He's known all along

Last weekend I found out that Tom has known all along that we are having a little girl - for the last two months! He was pretending not to know all this time. Turned out I mistakenly forwarded him an email that had that info on it. I actually still remember that I noticed after I forwarded the email but when he didn't say anything, I assumed he hadn't read the entire thread and didn't want to draw attention to it.
I asked him on Saturday if he knew now what the baby is. He first pretended not to hear me, but when I asked him a second time, he told me. Now all the little things make sense - he was pulling my leg all along! Like when he said that he'd thought about it and prefer to have a boy, or when he said he thought a boy would be better for us, as we are both better with boys, or when he said that if we are having a girl, we'll definitely have to have another child. Wow! Pretty funny in hindsight. I would have liked to see my face when I heard these...
Another great story to tell our little girl.

Baby girl is doing great

I had a check up today, the glucose test and also an ultrasound to ensure she is doing well after Boston. Everything went great. Dawn was really happy with baby's heartbeat (fast and strong), and with the amount of amniotic fluid (she was worried there might not be enough). Good! She told me to gain more weight - overall goal is 25-30 pounds and I have only gained 7. I am 25 weeks 2 days today - almost third trimester!
My SI joint is killing me, even walking hurt after the chiropractor visit. He said no running until next visit with him which is Monday morning. I do hope it gets better soon. I am ready for baby girl to be here already!!!

Dr's appointment tomorrow

I am recovering well from Boston. It was really not hard on my body, apart from the SI joint which makes me limp sadly. Oh well. I will go to the chiropractor again tomorrow to get aligned and that hopefully will relieve the pain. I also have a check up tomorrow morning where we'll do the glucose test and an ultrasound to ensure everything is good with baby girl.
I got so much encouragement about running the marathon. I posted my race report on Runners World and got all these responses:
http://www.runnersworld.com/community/forums/index.jsp?plckForumPage=ForumDiscussion&plckDiscussionId=Cat%3aRunner+CommunitiesForum%3a618106477Discussion%3a76863a44-420b-4b62-a11d-e95b19673624

Boston Marathon race report at 25 weeks pregnant

I am just shy of 25 weeks today and ran the Boston marathon yesterday. After all the warnings we had from the doctors in the last weeks, my husband was very nervous about my running the race and I promised him to take it super easy. As he qualified for Boston too (for the first time), we planned to run together and agreed that he would hold me back whenever he felt I was going too fast. We also agreed to try the run/walk method to ensure I was not getting too exhausted.

My SI joint has been really bothering me the last week, especially when running downhill - an old injury that seems to have flared up again due to pregnancy muscle relaxing. I was not very confident in my ability to finish the race, as I felt I hadn't trained enough and my back hurt a lot on the plane over to Boston from San Francisco. My longest training runs were 20 milers this time and I usually do several 24-26 milers before a marathon. I made a race shirt with my name on it, plus the words "Baby on Board - 6 Months". Bill Rodgers, the famous 4 time Boston marathon winner from the 70s, signed the shirt for me with the words "Kathi + Tom + Baby - Run Forever! Bill Rodgers". It was really cool and will be a great souvenir to show our little girl.

The weather in Hopkinton was pretty cold in the morning when we were waiting in the athlete's village - high 30s which is chilly for a spoiled San Franciscan like me. I had the first experience of the incredible support for an obviously pregnant woman running the marathon in the athlete’s village where I really needed to go to the bathroom before the race and the lines were so long we were afraid we wouldn’t make our start. I approached a military guy who was watching out for people trying to go into the woods behind the athlete’s village, hoping he would make an exception for me. He was incredibly kind to me and let me to an actual bathroom in the trailer he and his crew were occupying, telling me how impressed he was I was doing this. Wow, I had no idea people would be so supportive of pregnant runners!We started out with Wave 1 at around 10:10. My husband and I stuck together and just enjoyed the run, having so many people cheer for us. The support I got from the crowd was incredible - they went wild as soon as they realized I am pregnant. I heard so many "Oh my god, she's pregnant" and "Good for you" and lots of cheering and yelling my name. The first half of Boston is a lot of downhills so the SI joint felt pretty bad, but running with all the support was still great. Tom was holding me back and got a lot of laughs when he yelled “Wait for daddy”. I felt rather hot for the first 7 miles so I took my shirt off and raced in my sports bra which of course made the belly more obvious, but I really missed having my name screamed in support so I ended up putting the shirt back on.


We were really good about the walking breaks we had planned to take after about 10 minutes of running, 1 minute of walking. We strategically positioned them in the uphill portions of the course. I preferred the ongoing running, but Tom wouldn’t let me. By the half marathon, I knew we would make it to the finish line and that got me really excited. We did run Heartbreak Hill though – you just have to! And the support there was just amazing. I knew I needed to keep hydrated, so I took water or sometimes a combination of Gatorade and water at every single water station. I didn’t feel hungry throughout the race so the only thing I ate was one Vanilla Gu that was given out later in the race. With all that water and the added pressure baby puts on the bladder, we took three bathroom stops on the way and we didn’t really rush through them. We just took our time. These stops were close to the paramedics and they were also really supportive, asking if I needed anything and if I was okay.

I got so many thumbs up and cheers from fellow runners too. One guy turned out to be a dr and told me I looked great running a relaxed pace, being able to hold an easy conversation and that there was nothing to worry about. This helped a lot too...

Towards the end, we slowed it down more and extended our walk breaks. Tom insisted to not run all the hills and I was good to keep my word to him. Once we hit Boston, I couldn’t take any walk breaks once - the crowds were so strong and it was so exciting to run! I finished in 4:29 – 28 minute slower than my slowest marathon ever.

Throughout the entire race, my heartrate never went over 150 bpm, with most of the run being in the 130s. It felt so easy and was such a blast. At no point during the race did I feel exhausted or compromised in any way.
Baby girl was moving around a lot now on the plane home to San Francisco which we had to take immediately after the race, so I know she is okay. I also have a check up on Friday where we’ll confirm. What an experience and what a great story to tell our little girl!

http://www.runnersworld.com/community/forums/index.jsp?plckForumPage=ForumDiscussion&plckDiscussionId=Cat%3aRunner+CommunitiesForum%3a618106477Discussion%3a76863a44-420b-4b62-a11d-e95b19673624

Taper madness

Trying to taper for Boston and it is NOT going well. My old SI sprain has been flaring up and I am limping on all the downhills. Icing the injury and trying to get it to get better - or it will be painful in Boston! Urgh, just what I needed...

Getting ready for Boston

Boston marathon is in 9 days. I am pretty excited about it but also scared - for the first time, I feel really unsure what to expect from a marathon. This will be my 30th marathon but the first I run pregnant, and I don't know how it will impact me. Oh well, I am thinking of just going there and trying to have a good time.

Marathon dilemma resolved

The perinatalogist wrote me the following note in response to my marathon question:
'I think your points are all valid.
Even though there are accounts of pregnant women running and doing well, we don't have the denominator- Pregnant woman who ran and had trouble. So I would say the risk is theoretical but within the realm of standard counselling that we give pregnant women - that exercise is beneficial but we usually don't recommend to exercise for more than one hour at a time. Usually I say don't exercise for more than 30 minutes without resting for 10. Don't put yourself in a compromised state - ( for example Don't get dehyrated or cause such a build up of acid that it initiates uterine contractions.)
I think if you said i was going to run for 20 minutes , then walk for 20 minutes the run for 20 then walk for 20 that would not be completely unreasonable and I think you could still finish within the marathom allotted time ( is it 6 hours is allowed to to officially finish?) , but ultimately we would feel terrible if you went, participated and ended up getting sick or going into preterm labor.'

So I decided to still go but take it really easy. This will be so different to any other marathon. I'll try the walk/running to ensure I don't overheat. Boston here I come!