Go Erin go!

I’ve been experiencing what I believe to be a very weird side-effect of pregnancy. My ring finger with my wedding and engagement ring has become red, itchy, and slightly blistered. I don’t think it’s poison ivy because 1) I haven’t been handling any poison ivy recently and 2) it has been coming and going for about a month now.

It got so bad last night the itchiness woke me up!  I scratched and scratched and finally fell back asleep.  This morning I found some hydro-cortisone cream in our first aid kit (and added it to Alan’s shopping list) which seemed to help.  I have moved my wedding and engagement ring to my right hand to try and get rid of the rash or whatever it is.  If it pops up on my right hand, then I guess I’ll wear my rings on a necklace around my neck.

I’ve heard of women not being able to wear their rings while pregnant, but because of swelling, not a rash!  But, I was talking to a co-worker of mine and she said the exact same thing happened to her when she was pregnant and it cleared up after her baby was born.  How odd!

So, any readers out there experience any side-effects of pregnancy that none of the books talk about and none of your girlfriends/moms/sisters told you about?

I am wearing a new dress today that I absolutely love!  I think I look really good in it, and it is super comfy.  You have to love an outfit that almost feels like PJs, but makes you look fantastic.  Well, I’m not just full of myself on this one, a woman this morning on the elevator said how nice I looked and how much she liked the dress.

Then she paid me this biggest compliment.  She said, “Pregnancy really suits you, you look wonderful!”  That was so nice!  I’ve felt really good through out this pregnancy, and at nearly 24 weeks, I know that feeling great may start to waiver.  But for now, I am excited that I LOOK good pregnant, and not just feel good. 

Alan also complimented me yesterday, saying I was even cuter pregnant.  So far, so good! Hopefully the looking and feeling good keeps up!

I woke up this morning feeling like I had a hangover.  Problem is, I haven’t had a drop of alcohol since I found out I’m pregnant.  I had a fair amount of headaches in my first trimester, but I thought I had gotten over them.  I really don’t think I was dehydrated because I went out to dinner with friends last night at an Indian restaurant and had some very spicy masala dosa.  I was drinking water with fervor, so no possibility of dehydration.

I was also very tired, which along with the headache really made it feel like a hangover.  I ate breakfast which didn’t help.  Took a nap and that didn’t help.  So it turned out to be a bit of a crummy day.  I eventually was able to shake the headache, but the fatigue remains.  I can only hope this was just a one-off hangover feeling and not a new phase in my pregnancy.

In other pregnancy news, my inlaws brought the crib and dresser Alan’s sister gave us.  Alan got busy Friday after his folks left, converting the guest room into the baby’s room.  He moved the bookcases and guest bed out and the dresser and crib in.  The only small hurdle he faced was that he and his dad originally assembled the crib in the office, but once assembled, it didn’t fit through the door.  So Alan had to take the crib apart, move it into the baby’s room in pieces, and put it back together.  I almost cried when I got home from work on Friday and saw the baby’s room look like a baby’s room.  Alan worked so hard and he did good!  He even moved the book cases that were in the guest room into the dining room, and they look really good there.  I was planning on helping him with that, but he did it all by himself.

I did some laundry today, washing the mattress pad for the crib and some clothes in Dreft.  I folded those and put the little sizes away in the dresser and put the mattress pad on the mattress.  The tiny little clothes are tucked away in the dresser, ready for Cheeto to slip into.

Alan’s folks also got us the baby carseat when they were here, so we are more or less good to go!  We just need Cheeto to cook for about 17 more weeks and we’re ready to bring the little one home.  It has a safe way to ride in the car and a nice bed to sleep in once home.

It’s pretty neat to see the baby’s room slowly come together and it’s slowly making it seem more and more real.

My inlaws have been visiting the past few days and I’ve had a wonderful time.  Alan made us his monkfish dish for dinner on Tuesday, I took Wednesday off so we could all head to the Durham Bulls day game and to dinner at Glass Half Full and then last night Alan worked and I went with my inlaws to dinner at Alan’s restaurant.

It was awesome.  Alan was working hot apps and a lot of or our meal.  We were told not to order anything and that the kitchen would just send out food in waves.  I love dining this way!  We didn’t know what was coming next, nor did our server.

We had a wonderful sampling of many tasty menu items and I loved every bite.  I haven’t had anything there I didn’t like.  Alan’s mom tried everything since it was Alan’s restaurant and his cooking  – even the mussels.  She didn’t like everything, but she tried it all, so I give her big points for that. 

At the end of the night we got a quick tour of the restaurant, including the kitchen.  That was pretty cool and I think my inlaws really enjoyed it.  I got to put a few more faces with names, but we quickly got out of the kitchen, and out of the way, as they were still quite busy. 

My inlaws headed home yesterday morning after I headed to work.  I loved seeing them and it was a really good visit.  When got home from work, though, I crashed hard.  I was in bed by 8:10 and asleep soon after.  Even the animals were tired.  We all went to sleep pretty quick and I have a feeling today is going to be a bit of a lazy day as well.

It has finally sunk in that I am pregnant.  I see my belly growing and feel something moving around in there.  I have to say, it’s not what I expected, but I can’t put words to what is was that I was expecting.  In many ways, I think this pregnancy has been easier on me than I expected.  I never had morning sickness, no cravings, and only one food aversion (chicken). 

I am starting to slow down a little, but only by the end of the day.  I am so thankful that I have a white-collar job that allows me to sit at a desk all day instead of being on my feet.  I can easily work a full day, and even put in some overtime, with no issue at all.  But I do notice that on the weekends, or even in the evenings, when I am being more physical, walking Riley, cleaning the house, shopping, that I do get achy, especially across my belly.  I tell Alan my uterus is achy. 

So it is really there in my mind that I am pregnant.  That I am with child.  And I love it!  Sure, last night my hip was rather painful, but nothing compared to the pain I felt during the marathon almost a year ago.  If I can keep relating my pregnancy aches and pains to the aches and pains, and mental strife, of running a marathon, I think I’ll be good.

I even get that this little one needs to come out of me.  I start to get a little worried when I think about that too much, but not too worried.  Here’s why.  1) I am a firm believer and beholder of modern medicine – I’m getting myself and epidural.  2) It takes me about 5.5 hours to run a marathon.  I realize labor, contractions, the full process will probably take longer, but the length of the transition labor and actual delivery, well, that can’t be more than 5.5 hours, can it?  And Lord knows my last marathon was a truly grueling event.  So I know I have it in me to face pain, fight it, and win in the end.

And here’s where the connection isn’t really being made in my mind.  I get to labor and delivery in my mind, tapping in to my marathon persona to get through it, and that’s it.  I’m finding it hard to believe that after it is all over, someone is going to give ME a baby!  Sure, I’m registering for items and thinking of what I need to buy, but it’s almost like going through the motions.  I’m not fully grasping that I’m going to be given a baby, that is mine and Alan’s, to take home with me, and care for.  I’m going to be a “mom”!  That is CRAZY.

The abstract idea (and that’s kind of what it is to me right now) of being given this baby to take home is kind of cool, though.  I love babies.  I really do.  I like to hold them, but rarely do, because I’m not the type of nutter who just goes up to people and ask to hold their baby.  I wait for them to offer, even with my nephews.  Well, maybe with them I was so bold as to ask, but I still couldn’t hold the little ones as long as I would like.  Now this one?  This one I get to hold as much as I want, and probably more than I want! 

But that still doesn’t help me paint a picture in my head, of my sitting here on Sunday morning, with Riley on the couch to my left as she is now, and a baby in my arms or to my right.  That’s just crazy and somewhat hard to believe.  But, it’s going to happen, and I guess since I can’t make that connection now, I’ll just deal with it when it happens. 

I keep wondering what it is going to feel “real” and my brother Pat said it didn’t feel real until they put the baby in his arms.  I think I’m going to understand exactly what he means.

The Chicago Tribune posted a story yesterday showing findings that triathlons are deadlier than marathons.  This type of story really pisses me off.  I’ve done two marathons and two triathlons, and hope to do more of both in my lifetime.  They are fun, challenging, athletic, and good for me.  This type of story is almost irresponsible journalism, scaring people into sitting on their couches instead of getting outside and being physically active. 

The article states that the odds of dying while participating in a marathon are .8 per 100,000, while the odds of dying while participating in a triathlon are 1.5 per 100,000 – twice as likely!!! BUT, still very unlikely.  You know what the odds are of dying in a car crash?  Well, the odds of you being in a car crash this year are something like 1 in 6,539, and the odds of you dying in a car crash in your life is something like 1 in 84.  I like how the article failed to post those statistics.

A much more striking statistic, that was also left out of the article, are the odds of dying of heart disease in your lifetime.  Want to know the odds?  1 in 5.  Want to know ways you can prevent heart disease?  Participate in activities like swimming, biking, and running!  But I know there are people out there who will never start running at all, because they heard about someone dying during a marathon.  So they say running is dangerous, and they won’t do it.  Instead, they’ll sit inside, eat artery-clogging food, and die of heart disease.

And I’m not saying everyone should go out and run a marathon or do an iron man triathlon (which I have NOT done, and will probably not ever do).  Not everyone can do a marathon.  But anyone who can walk, should.  And if you can walk, why not see if you can run.  And if you can, then run!  Do a 5k.  Participate in a fun run, join a running or walking group.  Get out there and go after the thing that is much more likely to kill you- heart disease.

What was kind of eerie/sad about the article is that it hit a tiny bit of a personal note.  The research was based on data from January 2006 to September 2008.  It stated that in that time frame, there were 14 deaths during triathlons in the US – 13 during the swim portion, and 1 during the bike portion.  I knew the guy who died during the bike portion.

His name was Henry Hart.  He was in my running group and was training for the Chicago marathon in 2006 – the year I trained and ran.  He was 79 in 2006 and was a group leader for the 12 minute mile pace group.  He was out there every Saturday morning with a smile on his face doing the “Henry Shuffle”.  He was an inspiration to me, especially as a first-time marathoner.  I figured if Henry could come out there every week and run, at nearly 80 years old,  why couldn’t I – a healthy 30 year old - do it?  When he passed runners on the running path, especially other training groups from CARA, he gave us all high fives.

That year, he did the Accenture Triathlon in Chicago – which he had done before – more inspiration!  He successfully completed the swim portion of the event and transition to the bike portion.  He got on his bike and headed out for that.  At some point duringthe bike ride, he had a wreck, fracturing his skull, clavicle, ribs and hip.  No one saw the wreck, and so no one knows exactly what happened. 

He was rushed to the hospital and slipped into a coma.  He fought a good fight, but couldn’t overcome the trauma on his body and eventually passed away.  It was a freak accident, and his family encouraged all of us to stay fit and active, that Henry would not want his death to deter any of us from continuing to participate in running and tri-ing.

I just hope that people don’t read this article in the Tribune and find it as an excuse to not get out there and be active.  I certainly hope it doesn’t deter people who dream of running a marathon or participating in a triathlon.  There are many training programs out there to help an individual safely and gradually train for an event of this caliber.  They’ll get your through the training, the start line, and on to the finish line.

For a few weeks now I’ve thought I’d felt the baby move, but wasn’t certain.  It didn’t feel much different than my stomach and such after I eat, and the movement seemed to kick in 30 to 45 mintues after I ate.  So I wasn’t sure if it was digestion or Cheeto. 

Well, there was no question about it on Tuesday night.  Since Alan had worked seven days straight, I wanted to treat him to a dinner out.  He chose to try Six Plates in Durham. It’s a wine bar with a small plates menu.  They feature six plates and six wines each night – hence the name. 

We were sitting at our table trying to decide what to order.  Their menu was slightly expanded in honor of March Madness, so we had more than six plates to choose from.  I was sitting, reading the menu, when I felt a very distinct, blantant, obvious movement in my abdomen.  It was no where close to my stomach and unlike anything I had ever felt before.  I think the baby rolled/flipped over and I felt either a leg, arm, or head roll against my belly.  It was so cool!

We had a very nice dinner.  We ordered a beet salad which was very nice.  It had golden beets, which seemed especially sweet, a light vinegrette, goat cheese, and lettuce.  It was delicious!  Next we had fried brussel sprouts with a taragon cream dipping sauce.  Those things rocked!  I personally like brussels sprouts, so I was really intrigued when I saw them on the menu.  I want to go back, just to order those.  They were pan-fried and then tossed in something light and tasty with the taragon cream sauce served on the side.  Man, those were good.

Next we had pork nachos off of the March Madness menu.  These were not your typical bar nachos.  The pork was so tender and flavorful, it had to be braised.  The nachos weren’t covered in cheese and chili, they had a sauce like concoction on them I would guess was something like pureed white beans and jack cheese.  I’m not certain, and I really don’t care.  I just know they were very good.

Lastly, and the most disappointing dish, was bay scallops ragu.  The bay scallops were beutifully cooked, and the dish overall was a good idea, but it had way too much rosemary and olives in it.  That’s all you really tasted – rosemary and olives.  Those flavors overpowered the delicate flavor of the scallops which was a shame. 

We finished our evening and headed home.  Lying in bed, I could once again feel Cheeto around.  At one point, I could have sworn I even SAW my abdomen move.  I took Alan’s had and set it on my belly, and almost instantly, Cheeto kicked HARD.  I had my hand on top of Alan’s had and I even felt it.  It was amazing!!!!!!

I’m so glad Alan has finally been able to feel the baby, and I am enjoying KNOWING the movements I’m feeling are infact little Cheeto.  There’s no denying it now or confusing it with digestion.  It is our baby moving around!  So cool!