Running Pregnant: Week 36

Baby Germain is the size of a baby. Yup, I didn't look at the fruit, it's the size of a newborn baby.
This week's craving: Sleep
This week's aversion: Carrying a 2 year old around.





MONDAY- OFF-  I'm sticking with what has been working for me throughout all of pregnancy; Mondays off. I did a lot of drills on Sunday night to recover from the 6 mile run, but I was super lazy about doing anything on this particular day. Matt was finally home from Oregon, but was getting ready for Lake Placid. I had a Doctors Appointment at 8:30am. I'm switching up between doctors because you never know who will be on call when you go into labor so thought I'd get to know the faces of some other doctors. Speaking of Labor, if you haven't checked it out and are interested follow the link; Raea's Birth Story. I had some concerns about knowing the difference between normal discharge, pissing my pants, and leaking amniotic fluid.... and what I should expect. Everything I'm experiencing is normal, so that's good. Just keep running


 
TUESDAY- 4.5- Thank You Raea for sleeping until 9:30!!! But because of this Matt and I were off to a slow start. He leaves for Lake Placid today, and I had to get my run in before he left. I ran on the roads and it DOWN POURED! I loved it, but I was sore after this run. I think I got excited and stayed out longer than I intended because the rain felt so nice. I destroyed my phone- Yeah, I had it out for instapic's and instastories... But trust me when I tell you there was no avoiding the water damage. It was the kind of rain that comes so quick that you're feet are fully submerged in rivers running down the side of the road. My favorite type of run, but bad news for my phone...especially since my husband was leaving until Sunday and I have no land line... My parents were up in the White Mountains... and I had no plan. I went to my parents house to feed the dogs, and I had dinner with my sisters. I had Jane stay at my house over night just to ensure I had a phone. Meanwhile I tried to use an old phone but Sprint and Verizon hate each other so I needed to order a new SIM card first. Whatever! At least for this particular night I had a back up plan...


        


WEDNESDAY 4.54 Miles Since Jane was at the house and my parents weren't around, I ran from home pretty much first thing in the morning. It was pretty hot today, and I spent most of the day trying to recover from the heat with fluids and the pool. Raea is getting better at swimming every day! She loves it! 
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THURSDAY: 4 Miles with Kim and Figy: I spent most of the day at my cousin Veronica's. She has an in-ground pool and 4 kids, so I thought it would be fun for Raea. She is getting better and better at swimming. It's very cute but also scary because I don't think she fully understands how much she needs the floaty. I was really really tired from being in the hot sun all day, but actually felt good Running with Figy and Kim. I feel like everyone wants to chaperone me now so people run with me regardless of how slow I am! I don't mind the company, especially since Matt has been gone all week. It's been exhausting and I'm so grateful for everyone that helps me with Raea... Shout out to Lisa G who watches Raea at the fun run EVERY THURSDAY and has done this pretty much for the last two years! Lisa didn't want me to run because it was 90 out (even at 6:30) but I was very safe with my hydration across the day. 


FRIDAY: 4.07 at Assumption: Went to my moms to enjoy the pool. Raea would have stayed in there all day. Have I mentioned it has been high 80's and 90's all week!? The pool is like bath water! Considering, I've been recovering quite well and keeping up with hydration. I haven't been sleeping great, my feet are super swollen (when I wake up in the morning? which is so weird to me)... and I really felt the size of my feet on this run since it was so hot out during. I stopped for water and the bathroom, but stayed on campus so I could get back quickly if needed. I haven't had any contractions other than that one day last week... so I'm not too worried about it, but I have felt a ton of pressure deep in my pelvis. This baby is LOW. 





SATURDAY- 4.1 Well, perfect timing for Raea to decide to wake up early, in the middle of the night, refuse to go to bed. I might be freaking out about this a bit. She woke up screaming "poooooop" at the monitor at around 5am just as the sun was showing itself. I put her on the potty and she pee'd but then looked up at me and said "fwim at mammin's" (Swim at Mammies... aka: my mom's)... So this kid literally lied to me about needing the bathroom so that she could go swim. I tried to get her to go back to sleep but with the daylight, it wasn't possible. Our morning was all confused as she normally gets up around 8.. sometimes later! So by the time 11:00 rolled around we were already REALLY bored. I texted my mom to tell her I'd be going to the rail trail to push Raea in the stroller, but I have to be honest, I was nervous about this. I had contractions throughout the morning.... Nothing close enough to put too much worry in my mind, but my phone started acting weird and short circuiting so I wasn't super confident. Whatever, it's only 4 miles! When I pulled up to the rail trail Shanna Hauver was there. She offered to take Raea for a walk but the stroller had my water and phone so I said I would be fine. Also, I was afraid Raea would be a pain in the ass since she is starting to hate the stroller "Rara Run?" aka "Raea, Run?" She wants to get out and run herself... My stubborn little girl! Shanna wasn't taking no for an answer, so she joined me on my 4 miler and pushed the stroller for me. I was actually really relieved for a few reasons, 1. I had my chaperone! ;) 2. the time passes so much quicker 3. a working phone (which at this time I thought mine was fine... but as it turned out it is just dying a slow death) I did drills in the pool like I have pretty much every day, and on my drive home started getting timable contractions. They weren't SUPER strong, but strong enough to concern me... especially with a husband 5 hours away (but on his way home at least) and a malfunctioning phone. They were 6-7 minutes apart for about an hour, maybe a little more... I worked through them to just get Raea in bed so I could relax and see if they would go away. Thank God for facebook messenger, I was able to contact my parents and have a plan of action in case things progressed before Matt got home... but shortly after I got Raea into bed the 6-7 minutes became 10-12 and then so far apart I could barely tell they were happening. I guess I'm going to suffer again with this prodromal labor  thing... I have to assume the worst at this point because last time I was optimistic and that bit me in the ass! 





SUNDAY- 5 Miles at Assumption. SLOW! Very relieved Matt is home and last nights contractions stopped. I GOT TO GET TO MY 1,000 miles first! Just kidding, If I get my baby early at this point, I'm not complaining! Technically I'm full term today! I felt okay in terms of ligaments and tendons... I think the contractions moved the baby a bit more because there was way more pressure on my tailbone today, but a strange relief from the front of my pelvis, my groin, and my lower right quadrant of the abdomen. I also feel way less tension on my ribs... So this is a sign baby is lower I guess... But I literally doubt I will be meeting this baby for at least another two weeks! 

**TOTAL MILES: 26.3** 
Last week Matt was in Oregon, this week he was in Lake Placid... and I have to say it is SO HARD to take care of a toddler and be 9 months pregnant without help. My mom again was a huge help, but so were tons of other people! It's amazing how people come together to support you, especially for a journey like this one. Fortunately Matt will be home or only 1 hour away for work for the remainder of my pregnancy. This will be my last weekly marathon since I'm less than a marathon shy of 1,000 pregnancy miles. I have less than 21 miles to go! I'm thinking 21 miles next week is going to be an adequate goal and then I'll be sending this baby an eviction notice! The rest of my runs after I hit 1k will be less to achieve running goals and more to just keep moving and get to the hardest part of this whole journey.... Labor. I'm going to up the pelvic floor exercises and reduce miles hoping that labor will be a little easier??? 



Additional Work: 
Some form of rolling, PT, icing, and mild stretching EVERY DAMN DAY because that's what it takes. I've been doing pool drills with the resistance band every time I've run from my parents house. It's easier to balance in the pool since I'm buoyant, but I still get the same resistance from the band (and maybe even more from the water, as well).

Looking Forward To: Raea's turning two and I'm the worst mom ever because I haven't planned anything (hard to plan when you're a ticking time bomb)... I better throw something together for her fast! Hoping she gets to turn two before this baby comes and that whatever party I put together doesn't induce labor on that very day. 


Gender Prediction: I woke up in a panic one night this week thinking we hadn't settled on the spelling of our girl name... I'm 50/50... Who really knows boy or girl? does it really matter? ... I just want a healthy baby! HOWEVER we are sorting through some of Raea's clothes and boxing some things and washing others... and man it would be easier (at least in terms of clothing!) if we had another girl! 

Total Pregnancy Miles: 979.4: Check out my post on why I've started pursuing 1,000 pregnancy Miles 


INSTAGRAM: 
You can follow me here: c_mom_run_fast 
My goal is to:
a. inspire, empower, and share my story with others since there is VERY LITTLE on running and competing pregnant out there 
b. Just to get my fat ass out the door each day and the more followers I have the more I feel like I have an obligation to go! Whatever works! Those of you following and commenting are helping me more than you know!