Happy Half-Birthday, Liam!

My baby is 6 months old already! Time flies!! 

He's hit quite a few milestones already. Liam is rolling over both directions, sleeping on his side and tummy (still scary!), and his first tooth is almost here. He's also "saying" Dada. He's getting closer to sitting up and crawling, and I think we'll start introducing solids soon. I love watching Liam learn new things and figure what's going on around him. He is just so interested in everything! Let the babyproofing begin...

A little something extra on today's milk bag. :)

Happy birthday Liam! Maybe I'll be able to find a way to eat some cake for you. 

Future plans and current fears

It's been a while in planning...what will be  my first race back after having Liam?? 

When I was pregnant, I thought maybe I'd be able to run the Austin half marathon in Feb (about 2.5 months after Liam's debut). After he got here, I knew there was no way I'd be ready that quickly - physically or mentally. 

So what should I shoot for? After some thinking and talking with others, I decided on Buffalo Springs Lake Triathlon (BSLT) 70.3. I had previously signed up to race (twice) but circumstances made it so I couldn't. It seemed like a good race to choose since I'd wanted to race it for so long.

The problem? This is a REALLY hard race. It's at the end of June in Lubbock, so it has the potential to be brutally hot. It's quite hilly, both the bike and the run. And, it will be just about 8 months from Liam's birth. Will I be ready for this?

Most days, I feel like I'll be ready. I've been doing pretty well with weekend training (I just rode 60 miles last Sat and ran 10+ miles the previous Sun). And my weekday runs have been good too. But, my swimming has been lacking and so have my trainer rides during the week. There have definitely been some really great workouts where I've surprised myself. Maybe I'll surprise myself on race day!

Since my training has been less than consistent, I do get worried at times. BUT, I'm not worried enough to miss out on spending time with Liam. He comes first, not training. While I know that people have raced on less training than I have been doing, I occasionally question if it's enough training for me.

I'm still not sure how BSLT will go down. I know that this doesn't have to be (and almost certainly won't be) a PR race, I don't want to be disappointed or compare myself to my pre-pregnancy race-self. Things are different now, but I still have that old mindset. I really need to figure what will make me happy at the end of the race. And I have just about 2 months to do it...

Updates

It's been a while since I've updated y'all on things, so while I have a few min I will.

Liam arrived on Saturday, Nov 23, 2013 at 6:38am. He was 8 lbs 5 oz and 21.25 in long. We went into the hospital on Thursday evening and he took his time showing up for his big debut. When he finally decided he was ready to meet us, he was gorgeous. We are so amazed by him. He is a healthy baby and so very happy too! He's growing so quickly. I can't believe he's already 3 months old! Monday was his first day at day care. I had a harder time than he did I'm sure.

Training is steadily picking up. I didn't really do anything except some walks until Jan 1. I started with a short little run and have worked my way up. There were a few setbacks (body moving back into some semblance of normal), but I think I'm back on the way to training. While I was off work, Liam let me get in a few trainer rides. I was able to get in some running when Patrick was home and able to take care of Liam. I haven't been able to figure out the swimming part yet though (I've only swam twice since he got here). I'll figure it all out soon. For now, I'll get done what I can. I'm not worried. The only race on the plan so far is the Rock and Roll Marathon in Dec...plenty of time to get back in the swing of things.

Still waiting!

Today is Liam's due date and we are still waiting for him to make his debut. He is apparently very comfortable inside my belly. 

I'm sure this is a normal feeling, but I was so worried the whole time that he'd come early (pre-term). I kept checking the pregnancy calendar website to see what chance he'd have if he came at 30, 33, 35, etc weeks. Every week that passed meant he had a better shot at making it without much, if any, assistance. Now, at week 40, I'm ready to kick him out. I want to hold my baby so badly. 

If he doesn't show up on his own, I'll get some help on Friday. I'd really prefer not to get the help, but I will if I need to. We'll see. 

In the meantime, I'm still working and every day is harder than the day before. It takes me longer to stand up after sitting for a while. I'm more out of breath (that was supposed to change the closer I got to his due date), even when just sitting and talking. And sleep is even harder to come by too. By the time I get to sleeping well, my hip or shoulder falls asleep and I have to roll to the other side. It's a process for sure.  

As hard as this has been and become, I have been VERY lucky. I haven't had any real problems or anything. Minor annoyances really. I wouldn't trade this time for anything. 

I'm so super excited to finally meet this little guy. Hurry up Liam!! There are so many people ready to meet you!

34 weeks!

At 34 weeks, Liam is now about the size of a butternut squash (according to the internets). That's crazy! I have this wriggling, hiccuping, punching and kicking little boy in my belly and he's the size of a squash!? How does he have any room at all to move??

It's really starting to get real now. He'll be here in 6 weeks, give or take. I am so excited to meet him, but I'm also completely freaked. What if I can't do this? What if he cries and cries and cries and I can't figure out what he needs? What if I'm not a good mom and somehow mess him up for life? I know all these fears are normal, but it's still hard not to freak.

There is so much to do. I feel like I have tons of time to wash clothes and sheets and set up the baby stuff, but I really don't. Everyone in baby class talks about how long it takes to set everything up and it's starting to scare me. What if he comes early and we don't have everything done?? I think as long as the car seat is installed and the bed is set up, we're good. He won't really care about toys and decorations and other such stuff. As long as I can get him home safely, we'll be good. The rest can come later. I'll just have to get stuff ready a little bit at a time.

Belly shot!

Getting ready

I'm almost 38 weeks and Liam could potentially come at any time. It's just crazy to know that I'll be holding my baby soon after so long.

Now that I'm in the home stretch, I've been getting things ready for his arrival. Today I did some last minute shopping at Target and Babies R Us. I think I've got everything I NEED, but if not, Patrick can go get whatever I forgot. All the new clothes and stuff are washed and ready to be worn.

Can't believe how small these are! 

We also got the Pack and Play fully set up and the car seat docks installed. Now that those 2 things are done, we really are ready for Liam. If he came tomorrow, we'd be good to go. I'm hoping he waits til after next weekend because I want to watch one last movie...the new Thor comes out on Friday and I really want to see it! But you know, I REALLY want to hold my baby so I'll be stoked if he comes early too!!

Let's play catch-up!

Well, I've made it to week 33 (of 40). Everything is progressing very nicely! I've been so very lucky in this pregnancy - I haven't had very many problems and the doc said my latest blood work was great! WOOT! I'm hoping all the good news and experiences continue for the next 7 or so weeks.

I'm still missing those bikes and runs with the girls, but mostly I've been ok sleeping in on Saturdays and Sundays. I know before too long, there won't be much sleeping at all!

I think things are finally catching up to me though. The swims this week were much harder than they've been in the past. I had a harder time breathing and I was slower than usual. I was still able to do the distance (2300 on Wed and 2600 on Fri), but I was more tired after. I know this isn't training for a race and the speeds don't matter, but it's still hard to see the difference.

I'm also dealing with more pregnancy aches and pains than before. I have this one little pain between my ribs that's really bugging me. I know I've been lucky so far, so I'm not letting it get to me. I mean, it could've been so much worse. Even if this pain lasts til the end, I'll be grateful that it hasn't been as bad as others have had it. 

On the up side, we've gotten to see Liam's face in two 3D sonogram sessions. (I'm not putting pictures in here, but if you'd like to see some let me know and I'll share.) He is such a cutie! I know I'm his mom and that all moms think their kids are cute, but still. CUTE! I can't wait to meet him and hold him. All his moving around is just so cool. And painful sometimes. ;) He will be here before I know it. I'm so excited!