Thankful in so many ways.

36 Weeks-

This week was incredibly eventful with the highlight of it being Thanksgiving with family.  This year we had the pleasure of having Chris's grandparents in town and were so grateful for the opportunity to have a Thanksgiving with them.  We missed Cory and Lauren as they were at Cory's parents spending time with his family and grandma, but we had a wonderful meal at my mom's that was absolutely delicious.  There was enough food to feed an army but then again, that's my mom's style!  Always has been, always will be.  The 26 lb. turkey was divine and the dishes that went along with the bird were incredibly mouth-watering: wild rice and butternut squash with leeks, corn casserole, mom's special stuffing, fresh cranberry sauce with persimmons and pomegranates, the always classic, always tasteful green bean casserole, mom's delicious sweet potato casserole (with a coconut spin), grandma's yummy rolls, and a unique pumpkin pie that everyone seemed to love despite it's secret ingredient (one thing most people wouldn't even dream of consuming, especially on Thanksgiving....Tofu! Head over to Daily Garnish to check out the recipe..no we're not going vegan but it's fun to experiment in the kitchen!)
Although pregnant and in a position where I strategically saved some weight gain for the holiday season, I found it surprisingly difficult to take in as much turkey dinner as I wanted and then became increasingly more lethargic than normal ( I suppose it's the effect of the tryptophan on TWO individuals that had me wanting to take a siesta within an hour after dinner?) Still, it was a wonderful evening, the food was fantastic, the conversation and company was perfect.  It's funny how it takes the holidays to remind us how important just 'conversation' is in a room full of people.  We get so caught up in the constant connection to the outside world with the technology at our fingertips (guilty!) that we forget to connect with those inside those 4 walls.  The holidays are in fact a perfect time to practice disconnecting while at the same time re-connecting if you get my drift.

How Big is Autumn?

This weeks milestone is that Autumn has been busy shedding the downy covering of hair and the vernix caseosa (waxy substance) that have both been protecting her skin inside the womb.  Not too bad for a weeks worth of work, eh?  She is getting ever more bigger, packing on an ounce a day up until she is born.  Can I just repeat myself again this week when I say that I can feel every bit of each ounce that she is growing?!  She's reaching or has reached about 6 pounds and close to 19 inches long (think the length of a large pineapple, crazy!)  And with Autumn's growth spurts, the belly grows...and grows..and my favorite attire these days (and frankly all that I can fit into) are leggings or tights, a skirt and my boots!  Thank goodness for hitting these final weeks in the winter where I can get away with wearing this combination everyday to work. 

~Wow to the backsplash spray...item #125 to add to the to-do list!~

Running and Pregnancy

I can honestly say that I set zero expectations for how long I wanted to run while I was pregnant.  I am surprised that week 36 has come and gone and I still find myself putting one foot in front of the other to fashion together a run/walk ratio for about 3 miles.  Surprisingly, I found myself having a quicker pace than last week clocking in at 10:45-11:00 for my 400 m run portions.  I think I have found that with every week, running while pregnant is an art.  I have mentioned frustrations before with seeing decreases in paces, decreases in mileage and the worst, coping with an additional 28 lbs of weight at this time on some very achy joints.  There have also been revelations such as how from one week to the next there can be positive changes like discovering how much being pregnant forces you to keep your center of gravity low and really run from the balls of your feet to prevent additional jarring on the joints.  I have found humor in the fact that while before I could only see the decline in running while being pregnant and now, 36 weeks in I am able to realize that I will be taking lessons away from this experience that could quite possibly make me a better runner post-partum.  Next post...the training plan post-partum.  I know myself and while my focus will be that little bundle of joy that we get to meet in two weeks, it will help me to get back to 'normal' if I have a training plan semi-mapped out and begin to learn to incorporate little Autumn into our active lifestyle!   (i picked up these little car signs recently, in lieu of the typical 'baby on board' one's~I love them!)



Done and DONE

This was  a week full of accomplishments and entirely refreshing in comparison to the weeks where we weren't able to check but one or two items off the to-do list.

• Black Friday/Cyber Monday Week: Thankfully, the sales seemed to not only start earlier than Black Friday, but seemingly ran for an entire week.  Notice the camera in the belly pictures?  That was our big find that we did quite a bit of research on before we made a decision.  We were proud and happy that we came across this gem/steal especially in time to catch the millions of baby photos that are sure to be in our future
• the BIG Amazon order: we have been adding to our 'cart' for months and it was finally time, post baby-party to get the rest of the items we needed!  Here are just a few that we acquired:

~Chris loves this already and we're stoked to jump on the trails just the 3 of us (plus the pups!)~

• Clean house! I lost count of the loads of laundry that I did and frankly, I would most likely be embarrassed by the number but FINALLY, the laundry is complete, the closets are looking more organized, the kitchen is clean, and while there are still plenty of things that I want to sparkle before Autumn arrives, I feel content with how things are looking.  (I suppose this can be refereed to as the last 'nesting' bug that I will get before she arrives??) I must admit too, that I haven't been the only one with the nesting bug, I think Chris has the 'sympathy' nesting bug, and I find it pretty cute!  Sympathy cravings, sympathy pains, and now sympathy nesting.  Chris has definitely checked every box during this pregnancy.
• O Christmas Tree! We found it! And while I feel like I am being tortured having to wait to put up decorations until Chris gets back from the field, I can't wait to be able to trim the tree (and the rest of the house) when he returns!  

And while I have refrained from buying too much for Autumn before she makes her arrival, I couldn't pass these up in lieu of the typical 'Baby on Board' signs!  We can't wait for her to be tagging along with us in everything we do and everywhere we travel to.

Hello first trimester. Nice to meet you again.

35 Weeks-

While I thought that I had left the first trimester far behind me, especially nearing so closely to full term, I was proven wrong this week.  What I have read about in other blogs, articles,  and resources that are all-things-pregnancy and baby have been proven correct: symptoms of the first trimester DO and WILL come back when you near full term.   Not cool.  DEFINITELY not cool.

How I'm Feeling:

While not all symptoms that left me lethargic and completely unlike myself during the first trimester have waged their ugly head, I have definitely been more noticeably low on energy, nauseous and  just all around achy in my mid-section like I was back in April/May and June.  It seems so incredibly far away to think that far back as I can't believe that it is already almost her birth month.  'Wow,' we keep telling ourselves, 'She's almost here!'.  I have taken several of only a handful naps that I have taken during my pregnancy this week and let me just say they felt amazing.  They may have only lasted 45min-1 hr. but re-energized me and set me back up to to continue on with my day.  Braxton-Hicks contractions have gotten more fast and furious as of lately and have me up in the middle of the night more than my usual 4-5 times just to use the bathroom.  They have actually waken me up several times and thankfully, have all been false alarms.

Exercising and Pregnancy

The gym has quickly become my comfort zone for getting in a good workout since beating the pavement and trails have begun to wind down these past few weeks.  I have continued to focus more on exercises that will be beneficial in labor and a typical workout the past few weeks has looked something like this

• Treadmill fast paced walk/light jog: 10 minutes
• kettlebell swings, thrusters -(3 sets of 15, circuit style, resting 1 min. between each circuit)
• shoulder circuit (lateral raises, frontal raises, shoulder press, butterfly)-( 3 sets of 15 circuit style)
• incline push ups/dips (on a bench)- (3 sets of 12, circuit style)
• good mornings/lunges-(3 sets of 15, circuit style)
• tricep extension/lat pulldowns/row-(3 sets of 15, circuit style)
• yoga/stretch 10 minutes

The squats and lunges are especially important during labor as they help the pelvis area widen for birth (TMI I know, but it's true!)  I continue to feel energized while I am working out and am just as motivated to get to the gym while I'm pregnant as I was when I wasn't, the major difference is that afterwards I literally feeling like crashing into a deep, deep sleep.  With labor on the near horizon, I can only imagine how drained I will feel after.  I am placing no expectations on myself at this point in time.

Grow, Autumn, Grow!

The size of a honeydew, or 4-5 lbs. give or take and about 18 inches long or so.  I have been informed by sources that my uterus has grown 1,000 times it's original size.  The belly is definitely showing that.  Both Chris and I just stare in awe sometimes when she goes on her little spurts of movement because while we may not see a precise foot or hand, we see lots and lots more definition of her showing through!  I feel as if the belly has at least grown several inches in the past week.  I laugh when I catch Chris off guard and he just goes 'whoa'..as I turn to face him..'it's getting so big'!  I kindly reply with 'yes, yes she is!' and then I will often take another look myself as sometimes I am still in awe at how much she has grown in there.   While she is almost complete in developing the majority of her physical movements, she'll continue to simply fatten up from here on out.  Again with the 'to-do' list still being completed, she can hang around for at least a couple more weeks in my opinion!

What's left of the 'To-Do' List

Sometimes I swear for every check-mark we make the list grows, but perhaps I'm just imagining.  Here's a snapshot of what we would like to accomplish before little Autumn Rose makes her debut:

• Finish the nursery-curtains to hang, 0-3 month clothes washed/organized, diaper bag prepped, cloth diapers washed and prepped, floor mopped, ORGANIZE
• Pack the hospital 'bags'- We learned in our Bradley birthing class that dad's need to be prepped for the hospital as well and often get forgotten! 
• Deep clean entire house- I realize this is a bold statement.  But after every weekly cleaning the house I feel just needs that extra bit of TLC before she arrives.  I am hoping my nesting instinct kicks into overdrive in the next few weeks.  Chris has already been a huge help in getting things accomplished!
• Decorate for the holidays- This is a no brainer but I felt it had to be on my list otherwise I literally might forget with all that is going on.  And that's not like me given that the holidays are absolutely my most favorite time of the year.  We are planning on a real tree yet again this year but we will see how that goes!
• Re-do our floors- Torture ourselves with projects constantly?  Its what we do, it keeps us busy and keeps us on our toes! Ha!  If this doesn't get done before little Autumn arrives we're ok with that, it is something that we can do with her attached in a carrier keeping us company!

This and That:

• Chris's grandparents have arrived!- They'll be here camped out in our backyard for several months enjoying the Florida 'winter' months.  They have already been a TREMENDOUS help to Chris and I tackling projects here and there that have been on our task list for months.  It has been wonderful having their company.
• Appt's upcoming: 1, November 30-I am not sure that we'll get another ultrasound but after that appointment we will start going on a weekly basis until her arrival!
• Days of work left: ? I really haven't determined yet if I want to take much maternity leave before her arrival or if I plan on working straight up until we have her.  I am trying to complete quite a few tasks ahead of time so that I will have minimal telecommuting to do in the first few weeks. 
• Newest craving: cinnamon EVERYTHING- the smells of the holidays have kicked my cinnamon obsession into overdrive and it's pretty uncontrollable at this point.  Especially cinnamon rolls.  I have had to just 'walk away' several times!
• Maternity pics this week!-  Our dear photographer Tiffany Vaughan gave us maternity photos/newborn photos as a gift and we are beyond thankful for her wanting to share her talents behind the lens with us.  I already have several ideas for the maternity photos but have a PLETHORA for the newborn ones.  Oh. My. Gosh.  Those ones will be the best!

5 things I will miss/not miss about being pregnant.

Week 34-

I decided to change it up a bit this week as I have been analyzing/reflecting on the last 8 months of pregnancy.  I figured as I am getting closer to my due date that I would try to reflect as best as I could on the last 8 months and what I have enjoyed/not enjoyed about being pregnant (I am fully aware that this list may change in one month, particularly under the category ‘Things I won’t miss about being pregnant’.   I continue to have the theory that every pregnancy is different and what I may love about pregnancy others may not enjoy and vice versa.  Still, I want to be able to remember the good with the bad and have some things to reflect on when I am no longer staring at the beach ball that is currently my belly!

5 things I love about being pregnant:

·         Having Autumn with me every day, everywhere I go.

o   I have heard some mom’s say that this is what you will miss most about being pregnant, especially working moms who leave their little ones after the first few months.  Knowing that I will be in that boat myself, I can imagine I will be going through withdraws.  Especially being able to just sit at work, and watch her kick and twist and turn.  She definitely keeps me company.

·         The bella-band.

o   One of the greatest pregnancy inventions ever.  I wish I could wear it especially after going out to eat after a big meal~ lets face it, it’s much more acceptable than just unbuttoning the top button.

·         Not feeling bloated.

o   There is no uncomfortable ‘I need to unbutton the top button of my pants’ feeling after a big meal because, it’s a wonderful feeling.

·         Autumn’s hiccups.

o   Yes, I will miss them.  No matter where I am, no matter what time of day they always make me smile.   

·         Eating extra calories

o   I’m a foodie at heart, what can I say.  So any excuse to dial up the number of mini-meals I can eat in a day

5 things I won’t miss about being pregnant:

·         The dogs being completely oblivious to my belly. 

o   Some people are blessed that there dogs begin to have a curiosity and a exercise more caution because they just ‘know’ something is up.  While Lola has been an incredible guard dog when I was able to take her out on walks, other than that awareness, they continue to want to play/roughhouse with me like my pre-pregnancy days-it’s a constant battle to try to train them that things are just…different…right now.

·         Not being able to wrestle with the crazy pups.

o   I miss being able to get down on the floor and roughhouse with them, it’s good bonding time and I know right now they probably think I have just gotten boring and not as interested in them.  If only they could refer to my answer above, they just don’t get it at this point, but once she arrives, I hope they’re able to become acclimated to her and be super gentle with her, just a few gentle licks here and there is what I fully expect.  We’ll see how the introductions go!

·         Sleeping on my sides.

o   While I am surprised at how quickly I adapted I cannot WAIT to sleep on my stomach again.

·         Sneezing.

o   While I don’t have the urge to run immediately to the restroom like some women do, I do get some incredibly fierce side-stitches that hang around for 5-10 minutes.  I’m guessing because of the extra pressure down there and the force of the sneeze just sends my abdominal muscles into a crazy spasm!

·         Crazy joint pain.

o   It has only gotten worse in the last couple of weeks as I approach my due date.  Knees, hips, you name it, they are ALL feeling the extra 26+ pounds lately.

I know I’ll look back on these and probably be amused.  It’s amazing how well a woman’s body adapts to pregnancy but I am quickly realizing that the next few weeks may be the most uncomfortable of all.  Through all the aches, pains and crazy adaptations my body has gone through, my sights are still set on her ‘birth’ day and no amount of discomfort will be able to replace the feelings that I know I will have on that day.  I can’t wait to share her with the world and to start our family of ‘5’! 

Progress.

Week 33- (playing catch-up AGAIN...but here goes! :-)

7 Weeks left.  Just 7 weeks until this little bundle makes her grand entrance and would you know that I still feel SO completely underprepared?  I am still anxiously awaiting for the last jolt of energy/nesting instinct to fully kick in to get some of the things done that we have been putting off for some time and this week there did seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel; both Chris and I had energy and motivation to accomplish some tasks that we have been putting off for far too long. 

With loads of laundry stacked up (this is my all time least favorite thing to do) I found it a good excuse to begin putting away some of my pre-pregnancy clothes and inviting into the closet, in a more organized manner, the maternity clothes that I had been putting off getting for so long.  I had no problem wearing the bella band in the beginning of my first trimester, why then did it take me until month 8 to finally acknowledge that yes Katie, it is necessary to have maternity clothes!  Perhaps it’s because I had been fortunate to still be able to wear the bella band with about 3 pairs of my pre-pregnancy pants thus far, but it is getting to the point where it just isn’t as comfortable and the giant elastic band on the maternity pants feels much better around the belly when it is actually attached to the pants.  It’s a wonderful feeling though to accept the changes that have occurred in my body and be able to accept that someday soon I’ll be back in my ‘normal’ clothes (hopefully by January!)  Right now though, the longer and more belly conforming the shirt the better and the looser in the butt/thighs/belly the pants are the better.  Thankfully I have no complaints over the maternity clothes I have acquired thus far and they fit perfectly with my style still.  I know I may be recanting this statement in the next month or so but fingers crossed that I can still fit into at least a week’s worth of clothes by the end of term!

Chris was in the field this entire week and therefore things were a bit quiet/lonely around the home front.  The dogs were in full-force protection mode to the point that one night what I thought was an intruder in our back yard by their reaction was actually a poor baby opossum shaking for its life on the top of the fence.  I refer to this as a proud moment in Jack’s life where he finally found his inner pit-bull-his bark was ferocious and he was bound and determined to catch the little rodent!  Needless to say it escaped without harm, but it kept them entertained and pacing in the yard for some time. 

How Big Is Baby Autumn?

Is it even possible that I have a baby the height of a pineapple inside my belly?  It doesn’t even seem possible but at the same time I believe it!  She is growing like a little weed it seems and noticeably more active than EVER this week.  Quarters are cramped in there and she is making it known!  Her wrinkled looks are beginning to disappear, so the resources say, and her skeleton is beginning to harden a bit more.  That being said they won’t harden too much because the bones still have to be malleable enough to make it through the birth canal. And speaking of birth, that part of this experience is getting ever more real for me lately...the end is so near! Exciting but frightening at the same time!

~it never fails I seem to ALWAYS have something spilled on or near my belly as of lately!~

Running and Pregnancy

While it feels AMAZING still to get out on my walk/runs, the joint pain is noticeably increasing and has been something that I am now dealing with on a daily basis.  I have always been someone who pushes through pain, every ounce of my body could be saying stop but over the years, starting in middle school track with Coach Altobelli coaching me on distance ‘ladders’, I have built up the mental fortitude to ‘Just. Keep. Going’.  Of course during pregnancy, that attitude has had to change, and from the beginning it did, when I first began backing off my mileage and backing off my pace.  I have always found homeopathic ways to get rid of any aches/pains I have felt and I am treating this joint pain no differently but let me just say that it has been a BEAST.  Every day at the office I know my co-workers look at me like I’m crazy when they walk by and see me doing  yoga every hour, just to stretch out my tight hamstrings/hips for the most part.   That and short walks are the only things that get me through a full day at the office anymore and I find myself jonsing to get home, throw on my running shoes and get outside.  Even if it does bring on more soreness/tightness, it feels good at the time and I know is still excellent for both myself and little Autumn. 

My runs have now simmered down officially to more walk/run than even run/walk if you know what I mean.  I am envious of some of the other moms I read about on the running blogs that are still striding out for 5k’s with little stopping.  Between having to pee every .5 miles as well as the weight of the belly beginning to be felt (which leads to abdominal tightening/intense side stitches) I am running .25 miles, walking .25 miles at this point at about an 11-12 minute pace for the jog portion.  It is better than nothing I keep telling myself and I have read that sometimes you hit peaks of discomfort, get over them, and then improve.  I definitely noticed this throughout my first and second trimesters where I would have bad weeks, my body would then adapt/overcome and then all of a sudden I was back in more of a routine stride.  I will say that I am going to try the treadmill a little more this week than I have been.  While I love getting outside and beating the pavement/trails, maybe tying in a few walk/runs a week on the treadmill with my lifting will provide more cushion/stability.  Even as an avid vibram five-finger runner pre-pregnancy, I know that running with an extra 25 lbs of weight added in matter of 8 months requires some TLC for joints and feet, that which possibly the treadmill could provide (as much as I despise it.)

The Weekend.

This past Saturday was a blast as Alaina, Lauren and I headed out for a 6am shopping spree at Belk for a charity event.  We all found a few good items we had been looking for and also finally got our rain boots that will complete our ‘work’ ensemble.  We can’t wait to wear them at the next wedding, they are incredibly comfortable!

Even though I had a very early morning, waking up at 4am, I decided to tough it out and venture out to Destin with Chris.  We had a few errands to run, plus we wanted to watch the K-State game somewhere and meet up with a couple of his buddies that were down from Kansas in training at Hurlburt.  We ate dinner at Bonefish Grille (still one of my all time fave places to dine in this area) and then headed to Poppy’s Crazy Lobster Bar in Harborwalk Village to watch the Cats take on the Pokes.  Even though we didn’t come out with a ‘W’, it was by far one of the BEST college games I have witnessed, and literally was down to the last second, 4^th and goal, but no one could get open for our quarterback Klein to throw to.  2 losses in a row to Oklahoma and then Oklahoma State, I’m hoping for a BIG W against the Aggies this weekend~ We NEED it!

We spent part of Sunday organizing the nursery from all of the wonderful things that friends and family have given us and beginning to inventory just exactly what we still need to purchase before her arrival.  The list isn’t huge, but it’s not super short either.  Good thing is, there isn’t a whole lot you need in the first few weeks, so we’ll have time I know to acquire things even after she gets here before we need them.

Our cloth diapers arrived and we are stoked!  I thought this gave a good run through of how they will work.

 We still have about 16 more we want to purchase (we hear 2 dozen is the magic number) and we also need to order disposables online as we know for the first few weeks we will be tired/getting into the routine of things and need to be able to change her quick until we figure out how the cloth system will work best for us. 

I also made sure Chris had a ‘daddy’ diaper bag that was a bit more outdoorsy/manly than the JJ Cole one I scored at TJ Maxx and that arrived this week as well.  He was secretly excited about it even though he said he didn’t need one.  It’s a Kelty, which means its extra durable, and I think will last through a couple kids I hope!

While we still have progress to make in the nursery, the goal is by week 36 it is complete and ready for her arrival.  That’s 2 weeks, which I think we can manage, just in case she decides to make an early entrance.  Hold on tight little Autumn, Mom and Dad still need prep time~we want everything to be just perfect for you!