Babies Bring Out the Best...

Things have been pretty blurry over the past few weeks as we continue to try to get ourselves ready to be a family of three instead of a family of two. But we haven's been the only busy ones...On Saturday, November 12, we had our much-anticipated baby shower in Cleveland. I don’t exactly know what the “road to the baby shower” was like for the organizers (my friend Katie; Philip’s aunts Liz, Brigitte, and Marielle; Lynn; Sarah; Philip’s mom; and my mom were involved and probably lots of other people I don't even know about), but I know there were various meetings, many phone calls and at least 100 emails going back and forth in the weeks leading up to the shower. The hard work certainly paid off! It was certainly the best shower I’ve ever been to, and I’ve heard that other guests have been saying the same thing.

The shower was held at Philip’s aunt’s house, which was totally fitting because if those women are expert entertainers. No matter what the occasion, whenever we go to their house they’ve always got more food than we could want, along with special napkins and plates and decorations that make even an ordinary family dinner feel special. Not to mention the fact that their house is beautiful and the layout makes it easy for people to mix and mingle. Whenever I’m trying to explain how impressed I am by them, I tell people the story of our housewarming party. When we first moved into our house, we were so excited to have our families come down and see it, so we just had to have a party. Of course I thought I had everything I needed and that everything was under control until the Kanjuka’s showed up with a car full of everything I hadn’t thought of. They had linens and decorations and even a coffeemaker! And it was a good thing, because I had none of that stuff!

The grandmas put together a special display for us

The first thing we noticed when we walked in the house was the decorations. There were centerpieces on the tables made from balloons tied to baby bottles filled with aqua, pink, and purple m&m’s, which were resting on brightly-colored receiving blankets. Colorful baby toys were hanging from the windows like sun catchers. Rubber duckies were everywhere, including the ones that were floating in the bowl of green/blue punch. And the highlight of it all was the special table our moms had set up for us on which they displayed the diaper cake that they worked together to make, pictures of Philip and I as babies, and our most prized stuffed animals from when we were small (which apparently my mom went searching through my house for when I wasn’t there). I think we were both really surprised to see those things there!

 

Duck pond punch

I love being in pictures!

 The food extravaganza started right away, and the menu was full of our favorite things: hummus and tabooli, Cheetos (a staple during the first months of my pregnancy), grandma’s chicken, black and white cookies (my favorite cookies that I used to get from the bakery at Stop and Shop when I went with my mom when I was small), pudding stuff, and even a tiny lady finger cake. There was a whole lot more food to compliment those options, and I can’t imagine anyone left that house feeling hungry!

Overwhelming!

 Next on the agenda was opening gifts. Opening gifts in front of a crowd (or even in front of just one person) has never been my favorite thing. Since I’m always pretty quick to let my opinion be known, I don’t have a very good filter when it comes to receiving gifts that I don’t like. I actually have memories of myself having terrible reactions after opening gifts as a kid, and the disappointment I caused the people who took the time to choose the gift for me. Not wanting to repeat those kinds of interactions, I try to avoid opening gifts in front of people when I can. I’m also not a very good gift giver. Every once in a while I’ll come up with what I think is the perfect gift to give someone, but those times are few and far between. So unless the gift is something spectacular, I don’t exactly understand why people get so excited to watch people open gifts. But anyhow….opening gifts in front of an audience is what showers are all about, so there was no getting around it at the baby shower. However, since I haven’t been to all that many showers myself (can’t remember the last one, to be honest), I have no idea what the rules are (I hope I didn’t break any!)

Grandma L is going to have to teach Alaina how to use this.

Tiny shoe socks!

Alaina's first piggy bank!

Aunt Sarah begins her corruption

One great thing about a baby shower is that it’s one of those wonderful occasions when you can gently direct people toward the kinds of gifts you want or need by creating a baby registry. And if you take the time to research the options and make smart decisions about what you put on your registry, you can at least try to be sensible about it. Lucky for me that my favorite baby expert—Katie—was willing to spend a day going with us from store to store to choose the things we should put on our registry! And even when people “go rogue” and buy something that’s not on your list, practically anything anyone gives you is going to be something that you can use.

So, after I got some advice from the crowd about the “right” way to go about opening presents, Philip and I (with the help of Sarah who passed us the gifts and Katie who took notes on who got us what) dove into the pile. And what a pile it was. It didn’t look that big when we first walked in, but it’s amazing how many tiny outfits and pieces of baby paraphernalia you can fit into a gift bag. Even more so when that gift bag is nearly 2 feet tall! We got so much great stuff. Some of it was very fitting (an OSU track suit from Christopher and room decorations from Philip’s mom), some was very thoughtful (a handmade blanket from Katie’s mom and matching “mom” and “baby” crystal pendants from my mom), some was very unexpected (an array of gifts from people that Liz works with….people we don’t even know!) and at least one gift was amusing (a giant stuffed penguin from my dad who threatened us with more giant stuffed animals in the future). Of course, the gift that got everyone’s attention was the giant tower of baby clothes in all colors and sizes that Philip’s aunts have probably been buying since before we knew we were even having a baby!

Overall, Philip and I were both overwhelmed with the love and support we felt during the shower and throughout this journey. Sure, the result of the shower was that we ended up with a big pile of (extremely useful!) gifts, but it was most important for us to have a chance to get together with the people that we don’t see often, but who have been important to both of us throughout our lives. We’re so lucky to have such giving, thoughtful people in our lives, and we want our little girl to grow up understanding the importance of being there for others and of helping those who need it!

My dad at his first baby shower

No gathering is complete without the Sarahs

Troublemakers

Troublemakers take 2

Time for dessert

The view from the hot seat (while opening presents)

Sisters :)

Alaina's great-aunt Lynn

Christopher won beer. Go figure.

Week 29.5: What's in a name?

(Interested party): "So did you pick a name yet?!?"

TriMama/TriDaddy: "No, but we're working on it."

(Interested party): "Just choosing between a couple now?"

TriMama/TriDaddy: "LOL!"

(Interested party): "?!?!?!?"

Names are pretty darned important. Before TriMama and I knew that we had a little TriBaby on the way, I already had some thoughts on how I would want to go about picking a name for a baby if we ever had one. Although I didn't have any specific names in mind, I thought my pre-determined list of baby naming criteria would help us arrive at the perfect name in a jiffy. I quickly learned that theory and reality don't always play nicely together.

After sifting through piles of books, iPhone apps, and websites on the topic, we had a pretty long list of potential names in the works. At first, we didn't really put a lot of thought into it--we just sort of wrote down (okay--added to a Google spreadsheet) the names that sounded nice to each of us. Sure, some had a lot more staying power than others, but we'd quickly sort that out, right? Friends and family started asking us about it more, and how many names we were deciding between. I assume they thought our answer would be something like five or even ten names, because when we told them that we were working with something north of sixty names, they just sort of looked at us like we were crazy.

That got me thinking. What would be the best way to take a large group of "things" and whittle them down to one, perfect "thing?" Normally, I can rely on my trusty triathlon metaphors to get me out of jams like this...but not this time. I needed something more. So what did I do? I turned to the NCAA. More specifically, the NCAA basketball tournament. Even more specifically, the NCAA basketball tournament bracket! 

(Who's crazy now?!?)

I can see all the guys out there nodding their heads in overwhelming approval and all the ladies rolling their eyes (or shooting their guys that "don't even think about it" look.)

So our mega list of names, naturally had some favorites and some that were certain bringing up the rear, but we didn't want to discard them without giving them a fair shake. I created another Google spreadsheet, but this time, it was set up just like a 64-team tournament bracket. I took the mega list and roughly figured out a system for seeding the names and adding them to the bracket. And then, while nearly bursting at the seams with excitement, TriMama (who actually bought into this scheme) and I went through the first round. We quickly realized that many of the names were different spellings of the same name, or we really didn't like them and that was diluting the quality of the competition. This needed some retooling.

I sat down and combined the names with similar spellings (to be sorted out later) and cleaned out the names that we decided were just not strong enough to make the tournament. Instead, we found some late additions that seemed to fit in much better. I also ditched the seeding system and went with a random drawing for the relaunch of our baby name bracket--this time with 32 stronger teams--err--names.

Pre-game

In case you're thinking that we just pitted name "A" against name "B" and made a snap decision on the winners, you'd be way wrong. Before we started choosing which names would move on to the next round, we gathered some background stats on each name for some pre-game analysis:

• Name (and various spellings we like)
• Origin(s)
• Meaning(s)
• Social Security Administration Ranking (national)
• Social Security Administration Ranking (state--top 100 list for 2010 and how many times it was used)

Gametime!

For each game, we tried to follow a basic format:

• How does the name sound (with and without our last name)?
• How does the name look all spelled out?
• Possible nicknames (good/bad)
• Any conflicts? (This could be an entirely separate discussion.)
• Pre-game stats (if needed)

As of this writing, we're just starting the Sweet Sixteen. And as expected, the games are getting tougher to call, but it's giving us a chance to really breakdown each name to find the strengths and weaknesses. So far, many of the favorites got through the first round, but just as in the basketball tournament, there were some upsets too.

I suppose some critics could argue that we're taking the emotion out of baby naming, but I completely disagree. This is a pretty overwhelming process and one that I/we (clearly) take seriously. Until now, we've been trying to sift through the noise and get down to a solid list of names to work with. As we get closer to the Elite Eight and Final Four, you better believe emotions are going to play a part in the process. How could they not? After pouring through literally thousands of potential names, we'll be a few decisions away from the one we'll give our baby.

Week 27.5: Welcome to T2

Something our (unbelieveably awesome) doctor said at yesterday's check-up kind of made me think a little about (suprisingly) triathlon--specifically how this whole pregnancy is very similar to my first race.

A common misconception is that the human gestational period is 9 months. It's not, and if you ask any woman who is either currently or has ever been pregnant, she'll very quickly correct you and tell you that 40 weeks is 10 months, not 9 months. Yet, pregnancy is divided into trimesters. All of you triathletes out there understand that "tri-" means three. After a little quick arithmetic, we find that:

40 weeks/3 trimesters = 13.3 weeks/trimester

Depending on your source of information, the third trimester starts at either week 27 or 28. We're currently sitting on week 27.5, or for the sake of this blog, pregnancy's version of T2. I said earlier that this little revelation reminded me of my first race, and I'm getting there...right about...

The Swim (First Trimester)

My first tri was a little race down in Cincinnati called Tri for Joe. It is a nice little sprint distance event which features a swim in an outdoor pool. Since all of my winter swim training was done in an indoor pool, I thought this would be a great race to ease me into the sport. Well, it made sense at the time anyway.

The outdoor pool had just been filled a few weeks prior to race day. Oh, and did I mention the race was in mid-May and it was pretty cold that spring in OHIO. A quick recap of the conditions at the race start:

Air temp: 48 degrees (Fahrenheit)
Water temp: 62 degrees (Fahrenheit)
Wetsuit: Not yet purchased. You can see where this is going.

I was as ready as I was going to be. The starter counted us down, sounded the horn, and we charged into the icy depths--err--shallows. This particular pool is really shallow for the first 25 meters or so. Between running in and the adrenaline pumping, I was feeling alright. Then, the water started getting deeper and it was time to swim. I plunged my face into the water and...

This is where the swim from my first tri starts to resemble the first trimester of pregnancy. (The rest of the swim was pretty ugly, so I'll just leave that to your imagination.) This is moment when you and your significant other look at that little peed-on stick and you see that your life is going to be a little different from here on out. Your heart rate hits the red line, you can't breathe, and you run a mental diagnostic to try to figure out what the hell just happened. Much like the post-swim delirium, nothing really made any sense until the 8th week when we got to see our little "peanut" for the first time.

T1

Transition from the swim to the bike in my first tri was really not as smooth as I hoped. Of course, I hadn't really practiced or anything, so I shouldn't have been too surprised. I was weary, wobbly, out of breath, and very, very cold. The good thing is that I was about to hop on my bike and do what I do best.

At this point during pregnancy, things start to level out a bit. The initial freak outs from the first trimester have pretty much settled down and you both start to get a little more comfortable with what's going on.

Bike (Second Trimester)

Once I hit the bike course, I tried to put that horrible swim (if you can call it that) behind me. There was still a lot of work to do, but cycling is my strength, so even though I was pushing hard to make up some time, I was in my element. Although I was on my trusty mountain bike (that sure has changed!), I passed a bunch of fellow racers which felt amazing. I thought to myself: "Hey...maybe I belong out here after all!"

The second trimester was pretty amazing. There was a laundry list of household projects that we'd talked about for YEARS, but now that we have a baby on the way, we suddenly had the motivation to start crossing things off of that list. Add to that the endless list of decisions to make about baby gear, names, nursery colors and decorations, furniture, daycare/school, yadda yadda...it's amazing that we managed to plow through as much as we did in just a few short months. We aren't done yet, but we're getting there.

On top of all that logistical stuff, we started to feel like we might actually enjoy being parents. Sure it's still scary as all get-out, but going through the entire process of registering for all things baby, and making those decisions together, we started to think that maybe we belong here too.

T2

Coming off the bike was a little weird. After "flying" down the road for the better part of an hour (hey--it was a longish bike course for a sprint!), it was time to hit the brakes, slow down and get ready for the run--the hardest part.

This is where we find ourselves now. Many of the decisions we needed to make are out of the way, although many still remain. House projects that have been started need to be finished up, and so on. But for the most part, it's time to slow things down a bit and get ourselves ready for what's going to be the toughest part of the race--err--pregnancy.

Run (Third Trimester)

Once I hit the run course, my legs felt like cement and if felt like everything on Earth came to a grinding halt. It was kind of like the scene in the movie Spaceballs where they suddenly go from "ludicrous speed" to whatever normal space-cruising-speed is called. (Since I was breathing so hard on the bike, I didn't really drink any fluids to speak of either, so just like in the movie, the world may have briefly gone "plaid.") I literally trudged my way around the pancake flat 3.1 mile run course. Nevertheless, I kept moving forward and didn't stop or walk, no matter how much I may have wanted to. After all of the hard work I put into training for that race, I was determined to cross that finish line.

Since we are currently in T2 for this pregnancy, I can really only speculate on how I think our third trimester might go. For as busy, hectic, and fast (at times) that the second trimester was, I think the third might be completely the opposite. Amy has been nothing short of amazing throughout this whole pregnancy. She's been active, pretty upbeat, and other than a few wardrobe adjustments, it's pretty much been business as usual. We know that's probably going to change before long, but hopefully she sails through the last few months as gracefully as she has the previous seven or so.

The Finish Line (Labor & Delivery)

Once I could see the finish line at my first race, adrenaline took over and I ran as fast as I could to cross that line. Of course, doing so comes at a price, but it's (kinda) worth it. After months of training and a race that was harder that I ever thought it would be, I did it...I was a triathlete! (Note: This concept took a long time to sink in.)

Amy and my family found me recovering with a banana and some chocolate milk in the finishing area and quickly fired off the question: "So are you going to do another race?!?" While I tried to catch my breath and bask in the glow of my first triathlon finisher's medal (and keep myself from launching the aforementioned banana and chocolate milk all over the place), I calmly said: "Please don't ask me that right now."

The general public seems to make labor and delivery out to be some big, scary monster. I'm sure it will be one of the toughest things (if not the toughest) Amy will ever go through. But, her view of the whole thing is pretty astounding to me. I really admire her and the transformation she's gone through over the past several months. But, just like in the race, once she (and dare I say we) can see the finish line, adrenaline will take over, conscious thought will all but stop, and her body will do what it's built to do (in the physiological sense of course). And after ten long months of anticipation and planning, we'll officially be parents.

And please, when we're adoring our living, breathing, finisher's medal for the first time (and likely on the verge of passing out and/or puking), don't ask us if we're going to do it again.

Week 25: Don’t mind me….I’m just a little crazy right now.

I guess I’m not having a very good week. But it feels more like I’m not having a very good life. If you know me well at all, you know that my head isn’t always screwed on very straight. Although I’m perfectly capable of taking care of the routine things that need to be done in life (planning meals, keeping the house clean, making a reasonable living, etc.), whenever something new or different comes along to push me off the tracks, it takes me a while to react and re-prioritize.

Some say that the reason a woman is pregnant for 9 (or make that 10) months is so she has time to adjust and adapt to the idea of becoming a parent. The problem is that I’m an “I’ll believe it when I see it” kind of person, so it’s really hard for me to adapt to something that I have absolutely no concept of. When I think about most things, my mind goes straight to the negative. Last year, for example, someone invited me to go on what they were calling the “stupid early Sunday bike ride.” I’m guessing the ride was in July, when we can take advantage of early sunrises and get a decent bike ride in before the temperatures become unbearable. When I learned that “stupid early” meant “be there by 6:30” my first thought was “no way!” Sleep is precious to me! I can’t get up and get moving that early! But I let myself be convinced. And you know what? I survived. And I enjoyed it. And I went back for more “stupid early Sunday” rides. So when I think about having a newborn in the house, instead of thinking about tiny fingers and toes and first smiles and all of that good stuff, I think of 4 a.m. feedings and poopy diapers and no sleep for months (this sleep thing is sure to become an issue, no?). I know a large part of the problem is that I haven’t been around an infant in a really long time. Hardly any of my friends have kids, and the ones who do I barely ever see. I know all of this is going to change, and that we’ll probably end up with a new batch of friends, but that’s part of that unknown future that I can’t get a good handle on right now.

Along those lines, Philip and I are struggling with the kinds of things I’m sure tons of parents-to-be struggle with, which all boils down to “what in the world have we gotten ourselves into?” The biggest part of that for us, I think, is trying to reconcile who we are now with who we are going to be once the baby gets here. Today, we are an active, fun-seeking couple with an appreciation for the fact that we can change our plans on the fly and do whatever we want with our time. We like having the freedom to go to the gym or not go to the gym after work during the week. We like being able to meet for dinner on short notice, or to pack up the car and go away for the weekend. We like long weekend bike rides and lingering in the parking lot for hours afterwards with our friends. But are we going to be able to do any of that with a baby?

We’ve made a lot of great friends over the past few years, and had tons of adventures. Our friends are the kind of people who plan their lives months--if not years--in advance so they know what their goals are for the foreseeable future. The upside is they’ve gotten us to try new things that we’d probably never have the courage to try on our own. The downside is that none of them have infants. So while it’s business as usual for them as they plan new adventure and make sure the calendar is full, we’re left wondering how our priorities will have shifted by then and whether we’ll be able to participate at all. I have to imagine it gets really old for them to hear us saying that we just don’t know what we’re going to be able to do. It’s certainly getting old for us. We don’t want them to stop inviting us because that would just give us an excuse not to even try, but it’s really hard to know what our balance is going to be in the future..

I know a lot of it will be up to us. One thing that we have going for us is that we’ve already overhauled our lives once. We went from couch potatoes who watched other people doing their hobbies on TV to people who get out there and experience life as much as we can. It’s improved our physical and mental health, and it’s improved our relationship, so I think it’s important for us to at least try to hang onto some of that. At the same time, I struggle with whether or not that’s a selfish or unrealistic goal. I know that some people let babies take over their lives, and others manage to fit babies into their lifestyles instead. I don’t know which camp we will fall into. I don’t know how we could know that right now. If I’m honest with myself, part of me is trying desperately to hang on to the life I know now, and another part of me is ready for a new adventure. I have a feeling “compromise” is going to be my favorite word in 2012.

So with all of that constantly rolling around in my brain, with detours now and then to examine furniture and paint colors and the endless search for the “right” name (and the added bonus of crazy pregnancy hormones), I just don’t know which way is up right now. The result is that I make it through most days okay, but I’m also apt to have a mental breakdown at any moment. My mouth ends up saying things my brain doesn’t mean. I fail to think before I speak, and the things that come out are apt to annoy, anger, confuse, or hurt the people who care about me. And when I realize what I’ve done, I’m suddenly in a tailspin of self-doubt and regret that I don’t know how to stop. Just when I need all the support and love I can get, I’m finding myself pushing away from the people who can give it to me. Including myself—I’m kind of tired of being around myself these days, too. I want the old me back. But she’s never coming back. And I don’t know what to do with that.

Babies vs. Triathletes--Part 1

After spending an entire day registering for baby stuff with the “person-formerly-referred-to-(inaccurately)-as-TriMama” and our good and baby stuff-obsessed friend, I’ve come to few conclusions that might revolutionize the triathlon scene forever.

Bikes

 Let’s be honest—most of us aren’t pros and don’t average 25mph on the bike. I’ve crunched the data (because triathletes love data) and made a startling discovery: A triathlete’s average bike speed is inversely proportional to the coolness factor of their bike. In other words, the slower you are on the bike, the cooler it needs to be. There’s a simple reason for this too. If you’re superfast on the bike, the spectators can’t really catch a good glimpse of you (or more importantly, your bike) as you ride by on the course. But, if you’re one of the mid-to-back-of-the-packers like me, you need to have a cool bike because you’ll be passing the spectators slow enough that bike style and coolness matter.

There are a few problems with this, however. As I learned from my half-Ironman this year, being slower also means you’re out there in the elements longer. Sure, some might say that I should just train more so I’m faster. While this would be the obvious answer, it takes a LOT of work to go a little faster. Instead, I’ll take a quick look at some of the latest in baby wheels for the answers.

Notice how this cool baby ride has a huge, aerodynamic canopy, and how my “cool” tri bike doesn’t. Would that have helped prevent a wicked sunburn? You betcha! Also note the relaxed seating position and complete lack of pedals, gears, and shifters. I mean, I certainly would have had a MUCH faster run split if I could just have chilled out with a juice box and goldfish crackers while someone else did all of the work. GENIUS!

Snot

Triathletes (and cyclists and runners) spend a lot of time outdoors. We’re a reasonably tough lot, so minor things like allergies and colds don’t often keep us from training and racing. However, those things do create something that we need to deal with while we’re out there being awesome—snot. The solution (apparently) is the snot rocket. Now, while I’ve never really attempted this little maneuver myself, those of you that have know that this technique has its shortcomings. I mean, what about this screams “good idea?”

There’s really a lot that can go wrong. Sure, you might pull it off. But if you don’t, the collateral damage caused by such an act is far worse. At best, you end up wearing it for the rest of your ride or run. At worst, you don’t look before firing and manage to land one in the face of the person behind you. Come on—isn’t there a better solution? Actually there is, and we can find it in the aisles of the baby store.

Exit snot rocket, and enter snot sucker! Once you get past the stomach-turning concept of the whole thing, it actually makes a lot of sense. Clearly this isn’t something you could do for yourself. Come to think of it, I can’t think of too many friends that would help with this one either. Maybe further development needs to be done before it hits your local tri shop, so for now we’ll give babies an “A” for effort, but the win goes to the athletes. WOOT!

Apparel

Diapers are a staple of babyhood. Favorite brands and materials aside, they all serve the same function. Yesterday, I saw an innovation in diaper technology that blew my mind. Sure, it’s great for parents and baby alike, but I couldn’t help but think about this as a triathlete as well. Check it out!

There’s a little stripe on the front of the diaper that turns blue when baby had a wee. That is brilliant! I can hear some of you asking: “How on earth does that make you think of triathlon?”

Some triathlons (especially the half and full Ironman variety) take several hours to complete. Before and during the race, we need to drink a lot of fluids to stay hydrated and perform at our best. The problem is that sometimes the tank gets full, and you need to take action. The vast majority of us (myself included) use one of the on-course port-a-johns while others might stop at the closest shrub. There are, however, some triathletes that throw caution (and their pee) to the wind. Yep—they just pee while riding. And oddly enough, cycling/tri shorts aren’t really that different from diapers. (If you’ve ever been caught in a downpour while on a training ride, you’ll know what I mean.)

So I was thinking, what if tri/cycling shorts came with a wetness indicator like those diapers have? Competing in a triathlon is pretty fun (in a twisted sort of way I suppose), but what about the spectators? As much as we depends on their support, standing around for hours while waiting to see their athlete for a few seconds as they pass by can be boring. Adding a wetness indicator to the front of tri/bike shorts could be a way to give the spectators some insight into race and add a new level of comedic value to the sport. Babies get the win in this category hands down.

Conclusion

Babies: 2

Triathletes: 1
 

Week 22: Maternity Clothes

Luckily, 20+ weeks into my pregnancy, I haven’t had to worry about maternity clothes very much. Most of my summer skirts and dresses still fit fine and I hadn’t gotten around to donating that pile of “fat” clothes in my basement, so I’ve had plenty of things to wear. Just the other day, though, I started cleaning summer clothes out of my dresser that I know I already can’t fit in. I’m hoping that I can get by with what I’ve got for now until the temperatures start changing, so anything I buy can get me through fall and winter and I won’t have summer clothes that are useless in a month or two.

That said, I have a feeling that months and months of frustration are in my future. I’ve already found that it’s nearly impossible to find maternity clothes for working out. Bottoms probably won’t be much of an issue because I can just go up in size, but tops are a nightmare. Again, if I hadn’t started out wearing size extra-small or small, I could probably just go up a few sizes and get away with it. But since I have a petite frame, that’s not going to work so well (picture shoulder seams down to my elbows). As of a few months ago, I didn’t really understand how maternity clothes were designed (why would I have?) But I’m learning that I should be able to buy my regular size in maternity clothes, and the difference will be in the length and maybe the amount of fabric around the middle, but the shoulders and arms should still fit. Pants are another story altogether (and I see a whole post about them in my future). I haven’t had to wear any maternity pants yet, but I have tried on a bunch that were “donated” to me by friends and family. All I have to say right now is—who designed these things? I get the panels that come up over the belly. But why—if they fit in every other sense—do the crotches of some of these pants come down to my knees? What is going to happen to my body to fill in all of that space? And what’s with pants with no pockets in the back? Once they hike the waistline up to your armpits to cover the extra distance in the front, you need something to break up the space back there!

Oh – and here’s tangent number 2. I typically get 2 or 3 emails every day from some of my favorite stores that alert me to the “great” deals and sales that they have going on. Some of those stores don’t carry maternity clothes anyhow, so I just ignore them. What annoys me is getting emails from the stores that do carry maternity clothes that tell me “all jeans on sale” or “everything 30% off for one day only” and finding out that those sales don’t actually apply to the maternity clothes. Can someone explain that? What makes maternity clothes special? Isn’t the fact that women only need these clothes for a short time a good reason to put them on sale? If I could get a bunch of shirts at one time at a good price, I’d snatch them up! Instead, I’m reading bulletin board posts on the baby sites about women who have wardrobes consisting of 4 shirts and 2 pairs of pants that they hope will get them through the next 4 months because they don’t want to spend a bunch of money. I know my wardrobe should be at the bottom of my list of priorities right now, but I’m already so self conscious about how I look that if I’m wearing the same shirt day after day I’m going to crawl under my desk and hide. Sigh.

Anyhow, back to my rant about workout clothes. I’ve signed up for a few weekly or daily emails about pregnancy related topics, and they’re constantly reminding me that exercise is good for me and that I need to keep moving. However, digging a little deeper into the related websites reveals that their idea of the perfect workout attire is loose, breathable fabrics…especially cotton. Um, I’m sorry, but when did we go back in time to 1986? I haven’t been on the workout scene for that long, but ever since we joined a gym 5 years ago or so it’s been all tech fabrics all the time. These days if you participate in a race or a charity event and the free t-shirt isn’t made from “technical” fabric it seems almost useless. Who wants to work up a sweat only to end up with their clothes a heavy, wet mess? Not me, that’s who. Isn’t my body going through enough already without having to resort to cotton workout clothes? Apparently not. Because unless I want to pay $50 for a single shirt made from tech fabrics (and that’s not exaggeration), I’m pretty much screwed. This is the point at which I should be thinking “hey, I found a problem that needs a solution…maybe I can make some money off of this,” but instead I’m contemplating never going to the gym again. Good job, world.

The Most Boring Pregnancy Ever

Since I’ve been pregnant, the two questions I get asked most often are “how are you feeling,” and “have you had any symptoms,” to which I have mostly answered “I feel the same as I always have” and “no, none at all.” This makes me feel somewhat bad (or maybe just somewhat boring) because there’s not really any place to take the conversation from there. When most people think of early pregnancy, they think of morning sickness, endless trips to the bathroom, food aversions, a superhuman sense of smell, and who knows what else. What they don’t usually think of is only really knowing that your pregnant because the doctor has confirmed it several times over.

Don’t get me wrong….I couldn’t be happier that I haven’t had to deal with any of those crazy symptoms. When I was anticipating the possibility of morning sickness, I very seriously made myself mentally (and slightly physically) ill over it. For one thing, I couldn’t imagine being one of those people who can be flying down the highway on the way to work in the morning and casually throwing up into a shopping bag. Or worse, spending all of my time feeling decidedly nauseous with no release at all. Ever. I don’t know how I would get through life. I have a tendency to get carsick on windy, hilly roads, and once I start feeling that way, it’s basically all over. I can’t function. Don’t even ask me to try. I spent many hours wondering how I would get myself through the weeks like that, and I decided to face it prepared. I read up on all of the home remedies that people have used to battle morning sickness, and I went out and bought most of them. I decided that since everything I read told me that it might be difficult to get up in the morning without first getting something in my stomach, that I wouldn’t budge until Philip brought me a piece of bread and some ginger ale. We called it my “process” and it sometimes took as long as 30 minutes to get up and get going in the morning. When I did finally get out of bed, I was constantly monitoring every part of my body for issues (and probably making up bad feelings as I went through my mental checklist). It was kind of ridiculous. And when I finally realized that I wasn’t ACTUALLY sick, it was quite a relief.

On the other hand, the idea that you can get through your first trimester without any morning sickness leads some people to think that maybe there’s something wrong with your pregnancy. I’m fully convinced that people tell each other that morning sickness is a sign of a healthy pregnancy just to make each other feel better. It gives them a reason to focus on for why they have to put up with that crap, and it gets them through the day. I’m not knocking it. I’m sure if I was feeling miserable every day it would help to think there’s a good reason for it (maybe). But I don’t think it’s really fair to worry people who don’t have typical symptoms. Isn’t there enough worrying going on during pregnancy without adding on worries related to NOT being sick?

So, I guess my point is, I’m sorry I don’t have a lot to say about being pregnant. I don’t mean to be so boring!

Week 19: It's a _____!!!

Yesterday's Facebook poll yielded some really interesting results. At last count, thirteen of you said TriBaby will be a girl and six of you said boy. And the winner is....?
(Don't you just hate cliffhangers?)
TriMama and I just got back from the doctor's office, and we're very happy to announce that TriBaby is...properly assembled!!! Here's the rundown:

• Number of heads: 1
• Number of brains: 1
• Number of eyes: 2
• Number of arms: 2
• Number of hands: 2
• Number of legs: 2
• Number of feet: 2
• Spine: Check!
• Heart size/Heart rate: Normal/Zone 2 or 3, I'd say.
• Stomach and other internals: Check
• Butt: Cute!
• Weight: 12 oz.

We couldn’t get an accurate finger/toe count, but we were able to count all of the fingers on one of the hands and TriBaby even gave us a thumbs up…and we have a picture of it! The measurements and overall progress are right on schedule and everything seems to appear as it should. And TriBaby is REALLY active too! (Did you hear that Coach?!?)
I know what you're saying: "That's great and all, but is it a boy or a girl???"
You know what's funny? TriMama and I have gone back and forth on it ourselves and really didn't have any strong gut feeling either way. As cliche as it may be, we just wanted TriBaby to be healthy. We were really glad to hear the doctor tell us afterward that she checked several times and she's sure, which is comforting. (Oh, and thanks, TriBaby, for cooperating today!)
Just checked the Facebook poll again--no change.
Okay, okay...we've kept you waiting long enough. TriBaby is a happy, healthy, little...
GIRL!!!

 (face)

 (spine)

(arm)

(thumbs up!)

 (foot)

The Transition Area

As a triathlete, the transition area has been the place where I've switched from swim to bike to run during my races. Okay--so I might have had a few stumbles and bloopers along the way, but honestly, when I look back on races gone by, those are the things that make me smile as much as crossing the finish line.

This blog isn't about triathlon, per se. Rather, it's a place where we can share some stories--from the sublime to the ridiculous--about the different kind of transition area we now find ourselves in--becoming parents. We know that just like in a race, we're bound to have a few mishaps (most of which we hope to laugh about) and maybe we'll even learn some useful stuff along the way.

We are excited--and mildly terrified--of what life has in store for us. It's going to be an fun and interesting ride, so buckle up because here we go!