Pregnancy weeks 25-26

Running:

Things have been going great! Even though I’m much bigger now, running has been more comfortable and I’ve been motivated to get out most days. 

One particularly fun run:

For my 25 week check-up I actually ran to my appointment. The night before Nate and I had met for baby class, and I decided it would make sense to leave a vehicle at the hospital since I had an appointment the next day. It’s only 4.5 miles away, so seemed logical (and fun!).

As I was running along, Donna (Carleton College head coach) recognized me and started running with me. She asked how far I was going and I told her my plans. She literally burst out laughing. “I have to tell people about this!” she exclaimed between bursts of laughter.

I had to smile. Guess it is a little “unique” to be running to your check-ups :).

Two 5ks:

Siren: For the 4th of July, I joined Nate’s family and ran the Siren Freedom 5k run. The ride there was a little painful. I knew I was on the brink of throwing up, but we still had a 20-25 minute car ride to go and we didn’t have a lot of extra time to register/get to the start line. 

Luckily I made it (I kept checking my phone to see how much farther we had before arriving), but while waiting for everyone to grab their shirts/finish registering, nausea overtook me and I threw up about 10 times right outside the elementary school. I’m sure I looked like a crazy person.

So… that was my warm up 🙂

I ran the first mile with my father-in-law and sister-in-law before deciding that I’d have a little more fun running faster and moving up through the pack. I’ve never been so far back in a race before – it felt so awkward!

I ended up finishing in ~24:30, I think. Not bad, considering the first 1/2 mile was about a 10 min mile!

Stillwater Lift Bridge: I was able to join a lot of TNC members for this race.

The TNC crew! Minus Jeff and Christina.

Nate warned me several times before the race to run smart & not try to “race”. It was really warm and humid out (almost 100% humidity). I agreed, although grumbled a little bit about it – it would be fun to actually see what I could do at 26 weeks pregnant!

I finished in 23:45, running in control and with a smile on my face the entire time. Sounds super cheesy, but I appreciated every step of the run & was just so thankful to be out there :). The Lift Bridge race was really well run, and I’d definitely consider going back. The course is rolling with a few ups and downs, so not the fastest, but it’s a nice route. I think the 10 miler was much hillier.

Nate and Craig at the start of the 10 mile. Craig won in 58:34, but was listed in the 5k results at first, as was the 2nd male finisher who came in under an hour. It was humorous to see Craig’s name so far down in the 5k results 🙂

I’d love to find a couple more fun 5ks to do between now and October – anyone have any fun ones to recommend?

Pregnancy:

My 25 week appointment went great. My OB measured my fundal height at 24 cm, which is within the normal range (yeah!). Apparently the normal range is within 2 cm of the # of weeks along (i.e. at 25 weeks normal would be 23-27).

26 weeks

Next appointment will be at 28 weeks, where I get to take the glucose test and get my second butt shot 🙂 

Heartburn continues to be an issue. My longest streak without throwing up is about 2 days. One evening last week I just couldn’t stop dry heaving – it was as if my body just wanted to throw up every organ inside of me (and baby too). I then had my first braxton hicks contractions. Probably not a good thing to be throwing up hard enough to spark “practice contractions”. 

That was the first time that I told Nate that this sucks. Previously I’ve just considered it part of the game, and really, it hasn’t been bad. I compare it to training and pushing as hard as I was – and then throwing up doesn’t seem so bad. Really! 

So, I’m being diligent about taking prescription strength heartburn medication and eating small meals (Nate is great about reminding me). 

Growing!!

Life Updates:


Birthday:  I turned 31! We celebrated at the cabin with homemade ice cream cake. I had no idea you could make these from scratch – not sure why I hadn’t thought of that before! It was awesome!

Karen, my mother-in-law, had asked me what I wanted for my birthday a while ago. I said that I would love help getting ready for baby – at that point we just had the crib, bassinet, and ~10 pieces of clothing.

Being the amazing garage sale shopper (and mother-in-law) that she is, she totally outfitted us with most everything we’ll need for baby. WOW. I actually cried. There’s a story behind why this meant so much to me… but not for public viewing.

Baby Bjorn! I’m excited to use this. I hope baby likes being carried!

One of her most amazing finds? A “calf” costume! It’ll even fit baby at Birkie time so he/she can join in with our TNC cheering squad then!!

A calf costume!! Can’t believe it!!

Chick Fil-A: Speaking of cow costumes, our group decided to head to Chick Fil-A for the “free meal if you’re dressed in a cow costume” promotion. Even Mesa came along and they gave her a chicken strip!

A car full of cows!

Our group. Yes, we are “moo-ing”. Yes, that was a terrible idea. It makes for a very awkward picture.

Garage sale: This Wednesday evening while Nate was at Vakava ski practice I suddenly decided that this weekend was the most perfect weekend for a garage sale. I could open it up Thursday evening, hold it Friday (Nate had work stuff all day), and Saturday morning. We already had boxes of stuff in the garage, so it just needed to be priced. Then I’d only need to put an ad on Craigslist, make a few signs for around the neighborhood, and procure some tables.

Idea came at 9:00 pm Wednesday night. I went out to the garage and priced stuff like it was a timed contest. By the time Nate got home, 2/3 of our stuff was priced and I had posted the ad on Craigslist.

Thursday I met with the YMCA about volunteering/positions that might fit my strengths (they’re opening a new facility in town!! Yeah!!), met with two athletes for an easy run around Northfield, made the neighborhood signs, went to my CSA to pick up my share of fresh veggies and another batch of basil to freeze pesto, and then rushed home to open the garage and set things out.

I’m happy to say things went well! We got rid of so much more than I expected (I swear, it was all junk that I set out…), made a lot more than I expected (awesome), and was able to spend a lot of time catching up and truly “meeting” our neighbors. If nothing else, the neighbor conversations were the highlight of this last-minute idea – plus, it was just a lot of fun to have done something crazy with so little planning 🙂

Baby quilt: 

Signing off for now! I have to run to the restroom – baby is currently kicking me in the bladder 🙂