broadcasting from the san gabriel valley

Thursday, May 30, 2013

40 Lbs Later: On Running, Pregnancy Weight Gain and Accepting Limitations..........



Ohhhhhh......The befores and afters of pregnancy weight gain. The bodily changes are really such a strange thing. Seriously. Up until October, I was training with the LA Roadrunners for the Marathon and I obviously did not run this past March. For various reasons (which I will not get into detail in this post) I did not realize I was pregnant until about 8 weeks into the game. Around what I now estimate to be about 5 weeks into the pregnancy, I was still running a considerable amount. The second week of October I vividly remember a 10 miler through the streets of Santa Monica and Venice in a soft drizzle. It is funny to think back and realize that I was running the little one around unknowingly. Shortly after that, my energy went from good to slim to absolutely none which was a huge red flag that something was amiss. Once I found out that it was pregnancy and not anemia, chronic fatigue or some other energy sucking illness I made the decision to stop training based on some suggestions from the doctor. It wasn't too difficult a decision as I got very sick soon after with a respiratory infection and then really had zero energy. 

Here begins the weight shifts. I started off the pregnancy at around 144. I assume some of that was muscle from running pretty consistently all year. I had a couple half marathons under my belt as well as a handful of 5 and 10ks. When the running stopped in the first trimester (combined with the illness and lack of food intake) I dropped down to 135.  

In a matter of 5 months, I am now up to 174. It is strange to have gained so much even though I know it is pretty par for the course. It is not so much the number of pounds that I am preoccupied with but rather how much physically my body has changed and the limitations that coincide. It is hard to think back to being able to breeze through 13 miles enjoyably when today I struggled to make it across one side of my work building to the other. I cringe when I have to leave the office and waddle my way to do one of my many daily responsibilities. And dont get me started about taking off my boots, picking up a dropped pencil or getting into the boxes under my office desk! 

I know that many runners continue throughout pregnancy but this wasn't the case for me. When I finally got some energy back to be able to run (probably around the 5 month mark), I found that each step I took while running made me one step closer to needing a restroom! It just was not comfortable. I did a couple 2 milers, and then my body just said "no more!" I had to listen to my body and agree to this running hiatus. 

At my work shower in the beginning of May. 8 months and a week or so. 

December 2012 in AZ with my friends. Holding my Frito! A little over 3 months pregnant. 

If all goes well, I will be delivering a healthy baby girl in 2 weeks. I am thrilled and excited to meet her and begin this new journey. I would be lying if I said I was not also looking forward to gaining a bit more control of this strange new body of mine as well.......

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Tomatoes

I planted three varieties this season: Sweet 100's, Tomberry and San Marzano. The San Marzano's need a bit more time to mature but the little guys are coming in pretty quickly. The bottom fruits are ripening on a daily basis. Today was the first harvest with a bean, rice and veggie salad on this evening's dinner menu. The Tomberry fruits are tiny. As the name suggests, they are the size of a cranberry. Full of flavor though!


Girly (yet not too girly) Nursery Decor

It was a challenge......design the baby's room in a way that said "Welcome Home, Little Girl!" sans pastel pink, Disney Princess and ruffles galore. After a good 3 1/2 months of work, I think we may have succeeded.  Let's get into the nitty gritty..........

Frito checking out the lay of the land.

First off: The quilt. This as you know for those of you following my instagram/facebook was my first quilting project ever. The fabrics were collected from various places with Etsy being the main supplier. Echino was definitely a favorite for patterns. In fact, the underside of the quilt (which is obviously not pictured) features a black Echino animal print that will make another appearance as the chair upholstery. I probably spent about 70 dollars total on fabric (the Echino prints took up about $35 of that cost), thread, trim and batting. The hours that I put into this puppy though....I can't even begin to count up. 
Luckily from this angle, the flaws aren't visible 

The seating area! We decided to go with a futon in lieu of a rocker or nursing chair. One, I love sitting cross legged. Futons are glorious for this! Two, the futon gives us the ability to host an overnight guest during these early years. We don't have a dedicated guest room in a two bedroom home so this is it. I scored the side table at Goodwill for 9 dollars. Bam! Perfect! The lamp was something we had and ended up a perfect match. Our friend Paul made the beautiful wood shelf and when he moved, had no space to accomodate. He came by and installed it and I used the space to display some of my favorite toys from my childhood. The rug? We got a gift card for FAB.com from David's uncle and aunt. When we realized the color scheme of the room, we selected this beauty.
Cozy!

One thing I wanted to put into the baby's room was a small workspace for myself. A place to charge the laptop, store some writing materials and personal things. A desk was going to be just the addition I needed. After searching Craigslist for a few weeks, I came across this guy locally. I painted the knobs to match the walls and placed my supplies inside. The chair was a Pasadena flea market find which I recovered in the Echino animal print (a laminated version) I mentioned earlier. Somewhere on the blog there is a post about the chair but at the moment I am too lazy to link it up. The mirror was picked up down the street at a neighbors yard sale. The bookshelves...or shall I say spice racks.....are from IKEA. 4 bucks a piece. They are great as they promote literacy with the covers facing out. As a preschool teacher, I used to use rain gutters in the classroom to achieve this concept but they weren't too aesthetically pleasing. This spice rack idea was floating around some design blogs and I jumped on it!

Cute and colorful workspace for me!

We ordered the crib with some gift cards from JCP. The Jenny Lind style seemed to fit the look we were aiming for. The sombreros? I always needed a place to display part of my collection!


We ended up hitting Amazon for the matching changing table. Baskets were all found at Marshall's with the exception of one we had lying around the house. The ice cream print came from Shine Gallery at the Farmer's Market. It used to reside in the kitchen but it seemed appropriate to move to this new location. 


This beauty was a shower gift from my friend Genia. The colors are gorgeous. The yarn is amazingly soft. And most importantly....it is homemade. One of the most precious gifts received. I paired it up with a previous handmade blanket for the time being.


Some details: A little bit of family! The orange planter came from my grandparents' home. The little car toy is a hand me down from David's sister and niece.

All in all, I am really jazzed about the room thus far. We are still waiting for the mattress to arrive but for the most part we are finished. It took a lot of time, love and not as much money as I had anticipated with the hand me downs, garage sales and flea market finds. We had to go full price on the futon, crib and changer, but that is about it. I am finding myself sitting on the couch and just taking it all in waiting for the room to take on a life of its own once little girl arrives.........

Monday, May 13, 2013

unintended hiatus

So working through pregnancy is and isn't as hard as I had anticipated. There are days in which work goes as expected: stressful with fleeting enjoyable moments and increased bathroom breaks. The only major difference is the percentage of time spent both walking to and sitting on the toilet. I get a lot of questions from co-workers curious about my health, energy level and overall well being and I am happy to report that the answers are typically positive.

On the flipside, there are days, also increasing, in which I am finding it very hard to be at work. And in those cases, I have been remaining home While they are few and far between, they are oh so present. And today is one of them. They are typically predicated by a serious lack of sleep due to overheating, discomfort and today, heartburn. If the commute wasn't cross town Los Angeles, I would try harder to get into the office However, knowing that up to 3 hours may be spent in rush hour LA traffic, I have been quicker to make the decision to take a day. I have never used up all of my sick days in the 10 or so years that I have been banking them at various jobs. This year (or shall I say past 8 months) I have exhausted them and now am taking unpaid days to remain home. Sitting in the AC and not having to brave the frustrations of LA traffic makes it all worth it though.........

Amy and Nick threw me the most beautiful baby shower yesterday. It was all I could have hoped for. Close friends and family at the house. Delicious food. Cakes from Lark. The whole 9 yards. I am so thankful for my amazing and talented friends.........