It's so much fun to see how much he enjoys run/walking.  I'm thinking Carter will want to do the fun run at the Jingle Bell race again next year!  All day after the race he wanted to stomp his feet so we could listen to the bells on his shoes.

My view when I caught up to them in the fun run.

Carrying Carter for a bit.

 

Crossing the finish.

Week 24 Bumpdate

We had our 24 week appointment yesterday.  During our appointment our doctor checked Elise's heart.  He showed us the 4 chambers and the 2 large vessels leaving the heart.  I asked him if he would be able to see most congenital heart defects at this point in the pregnancy.  He said based on what he saw with the major vessels and chambers that rules out 80-85% of congenital heart defects.  When I asked about that he got really into the anatomy, showing me the vessels and telling me where they went.  He then moved to the brain, showed me the cerebellum, and the spinal fluid.  It was so interesting and I love that he takes the time to look at so much.  He explained that since he does an ultrasound every time he's able to look at things that other doctors don't and may not even know to look for.  It was amazing to hear him rattling off all the vessels and veins and anatomy.  The lady who referred me to our doctor had a son whose kidneys were blocked and he had 2 surgeries to fix it before he turned 1.  Had the doctor not seen it on an ultrasound they wouldn't have found out it was blocked until he was older and it was causing problems.  It is so reassuring to know our doctor is looking for any possible problem or complication.  It's also nice to hear the doctor tell us that everything looks beautiful just like he has at each appointment!  I'm so glad to know Elise is healthy and developing appropriately.

 

December 16, 2014

Baby's Size: Baby is the size of a cantaloupe and is almost a foot long!  Carter would love that the baby now has nipples!

Weight Gain: I can't believe how much my weight fluctuates day to day.  Yesterday I was up 13 pounds and today I was up 15.  I feel like it's not worth keeping track, but I know it will be comforting to read if I'm pregnant again later.  I was a bit worried I was up 15 pounds, but then saw I was up 16 pounds at 24 weeks with Carter.  I ended up only gaining 25 pounds total so I feel better about where I'm at now!

Maternity Clothes: Still able to fit into a few of my larger non-maternity tops, but other than that I've switched over to maternity clothes full-time.  I was wishing I had a pair of maternity skinny jeans so I could wear them with my boots on chilly days.  Ty said if I went and picked them out he'd get them for me for Christmas and I could start wearing them now and he'd just wrap them up on Christmas Eve.  I thought that was a fabulous idea.  Why waste weeks of wearing jeans that I'll only be able to wear for a few months anyway?  I'm loving them and getting to wear my boots with them.  It really is so much warmer!

Sleep: My occasional nights of sleeping without a restroom break are officially over.  I'm now waking up a ridiculous amount of times every night with a minimum of 3 wake ups!  One night I woke up at 2 am and couldn't fall back to sleep.  It really stunk, but I know it is very likely what I will be experiencing in a few months with Elise's arrival so I may as well get used to it!  

Symptoms: Pretty much constantly going to the bathroom.  I could honestly go every 15-30 minutes!  I've had to start leaning forward and pushing on my bladder to help push out anything that didn't come out when I went.  That helps, but I'm still getting tired of going to the bathroom.  After a hard run (pretty much a hilly run or a 5k) I waddle.  Thomas likes to give me my own soundtrack when I walk and it goes something like this: ba dum, ba dum, ba dum, ba dum.  It reminds me of music you'd play for an elephant walking.  Gotta love brothers!  I still haven't felt any Braxton Hicks like what I felt when pregnant with Carter.  I have had a few little cramps when I waited too long to go to the restroom and I wonder if they were little Braxton Hicks contractions.  It's also getting more difficult to bend over.  Oh, and my belly button is still hanging on for dear life.  I swear it's going to pop out soon, but I thought the same thing with Carter and it never did!

Running: My weekly mileage was 16 miles.  I've noticed that when I run with the stroller I don't even notice my belly.  When I run without the stroller I notice it more and it seems to throw my form off a little bit.  I think it's because pushing the stroller forces me to be more forward in my movements and I can't go side to side as much, but who knows!  We ran the Jingle Bell 5k this weekend and I ran it in 23:05, over a minute faster than my last 5k!  I felt awesome and couldn't believe how much faster I was running.  It seems like I'm getting more of a surge with my running and I've also been less tired, skipping a few naps. 

Food Cravings: I've been horrible with sweets this week.  It's time to get back on track!

Food Aversions: Still barbeque and smoked meat, yuck!

Movement: The movements have been so much stronger.  This is my favorite part of pregnancy, when you can see the kicks by watching your stomach.  I get so distracted because when I start feeling strong kicks I stop what I'm doing and stare down at my belly hoping to see her moving.  Ty saw her move earlier this week and then this weekend my dad got to see and feel her move.  Thomas was sitting beside me on the couch and watched her moving around.  I love, love, love sharing the amazing experience with others!  It's fun to feel the movements even when others don't know it's happening, it's so much more fun to get to share it with everyone else!  When Carter sits on my lap to read books Elise kicks him in the back.  He doesn't even notice!  One day Carter saw her kick and said, "Mommy, whew!" and pointed at my belly.  On Saturday Elise must've been extra tired and I felt her move in the morning, but didn't feel her again all day.  I got worried and by the next morning when I was laying on my back in bed and she wasn't moving (she always kicks when I lay on my back) I was starting to worry something happened to her.  But she was back at it a little while later, thank goodness!

Best Moment of the Week: Carter's birthday was a blast and we all had so much fun.  When I got on my timehop I got to see pictures of Carter's first birthday as well as pictures of the day he was born.  Looking at his sweet, little newborn self I got so excited to meet Elise.  The day Carter was born was so amazing.  I am excited to hold Elise for the first time, to love her, to nurse her, to rock her, to introduce her to Carter.  Having a newborn is so special.  I also really enjoyed our doctor's appointment.  He switched over to 4D for a little bit so we got to see Elise's face.  She was all scrunched up toward the bottom of my belly with her foot up by her face.  I was surprised because I've felt her down low and high by my belly button at the same time before.  She must stretch out sometimes!

Sweet Elise's face in 4D!

Elise's hand up by her face.

Sweet girl with her foot up by her face!

Currently Loving: That I've made it to 24 weeks!  I've been counting down the weeks since I hit half-way until I got here!  24 weeks is typically the earliest a doctor will attempt to save a premature baby's life.  I feel a huge sense of relief knowing that if something happened doctors would intervene to keep Elise alive and there's a 39% chance that she would survive.  It's so weird because I didn't worry about that at all with Carter!  I guess now that I've known so many people whose babies were born anywhere from 25-28 weeks and I've personally had a baby who was born before full term I worry more.  I'm convinced Elise will hang out longer than Carter did, but there's that part of me that worries she will come even earlier.  I know what a huge difference even one week makes in terms of development and chances of survival.  Carter didn't spend any time in the NICU and was able to come home with me.  I want the same for Elise!          

Miss Anything: Nope!

What Big Brother is Up to This Week: Carter's 2nd birthday was on Sunday and we did birthday-related activities all week.  He had such a blast!  On Saturday he ran/walked his 2nd fun run at the Jingle Bell 5k and had a blast!  Little mister loved having bells on his shoes!  He also got to see Elise moving for the first time this week and was amazed by it!  Each time we take Carter to our appointment with us our nurse asks if Carter can have a sucker.  He is so good sitting waiting on the doctor sucking on his sucker.  Then when the doctor comes in he immediately says baby when the ultrasound pops up.  As we were leaving the nurse walked by taking another patient in and Carter said, "trick or treat" to her.  It was adorable!  My Week 24 Bumpdate with Carter.