Pregnancy Weeks 19-21
 |
| Top dog! |
The Fast and the Furry WIN!, growing bigger and becoming slower, 20 week ultrasound, and a Duluth vacation… a lot happening!
Fast and the Furry 5k:
Mesa and I competed in The Fast and the Furry 5k for the second year and a row, and as usual, the race is the highlight of the year. Truly. Want to see 200+ friendly furry K9s try to run with their owners all at the same time? Want to see everything from pocket sized fluff dogs to Great Danes’s “racing”? Want to chuckle to yourself as you see random chaos on the course? 🙂
 |
| Mesa was the only dog still pulling after the 1/2 way mark :). She is such a racer at heart! |
Mesa and I continued to defend our undefeated streak! It was a really close one this year – we beat the next dog duo by just 2 seconds (a male). I didn’t want to make winning my goal, since it was super warm that day, but at the 2 mile mark this guy and I were trading off the lead. At the 2.25 mile mark there was a water stop for the dogs, and Mesa couldn’t get enough water. I took an entire water bottle and dumped it over myself as well – it was really warm. She then laid down in the mud puddle next to the dishes and literally tried to swim in it. I saw the guy and dog ahead of us vanish in the distance.
Ahh, well, I thought. Mesa and I could still be female undefeated.
Nate then pulled out the most brilliant move. He biked up ahead of us and just called out once, “C’mon, Mesa!”. She immediately went back into race (pulling) mode. That girl will do anything for Nate, I swear. She’ll drop dead hunting for him, and totally overheat and exhaust herself trying to catch him on bike. It’s pretty awesome to see the bond between them.
The guy ahead of us became closer and closer. Could we actually WIN?!? Oh my gosh, really?
GOOOOOOO, Mesa, I silently screamed!
 |
| The final stretch. Mesa has helped me bridge the gap — can we sneak ahead in the next 250m? |
Nate wasn’t ahead of us anymore, so it was just Mesa and me vs. guy and his dog. We passed him with 200 meters to go. He begged his dog: “go!”
I am so proud to say that Mesa and I were able to eek out the win. She is such a champ. She slept the rest of the day, so I know she gave it her all. I’m a proud dog mom 🙂
My goal next year? To break 17 again with her at this race :). I can’t wait!!!!
 |
| TNC folks!! |
Training:
Since it’s been too many weeks to blog details day by day, I’ll just say that things are still going well. I’ve been running almost daily and enjoying it. I can definitely tell I have this “bump” in front of me now, and that it weighs something now!, and can especially feel is going up hills. But, other than being mildly uncomfortable and slow, I feel great!
I still have a lot of heartburn, which generally affects me later in the evening. One night I actually found myself throwing up at 4am because of it, which is unusual. Hope that doesn’t persist.
They say heartburn = a girl, and the more heartburn you have = the more hair she will have? The other wives tale is that if your lower limbs are much warmer than normal, which I’ve definitely had, that it’s a girl.
Thoughts?!? 🙂
 |
| 20 weeks |
 |
| Bump! |
The biggest thing to note lately is that I have been very unmotivated this week (20 to 21 weeks). Could it be that baby and “training” are so far off? I am not very motivated by the thought of just “staying in shape” – instead, I really need a goal a big goal. Since that’s just so far off, I wonder if that isn’t playing into things.
Nate suggested that I just force myself to get out and do something for at least 30+ mins a day. I thought about that, but then told him that sounded terrible. I go back and forth between allowing myself to just take some time off and just forcing myself out the door a little everyday. I tell myself doing things now is better since I will likely be super uncomfortable in 1-2 more months…
I can tell I’m not nearly as muscular overall as well, which bothers me somewhat, but then I decide not to care. I sometimes tell myself I should lift more frequently (I like to lift! Why am I not hitting up the gym often?!?), but then decide I don’t really want to. *Sigh*
 |
| 21 weeks – a little bigger bump! |
 |
| No hiding this now :). Mesa just HAD to be in the picture. |
We had our 20 week ultra sound last week, which was a lot of fun. We’re not finding out the gender so the appointment isn’t super exciting, but they do check to make sure baby has all of the organs and limbs it is supposed to and also take a bunch of measurements.
From those measurements, I think baby is taking after me:
Rib cage: 50th percentile. I have always had a big rib cage. Room for big lungs?
Femur length: 22nd percentile. Sorry, baby.
Head: 44th percentile. Hmm… big heads run in Nate’s family. This might make birth a little more difficult…
Overall: 34th percentile. Perfect!
Life Updates:
A mini-vacation to Duluth!
I won a 2 night hotel stay in Duluth last year. Of course, it needed to be used M-Th, but that was a good excuse to book an early weekend.
Duluth has a special place in my heart. It was where I first started dreaming about the Trials after a 1:24 1/2 marathon. It’s where I snagged my qualifier two years later (2:44 — still can’t believe it!).
It’s where Nate and I celebrated our first anniversary, hiked the North Shore another year, and where we returned for this year’s mini vacation.
 |
| Grandma’s Marathon finish line. This made me MISS racing sooo much. I can’t describe the emotion that came to me when seeing the course and then the finish line. I love Grandma’s Marathon, and it has treated me so well in years past. I might make this my marathon debut post-baby. |
 |
| Stopping for a picture along Lake Superior! |
 |
| Pier by the Lift Bridge |
 |
| Just for fun, here is us on our 2006 Trip to Duluth for our 1st wedding anniversary. We look so young! |
 |
| An awesome time, all around! 🙂 |
 |
| We just had to visit Grandma’s Bar in Duluth. 1/2 price beers during happy hour = a Fulton Sweet Child of Vine 22 oz. for about $3.50. Awesome. Wish I could have joined in on the fun/deal 🙂 |
 |
| Instead, I indulged in the water/Crystal Light in my UCAN bottle. They had an awesome fettuccine dish that hit the spot. |
 |
| Our last evening in Duluth we decided to stop by Sammy’s. There was a $2 pitcher special with a large pizza, so of course we had to order that! Except… that meant Nate was obligated to drink the pitcher :).
He drank about 3/4 of it :). Keep in mind that the pitcher cost $2 and a glass was $2.75. Need you do math? I think not. The pizza was greasy and awesome. I’m glad I’m pregnant and not as worried about training and my weight now 🙂 |
We headed home Friday night, which gave me enough time to prep for a 1/2 marathon race “sim” with some local TNC folks.
 |
| It was pouring for most of the workout, but they were still all smiles. What a great group. |
 |
| I was all set to be “official” with a table, chair, and my banner to hand out water at the 1/2 way mark, but then decided the car was much more comfortable. Here’s my “official” water stop instead. Worked great, and I stayed relatively dry! |
 |
| Then FOOD. Yumm! |
 |
| Rob prepping French Toast for us! He’s running the Black Hills 100 miler the week after Grandma’s. Hard core. Maybe someday… maybe… |
 |
| Mesa and I waiting to cheer on a group training on the “neighborhood loop”. She would not be distracted from watching for them! |
That’s all for now! I’ll try to update more often from now on! 🙂
Not finding out the sex is the way to go! It just makes garage sale shopping for baby clothes somewhat difficult! 🙂
True, it does! If I knew, I'm sure I could hit up just 2 or 3 different sales and be outfitted for a long, long time :). But, not knowing is just too fun! Plus, I figure then I can re-use a lot of the items for the next go round.
CONGRATS to you, btw!! When are you due? Nov, right?
First week of November, but might be more like Halloween as this kid is measuring large!
My mom called me at work last week to say she'd gone a little crazy on baby clothes at a rummage sale – to the tune of 64 items…but at 25c a piece = $16, sounds like a good deal to me!
Sometimes I can't believe how much we are alike!! I was feeling more unmotivated to run this week as well. I ran 50 miles last week and don't know that I will even hit 30 this week. :/ I am so happy to hear you guys are waiting to find out the sex of the baby too! I feel like not a lot of people are excited when I tell them we are waiting. We have our "big" ultrasound next week! Big head run in my husband's family, and I really hope our baby doesn't have a big head because delivery is going to be uncomfortable enough with a normal-sized head! I absolutely love Grandma's as well; it will always hold a special place in my heart as my first marathon. Is the Sunwarrior protein powder your favorite? I'm still on the search for something I really like. Although the vanilla flavor UCAN was pretty darn good. And lastly, I have been indulging in more unhealthy foods (burgers, ice cream/desserts, donuts, etc.) more than usual. It is kind of nice not worrying about weight as much, but then I feel kind of guilty because I am feeding another person with these foods too. :/
I've been lookin forward to the update! So glad you are finally enjoying pregnancy and notr worrying what you 'should' be doing. You pregnant and awesome 🙂 With both of my girls just a day of heartburn and they didnt have much hair. I do beleive the tale if you have a lot of heartburn=lots of hair though. Are you having a doula/midwife? Taking childbirth classes? I forget its been 10+ years since I thought about it lol. Whats your favorite food? do agree about the status updates lol.
No Douala or midwife. We are taking a few classes through the Northfield Hospital, which should be great. It'll be fun to go through those together, and I think they'll really help (hoping there are a lot of new parent tips!).
Favorite food so far has been fettuchini alfredo w/ broccoli and chicken. Weird. I don't think I've eaten that in YEARS. I've also loved my dad's cheesy potato recipe. Guess this is a cheese-loving baby? I am surprised not to be craving sugar at all. Just give me a savory, melt-y, rich dish instead!
Your body needs the energy to create the human….hence lack of motivation to work out. The best way to do it is when you feel like it. Don't force it…your body will communicate what it needs and wants!
It is normal to feel a lack of energy and motivation. Cut back on the miles a bit, do it only when you truly want it.
I agree with all the comments below. Take each day as it comes and just embrace your pregnancy. You have a life ahead of you to get in runs, but only pregnant for 9 months with this little one to come. Do what makes you happy and know new life supports you every step of the way.
Also, the only time I've ever had heart burn was during my pregnancy. Mikayla arrived with a lot of hair! Not sure about validity of old wives tales but turned out that way for me.
HI Nichole! This is such a delayed message, but I decided to read back to when you were at the same spot of pregnancy that I am (hitting 21 weeks tomorrow with our first.)
I had my first mental breakdown of pregnancy yesterday after having absolutely no desire to get out the door for a run. I've been maintaining 35-40 miles for the past few weeks (this has upped a bit since the first trimester ended). But dang, I have no motivation. I crave a training plan, and I crave a goal. It doesn't help that my husband is currently training for an IM.
He had the same advise as your husband with the "aim to run around Lake of the Isles (so only 3 miles) 5 times a week". But I struggle with that because it is SO little! My favorite run is the long run, and 3 miles seems pathetic.
I also am probably going to cry on June 17 when I'm not running Grandma's. (It was my first 26.2 in 2015 [plus a BQ] and then I ran again last year getting another PR.) I snagged a Gary Bjorklund half bib, but it's not the same. Not to mention, I will be 32 weeks pregnant so who knows how that will go…
Anyways, this was a long and very emotionally filled comment to you (who has never met me). I love your blog, good luck with your recent goals, and I'm so glad someone else had the same lack of motivation mid-pregnancy as me.
21 weeks! Over the hump of 1/2 way!
I know how you're feeling… all of a sudden getting out the door feels so hard. You're also so far from the "finish line" which I think doesn't help with motivation. And you're totally right, us mileage/long run people think: what is the point of just 3 miles?
I'd strongly recommend trying anything to get through this, my motivation came back – and I was glad I had run through my low times. Otherwise coming back into running is difficult just because you are bigger/hips are different/etc! Perhaps schedule runs with friends?
OR – you could come to Northfield and we could meet in person! I'm serious about that! 🙂 email me!