Week 1

Week one is done! The plan was 55 total miles and I did manage to run everything planned without too much trouble. The first few days were hard. I’m not used to double digit runs at the beginning of the week and by Tuesday afternoon, I was feeling exhausted. I did the 11 mile run on Monday at 8:07 pace which was a little too fast probably but it seemed comfortable at the time. On Tuesday, I tried to take it easier but there is something about those strides thrown in that seem to bring the overall pace down. I ended up at 8:00 pace overall. On Wednesday, I made sure to go out easy and I did a hilly route to ensure that I would go slower. I need the hills for Boston anyway. I ended up at 8:24 pace for that 11 miles. The real hard part was getting up on Thursday morning at 5 am and running a 5 mile recovery run. I really need to get my Thursday run done early so I can get to yoga by 6:30 pm and I don’t want to leave work early 4 days a week. It is tougher for me to leave early from the North Little Rock hospital (where I am on Thursday and Friday) than it is in Conway (where I am Monday through Wednesday). Anyway, I ran 8:43 pace and was a bit shocked. Especially since it was so hard. My husband assured me that a recovery run isn’t supposed to be fast and I agree but the 8:43 does kinda hurt my ego. The best part about getting it done early though was having nearly 48 hours to recover for my long run since Friday is my day off. On Saturday, I got up early to do my 15 miler. I did a lot of 15 milers to prepare for this training so I was ready for the distance. I decided on a route that took me up and down a big hill in the 12th mile. This will be good for Boston since the big climbs are in the last half and then there is a punishing downhill section for the the last 10k. I cramped up and fell apart with a mile to go when I ran Boston in 2008 and I’m scared it will happen again. I managed 8:08 pace for the run. I honestly didn’t feel that great for the run. I didn’t feel terrible but I can feel the added mileage. The good thing was that the hills didn’t slow me down much. I did the mile with the big climb in 8:11 which wasn’t anywhere near the slowest mile of the run. I recovered quickly too and was able to run the downhill at 7:42 and the last mile of the run, which was flat, came in at 8:02. It was a good effort. On Sunday I did a 5 mile recovery run at 8:04 pace which felt good.

Here is next week’s schedule:

M-Med Long Run 11mi

T-Lactate Threshold 9mi w/4@ 15k to half marathon race pace

W-Med Long Run 12mi

R-Recovery 5mi

F-Rest

S-Long Run 17mi

S-Recovery 5mi

Total-59 miles

Not too different from last week. The tempo run will be tough but I’m not too scared of it since I’ve been doing some with 6 miles on pace. This will be my first long run since training for Go!STL so that will be a milestone. Brian is running the 15k that morning so there will be some kid juggling but it should work out well.

After the first week, I feel pretty good. The hardest part is the middle of the week just due to sheer exhaustion but that is expected. Aches and pains wise I feel ok. I had kind of a weird catch in my left knee on Thursday morning but it was gone by Saturday. My left hamstring tendon continues to be sore but I think it is getting better. I haven’t done the therapy I promised myself I would do so I’ll try to get some of that in next week. In yoga, the instructor has us do Warrior III to exhaustion on each leg which is similar to the single leg deadlifts I’m supposed to be doing to strengthen that side. I think it is really helping but I’m sure I could speed things up if I did the PT exercises I’m supposed to be doing as well. Weight and nutrition wise I’m doing good. I probably need to lose about 5 lbs before the race to be in top form. I’ve dropped a couple of lbs in the last few weeks and I feel healthy so I don’t think it will be a problem. I need to be as light as possible when I am trying to carry myself up those Newton Hills on the Boston course.

One random thing that I’ve decided to include on here is books read. I am almost always listening to a book while running. I loved to read in high school but all the text book reading in college and grad school turned me off of reading for years. Once I wanted to start again I was busy with work, running and family. My husband turned me on to audiobooks which I can get free from the library so I’m able to get lots of reading in every week. This week I read Big Stone Gap and Big Cherry Holler by Adriana Trigiani. They are part of a series and are pretty entertaining. They deal with a mining town in the mountains of Virginia and have some funny characters. They are quick and easy reads.

Let's Get it Started!

Boston is a little less than 12 weeks away as I write this! It seems so close yet I have an entire training cycle to complete before I get there. So close, yet so far away and so much hard work between point A and point B. There are a lot of methods and philosophies of training and many factors go into choosing how you will make it happen. For me, I have to find the balance between performance and reality. I have to be at work 40 hours per week, I have a 5 and a 3 year old and I have a husband that is very supportive but also happens to have a 50-70 mile per week running habit. Having a running husband is a double edged sword. He understands and will do what he can to make sure I can run. On the other hand, we both need to run and someone always needs to be watching the kids so this presents some obstacles. Lets talk plans first.

As far as a training plan, I’m going to use the Pfitzinger/Douglas method.  Their book, Advanced Marathoning, is incredibly helpful. They outline their training philosophy and provide numerous variations on their plans. For my first two marathons, I used some random plan I found on the internet. I have no idea what it was. It wasn’t horrible and, the second time around, it did lead me to a BQ, but when I signed up for Chicago in 2008, I decided it was time to take it up a notch. That’s when my husband introduced me to their book. The book outlines plans of different lengths and different weekly mileage. I chose an 18 week plan that topped out at 70 miles per week for Chicago. Not only did I PR in the marathon by 18 minutes but I also PRed in every other distance too. Even in the 5k I went from a 20:45 to a 19:42 blowing away the notion that marathon training makes you slower at shorter distances. It made me a better all-around runner and prepared me for the marathon. I later used their 12 week plan that topped out at 70 miles for the Lincoln Marathon and it was an even better fit for me. Last year, I used the Smart Coach Tool from Runner’s World’s website to train for MS Blues and it was pretty good. It has similar principles but it isn’t quite as intense. I don’t know when I’ll get to run Boston again so I am going aggressive! Pfitzinger/Douglas it is!

The plan you chose for marathon training is going to depend on several factors and is a personal decision. What works for one, may or may not work for another. The only way to find out is trial and error. This will only be my 8th marathon so I have a lot to learn still but I do feel like I have a pretty good idea what works for me. I chose a 12 week plan because the 18 week plan I did in 2008 was just too long. It mentally and physically wore on me and I seemed to get the most gains in the first half of the plan. I chose the 70 mile per week cap for several reasons. I need one true rest day per week meaning no running at all on that day. Some don’t need this but I do for both physical and mental recovery. When you start going over 70 miles per week, this gets hard to do. And I'm not going to lie. 60-70 miles per week is hard on my body. There will be times in this training that I cuss life and wonder why the hell I do this to myself. The thought of 80-90 miles per week is just too much right now. Also, time is a big factor. If I were to go over 70 miles per week, I would need to take a daily nap, do more yoga, have daily massages, etc…  With a full time job and a family, these things aren’t going to happen so 70 miles it is!

The next big thing is logistics. My husband I have gotten really good at this but it is still a big challenge. We are both schedulers by nature so that helps. We also tend to alternate our training a little bit. Since having kids, we’ve never marathon trained at the same time. If one of us is working on something big, the other is training too but not putting in as many miles. Some things will have to change now that I’m training for Boston. I’ve been running at 5 am which was really freeing up my afternoons but now that I’m having to do longer mileage, I’ll have to shift to the afternoon. There’s just no good way to get an 11-15 miler in at 5 am and still make it to work on time. I talked to my boss a few weeks ago and told her I would be leaving early Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in order to get my training in and she said that was fine. I have lots of leave and my patient schedule is usually over by 2:30 so it won’t be a big deal to cut out early a few days a week and it will really help me out. The last time I trained hard for a marathon, I was on a 4 day a week schedule working 10 hour days so I didn’t get to leave work until at least 5 pm. Most of my runs were done in the dark and I got home late. I had to be at work by 6:30 am so going before work wasn’t an option. My schedule is 7:30 to 4:00 now so I have a little bit more wiggle room. I plan to do my Thursday run in the morning still so I can free up some afternoon time for yoga-my other passion. While training for Lincoln, I hit an emotional low point and told my husband that, no matter how fast I ended up running, it wouldn’t be worth it. I of course, changed my mind later. I think the problem was being a first time mom to an 18 month old. He had just weaned a few weeks before I started training so even though my husband is a great hands on dad and had no problem taking up any slack for me, I felt really weird and guilty about it. He was also so little and my schedule was so long that I left the house before he woke up every day and if I had a long run, he might be asleep before I got home. It was tough on me. I’m in a better place now and I have a better schedule so this hopefully won’t be as hard. My husband will get most of his runs in during his lunch break and in the afternoon. Between me leaving early and daycare closing at 6 pm, we should all be able to make it happen.

So here is the plan for week one:

M-Medium Long Run 11 miles
T-8 miles w/10x100m strides
W-Medium Long Run 11 miles
R-Recovery 5 miles
F-Rest
S-Medium Long Run 15 miles
S-Recovery 5 miles

Total mileage: 55

I’m excited that there is no hard speed work the first week. I’ve been doing tempo runs with 6 miles on tempo pace and I just did an hour long race so I’m looking forward to just putting one foot in front of the other without having to push really hard. On the other hand, two medium long runs on random weeknights will not feel like a party. I plan to check in here at least once a week with a rundown of the past weeks training and the plan for the upcoming week.

Finally Feeling Like A Runner Again

So it has been a very long time (as usual). In November 2013, just a few weeks after my last entry, I learned I was anemic. No wonder I couldn’t get back into running. All summer long I pushed myself through marathon training. The mileage went up but the times got slower and slower. I was only mildly anemic so I didn’t recognize the symptoms. I wasn’t having trouble getting out of bed or falling asleep at work but it was devastating my running. I was planning on doing MS Blues just after the first of the year in 2014. About the time the training was getting serious, I got sick. I ended up going to the doctor. My labs showed the anemia and I started an iron supplement. I had missed some critical training and wasn’t sure if it was even wise to go ahead with MS Blues. After some thought, I decided to just see how training went and I could always run it as a training run. I was feeling better and got a 17 miler and two 20 milers in, each faster than the last. As Christmas approached, my easy pace dropped from 8:45 to about 8:00. The iron supplements were doing their job. Going into the marathon, I wasn’t sure what to do. My sudden increase in speed was making it difficult to set a goal. I decided to shoot for a BQ (Boston Qualifier) which is 3:40 for me. The race was warm and windy and course had lots of hills. I ended up feeling great, even with all the climbs. I ran a 3:32 (8:07 pace) so way faster than my goal. The icing on the cake was an age group win!

The Mississippi Blues Finish Chute

I was excited to train for Go! STL since MS Blues went so much better than expected. I was excited to be healthy too and told all my running friends to get their labs checked on a regular basis! I had never done back to back marathons before and used the guidelines from the book Advanced Marathoning to guide me. They advised about 4 weeks recovery, 5 hard weeks of training and a 3 week taper. I was back at it hard in less than 2 weeks though as the 2014 Arkansas Grand Prix series started 2 weeks after MS Blues. I felt good early on but once training got going, I started feeling really over trained and sluggish. Mentally, back to back was too much for me too and I pretty much lost my training motivation.

When Go!STL came around, my head was not in the game and neither were my legs. I realized pretty early into the race that I was in trouble. I backed off big time at mile 12 and salvaged a 3:30. It wasn't pretty and I had to run walk the last few miles.

The Go!STL Finish Line

When I got home, I knew I made some mistakes but also felt like I learned some lessons. I'm probably not a good candidate for back to back marathons. Also, it doesn't take a lot to get me over trained. I decided to shift my focus and train for shorter races for a while. This would have been a good plan but I got a little impatient and didn't give myself enough time to recovery. I started in with too much mileage and decided to add plyometrics to my training in the hopes that I could get faster. 3 weeks after STL, my groin/hamstring/butt on my right side started hurting. I was planning to do a 10k that weekend so I eased up but decided to do the race anyway. There was a month long break in the Grand Prix series after the race and I felt like I needed the points. After the race, I couldn't even walk without a limp. My hip was just white hot pain everywhere except the very outside. After a week of limping, I went to the doctor, got a steroid shot and a consult for PT. I started swimming laps, doing yoga and going to PT. I had torn my right adductor tendon. I didn't get to run at all for about 6 weeks. I started up again slowly only to strain my calf muscle. I actually think this was for the best because I took another 2 weeks off and when I started again, I was pain free and have been ever since.

It was a rough time emotionally. I had such a terrible summer trying to come back from pregnancy, figured out there was a medical reason and suddenly got tons faster with a simple supplement only to crash and burn in injury. Such a frustrating roller coaster to ride. At some point in the middle of all that I decided that I would sign up for Boston. My STL time would most likely get me in and I needed a goal to get me motivated to get back into shape. I added mileage slowly. When I got up to about 25 miles per week, I did a XC 10k at 7:24 pace. Considering the injury and the time off, I was pretty happy with it. Next, I decided to train for the CASA Half Marathon. It was early in December. In the past, I’ve used half marathons and their training to rocket myself back into top form. I was really hoping it would work. I ended up getting my weekly mileage up to 43 miles and did some really great tempo runs and speed work. I run a 1:38:46 (7:33 pace). About as good as I could have expected. Just as I had hoped, my training really picked up after that race. I took it easy for about a week and then made a 15k plan that I would use to get me to the Hour Track Run for the start of the Grand Prix 2015. I also made my Boston plan. For a 12 week plan, I needed to start training on 1/26/15-exactly one day after the track run. My tempo runs and speed work leading to the track run were really good and I worked up to 53 miles per week. I went into the Track Run feeling good and had a great day.

At the One Hour Track Run

I never felt terrible and kept a good pace. I ended up the 2nd place overall female and went just under 8.6 miles at 6:59 pace. There was a crazy wind so I was pretty happy with that.

Now it is time to train for Boston! I have decided that I will actually post regularly and document my Boston training. Here's to the next 12 weeks!

Getting Back in There

So this has probably been the longest hiatus I've even taken from this blog and I've decided I'm perfectly ok with that. Really, this blog is a journal. I do come back and read old posts from time to time and I get a lot of joy from them. As of now, Leo is 19 months old and I'm still not back in top running form. It has certainly proved to be much harder coming back after baby number 2. I've had a lot of start and stops. When Leo was 11 months old, I was back up to 30 miles per week and running 10 mile long runs. Nothing that special but respectable for sure. Then we went on vacation and I skipped running while we were gone, and when we got back and the next thing you know I hadn't run in over a month. Ugh... Time to start over. I decided to pick it back up when Brian's sister suggested we all run a 5 mile race in Omaha on Memorial Day. I got really motivated because I didn't want her to beat me and I started training hard again. I worked up to 14 mile long runs and 40 mile weeks. I had a great 10k in early May and felt like things were going well. When race day came though, I had nothing. The course was hilly and it was cold, rainy and windy. I ran a pace slower than I had done a 10k a few weeks earlier. Also, it really stuck with me. I felt just awful and the next few runs I did were torture. After that, it got very hot here and I started on a nonstop run where either I had a stomach virus or someone in my house did. By the time I felt good again, it was so nasty hot outside that running just seemed like the least appealing thing on earth. It is hard to run in this summer weather but it is almost impossible if you don't get to acclimate at all. Finally, in July, I decided enough was enough. I pulled out Advanced Marathoning which has gotten me through my last 2 marathons and decided that I would make a comeback. I decided on a 24 week build up that would get me to a Marathon on January 11th and then a 12 week plan that would get me to another marathon in April. I went ahead and signed up for the Mississippi Blues Marathon in January and will sign up for Go!St. Louis as soon as registration opens. Leo quit nursing a few weeks ago so I have no excuses now and I'm ready to get going. I just finished my 3rd week of training. It has been tough and I've had good and bad runs. It has been hot too and I've had to either tough it out in 90 something percent humidity or run on the treadmill. I know that there is no shame in cutting back on running and no shame in never returning to my pre-baby form but I want to try. Marathon training is what I love and I am sick of not doing what I know I can do. Pardon my French, but I am through fucking around. It is time to train.

Catching Up

So I haven't blogged in a very long time. As you might imagine, I have another baby now! Where to start, where to start? I guess I should give you a bit of a birth story.

So, the end of my pregnancy was pretty miserable. I stopped running at 20 weeks because I was told I had a short cervix. A few weeks later, I was told not only did I not have a short cervix, it was actually quite long. Ugh... I had gone a few weeks without running and starting up again proved to be so hard. I couldn't do it without pelvic pain and it didn't just hurt while I ran, it actually made me limp around the next day. One thing I learned with Darwin was that running right up until delivery didn't seem to help me come back any faster so I decided it wasn't worth it. I don't really run for exercise. I run because I love running. I don't really like other forms of exercise and, with a toddler, going to the gym seems impossible. Anyway, my point is, without running, I gained a lot more weight with this baby than I did with Darwin. Also, I got stretch marks! No! With Darwin, I got nothing. Also, I just flat got bigger. Everyone was telling me what a huge baby I was going to have. On Christmas day, I was exactly 37 weeks-full term. Brian's family started making guesses about when the baby would come. Most were guessing mid January. My due date was January 15th so that made sense. Then came the snarky comments. "You guys are guessing January? Have you SEEN her!?!" Seriously, people suck. Anyway, I started getting internals at 36 weeks. The first one showed I was 2cm and 30% effaced. Not too bad! At 37 weeks, I was 3cm and 50%. Because I was showing so much progress, they let me schedule an induction for 39 weeks. That put me at January 9th. It worked perfectly with my schedule at work so I was really excited about it.

Just 2 days after my 37 week appointment, I woke up at 4 am having contractions. They weren't painful or rhythmic but they weren't stopping and they were certainly noticeable. It was almost like I had a constant Braxton-Hicks and then every few minutes I would have a bad cramp sensation. I went to work and told Brian that, if they continued, I'd call my Dr.'s office at 8:30 when they opened. Well, they did keep going and they actually got worse. I spoke to one of the nurse practitioners and she wanted me to come right in. The contractions kept up until they got me on the table to monitor me and then they died down. She checked me and I was 4cm and 80%. Holy crap! Because the contractions died down, she sent me home but warned me that I should go to the hospital if the contractions started again and lasted an hour. She also said the baby was very low. So home I went feeling like the baby would fall out of me at any moment. This was Friday, 12/30.

Brian had to work the entire New Years weekend including Monday. Obviously, daycare would be closed for the weekend and on Monday due to the holiday. Seriously!? How the hell was I supposed to keep up with my very rambunctious 2 year old for 3 days knowing I could go into labor at any second? Well, I had no more contractions on Friday so that was good. On Saturday, contractions started about 8 am. They kept going and were happening pretty often, but not consistently. About 11 am, they got a little painful. I called Brian and he came home from work and took all of us to L&D. In the car on the way there, they stopped. I was beyond frustrated. Brian wanted me to go in anyway because he thought I might be even more dilated and perhaps they would do something to jump start things. The nurses were so happy to see me. They were totally bored and wanted someone to take care of. They monitored me for a couple of hours. They said my uterus was very irritable but that I wasn't in labor so they sent me home. They also said that as dilated as I was (still 4cm), if my water broke it would be a huge gush and to come in immediately if that happened.

The next few days I had several episodes of on and off contractions. By Tuesday (1/3) morning, I was really in hell. I'd taken care of Darwin all weekend long with a baby very low in my pelvis. My hips were killing me. On top of that, I had several times when a trickle of fluid would run down my leg. Every time I thought my water had broken but I never got that gush I was warned about so I just figured I was having some bladder control issues. I sent Darwin to daycare on Tuesday and went to the chiropractor. He was actually able to make my pelvis feel better. Enough so that making it to my induction on the 9th suddenly seemed doable. I didn't even mind the thought of going back to work. I'm always off on Mondays so with the Monday holiday, I also had Tuesday off and didn't have to be back to work until Wednesday. I was actually taking that morning off though to go in for a Dr.'s appointment.


Here I am the day before Leo was born. I was 38 weeks and 2 days.

I got up on Wednesday morning to go to my 8:45am appointment. I decided to take a quick bath. When I stepped into the tub, it was slick and my leg slid out from under me. I didn't fall but my leg went to the edge of our very large tub while my other leg was firmly planted on the bathroom floor. It hurt so bad. All the good the chiropractor had done was gone. I could actually hear my pelvis popping and grinding as I walked and just standing hurt. Walking was impossible without limping. I was at the end of my rope! I hobbled into the Dr. and the nurse says "How are you still pregnant? Most girls that are 4cm don't walk around for very long without going into labor!" Not what I wanted to hear. They put me in the exam room which was super hot. I was the first appointment of the day so the Dr. was taking her sweet ass time. It was also her first day back from a week long vacation to Jamaica so everyone was stopping her in the hall and talking to her. I know this because the walls are paper thin and I can hear everything in that office. The nurse came in to apologize for the heat and the wait. It was cooler in the hall and not many people were around so she started opening and closing the exam room door to fan some cooler air into the room. I stood up to readjust and noticed a large wet spot (about a foot in diameter) on the paper that was over the table. The nurse took a look at it and you could tell she was like "oh crap"! She put an absorbent sheet down for me and went to get the Dr. Finally she comes in. I tell her my sob story about the weekend. She does an exam and says I am 5cm but she isn't sure if my membranes were ruptured or not. Either way, she sent me straight to the hospital! Yay!

I texted Brian and he called me while I was parking. I got checked into L&D at 10 am. It wasn't long at all before Brian was there. They started pitocin on me immediately. Anesthesia showed up before I had felt even one painful contraction. I really didn't want to get an epi until I was feeling some pain but I also didn't want to send anesthesia away. What if things went quickly? I was already 5cm. Also, I didn't want them to take their sweet ass time coming back when I finally decided that I needed one. I went ahead with it. Everything went fine but they needed to do a test dosage while monitoring my blood pressure and pulse oxygen but something was wrong with the equipment. The nurse messed around with it and eventually got it working. Sadly, blood had clotted in the catheter so they had to rethread it. It wasn't that bad but I really would have preferred not to have to do it twice. Once the epi was in and working, my Dr. showed up to break my water. Nothing came out when she did. She said she would have thought it would have been a big gush but didn't seem too concerned. Everything seemed to be going fine but suddenly, I heard loud ringing in my ears and felt strange...and horrible. I don't know how to explain it. I could tell something was very wrong. If felt like there was a lot of pressure on my chest. At first, I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want to be perceived as a difficult or whiny patient but I was scared. I told my nurse that I felt weird. She looked a little concerned and said "weird how?" At that point, I thought I was going to pass out and puke and possibly die. I'm not kidding. I really thought I might be having a stroke. I was very scared. I had no idea what was going on but I knew it was bad. I envisioned the worst. I thought maybe they would have to put me under and do an emergency c-section. I had a feeling of doom even like maybe I wasn't going to make it at all. I had the immediate urge to tell Brian hat I loved him and to tell our boys how much I loved them. I did not speak this out loud though. I couldn't believe it was happening! The nurse yelled down the hall for help. Brian was at my side. He was talking to me but the ringing in my ears was so loud that I couldn't understand him. Apparently, my blood pressure had dropped extremely low. It was something very low like 50/30. They dropped the bed so I was lying flat and put something in my IV. I started to feel a little better. Beads of sweat broke out on my face. I had to fight the urge not to start bawling. Anesthesia came in a put something else in my IV and I truly did feel better. Overall, it wasn't a big deal and it is something they see all the time. Still, it scared me so, so bad.

At that point, even though I hadn't progressed at all, I was over it all. I just wanted to be done. With Darwin, I went from 5-10cm in less than an hour. I was hoping that since this was baby number 2, it would go even faster. That was not the case. Everything went painfully slow. I called my sister around 4pm to see if she could pick Darwin up from daycare. She came by the hospital so she could trade cars with us (she doesn't have a car seat in her car). Just before she got there, I was 8cm. Finally, a little progress. She left and around 5pm and the next thing you know, I was ready to push.

Pushing didn't go well with Darwin. He was stuck behind my pelvic bone and I really wasn't very efficient. He was having decelerations so they just yanked him out the the vacuum after I tried for about 15 minutes. I was determined to do it myself this time. Luckily, when I started pushing, I could totally feel what I was doing. It was almost like I could see him and I was guiding him out. Out he came in only 4 pushes. Apparently, he had been so low in my pelvis that he was acting like a stopper. All the fluid was behind him. Once he was out, the fluid came flying out in two big splashes. It went all over my Dr. If she had been a few inches shorter, it would have hit her right in the face! It was crazy. If I had seen this on TV or in a movie, I would have gone on and on about how unrealistic and gross it was. I had no idea that was a possibility. Apparently, it doesn't happen often because the nurses and the Dr. were pretty shocked. Anyway, now I had a beautiful baby boy. I could tell immediately that he was smaller than Darwin. Because, he came out so quickly, he really didn't have the typical misshapen head. They put him in my arms immediately. He cried and so did I. There is nothing like the moment right after your child is born. He weighed 6 lbs, 10 oz and was 20 and 3/4 inches and looked exactly like Darwin did when he was a newborn. He had tons of dark hair. We named him Leo Benson. Leo because I love the name and Benson for the neighborhood where Brian grew up in Omaha. He nursed immediately and was just such a sweet, mellow little guy.


Here's Leo only seconds after arrival.


And here we are just a few minutes later.

Throughout the pregnancy, I talked to Darwin about the baby. I never felt like he really understood what was going on. Not that I expected him to, I mean, he was only 2 years old. I was worried how he would do when Leo showed up. When he walked in and realized there was a baby, he was immediately happy and curious. Brian sat him in a chair and brought Leo over to meet him. Darwin couldn't contain his happiness. Seeing him look at Leo and smile such a big sweet smile was one of the most amazing things I've ever witnessed. And there they were. My boys. Our family was complete.


Darwin and Leo meet.


Our family

Recovery wise, I was doing great. As the epi wore off, I could already tell I felt pretty good. Brian took Darwin home for dinner and the nursery took Leo for his first bath. I got up and walked to my recovery room and I knew this was gong to be a much easier road than the first time around. The next morning, I felt really good. Brian and Darwin came to the hospital and I was up and moving around. I was schedule to get my tubes tied at 10am. I had nursed Leo at 6am and wanted to nurse him at least one more time before I went in for surgery but it wasn't looking like that was going to happen. The nursery had already taken him back for his circumcision and it was after 9am. Surgery came to get me and it was all I could do not to cry. I had no idea how long this would take and I just felt like I needed to be with Leo. Surgery is always scary and I was all alone and missing my baby. I almost backed out. When I woke up, I couldn't believe the pain. It was awful. I had never had abdominal surgery. I couldn't imagine what having a c-section must feel like. I wanted to die. I kept asking how long before I could see my baby. My nurse was so sweet to me. I'm sure I drove her crazy. I felt better when I got back to my room thanks to drugs. Brian and Darwin were waiting for me but Leo was not there. Brian said he had spoken to my Dr. She did my tubes and Leo's circumcision. She said both went great.

I changed from the hospital gown into my own clothes and Brian took Darwin home for a nap. Finally, they brought Leo to me and of course, he wouldn't nurse. Ugh.... I felt awful. My stomach hurt from surgery and I was an emotional wreck. At this point it was around noon and Leo hadn't nursed for 6 hours. I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to nurse him every hour and getting no where. Finally, at 6pm, he nursed. To make up for his 12 hour hunger strike, he nursed pretty much every hour that entire night. Around 2 or 3 am, my drugs wore off. I was having a hard time getting up out of bed. I was in hell. I called the nurse and she brought me more pain meds but it was still pretty painful.

We checked out of the hospital the next morning and just walking was excruciating. Why the hell did I do this to myself was all I could think. I wasn't allowed to pick anything up for a week that weighed more than 10 lbs. That meant I wouldn't be able to care for Darwin by myself. I felt like I had made a huge mistake. I was miserable for probably 2 more days. After that, I still felt bad but I could get around a little better. After a week, I felt pretty normal. If I could do it all over, I would not have gotten my tubes tied. I feel like I would have been almost completely recovered by the time I left the hospital if I had not had the surgery. Ultimately, I am glad that we had birth control taken care of but I should have let Brian get a vasectomy instead. He actually had a referral for a urologist scheduled but it was for the day after Leo was born so he had cancelled it. Also, it was very shady. They wanted money up front despite the fact that we have insurance. I had a bad feeling about the whole thing. He could have called his Dr. to get another referral but I felt that would be like starting over. He was off for 3 weeks after Leo was born and really needed to get the procedure done while he was off. I felt like time wasn't on our side. When we checked into the hospital, I wanted it taken care of so I just told the nurse I wanted my tubes tied. Hindsight is 20/20 I guess.

After the week of recovering from the surgery, I was fine. It was a bit of a transition at first. I couldn't do a lot with Darwin because I was recovering so Brian took care of him while I took care of Leo. I felt like I lost touch with Darwin for a while. It was hard but eventually, we all came together as a family. Leo has been a very easy baby. He started sleeping all night when he was around 8 weeks old. Now he sleeps 9 or 10 hours straight at night! It is great. He has dark brown eyes like me but other than that, he looks just like Darwin did at this age. Darwin still likes him but you can tell he is frustrated that he can't do much. Darwin tries to share his food and toys with him and doesn't understand why Leo just sits there. In a few months, I have a feeling he will be much more exited about him. A few months after that, he'll probably be annoyed that Leo takes his toys and food!


Here are a few of my favorite newborn pics of Leo. He is one week old in these.

Leo is 11 weeks old now and I'll be headed back to work in a little over a week. The time has flown by. I have been running and am almost back to my normal weight. I'll be writing more entries about losing baby weight and getting back into running. After going through it with Darwin, I've had a much more enlightened approach this time and it has been very successful.


And here is a current pic of Leo

Viability/3rd Tri

Lots of milestones have passed lately. I am past the 24 week point. (Actually, I am now 29 weeks! I started this entry weeks ago and I'm just now getting around to finishing it. Typical me.) This may be the greatest milestone of all because if Leo were to be born now, his chance for survival is very good. I'm hoping he keeps on cooking until he is full term but it is a comfort to know that he would have a fighting chance if the worst happened at this point. Right now, I am only days away from the 27 week mark. 3rd tri! Eeeek! How did that happen? I have less than 100 days to go (75 now!). I can't believe how fast it has all gone. So far so good. No horrible symptoms or problems. I quit running around 20 weeks because the ultrasound tech said my cervix was short. 3 weeks later I went in for an appointment and asked the nurse midwife about it. She said it was not short at all and was in fact, quite long. Grrrr.... I'm glad but I missed 3 weeks of running. I tried to start back up but it doesn't seem worth it. I can only run walk which is fine, but I get a lot of pelvic pain and pressure and I'm sore enough that I have trouble walking the next day. Sigh....back to walking.

I am done with Darwin's big boy room and it turned out so cute! I painted some stripes on the wall which was quite the project. I was worried because I've worked with painters tape before with no success but I had since read up on techniques that help and I went in with a plan. It was a pain but they look amazing and were totally worth it. I've been very productive. In addition to getting Darwin's room done, I've transitioned the nursery over so that it is ready for Leo. I even got up in the attic, washed his clothes and hung them up in the closet and put his bouncer and swing together. We won't have to go up in the attic again until he's 6 months old!


Here's the view from the door of the room. As you can see, every thing is MLB. Darwin is obsessed with baseball.


Here is the view from the other corner of the room. The pic on the wall is actually one that Brian took at our minor league ball park. That is Darwin sitting on the blanket watching the game.


Here is the wall detail. This was the biggest project of the room. The stripes were hard work but so worth it. All MLB team pennants are included.


Darwin's personalized chair.


These were just regular white hooks that I got at Target. I decoupaged them with scrapbook paper to keep with the baseball theme.


This is just some inexpensive storage that we got at Target. It is so functional. Love it!


Lots of great storage in the closet as well. In fact, we were able to do all of his clothes inside the closet. We got to save floor space in the room by forgoing a dresser.

Here's a few shots of Leo's room also. Other than changing out the name decal on the wall, the nursery really hasn't changed but I always loved the theme so I don't feel bad about the hand-me-downs. We should all be so lucky to get such fabulous second hand stuff!










Here's a fabric close up so you can see the detail. If you couldn't already tell, I really love sock monkeys!

Another big thing I did was trade my Mini Cooper in for a better family car. It was a sad day. I loved that car. It was really getting crazy though because Darwin is still rear facing so I have to crawl in through the hatch to get him in his car seat. That is ridiculous enough when you are not pregnant. In the last few weeks it has been getting harder and harder. We went this past weekend and I ended up getting a Ford Focus with a big hatch back. It is still a small car but it has 4 doors and a big hatch that will easily fit the stroller or the wagon. The gas mileage isn't as good as the Mini but it is close.


Here's Mini Biggs-I sure will miss him!

At this point, we are pretty much ready for Leo. His room is ready, the car is ready and Darwin transitioned over to his big boy room with no trouble at all. Now all I have to do is cook him up for another 3 months.

Here's a belly shot. So far I've gained 21 lbs. I only gained 28 lbs total with Darwin so it is kind of scary that I've already gained that much. I was 10 lbs lighter to start with so I keep trying to comfort myself with that fact. I do feel a little bigger than I did with Darwin but my fundal height measurement is only about a week ahead. With Darwin it was always right on so I'm not tons bigger anyway.


24 Weeks


28 weeks

20 Weeks

Ok, so I haven't blogged in a long, long time. What else is new? Believe it or not, I am already past the half way mark in this pregnancy. It is absolutely flying. Our big ultrasound was last week and looks like I am baking up another boy. Yep, Darwin is going to have a little brother. His name is Leo. Leo is actually what I wanted to name Darwin but Brian vetoed me with the promise that I could use the name on any future male offspring. Luckily, it wasn't an empty promise. Brian has made good on this one and hasn't even complained. He gets to pick the middle name. Right now he is leaning toward Benson. This is the name of the neighborhood in Omaha where he grew up. I have to admit, I'm not crazy about it but I like that it has meaning for Brian and I'm not going to whine much since I got the first name that I wanted.

Everything on the anatomy scanned looked great and my quad screen numbers were good so all looks well with this little guy. I'm feeling pretty good. It has been a rough summer. It was actually 114 degrees here one day! Insane. It has been cooling off lately so I haven't been too miserable. Unfortunately, I have given up running for the remainder of this pregnancy. My cervix measured a little short on the ultrasound so I just don't feel comfortable chancing it anymore. I always said I would continue running as long as I was having a completely healthy pregnancy. Even though things look good, they aren't 100% ideal so I will back off. I've been walking everyday in our very hilly neighborhood and this really is a pretty good workout. Today I pushed Darwin for an hour long walk and I don't feel like a slacker in the least.

My belly has really blossomed since week 8. No denying I am pregnant now!