Running for Two
After a long absence in attending to writing, I've finally grasped a few morning moments awaiting the pest control man to attend to this blog.
I've engaged in a new forty week training program which culminates in an event far more difficult than a marathon. The interesting thing is that the event director doesn't give any indication of exactly when the event will occur, nor how long the event will take. Nonetheless, I'm training as vigilantly as possible. I'm officially running for two. We expect the first addition to the clan in early December. Right now I'm approaching the halfway point of twenty weeks. So far the pregnancy has been without many of the primary discomforts such as morning sickness. However, I've learned the hard way that I can't eat the same quantities at one time since my innards are slowly getting squished by the growing fetus. In addition, I can't eat much in the way of heavy Italian food because it gives me heartburn. My two current food cravings are Taco Bell and spinach. The spinach fascination is a pure mystery. I have not purchased spinach in the grocery store ever in my adult life until the last four weeks. Now I can't seem to get enough. On weekends I'll emerge from a nap and heat up a bowl of frozen spinach. It's now become my snack coming home from work.
I've received or purchased several books on the whole pregnancy business as well as post-pregnancy business. Many of these books, with a few exceptions, essentially try to scare the mother-to-be. They should distribute What to Expect When You're Expecting and Babyproofing Your Marriage as birth control. Here is a brief synopsis of those two books: What to Expect... while providing good information, highlights all the things that you should not do or eat and the many things that could go wrong during pregnancy. Babyproofing... essentially foretells that your marriage will be a sexless hell after children, so parents-to-be may as well prepare for it early, consider the strategies offered, and except fate. However, I would highly recommend Your Pregnancy Week-by-Week, and The Expectant Father for dad-to-be.
One of the amazing facets of pregnancy is the sense of community it creates. The first sense of community has been between husband and I in that we are growing something together. The second sense of community has been with family. My mother seems extraordinarily excited about the impending birth and would like to be present for the big event. Although this child is not my mother's first grand, it will be the first "traditional" grand. Other siblings have been less traditional about their approaches to child rearing. I've talked more with husband's family in the last several weeks than in the many years we've been together. Their reaction to our informing them of the family addition was absolutely priceless. It involved screaming, laughter and surprise. Thankfully we captured this moment on video tape. Each time we watch it husband and I both smile. Other people who are already parents are quick to offer a plethora of advice from "buy toys with volume controls" to "make sure you have lots of onesies." One woman who absolutely amazes me already gave us a box stuffed full of maternity clothes, a cradle and prenatal yoga DVD. This woman has been through such painful adversity in terms of children, and yet she is the one person who always asks how I'm doing.
The responses from friends and co-workers have been varied, though. Most people react with surprise. A couple of people cried. One person said "congratulations, you're f***ed."
The interesting thing is that the second question people ask me (the first being "have you been sick?) is "are you still running?" I think it's funny that people are anxious to know about my running life in the midst of this creative process. Proudly, I can still respond that I continue to do something akin to running. I've stopped wearing a watch because my pace has slowed tremendously. My mileage is only at around 20-25 miles per week. But I'm still hitting the streets. I'm also subjecting husband to the torture of living with a morning runner as I've been getting up at about 5:15 a.m. to get a run in before work so that I can avoid running in 80 degree weather in the evenings. The dark morning quiet has been beautiful and filled with gallivanting bunnies and chirping birds flitting through the neighborhood. The early morning runs also illustrate the regularity of our lives, as I see the same cars blowing through stop signs and speeding through our neighborhood at the exact same time each morning. The most difficult part of running right now is the hills. The hills reduce me to a near crawl. But at least I'm out there. My plan is to run until it becomes uncomfortable. I'd like to make it through until Labor Day if possible. There are many women out there running much more than I am much further along. Some women even run on the day the go into labor.
Husband has been fantastic through this process. He's been to every appointment we've had. I haven't done a great job at stressing that I'm just the vessel for this child-to-be, but it's true. We are in this adventure together. I think that when a woman is pregnant, the future father's role is often de-emphasized. People should engage dads-to-be more in the conversations so that they feel more a part of the pregnancy portion of the journey.
I've engaged in a new forty week training program which culminates in an event far more difficult than a marathon. The interesting thing is that the event director doesn't give any indication of exactly when the event will occur, nor how long the event will take. Nonetheless, I'm training as vigilantly as possible. I'm officially running for two. We expect the first addition to the clan in early December. Right now I'm approaching the halfway point of twenty weeks. So far the pregnancy has been without many of the primary discomforts such as morning sickness. However, I've learned the hard way that I can't eat the same quantities at one time since my innards are slowly getting squished by the growing fetus. In addition, I can't eat much in the way of heavy Italian food because it gives me heartburn. My two current food cravings are Taco Bell and spinach. The spinach fascination is a pure mystery. I have not purchased spinach in the grocery store ever in my adult life until the last four weeks. Now I can't seem to get enough. On weekends I'll emerge from a nap and heat up a bowl of frozen spinach. It's now become my snack coming home from work.
I've received or purchased several books on the whole pregnancy business as well as post-pregnancy business. Many of these books, with a few exceptions, essentially try to scare the mother-to-be. They should distribute What to Expect When You're Expecting and Babyproofing Your Marriage as birth control. Here is a brief synopsis of those two books: What to Expect... while providing good information, highlights all the things that you should not do or eat and the many things that could go wrong during pregnancy. Babyproofing... essentially foretells that your marriage will be a sexless hell after children, so parents-to-be may as well prepare for it early, consider the strategies offered, and except fate. However, I would highly recommend Your Pregnancy Week-by-Week, and The Expectant Father for dad-to-be.
One of the amazing facets of pregnancy is the sense of community it creates. The first sense of community has been between husband and I in that we are growing something together. The second sense of community has been with family. My mother seems extraordinarily excited about the impending birth and would like to be present for the big event. Although this child is not my mother's first grand, it will be the first "traditional" grand. Other siblings have been less traditional about their approaches to child rearing. I've talked more with husband's family in the last several weeks than in the many years we've been together. Their reaction to our informing them of the family addition was absolutely priceless. It involved screaming, laughter and surprise. Thankfully we captured this moment on video tape. Each time we watch it husband and I both smile. Other people who are already parents are quick to offer a plethora of advice from "buy toys with volume controls" to "make sure you have lots of onesies." One woman who absolutely amazes me already gave us a box stuffed full of maternity clothes, a cradle and prenatal yoga DVD. This woman has been through such painful adversity in terms of children, and yet she is the one person who always asks how I'm doing.
The responses from friends and co-workers have been varied, though. Most people react with surprise. A couple of people cried. One person said "congratulations, you're f***ed."
The interesting thing is that the second question people ask me (the first being "have you been sick?) is "are you still running?" I think it's funny that people are anxious to know about my running life in the midst of this creative process. Proudly, I can still respond that I continue to do something akin to running. I've stopped wearing a watch because my pace has slowed tremendously. My mileage is only at around 20-25 miles per week. But I'm still hitting the streets. I'm also subjecting husband to the torture of living with a morning runner as I've been getting up at about 5:15 a.m. to get a run in before work so that I can avoid running in 80 degree weather in the evenings. The dark morning quiet has been beautiful and filled with gallivanting bunnies and chirping birds flitting through the neighborhood. The early morning runs also illustrate the regularity of our lives, as I see the same cars blowing through stop signs and speeding through our neighborhood at the exact same time each morning. The most difficult part of running right now is the hills. The hills reduce me to a near crawl. But at least I'm out there. My plan is to run until it becomes uncomfortable. I'd like to make it through until Labor Day if possible. There are many women out there running much more than I am much further along. Some women even run on the day the go into labor.
Husband has been fantastic through this process. He's been to every appointment we've had. I haven't done a great job at stressing that I'm just the vessel for this child-to-be, but it's true. We are in this adventure together. I think that when a woman is pregnant, the future father's role is often de-emphasized. People should engage dads-to-be more in the conversations so that they feel more a part of the pregnancy portion of the journey.
posted by runninchick at 6:59 AM
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