Category Archives: Pregnancy

Mitchell’s Run for Russ 8/20/12

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 Saturday was the Mitchell’s Run Thru Rockford.  Its an event that Tim and I do every year.  The 5K run is a fundraiser for Muscular Distrophy and over the years has grown and grown.  Part of the reason its so special to us is because our friend Russell has MD.  So even when I’m pregnant and shouldn’t be signing up for races, this is one I just couldn’t miss out on.

 I met Tim because of Russell.  Way back in 2007 my sister, who was a waitress at a little restaurant bar in Kentwood figured out that Tim would be my perfect match.  Russell lives in Kentwood and was a frequent customer at the restaurant.  Anyone who has ever met him will understand how my sister got to know him really well by working there.  Russell is a very social guy, and I’d wager that anyone that meets him pretty much loves him off the bat.  Anyway, Tim was living in Kentwood too and would frequently meet Russell at the restaurant.  Well, since Tim and I are now married, you can figure that we finally did meet, and life has never been the same.  We have Lindsay and Russell to thank for that.

 To know Russell is to love him.  He and Tim have known each other since their Kentwood grade school days.  Russell was diagnosed with MD when he was 20 or 21.  Sometimes I try to imagine what he went through at that time.  I can’t imagine finding out at that age that you have a life long deteriorating disease where you eventually will not be able to walk, among other things.  I can only imagine what that would have been like for me, and know that it would have been an incredibly dark time.  I didn’t meet Russell until he was nearly 30, but I can tell you that when I met him, he was the most genuinely kind and positive person that I’ve ever met.  I don’t know his own internal struggles and battles, but I do know that if he does have dark moments, you would never know it on the outside. 

 I’m a better person for knowing Russ.  He teaches me to appreciate all the goodness that I have around me, no matter how bad things may seem.  His family is the same way.  They are just good people.  Sometimes I wonder how something like this could have happened to such a wonderful person.  I wonder if Russ ever thinks that way too.  Last year, Russ gave us quite a scare.  He stopped breathing.  That’s the ugliness of the disease.  It gets progressively worse.  When I met Russ back in 2007 he was still walking, albeit with a walker and very slowly, but he was still walking.  Now he’s in a wheelchair.  So back to last year, his mom found him not breathing and his step dad (who used to be a paramedic) helped until he was able to get to the hospital.  Russ was kept under for several days and had bad pneumonia, developed pink eye while in the hospital and some bed sores that you just knew were horrible.  I remember seeing him sleeping in that hospital bed, thanking God for powerful pain medication and that he didn’t have to be awake for all of this.  We came to the hospital and wrote messages to him, all the time feeling like we wished there was more we could do. 

 Even after Russ woke up and was improving, he still was in the hospital for a couple months.  He just wanted to go home and when he finally did he was so happy to be there.  Yet to talk to him about this horrible event, you don’t ever hear that he feels sorry for himself.  Instead, he’s just always thinking about the positives.  Just thinking about him and that time gets me teary-eyed.  I just think about how strong of a person he is and how he makes the best of everything.  Always full of love, always full of jokes. 

 Sometimes I feel sorry for myself for this or that.  When I couldn’t run due to my injury sometimes it felt like life was so unfair and then I’d think about Russ and how he deals with everything and it was hard to feel sorry for myself for very long. 

 So that run we did on Saturday is for Russ.  And I can’t imagine not doing it.  This year was different for me.  Last year I won the women’s race and was disappointed running a 17:30 something.  This year I wasn’t sure how fast I’d go or what I’d feel like so I had no race plan whatsoever.  I ended up running completely even splits, 6:21, 6:21, and 6:21.  There were times I was worried that I was going too fast and I’d force myself to slow and think about my baby.  It was a nice cool morning though and I was less worried about overheating.  It was surprisingly hard for me to not want to pass everyone around me.  The whole race I just passed people and never got passed until the final 400 meters when people started their kick and I just coasted in.  I ran 19:53 and was surprised after standing around and talking that I started to feel a little dizzy.  I made sure to grab some water and did a slow cool down.  I talked to Val about my concerns that I’d run too hard and she made me feel much better, telling me that she had done something similar when she was pregnant and everything was fine.  

 Its really hard sometimes to know your limit.  As an athlete, you’re trying all the time to push yourself to your limit.  You’re used to the pain, used to feelings of coming so close and not being physically able to go further.  They say when you’re pregnant that you need to manage that level yourself.  Talking is a good guide, but I can usually get out a few words, even when I’m running fairly hard.  I mean, all out 5K pace feels much different than what I ran on Saturday.  I didn’t go all out, yet the dizziness I felt afterwards made me question if I had come too close to that line.  So for the time being, I don’t think I’m going to sign up for too many other 5K’s.  Its just too hard to properly gauge how hard you’re working until you’re done.

 I was a little sore even on Sunday.  Nothing like after a big race sore or anything, but just slightly in my legs.  I haven’t really run 3 miles that fast in so many months that it wasn’t really a huge surprise.  So I took it easy today.  Nice 7 mile run in the cool morning air.  The sky was black except for the many shining stars (no visible moon) and I even saw a shooting star when I first set out.  It felt good, not too hard, yet long enough to make me feel really accomplished after I’d finished.  

 This is a big week for us.  Tomorrow marks 12 weeks of pregnancy, a big step.  This is usually when your risk for miscarriage goes down considerably and many people start spreading the news publically.  We have our ultrasound on Thursday afternoon.  This will be the second time we get to have a look at our little one and since the first one was so incredible, I’m looking even more forward to this one.  As long as everything looks normal, I plan on sharing the news at work the next day.  Then Tim and I leave for vacation (Babymoon) on Saturday for a week.  I’m hoping to take a creative picture so that when we come back we can announce on facebook.  Here we go…isn’t life amazing!

Dreams of fall 8/13/12

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I will admit that this morning I had a hard time getting out of bed to run when the alarm went off at 5:15 am.  It didn’t seem like it was time for it to be morning yet.  On these mornings I have to get right out of bed and go get my running clothes on.  If I lay in bed for a few minutes I may either change my mind or fall back asleep. 

 Why do I wake up early to run?  There are many reasons.  The first and most important on a day when I’m running longer than 5 miles is simply that I have more time.  Sometimes I’ll squeeze in a 4 or 5 mile run on my lunch break at work, but going 6 or longer and then having to shower and dress and somehow eat a lunch after that is too time crunched.  I could run after work, but I’ve found that often after a long day at work (and my long drive home) I am tired and hungry and just don’t seem to feel as good on a run as I do first thing in the morning. 

 That’s brings me to reason number 1 I like to run in the morning.  I seem to feel the best.  I don’t know why, maybe its because I haven’t eaten or had anything to drink in 8+ hours and my belly feels better running on empty than it does during the day.  Sure, I’ve read all the advice, to wake up 30 minutes before and eat something light before heading out on a run, but honestly, when you’re getting up at 5:15 or earlier, who has time for another 30 minutes?  Since I became pregnant however, I have been eating a handful of teddy grahams.  That seems to settle my queasy stomach enough to run without much trouble. 

 This morning I got in 7 miles.  I felt good through most of it.  I was in the low 60’s, there was a slight breeze and it was dark and damp and the streets were very quiet.  I don’t bring my headphones mainly because I want to be aware of my surroundings when its dark out so I only listen to my thoughts and my feet hitting the pavement rhythmically. 

 Usually on a Monday morning, I would be doing a workout with Tim.  He got up with me and was out doing just that.  There was a part of me that was envious.  Going on “easy” runs day in and day out can be kind of hard for me, but I’m really trying to just enjoy them and take pleasure in the fact that I am able to run. 

 Today’s run was a good run.  I felt pretty good most of the way.  Around mile 4.5 I did start to feel the teddy grahams moving through my stomach and it was slightly uncomfortable, but during marathon training I had encountered much worse and knew that if I just focused on my form and breathing the feeling would eventually pass and sure enough it did.  Just like that my longest run of the week (except for Saturday’s long run) was complete, before the sun even came up on this Monday morning.  That too, is another reason I love to get my runs in early.  Before the day is even beginning, while most people are still sleeping, I’ve already accomplished so much.  It kind of makes going into work on Monday morning not seem as bad.  On Monday mornings whenever we did hard workouts, I went into the office feeling ready to take on the world.  There was nothing they could throw at me that would be as hard as that workout I had just defeated. 

 As the temperatures start to cool off I naturally start thinking about fall and all the things about it that make it my favorite season of all.  I know, there are still a few weeks of what I consider “summer” left and Tim and I will certainly enjoy them as we head off on vacation in St. Ignace in a couple weeks.  But every year around the middle of August we sometimes get our first “taste” of fall and it makes me so happy. 

 My obsession with fall probably goes way back to high school and all the fun things that happened in the fall.  I actually liked going back to school, especially since it meant the start of cross-country season.  The air starts to get a little cooler, you get to wear your new fall clothes, and we would be running through the grass and trails as the leaves began to turn.  There were bonfires and school parades and dances.  My love of the changing season continued through college as we traveled across the country running on different cross-country courses, sometimes following up a Saturday long run with a stop at the cider mill for some cider and doughnuts.  I met my husband in the summer, but some of my favorite memories from when we were dating are from the fall.  I met his whole family for the first time at his brother’s fall wedding.  He and I would cook chili and cornbread together and drink some wine after a long day at work.  We’d heat up squash in the oven and eat it with cottage cheese after a chilly run together.  And we did our first half marathon together that fall in October.  We even had a fall wedding since it seems to be a favorite season for both of us. 

 Now that we’re going to have a baby (not until Spring) I am finding myself even more sentimental than normal in remembering all these great fall memories.  There are so many things I want to do and am looking forward to.  I plan on running the Bridge run in GR in mid September.  It will be much different this year (last year I won it).  I’ll just go my regular jogging pace and try to look around me and enjoy the sights.  Tim and I also plan to travel with my friend Darla and run the Indianapolis half marathon the first week in November.  Ideally, I would like to pace Darla, but I will be 5.5 months pregnant by then and just don’t know how the running will be going.  I’m also looking forward to watching my best friend Val as she coaches her own cross-country teams for the first time. 

 Besides just running stuff, I am also looking forward to all the warm comfort foods of fall.  I love hot cider, but know that I’m not supposed to drink it because its unpasteurized.  So that is something I’ll miss.  I can’t drink the seasonal beers either, oh well.  Tim and I usually go to at least one MSU football game.  And more on the running, its so nice to get up on a Saturday and drive somewhere different and go on a long run, get done and be freezing cold, get a warm drink (used to be a hot coffee, now it will probably be hot cocoa, get home and take a hot shower and go walk around a pumpkin patch and just take in all the wonderful sites and sounds and smells of the season.  Oh fall…hurry up and get here!

First Big Pregnancy Scare 8/9/12

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Today was my first pregnancy truly scary/nervous moment.  I just had some strange stabbing pain, mostly in my left side of my abdomen.  It wasn’t bad, I could still walk, but I haven’t had it before.  It lasted only a second or two and was coming every 6 or 7 minutes and then after I got to work started coming more frequently but less intense.  I wasn’t bleeding at all.  So I called the Dr.’s office and talked to a nurse who asked me some questions and said she would talk to my doctor and call me back.  Over an hour later, she called and said that the doctor reviewed my ultrasound, and it looked awesome and my ovaries were fine.  She said it was probably “round ligament pain” which is the stretching of the ligaments.  She said to be careful with sudden movements and that I could take acetometaphen if it was painful.  Its not that painful, I was just worried.

 I feel relieved, but also still more cautious and now I’m debating whether or not I should run at lunch.  I don’t want to be overreacting, but it is concerning.  I suppose I can always start my run and if I don’t feel right about it, just stop. 

 Last night was our last Wayland and its always a fun run followed by a potluck.  I was having some intestinal issues before the run even started and then during the run too.  Even after I was done, I felt bloated and icky.  I then felt like I ate too much food and this morning thought that maybe that was all it was.

 I really just want to get through this first trimester and then I’ll feel a lot more confident.  In a way, I guess I was hoping to come in for an ultrasound today so I’d be assured everything is ok.  The fact that they didn’t think it was necessary though, is pretty reassuring too I suppose. 

 Blame it on the hormones or whatever, but I’ve been really sentimental and emotional the last few days.  I’m just thinking so much about family and I really want to create something for my child that’s all about his/her family.  I’ve been thinking about some of my favorite childhood memories and how I can’t wait to experience some of those things with my own child. 

 I’ve also been thinking a lot about my husband Tim and how thankful and lucky I am to have him in my life.  He’s so loyal and caring and doesn’t usually get too upset with me.  He’s more quiet than me, especially when it comes to being passionate about opinions and things, so in a way we help balance each other out.  He’s my best friend and I wouldn’t trade him for anything in the world. This weekend we finally have a free weekend.  I really want to just be lazy and get some much needed rest.  We’ve been constantly on the go on the weekends and it will be so nice to just be us.  

 I plan on running 8 miles on Saturday morning but other than that, I just want to take it easy.  We will probably go to Holland and check out Gazelle’s side walk sale since I need some new running shoes.  Then Tim mentioned going down to Saugatuck and going to dinner/watching the sun set and it sounded perfect.  Now I just can’t wait for it to get here. 

 Its not that work has been particularly stressful or anything, I’m just ready for a little break from everything.  I love our family and our friends dearly, and normally I’m such an energetic, go getter type of person, but I’m just feeling run down and tired.  It’s a good thing we have a vacation coming up in a couple weeks!  In the meantime, I just have to stick it out and hope that the weekends get here fast, go by slowly, and that I get plenty of rest.