Vern's No Frills 5k, Oct. 20, 2012

31:34.7, 10:11 mile.

babysat

Yesterday my husband and I babysat a little girl who is almost a year old. I think she's 10 or 11 months old. It was so fun and made us really excited that we're going to be parents soon. I think if we were not already pregnant, that experience would probably have put me over the edge. She must be the happiest, easiest kid on the planet. She just smiled and laughed and climbed all over us the whole time. I thought she'd be walking by the time her parents came home because she kept pulling herself up and holding on to things and walking around that way, but when they came home they told us she just started crawling last week. It was amazing. The other crazy thing that happened was after she ate lunch she got a little cranky, so we put her in her crib in case she it meant she wanted to take a nap. Her parents said if it happened, she might cry but to give it 15 minutes before giving up. She wailed for a heart wrenching 40 seconds, and then suddenly stopped and fell asleep. It was amazing.

Being pregnant just gets weirder and weirder

Last week we had another baby shower and started our childbirth classes. It's weird, but after the shower I felt like we were going to have the baby at any second. Luckily, I have time to take a nap first.

Our childbirth classes are way better than I thought they'd be. Our newborn care class wasn't so great, and I wasn't sure how they were going to turn that kind of thing into a six-week course. I'd been feeling really anxious about labor, delivery and breastfeeding, and even going to the first class made me feel a lot better about the whole thing. We had to watch a video, which sounded like it was going to be really grizzly but wasn't, and it made me think the same kind of will to get my body through a tough triathlon is probably a little similar to how I'll will myself to get through this. That made me feel a little better about it. It's weird, when I think we have a month and a half left, that seems like a long time, but when I think of it in terms of seven weeks, it seems really soon.

It is all pretty exciting, and it's still striking to walk past the nursery and think we're soon going to have a little person in there. It's strange how different things make the reality of it sink in more. Some days I wake up and think I can't wait for this to happen and other days I wake up terrified and think I'm not ready for this and I hope I can handle it (but still excited; I just don't want to mess our kid up).

I think my size is starting to alarm people. Yesterday I was trying to interview someone for work and he jumped to get me a drink and get me to sit down. Then he introduced me to his friend who said, "She's not going to write an article, she's going to have a baby." I wasn't too worried about it because the guy who said it is 87 years old, but I still wish people didn't perceive me that way. People are also starting to ask me if and how I'm going to keep writing
after I have the baby. It's starting to make me feel a little freaked out about how I'm going to do it.

On the other hand, lots of people go out of their way to be really nice to me. The construction guys who are doing our siding watered my flowers for me this morning and one of them saw me through the window trying to move our couch so they could rip the window out, and he knocked on the door and asked if he could do it (and pointed out I'm not supposed to).

It's weird to think our lives are never going to be normal in the same sense again.

Mother's Day

Yesterday was my first Mother's Day. My husband is going to San Diego for the week and I'm going to Pennsylvania, so we spent a lot of time together over the weekend. Saturday and yesterday we went to the dog park at Bull Creek with our pups, Peepa (the big black dog on my right) and Matty (the little black and white dog standing on the rock to my left). They swam a lot, and we had a great time. It was beautiful - I've never seen the creek that full of water. There were people, dogs and waterfalls everywhere. It was gorgeous and fun. Last night we went to see the Austin Symphonic Band at Zilker Park, which was a nice outing with the picnic and the dogs. We didn't do anything fancy this weekend, and it occurred to me how cool it is that while anyone can take you to a fancy restaurant or something, when you're with the right person, you can have fun no matter what you're doing or where you are. It's really nice to have that kind of comfortable relationship with somebody.

About two weeks ago, I suddenly felt exhausted all the time, the baby started moving a lot more often and the movements started feeling a lot stronger. It's so weird how sudden it was, but the baby seems to be moving almost all the time now. It's crazy, but it's making me more and more excited about becoming a mom.

Back from Maui

We are back from Maui and it was great! Our photos are now online at http://thecones.shutterfly.com. It's the same password as last time. If you can't remember it, leave a comment or e-mail me and I'll e-mail it to you.

We stayed at the ResortQuest Mahana and it was fabulous. The view was unbeatable - a whole wall in our living room and another wall in our bedroom were windows, and we had a great balcony with a table and chairs. On our first morning there, we woke up to a few rainbows in the sky and the sound of the waves in our ears, and saw a seal, spinner dolphins and whales within 20 minutes of each other. That alone made our stay there more than worthwhile.

The first day, we went to a time share presentation because they gave us a free snorkel tour. It was less than 90 minutes long, and it was a pain, but we decided it was worth it. That afternoon we checked out a beach at Napili. It was rough and we tried to snorkel but mostly laid around on the beach before going back to our room to shower before heading to dinner at Whaler’s Village. The restaurant we were trying to go to was closed for a private party, so we just grabbed something at the food court because we were so wiped out we didn’t want to look for something else.

We decided to work with our jet lag and we went to bed early because we had to get up at 5 a.m. for our snorkel tour to Molokini Crater and Turtle Town the next morning. We ended up using that strategy for the rest of the trip because we wanted to do a lot of snorkeling and with the strong wind in the afternoon there, it's better to go early in the day. We were hoping it’d help cope with the jet lag when we got home, but so far that hasn’t worked out.

The snorkel tour Wednesday was great. We saw many different kinds of beautiful fish and a turtle, and the view around the island was fantastic. We got back around 1 and relaxed in our room for a few more hours. I spent most of it looking out the window, which paid off because I saw some seals and more whales. That evening we went to a luau at the Hyatt, which was all right but not spectacular.

Thursday morning we set out to drive the road to Hana. It was an amazing day, but I think I liked it more than my husband, who heroically drove the narrow, windy roads in our huge boat of a rental car. We drove through the rainforests, with amazing views of the mountains out one side of the car and the ocean out the other side. We saw waterfalls, Waianapanapa State Park, which looks like the moon with its lava tube and rocks and black sand beach, and Ohe’o Gulch, with the Seven Sacred Pools. It was all stunning and it seems like there are about a zillion little ecosystems on the island. When we got back to our room, 11 hours later, we were tired and hungry, and I was craving teriyaki chicken, so we ordered Chinese delivery.

After cramming so much into the early part of the week, we decided to take it easy on the weekend. Friday morning we went to Black Rock to snorkel, which was great, then spent the afternoon playing shuffleboard and lying by the pool at the hotel next door, which was way better than our small, boring pool. Friday night we had a romantic dinner at an Italian place called Giovani’s. Saturday morning we snorkeled at Kahekili Beach Park, which had great coral and fish, and did the pool and shuffleboard again in the afternoon. That night we ate our leftovers from the week and watched the sun set and the stars come out from our balcony. Sunday our flight wasn’t leaving until 9 p.m. but we had to check out of our hotel at noon. I was sunburned and beat up from the saltwater, and we knew we couldn’t shower so we took the morning easy and had a leisurely breakfast and lunch before checking out. We spent the afternoon at Kahekili Beach Park, playing shuffleboard at our hotel and then had an early dinner at a great place – Aloha Mixed Plate, which I wish we’d have found earlier in the week so we could have gone again – before heading to the airport.

Overall it was a fantastic trip. If we'd have known what to expect with our room, we might have packed a little differently, and I learned some things I hope I remember for the next time we travel. We knew we'd have a kitchen and that Maui is expensive, so we brought a few things to eat (bagels, snacks, etc.). We also brought a lot of clothes, and found that we had a washer and dryer in our suite. If we'd have realized we'd have free, convenient laundry and that the groceries at the Star Market across the street literally cost four times what we pay at home, we probably would have packed fewer clothes, a small box of laundry detergent and more groceries. I definitely recommend staying someplace with a little kitchen if you are in Maui (or any touristy place for that matter) on a budget and/or don't want to have to eat out every time you're hungry. We had a lot of exhausting days in the water and sun, so it was nice to be able to come home, throw together a sandwich and hit the sack. Also, it made packing a lunch to take to the beach or on the Road to Hana drive easier than having to stop to pick up sandwiches somewhere.

The other thing I'll do differently if I go back to Maui again is I will spend a night over in Hana to break up the road to Hana drive, have more time to check out more of that side of the island, do one of the longer hikes at Ohe’o Gulch and get a break from touristy West Maui.

This past Thursday was my birthday, and I went to dinner at Shady Grove with my wonderful friends and my husband. Here's a photo from that night, after I ate all the food I could get my hands on.

Last week ended in a cool way. Two Thursdays ago, I had breakfast with a woman and her 10-month-old son. He was so cute. We were feeding him some strawberries I had and he kept making really cute faces. He shut his eyes, puckered up his lips and kind of smiled and held his head up. It was a sunny day and we sat outside, and it was such a good vibe. I kept thinking of his little faces he was making and it made me smile all day. Then I took dinner to a family that just had a baby. She let me hold the new baby girl, who was just five weeks old, and it was amazing to think we're soon going to have a baby! Anyway, between those two kids, I felt really excited about having one of our own soon. That would have killed me if we were still trying to get pregnant, so I'm glad we're close.

The next day, Friday, I went swimming for the first time since this started. I woke up that day feeling like I must have grown overnight, so I didn't think it'd go very well. I thought there'd be a lot of drag and being pregnant would really slow me down, but it actually felt AMAZING. I think the extra buoyancy may even be making me a little faster than usual! It's the only place where I feel like I can move normally and don't feel clumsy, and after three nights of not sleeping, I slept through that entire night, I was so tired out from it. So I went back Monday and Wednesday this week and joined the gym Friday. I think it helps to stretch me out, which is good, and sometimes when I'm underwater, I wonder if that is what it's like for our kid right now. Anyway, we're leaving for Maui in two days, and I'm really looking forward to spending a lot of time snorkeling and swimming this week.

This week was a little weirder. Tuesday the one yucky pregnancy problem that I thought I could will not to happen happened, and that night I woke up screaming in the middle of the night because of a really intense cramp in my calf. I Googled it and talked to other moms about it and evidently it's common. It hurt for two days. I think both things that happened are probably because I need to drink more water and stretch more.

I am also getting hungrier, which I thought wasn't possible. I think I scared the hell out of a guy at Schlotzky's Thursday. I had to make an emergency trip there because while walking with my friend I suddenly became so hungry I had to stop and leave to eat. It was so sudden and intense I knew I wouldn't make it home and have time to make something quick enough, so I went to the sandwich shop and told the guy I wanted the biggest veggie sandwich they had. I ate the entire thing in about a minute and proceeded to eat a bag of chips and some cookies I got with it, once I got home. I can't believe how hungry I get and how fast it hits me, but I've now stocked my purse with granola bars so I can avoid this happening again.

A neat thing that happened this week is one of my dogs, Peepa, came up to me and rested her head on my stomach. She's never done this before. She stayed there for about 15 minutes, just standing there like that. It was weird, but she did it again the next day, so I don't think it was a fluke. I think she knows there's a baby in there. They say dogs can sense it, but this is the first time she's really done anything like this. It seemed really protective. I hope I can get a picture of her doing it. It's so cool. Also, we were talking to some families that were playing in their yards in our neighborhood yesterday, and both Peepa and Matty were really good with the kids, even when they were poking around their faces. Peepa really seems to enjoy them, and Matty seems like he is willing to put up with it. So I think they'll really be great with the baby.

I am back by popular demand and better (bigger) than ever. For all of you who asked for a photo of me knocked up, here it is (thanks to the lovely Zhenya). I will put a second photo up next time I post, which will possibly be tomorrow.

The beginning of my pregnancy was particularly rough. I didn't want to blog about it because I didn't want to complain non-stop publicly. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago something really neat happened and I thought it'd be a good way to start up my blog again, so here's that story:

A stranger I met on the Internet through a Yahoo group gave me a whole bunch of baby clothes she was done with. I thought it'd be a few things, but when I got home and went through it, I nearly cried I was so overwhelmed by her generosity. We won't need to buy a stitch of clothing for this kid until it's probably 9-12 months old, she gave us so much stuff. I've never even met her before! It was such a random act of kindness, it totally renewed my faith in humankind. Along with the mountain of clothes, she gave us a bunch of hats, socks, swaddling and receiving blankets and waterproof pads. It really was amazing, and I'm looking forward to passing all of it on to someone else who needs it when we're done with it. It'll be neat to do it for someone else.

Then I went to the school where I volunteer on Thursdays with some second graders. They were really on. First they asked me if I'd stay for lunch after we were done. I said that no, I had to meet a friend to go for a walk. They asked why and I said I needed to get some exercise. The little boy asked why I need to lose weight and one of the other little girls said, "Yeah, you're skinny!" I told them everybody needs to exercise to stay healthy, not just to lose weight, and it's like their gym class. I hope that was a decent answer.

At the end of the session, the other little girl I work with came up to me and whisper-asked if I am pregnant. They are in second grade, so I was pretty amazed. I said yes and expected all kinds of weird questions that I wouldn't know how to answer in an appropriate way (they come from pretty bad backgrounds, so who knows what kind of stuff they've heard at home). She asked if I'm having a girl. I said it's a surprise and she asked again, "So are you having a girl?". It was pretty funny because they're all so matter of fact about everything they say. I could have kissed them all!!! It was great!