Hurry up and... WAIT!
Friday the 21st I woke up feeling quite dizzy. After trying to get dressed for 15 minutes, I called in sick to work and went back to bed for a bit. My blood pressure (100/60) and blood sugars have been pretty low on testing lately and if I don't seem to take care of myself, I feel faint. I think that is how Jason lives his every day life... but it's hard to feel energetic when I want to lie down all the time. Plus, summer is in full swing here and most days we are having temperatures in the 90s. Yesterday, it was 102F/39C and it's not worth doing anything but lying under the air conditioner as far as I'm concerned.
Friday afternoon I sent Jason a text that said 'don't go to far and stay close to your phone... I'm having contractions'. But after 2 hours of being excited that 'this might be it!' ... nothing happened and I felt fine. So we had company over for dinner. Saturday we did the triathlon and baby class and Nana arrived. Sunday nothing special. Monday, Tues, Wed I worked, although my schedule was much less work than it has been and the new PT at our company took over a huge amount of work and anxiety for me.
Wed night at about 9:30pm I started feeling pressure again. Jason was out running and when he get home I told him to shower, eat, pack up anything he thought he might need, and that we should try and sleep because I was sure I would go into labor that night. I thought the pressure of these contractions was a little stronger, but fell asleep by 11:30pm and woke to nothing, except disappointment and exhaustion. Thursday on and off I had some pressure, and called into work and said I was done working because I didn't feel like dealing with these contractions for 2 more days of work. It's pretty exciting right now to be done work without having any idea when I'll return to being employed or what kind of environment I'll work at next time.
Thurs afternoon we had a baby appointment and didn't learn too many new things. I'm 4cm dilated and all looks good and ready to go. My actual doctor is away getting married and won't be back until Tuesday. The midwife I love has been waiting for her paperwork to be allowed to deliver at this hospital, and it hasn't come through yet. So if I was to go into labor and deliver before Tuesday, then we would call the midwife and have her be with us, but the on-call OBGYN would come for the last few minutes to actually catch the baby.
Today is Friday. It's 10am and 80 degrees outside. Nana and Jason just left to take Rachel to gymnastics class. I'm thankful for our air conditioning. I've spent the morning dusting and vacuuming and playing with Rachel. Nana has spent the morning folding laundry, ironing clothes we would never think to iron, and sewing curtains for some windows upstairs.
Jason has spent the morning playing with our baby pool - please join!
http://www.babyhunch.com/poolpage.php?poolid=25617a10625d50814c234356f985a9c7
So we're basically doing nothing and just waiting. Rachel is getting the full blown attention of 3 adults and our house is having random parts of it cleaned that we never knew needed cleaning. It is a funny instinct to 'nest' and get things clean and ready to do, but there really is something innate there that makes you want to clean and get all your home ready for the baby.
Meanwhile, here are other thoughts in my head...
Darkening curtains in Rachel's room (on top of our darkening blinds that we paid lots of money for) helped her sleep past 5am the last few days. She was up at about 4:40am for 3-4 days, and then after putting curtains in she's lasted about 30 min longer. A small victory that we will celebrate, but we would love it if she could sleep until 6am. She's only sleeping from 8:15pm or so until 5am... and then she's grumpy after 9am.
Momo the monkey clock has not really helped yet. Momo is a clock that has digital time and a face clock, and you can close his eyes at bedtime. He will 'sleep' with his eyes closed until a time set by parents, and then when he opens his eyes and 'wakes up', it's supposed to tell Rachel she can wake up and leave her room now. We've had it for about 2 weeks and I'd say she's made it totally through the night until he 'wakes' at 5:40am once. A handful of mornings she has cried and thrown a fit because Momo hasn't woken up yet and she wants him to. A handful of mornings we've been able to get back to sleep and wait for Momo. Once she played quietly in her room until he woke up while we went back to sleep.
The thing that I am most anxious about in having two children is how on Earth we are going to cope with sleeping and fatigue?
Here's what I remember from having Rachel as a newborn, although the actually facts may be different. When Rachel was born, I totally expected 6 weeks of chaos and no sleep and no plans. I slept when Rachel slept as much as possible. She was a pretty alert little baby right from the get go and didn't sleep much like some newborns do. But I think the craziness was really for the first 2-3 weeks. That's when Jason and I walked paces up and down the halls singing any children's songs we knew, swaddling and shushing and bouncing and changing diapers and nursing and starting all over again. Then she got into a little bit better rhythm, just waking to nurse every 2 hours but then settling down and sleeping again in between. By 8 or 9 weeks I remember her sleeping through the night without getting up to feed a few times, and at 12 weeks we started weaning her from night feedings and getting decent sleep through the night. That all fell apart at 5 months, which devastated us because we thought we were ok, and then from that point forward has had its ups and downs.
These days I keep telling myself that other people survive just fine with more than 1 child, and that we can too. I know it will work itself out. I keep telling the baby inside me to 1) be healthy 2) come on out anytime it's feeling ready and 3) please be a great sleeper. I also feel lucky that Jason only worked part time when Rachel was first born and this time, he's off from school until mid August.
If I have to be up all night long cuddling and nursing and changing and singing to a newborn, how on Earth will I have any energy to get up with Rachel at 5am and then deal with her temper tantrums throughout the day? And if Rachel is asleep but the baby naps, will I be able to nap? Can Jason and I take turns? Will Rachel happily play with Nana and Grandma and other family while we rest?
How will Rachel cope with taking an hour to get ready to go out somewhere?
How will Rachel deal with seeing me nurse the baby if she gets up at 2am? What if that's in our bed, where Rachel is not allowed to be?
I feel so tired now and want to sleep all the time, and I'm getting 6.5-7.5 hours solid sleep right now! Will I be able to survive weeks of only sleeping 1-2 hours at a time?
Will nursing be easier this time around? Last time I was in tears trying to make it work, many times, for the first 8 weeks! (Although I grew to love it and happily nursed Rachel for 17 months)
Will this baby need to feed as often as Rachel, who nursed every 1.5-2 hours for months and months and months?
Will I be able to carry Rachel and the baby at the same time without hurting myself?
Will the crying baby wake Rachel up and disrupt her pattern of sleeping pretty well these days?
Will Rachel always be waking up a sleeping baby during the day when Rachel is awake and loud?
Will Jason and I be able to be nice to each other if we are sleep deprived and exhausted all the time? The toughest things for us as a couple have been the middle of the nights when Rachel won't sleep and we feel about ready to kill each other.
I wonder if we'll have a boy or a girl?
I can't wait to play with the baby's little fingers and toes, and see a chubby cute little bottom.
I'm excited to put on lots of the little tiny clothes we have for the baby, like dinosaur butt sleeper.
What will I do in the middle of the night when I'm having to nurse all the time? With Rachel, I got into a routine of getting her and taking her to the couch, getting all set up to nurse, and putting on a show to keep me awake so I wouldn't accidentally fall asleep. I watched season after season of 'Sex in the City', which I absolutely hate now after watching so much of it. And I watched loads of 'How I met your mother', which started a relationship with a tv show that I can't wait to be done next year when the show finally finishes. Rachel would nurse for almost exactly the length of a show, and then I'd put her down for 1.5 hours and go do it again. During the day I read novel after novel and spent loads of time on facebook wishing I could find a way to type and nurse at the same time. I also took her hiking, walking, cross country skiing, and had play dates with friends almost every day.
Now we're in a new house and things feel very different. Rachel's room and the baby's room are right next door to each other, and we're down the hall. There's no couch or tv upstairs with any of us. There's no entertainment in the baby's room for me and I doubt I'll stay awake reading a nover in the middle of the night in the rocking chair. Jason and I still can't really decide about co-sleeping. I don't want him to have to wake up or be bothered by me and lights and things while I'm nursing. I'm less paranoid about falling asleep while nursing but hopeful that I can master nursing while lying down this time, because last time that just didn't work for me.
So, instead of coming up with a plan, we'll just see how things go and then we'll leave on our road trip to VA. During the 3 weeks or so that we plan to be gone, I expect no sleep and chaos and difficulty with both kids. And HEAT! But we will have family around to help. And it will be exciting for me to get out of the house, since I feel already like all this waiting close to home has given me cabin fever.
I think I might go make some raspberry tea, cool it off with some ice, and see what happens...
June 28, 2013
June 27, 2013
Sat June 22 Lake to Lake Triathlon
This past weekend we had a fun Saturday, filled with action. Also, we have purchased a new SLR awesome camera and finally have some better pictures of Rachel that don't make her look quite as funny as some others. (We are still working on her hair and what to do with it.)
4:20am wake up, leave house at 4:50am and drive to Loveland, CO. Jason was to run the 10km portion of an Olympic Lake to Lake Triathlon in a relay team. Our friends Angela and Kent from Breckenridge met us there with 3 other people from Summit county to make up the two, 3 person teams.
We put Rachel in her car seat straight out of bed and she was happy to be up and at 'em and exploring. We had to park the car a little ways from the transition area, and then it was a further haul to the start of the swim course. We had packed snacks, sunscreen, extra clothes, camera, etc etc but carrying it all in a bag, with Rachel, while 38.5 weeks pregnant was a workout! Jason had his own stuff to take care of such as running gear, getting body marked, signing in, etc.
We watched the swim start and the swim exit and then played at the playground for a little while. Then we made our way back to transition to watch the bikers come in and the runner's go off. Then, after Daddy took off on the run course, Rachel and Mommy went back to the lake and Rachel played in the water while we waited to see Daddy come through near the finish. It was awesome to be by the lake because it was about 85 degrees out.
 |
| Jason off on the run! |
Jason hadn't run a 10km flat race in years, and had no idea what to expect. On top of that, he wasn't quite sure when to expect to start his run because we didn't really know how long the biker would take. So he kept warm and kept drinking water for about 20 minutes while watching out for his teammate, and then he took off. He did a great job keeping his pace consistently at about 6:38 pace miles for the run, and then a bit faster on the last leg, for a run time of about 41 minutes. Not bad for a guy who has trained for the 30 mile distance recently!
 |
| Rachel introduces herself to random people we don't know |
While we were hanging around, we learned that Jason's relay team actually won the Masters category. Masters because the total age of the team was over some arbitrary number - basically the guy on the bike wasn't a young guy. So a first place win!
We left the event, came home while Rachel slept in the car. Kent and Angela had a quick tour of our house before they left town. Our friend came over to watch Rachel and then we went to our last HypnoBabies birthing class.
Meanwhile, Nana had an early day herself and flew from Victoria, BC to Denver. She caught the door-the-door shuttle from the airport and arrived at the house around 5pm to relieve our sitter and watch Rachel. We made it home by 6:30pm to eat, visit, and put Rachel to bed.
By Saturday night we were all exhausted and ready to sleep, but also excited. Now that our birthing class is complete, Nana is here to watch Rachel, and many other tasks are taken care of, we are ready for baby to arrive!
Dolphin 2
Rachel has been quite a handful lately. We've re-entered the terrible 2s and temper tantrum city. She will flip out these days if she doesn't get her way. We are trying to maintain our patience and pick our battles with consistency, but it's tough. She isn't sleeping in very often past 5am due to the sun, which may be contributing to all of our fatigue.
But this week she wouldn't even get in the water at swim school. It's her 4th week of lessons and she was kicking butt and loving it... then all of a sudden she just sat on the pool deck and cried and didn't want to go.
Go figure?
June 20, 2013
Jawbone UP
In the current world of sharing and documenting everything, it seems we have fewer and fewer hugs, face to face chats, or verbal conversations. My life is an open book via this blog and facebook posts. I text on my phone much more than I talk.
And now I am tracking every moment if sleep and every step I take.
A patient of mine works for apple, and offered me a great deal on the Jawbone UP. It's a glorified pedometer: a bracelet that I wear that counts the steps I take each day. It calculates how many calories I burn. It tells me how much I sleep and how much of that sleep is light vs deep sleep. It bases this information on micromovements and vibrations sensed by the bracelet. I could also use it to help me track my food intake but I don't do that. I can connect it to my iphone or my ipad and then look at lots of advice, data, graphs and such to analyze my life and fitness goals.
I have done this for about 2 weeks, and I am appalled at how little activity I do in a day and how little I sleep compared to what I expected. Granted, I am 38 weeks pregnant, it's 100 degrees outside, I am not comfortable, and I have put on 33 pounds this pregnancy. So I am way less active than I have ever been before, and sleep can be a challenge. But still, I thought I had a fairly active job and an active life, and that walking 10,000 steps per day would be an achievable goal. After all, getting Rachel ready to go in the morning = 500 steps. But I have not reached 10,000 steps yet. I am far less active during my work day than I thought. So I am curious to see how things go post partum.
I do love looking at my results and I do get motivated to compete with the numbers and try to walk or sleep more.
In case you are curious, there are 3 competing gadgets out there, and many of my patients are curious about mine. Nike has a bracelet called the fuel band, and another popular device is a fit bit, which is worn as a clip to your clothing. There are some pros and cons to each one, and it seems my patient conversations include listing each of these frequently in a day. Interestingly, the fit bit seems to give people more credit for a given activity. The Nike fuel band gives credit for arm swinging only, so if your arms are stationary, or holding something, you might not get credit for an activity. But you might log activity while doing something like brushing your teeth vigorously. The jawbone takes arm swing and overall motion into account, but tends to give less credit for some activities and I am not sure why.
I would love to wear all 3 devices and a heart rate monitor and a GPS watch for a week and have some fun experiments.
So, in this experiment so far, I have decided that these tools can be very effective motivators for the average folks. For Jason, for example, I think it would be stupid since his world is already tracked via a garmin GPS watch that tracks his mileage, pace, and elevation for every run (or even bike or swim). But for someone like, say my mom, logging steps in a day and making a goal around that might be a great tool for being more active and healthier.
I also think it won't be long before one device is a watch, phone, GPS mileage and pace tracker, sleep monitor, heart rate monitor, and pedometer. Hopefully in one small little comfortable necklace or
wrist band. Then one device could track everything, and we could have enough data on ourselves to waste even more time in a day!
And now I am tracking every moment if sleep and every step I take.
A patient of mine works for apple, and offered me a great deal on the Jawbone UP. It's a glorified pedometer: a bracelet that I wear that counts the steps I take each day. It calculates how many calories I burn. It tells me how much I sleep and how much of that sleep is light vs deep sleep. It bases this information on micromovements and vibrations sensed by the bracelet. I could also use it to help me track my food intake but I don't do that. I can connect it to my iphone or my ipad and then look at lots of advice, data, graphs and such to analyze my life and fitness goals.
I have done this for about 2 weeks, and I am appalled at how little activity I do in a day and how little I sleep compared to what I expected. Granted, I am 38 weeks pregnant, it's 100 degrees outside, I am not comfortable, and I have put on 33 pounds this pregnancy. So I am way less active than I have ever been before, and sleep can be a challenge. But still, I thought I had a fairly active job and an active life, and that walking 10,000 steps per day would be an achievable goal. After all, getting Rachel ready to go in the morning = 500 steps. But I have not reached 10,000 steps yet. I am far less active during my work day than I thought. So I am curious to see how things go post partum.
I do love looking at my results and I do get motivated to compete with the numbers and try to walk or sleep more.
In case you are curious, there are 3 competing gadgets out there, and many of my patients are curious about mine. Nike has a bracelet called the fuel band, and another popular device is a fit bit, which is worn as a clip to your clothing. There are some pros and cons to each one, and it seems my patient conversations include listing each of these frequently in a day. Interestingly, the fit bit seems to give people more credit for a given activity. The Nike fuel band gives credit for arm swinging only, so if your arms are stationary, or holding something, you might not get credit for an activity. But you might log activity while doing something like brushing your teeth vigorously. The jawbone takes arm swing and overall motion into account, but tends to give less credit for some activities and I am not sure why.
I would love to wear all 3 devices and a heart rate monitor and a GPS watch for a week and have some fun experiments.
So, in this experiment so far, I have decided that these tools can be very effective motivators for the average folks. For Jason, for example, I think it would be stupid since his world is already tracked via a garmin GPS watch that tracks his mileage, pace, and elevation for every run (or even bike or swim). But for someone like, say my mom, logging steps in a day and making a goal around that might be a great tool for being more active and healthier.
I also think it won't be long before one device is a watch, phone, GPS mileage and pace tracker, sleep monitor, heart rate monitor, and pedometer. Hopefully in one small little comfortable necklace or
wrist band. Then one device could track everything, and we could have enough data on ourselves to waste even more time in a day!
June 14, 2013
37 week update
37 weeks ... without much news.
3 cm dilated now, so 1 cm over the last week but no other real action. Baby is in a good position and will come when it's ready. It's so strange to live life when it's possible that the baby might come and change everything tonight... or not for 4 weeks!
OCS
Still haven't heard about my big PT exam that I did in March.
Altitude PT Job
I am scheduled out with patients for 2 more weeks, with my last day June 28. Of course each day we all wonder what might happen to my patients if I go into labor, but I am doing my best to survive as long as I can. It has not been easy, as I am very tired and not very comfortable and trying my best to be kind to my body while I work. In truth, I have experienced quite a bit of dizziness and back pain at the end of each day because I am not doing a great job. My schedule has been so intensely busy since January that it's been an exhausting year. I am very thankful that we have hired a replacement therapist now and she has been spending time with me to transition patients to her, which is comforting to me. I'm still just trying to survive the next 10 work days, and wishing I had decided to stop working earlier. But it will all be ok.
I have officially decided not to return to my job in the fall. I have enjoyed my experience at Altitude over the last 15 months for the most part, and have a lot of respect for the team there. However, the last 6 months in particular have really burned me out and I need a break from the clinical world to focus on family and figuring out what I want out of my career next. I feel really good about this decision and am looking forward to being a stay-at-home mom for a little while. I do plan on returning to work as a PT, but I won't plan on looking in 2013.
July trip to VA
Recently we learned that a very close friend from Terrace, BC will be coming to Denver in July for a conference. This means that we have decided to stay in Colorado to see her, and will embark on our road trip East starting July 16. Although we keep debating about which direction we want to go, we think we've decided to go North first. With any luck, we will follow some version of this itinerary for our journey:
July 16 - drive toward Nebraska/Iowa border
July 17 - drive to St. Louis and see friends
July 18 - either spend the day in St. Louis and delay for one day of recovery, or continue onward to Charleston, WV where we hope we can see Uncle Jim, Aunt Beth, and cousin Matthew in their home that we have never seen.
July 19/20/21 - drive to Sterling, VA to arrive at Grandma's house
Next two weeks: see family in MD/VA and enjoy some beach time in North Carolina
Early August - start road trip home via a southern route, possibly including South Carolina/Georgia/Tennessee/Alabama/Mississippi/Arkansas/Oklahoma
We hope to be home for a few days of prep before Jason starts working at school on August 15.
Canada trip August/Sept
Sadly, my cousin Justin is getting married in July and we will miss his wedding. I feel terrible as I have now missed many cousin weddings and would love to see the family. But the wedding is only a few weeks after the baby is due and even newborns need passports to travel abroad.
Depending on when we can get a passport for the new baby, I plan to take the kids to Canada for a couple of weeks at the end of August and come back sometime after Labor Day. Dates flexible, but I plan to spend most of my time in the Victoria area with some time up island and some time in Vancouver. I don't plan on making it to the Okanagan, but would love any Penticton folks to come to the coast and meet up.
I am very much looking forward to seeing the West Coast, family, friends, and showing off Rachel and Little One.
Landscaping and house projects
We spent quite a few weeks in March/April determining a landscaping plan for our backyard. Although we had anticipated the project to start around the middle of June, a late Winter has forced all construction back significantly and now we are wondering if middle of July might be more likely. Perhaps this is a good thing, since landscapers can be loud while we are away and we can come home to a finished yard for fun and safe play time.
We have also decided to go ahead with solar panels on our roof. We had hoped to do this all along, and got mostly electric appliances because of this plan, but were disappointed in Feb/March when we learned how much it might cost. However, recent changes in promotions have made this much more affordable and cost-effective for us longer term. So we look forward to having solar panels by the Fall.
Slowly these days Jason is catching up on little house projects that just didn't quite get done when we moved in. We still have a huge list that we imagine we might finish before the baby arrives, but little bit by bit we feel more organized. It's taking a while, but it's coming!
Fires
Weather is always fun to discuss around here, since it can very well snow one day and be hot the next. We had hardly any snow all year. Then some rain in March, snow in April, a beautiful warm and green May, and now it's ridiculously hot. On Monday it was 102 degrees F. Monday night thunderstorms brought lightning to a hot, dry land and many fires erupted. Our cousin Michael left Monday morning and drove south, through Royal Gorge and onward to Mesa Verde. By Tuesday the entire Royal Gorge area was closed with a 400 acre fire threatening the bridge and evacuating much of the Canyon City area. Colorado Springs (which took a huge hit last year with the Waldon Canyon fire) has another huge fire this week - 380 homes destroyed, some bodies found, and 38,000 people evacuated. There are two other small fires nearby in Estes Park and up Lefthand Canyon.
Wed night the skies above our house were filled with smoke, and breathing was uncomfortable. A little bit of rain on Thursday went a long way to clear the air, but it's a scary thing. The pine beetle-killed forests and many years of drought are thought to be huge factors.
Anyway, soon we hope to have more significant news to report and possibly a new SLR camera to take pictures and post with.
Love to all.
3 cm dilated now, so 1 cm over the last week but no other real action. Baby is in a good position and will come when it's ready. It's so strange to live life when it's possible that the baby might come and change everything tonight... or not for 4 weeks!
OCS
Still haven't heard about my big PT exam that I did in March.
Altitude PT Job
I am scheduled out with patients for 2 more weeks, with my last day June 28. Of course each day we all wonder what might happen to my patients if I go into labor, but I am doing my best to survive as long as I can. It has not been easy, as I am very tired and not very comfortable and trying my best to be kind to my body while I work. In truth, I have experienced quite a bit of dizziness and back pain at the end of each day because I am not doing a great job. My schedule has been so intensely busy since January that it's been an exhausting year. I am very thankful that we have hired a replacement therapist now and she has been spending time with me to transition patients to her, which is comforting to me. I'm still just trying to survive the next 10 work days, and wishing I had decided to stop working earlier. But it will all be ok.
I have officially decided not to return to my job in the fall. I have enjoyed my experience at Altitude over the last 15 months for the most part, and have a lot of respect for the team there. However, the last 6 months in particular have really burned me out and I need a break from the clinical world to focus on family and figuring out what I want out of my career next. I feel really good about this decision and am looking forward to being a stay-at-home mom for a little while. I do plan on returning to work as a PT, but I won't plan on looking in 2013.
July trip to VA
Recently we learned that a very close friend from Terrace, BC will be coming to Denver in July for a conference. This means that we have decided to stay in Colorado to see her, and will embark on our road trip East starting July 16. Although we keep debating about which direction we want to go, we think we've decided to go North first. With any luck, we will follow some version of this itinerary for our journey:
July 16 - drive toward Nebraska/Iowa border
July 17 - drive to St. Louis and see friends
July 18 - either spend the day in St. Louis and delay for one day of recovery, or continue onward to Charleston, WV where we hope we can see Uncle Jim, Aunt Beth, and cousin Matthew in their home that we have never seen.
July 19/20/21 - drive to Sterling, VA to arrive at Grandma's house
Next two weeks: see family in MD/VA and enjoy some beach time in North Carolina
Early August - start road trip home via a southern route, possibly including South Carolina/Georgia/Tennessee/Alabama/Mississippi/Arkansas/Oklahoma
We hope to be home for a few days of prep before Jason starts working at school on August 15.
Canada trip August/Sept
Sadly, my cousin Justin is getting married in July and we will miss his wedding. I feel terrible as I have now missed many cousin weddings and would love to see the family. But the wedding is only a few weeks after the baby is due and even newborns need passports to travel abroad.
Depending on when we can get a passport for the new baby, I plan to take the kids to Canada for a couple of weeks at the end of August and come back sometime after Labor Day. Dates flexible, but I plan to spend most of my time in the Victoria area with some time up island and some time in Vancouver. I don't plan on making it to the Okanagan, but would love any Penticton folks to come to the coast and meet up.
I am very much looking forward to seeing the West Coast, family, friends, and showing off Rachel and Little One.
Landscaping and house projects
We spent quite a few weeks in March/April determining a landscaping plan for our backyard. Although we had anticipated the project to start around the middle of June, a late Winter has forced all construction back significantly and now we are wondering if middle of July might be more likely. Perhaps this is a good thing, since landscapers can be loud while we are away and we can come home to a finished yard for fun and safe play time.
We have also decided to go ahead with solar panels on our roof. We had hoped to do this all along, and got mostly electric appliances because of this plan, but were disappointed in Feb/March when we learned how much it might cost. However, recent changes in promotions have made this much more affordable and cost-effective for us longer term. So we look forward to having solar panels by the Fall.
Slowly these days Jason is catching up on little house projects that just didn't quite get done when we moved in. We still have a huge list that we imagine we might finish before the baby arrives, but little bit by bit we feel more organized. It's taking a while, but it's coming!
Fires
Weather is always fun to discuss around here, since it can very well snow one day and be hot the next. We had hardly any snow all year. Then some rain in March, snow in April, a beautiful warm and green May, and now it's ridiculously hot. On Monday it was 102 degrees F. Monday night thunderstorms brought lightning to a hot, dry land and many fires erupted. Our cousin Michael left Monday morning and drove south, through Royal Gorge and onward to Mesa Verde. By Tuesday the entire Royal Gorge area was closed with a 400 acre fire threatening the bridge and evacuating much of the Canyon City area. Colorado Springs (which took a huge hit last year with the Waldon Canyon fire) has another huge fire this week - 380 homes destroyed, some bodies found, and 38,000 people evacuated. There are two other small fires nearby in Estes Park and up Lefthand Canyon.
Wed night the skies above our house were filled with smoke, and breathing was uncomfortable. A little bit of rain on Thursday went a long way to clear the air, but it's a scary thing. The pine beetle-killed forests and many years of drought are thought to be huge factors.
Anyway, soon we hope to have more significant news to report and possibly a new SLR camera to take pictures and post with.
Love to all.
June 9, 2013
More videos
Hope you can watch these:
or try this link?
http://www.youtube.com/user/megganandjason/videos?view=0&sort=da&live_view=500&flow=list
or try this link?
http://www.youtube.com/user/megganandjason/videos?view=0&sort=da&live_view=500&flow=list
And for more photos, check out Jason's facebook page or try this link and see if it will work:
Scott and Michael Visit
We're trying hard to update pictures and videos... with limited success...
But this weekend our cousins Scott and Michael Oliver came to town. Today we took Scott to the airport to fly home to VA, but Michael stayed today and then will continue his cross-country road trip tomorrow. I think Michael may be updating some of you on his version of the adventures. We're pretty sure Scott is happy to be back in his own comfortable bed and sleeping!
Tioday we went to Rocky Mtn National Park for the day. I know many of you have had difficulty looking at our videos, but here are some below for those of you who can access them. For those of you who cannot, you might be able to go to youtube directly and see our recent uploads. If those don't work, I'm sorry because I'm not sure what else to do.
Rachel did a great job of hiking Alberta Falls. Jason carried her some in the pack and she walked some on her own. She insisted on running down most of the trail (about 1 mile each way) with hiking poles. I managed the hike ok despite my body being quite uncomfortable. Michael did well despite the altitude.
Hopefully some of the videos/pictures show 1) my new haircut, after donating all my hair to 'Locks for Love' and 2) the 36.5 week belly and 3) silly pictures of Rachel, who already needs her own hair cut.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvHT-qkGT0Y
Pictures are another matter. I have tried to recently upload pictures from phones to facebook, with some success and in a strange order. Dedicated Rachel fans on facebook may be able to sort through these. Others might have to wait for a personal visit. Others might have to wait for us to buy a real camera.
I don't think this link will work for many of you, but please give it a try:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151418931925894.1073741826.599030893&type=3
I will try to play with Jason's phone and add more here shortly.
But this weekend our cousins Scott and Michael Oliver came to town. Today we took Scott to the airport to fly home to VA, but Michael stayed today and then will continue his cross-country road trip tomorrow. I think Michael may be updating some of you on his version of the adventures. We're pretty sure Scott is happy to be back in his own comfortable bed and sleeping!
Tioday we went to Rocky Mtn National Park for the day. I know many of you have had difficulty looking at our videos, but here are some below for those of you who can access them. For those of you who cannot, you might be able to go to youtube directly and see our recent uploads. If those don't work, I'm sorry because I'm not sure what else to do.
Rachel did a great job of hiking Alberta Falls. Jason carried her some in the pack and she walked some on her own. She insisted on running down most of the trail (about 1 mile each way) with hiking poles. I managed the hike ok despite my body being quite uncomfortable. Michael did well despite the altitude.
Hopefully some of the videos/pictures show 1) my new haircut, after donating all my hair to 'Locks for Love' and 2) the 36.5 week belly and 3) silly pictures of Rachel, who already needs her own hair cut.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvHT-qkGT0Y
Pictures are another matter. I have tried to recently upload pictures from phones to facebook, with some success and in a strange order. Dedicated Rachel fans on facebook may be able to sort through these. Others might have to wait for a personal visit. Others might have to wait for us to buy a real camera.
I don't think this link will work for many of you, but please give it a try:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151418931925894.1073741826.599030893&type=3
I will try to play with Jason's phone and add more here shortly.
June 6, 2013
36 weeks
Waiting... we've been doing a lot of that around here lately. Waiting to see what might happen with Jason's job. Waiting for Meggan's company to hire a covering therapist that she can train before she goes off. Waiting for the baby (but we're ok if it stays in there longer). Waiting for my OCS results from my big PT exam in March. Excitedly waiting for Nana to arrive June 25. Waiting for Meggan's last day of work on June 28.
Some things are starting to happen.
Meggan cut all her hair off and donated the extra 9+ inches to Locks for Love, a company that takes donated hair and makes wigs for patients with cancer. Pictures will have to come soon.
Since we haven't been sure about Jason's job scenario, we pulled Rachel out of care and Jason has been a full time Daddy this week. Rachel has joined the Dolphins swim classes Mon-Thurs mornings for the month of June from 8:00-8:30am. Rachel goes in the water with the teacher and Jason sits on a bench and watches in his normal clothing. This is Rachel's first independent activity where parent does not join in with her. Fridays she will resume gymnastics classes, where Jason will also watch and Rachel will participate independently.
However, Jason's job scenario is looking significantly more promising, and we anticipate that he will be returning to Centaurus in the fall after all. Hopefully, he might even be able to do some cross country team coaching. So we have Rachel going in for some 'drop in' days this month so Jason can go back to school and do some planning for the fall.
We had a 36 week baby appointment today. Rachel actually came and listened to the heart beat and watched the exam as well. The baby is due in exactly 4 weeks, but in the doctor's words "I don't think you are going to make it to your due date!". My recent suspicions that 'things are starting to happen' seem to be true. 2 cm dilated, 70% effaced, cervix in the front and soft - for those of you who understand that language. For those who do not, it means that things are starting to happen slowly. It's not likely that I'll go into labor in the next few days, but it is quite possible that the baby will be early by 1-2 weeks. Of course, the baby will come whenever it wants and we will be patient and excited no matter what the timing.
I am trying to reduce my hours little bit by bit to buy myself a bit more resting time. I'm very, very tired these days and any extra sleep would be awesome to get ready for the big day and the expected lack of sleep afterward. We are needing to hire a therapist if anyone knows any good PTs in Boulder looking for a job!
Lastly, I have to share that I bought a 'jawbone' bracelet. A patient who works for apple hooked me up. This is a pedometer of sorts that tracks how many steps I take a day, how many calories that is estimated to be, how much I sleep at night, and how much of that sleep is deep vs. light sleep. I am very excited to check this out and see if it helps me to walk more to get to 10,000 steps per day. I will keep you posted on this new, fun, trendy device.
Some things are starting to happen.
Meggan cut all her hair off and donated the extra 9+ inches to Locks for Love, a company that takes donated hair and makes wigs for patients with cancer. Pictures will have to come soon.
Since we haven't been sure about Jason's job scenario, we pulled Rachel out of care and Jason has been a full time Daddy this week. Rachel has joined the Dolphins swim classes Mon-Thurs mornings for the month of June from 8:00-8:30am. Rachel goes in the water with the teacher and Jason sits on a bench and watches in his normal clothing. This is Rachel's first independent activity where parent does not join in with her. Fridays she will resume gymnastics classes, where Jason will also watch and Rachel will participate independently.
However, Jason's job scenario is looking significantly more promising, and we anticipate that he will be returning to Centaurus in the fall after all. Hopefully, he might even be able to do some cross country team coaching. So we have Rachel going in for some 'drop in' days this month so Jason can go back to school and do some planning for the fall.
We had a 36 week baby appointment today. Rachel actually came and listened to the heart beat and watched the exam as well. The baby is due in exactly 4 weeks, but in the doctor's words "I don't think you are going to make it to your due date!". My recent suspicions that 'things are starting to happen' seem to be true. 2 cm dilated, 70% effaced, cervix in the front and soft - for those of you who understand that language. For those who do not, it means that things are starting to happen slowly. It's not likely that I'll go into labor in the next few days, but it is quite possible that the baby will be early by 1-2 weeks. Of course, the baby will come whenever it wants and we will be patient and excited no matter what the timing.
I am trying to reduce my hours little bit by bit to buy myself a bit more resting time. I'm very, very tired these days and any extra sleep would be awesome to get ready for the big day and the expected lack of sleep afterward. We are needing to hire a therapist if anyone knows any good PTs in Boulder looking for a job!
Lastly, I have to share that I bought a 'jawbone' bracelet. A patient who works for apple hooked me up. This is a pedometer of sorts that tracks how many steps I take a day, how many calories that is estimated to be, how much I sleep at night, and how much of that sleep is deep vs. light sleep. I am very excited to check this out and see if it helps me to walk more to get to 10,000 steps per day. I will keep you posted on this new, fun, trendy device.
June 5, 2013
Last camping trip for 3
Memorial Day Long Weekend
Jason finished his last day of school on Thursday, and we had a long weekend with no other commitments. Since our birthing class takes up every other Saturday, it was a blessed chance to get out of town and adventure.
We had a birthday party to attend Sat morning in Evergreen, CO which was at a small farm and included a tractor ride, a pony ride, painting, cupcakes, and rocking horses.
We then drove South toward Salida, and South East from there to an area near Westcliffe, CO. We reserved a camping spot for 2 nights and enjoyed the beautiful Sangre de Cristo mountain range. This was a new part of the state for me, and the mountains overhead were so tempting to try and climb.
Great things about the camping trip:
- It was warm, but not too hot, making it one of the most pleasant temperatures we've ever had camping
- Rachel slept in her own sleeping bag through the night (8:15pm until 5:15am) both nights
- The campground was lovely, easy, and campsites were spaced out nicely
- Humbolt Mountain, a 14er, towered close by and tempted us into future plans
- Rachel entertained herself nearby the campsite by throwing rocks, sticks and cones into the river for quite some time.
- I did not go into labor, which would have been a challenge.
- On the way home, we ate at IHOP and a man came to our table and made Rachel an AMAZING balloon giraffe. She loves it!
Not as great things about the camping trip:
- Jason was not feeling well after the 5 hours of driving Saturday and had a horrible headache Saturday night.
- Jason went for a run up to some waterfalls at 11,000ft and back down for 6 miles, but wasn't really able to complete the loop he had wanted - which was 16 miles and included 2 peaks over 13,000ft and quite snowy.
- Getting in and out of a sleeping bag in your last trimester to pee many times is hard when you have no abdominal muscles!
- We went to Canyon City and tried to see the high bridge, but we missed seeing it in the car or on a train due to our timing.
- We dropped our camera on this trip and it is now broken, which means that our iphones are our only current camera option. I have not yet learned how to upload pictures from our phones on to this blog. So our apologies - more pictures will have to come at a later date.
35 weeks pregnant:
I'm starting to be quite big. The baby has dropped down lower and is growing way out in front now. Sleeping is more difficult. Lots of our free time is dedicated to baby appointments, relaxation CDs, birthing class, prenatal exercises, choosing baby names, cleaning up and organizing the baby's room, packing our hospital bag, having Rachel mess up the nursery and unpack our hospital bag, and starting over again.
Jason finished his last day of school on Thursday, and we had a long weekend with no other commitments. Since our birthing class takes up every other Saturday, it was a blessed chance to get out of town and adventure.
We had a birthday party to attend Sat morning in Evergreen, CO which was at a small farm and included a tractor ride, a pony ride, painting, cupcakes, and rocking horses.
We then drove South toward Salida, and South East from there to an area near Westcliffe, CO. We reserved a camping spot for 2 nights and enjoyed the beautiful Sangre de Cristo mountain range. This was a new part of the state for me, and the mountains overhead were so tempting to try and climb.
Great things about the camping trip:
- It was warm, but not too hot, making it one of the most pleasant temperatures we've ever had camping
- Rachel slept in her own sleeping bag through the night (8:15pm until 5:15am) both nights
- The campground was lovely, easy, and campsites were spaced out nicely
- Humbolt Mountain, a 14er, towered close by and tempted us into future plans
- Rachel entertained herself nearby the campsite by throwing rocks, sticks and cones into the river for quite some time.
- I did not go into labor, which would have been a challenge.
- On the way home, we ate at IHOP and a man came to our table and made Rachel an AMAZING balloon giraffe. She loves it!
Not as great things about the camping trip:
- Jason was not feeling well after the 5 hours of driving Saturday and had a horrible headache Saturday night.
- Jason went for a run up to some waterfalls at 11,000ft and back down for 6 miles, but wasn't really able to complete the loop he had wanted - which was 16 miles and included 2 peaks over 13,000ft and quite snowy.
- Getting in and out of a sleeping bag in your last trimester to pee many times is hard when you have no abdominal muscles!
- We went to Canyon City and tried to see the high bridge, but we missed seeing it in the car or on a train due to our timing.
- We dropped our camera on this trip and it is now broken, which means that our iphones are our only current camera option. I have not yet learned how to upload pictures from our phones on to this blog. So our apologies - more pictures will have to come at a later date.
35 weeks pregnant:
I'm starting to be quite big. The baby has dropped down lower and is growing way out in front now. Sleeping is more difficult. Lots of our free time is dedicated to baby appointments, relaxation CDs, birthing class, prenatal exercises, choosing baby names, cleaning up and organizing the baby's room, packing our hospital bag, having Rachel mess up the nursery and unpack our hospital bag, and starting over again.
60 for Dad
As most of you know, I don't write on this blog very often. Please put aside your expectations of Meggan's fine writing, and share my Saturday with me. Friday, May 22 would have been my Dad's 60th birthday. My sister Karen wrote a beautiful blog that day, spent hours donating blood, and always shares lots on her blog. My Mom wrote us a nice note that day, and of course posted on Facebook. I did, too, but have been trying to figure out if I could do a bit more this year to remember Dad's spirit.
Saturday, June 1 was the 39th anniversary of my parents' marriage. That day I planned to run the Dirty Thirty 50km trail race in Golden Gate Canyon State Park near Golden, CO. I tentatively planned to add on an extra 10km sometime during the day, to make an even 60 in honor of Dad's 60th birthday. The race started at 6am (I was picked up by a friend at 3:50 to get there on time), so extra mileage beforehand wasn't an option. And afterwards, I was dropped off at our Hypnobabies birthing class with Meggs, so I couldn't squeeze in the miles during the afternoon. Fortunately, I was able to run the 10k that evening while Meggs helped Rachel get ready for bed. I think Rachel was a bit confused about the fact that Daddy had a race this morning and is now going for a run again!
The race itself was great, and one of my best ever in terms of pacing and fueling. I started nice and slowly, and chatted with a bunch of friends during the race. The race went according to plan; I was excited to feel strong for the final 1200' climb over three miles, and then flew down the last few miles to the finish. I was not passed after the 17-mile mark, and passed a number of runners during the last half-marathon. Afterwards we had a great time hanging out in the sun, catching up with friends, and listening to the live band.
In most of my races since Dad died, I have experienced at least one emotional stretch where I thought about him, got all teary, and couldn't see the trail clearly. Interestingly, this was the first race where that didn't happen. Maybe that's why the evening 10k seemed like an easy 59-minute sunset jog, after being out for 6:48:54 earlier.
Thanks, Dad, for being great. We love you!
(So I was going to end the blog here, but...)
I have to add that Rachel has been having a lot of very emotionally advanced conversations about death recently. This spring Pops' dog Max died, and my Dad's death comes up from time to time in conversation, especially in the last few weeks. If I am sad, one of her questions to me is often, "Do you want a hug from your Daddy?" or "Do you want to give Grandpa Ray a hug?" Despite being an emotionally difficult question, this always elicits a smile from me. My daughter is great.
Saturday, June 1 was the 39th anniversary of my parents' marriage. That day I planned to run the Dirty Thirty 50km trail race in Golden Gate Canyon State Park near Golden, CO. I tentatively planned to add on an extra 10km sometime during the day, to make an even 60 in honor of Dad's 60th birthday. The race started at 6am (I was picked up by a friend at 3:50 to get there on time), so extra mileage beforehand wasn't an option. And afterwards, I was dropped off at our Hypnobabies birthing class with Meggs, so I couldn't squeeze in the miles during the afternoon. Fortunately, I was able to run the 10k that evening while Meggs helped Rachel get ready for bed. I think Rachel was a bit confused about the fact that Daddy had a race this morning and is now going for a run again!
The race itself was great, and one of my best ever in terms of pacing and fueling. I started nice and slowly, and chatted with a bunch of friends during the race. The race went according to plan; I was excited to feel strong for the final 1200' climb over three miles, and then flew down the last few miles to the finish. I was not passed after the 17-mile mark, and passed a number of runners during the last half-marathon. Afterwards we had a great time hanging out in the sun, catching up with friends, and listening to the live band.
In most of my races since Dad died, I have experienced at least one emotional stretch where I thought about him, got all teary, and couldn't see the trail clearly. Interestingly, this was the first race where that didn't happen. Maybe that's why the evening 10k seemed like an easy 59-minute sunset jog, after being out for 6:48:54 earlier.
Thanks, Dad, for being great. We love you!
(So I was going to end the blog here, but...)
I have to add that Rachel has been having a lot of very emotionally advanced conversations about death recently. This spring Pops' dog Max died, and my Dad's death comes up from time to time in conversation, especially in the last few weeks. If I am sad, one of her questions to me is often, "Do you want a hug from your Daddy?" or "Do you want to give Grandpa Ray a hug?" Despite being an emotionally difficult question, this always elicits a smile from me. My daughter is great.
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