Elliot!

My husband and I welcomed our son, Elliot Finnegan, into the world on May 22, 2008 at 6:14 pm. He weighed 7lb. 15oz. Both Elliot and I were healthy and doing well following the birth. Thank you to everyone who prayed for us!! I'm not going to post details about labor and delivery here; email me if you'd like more information. :)

Life at home with a newborn has been a learning experience. I love watching him figure things out about the world, like the fact that he can control his arms and hands. My husband has been a great father and an amazing source of comfort and support for me over the last five weeks. All told, we're a happy, healthy little family.

Finally, some pictures. The first is (obviously) me right before he was born. This was taken 4 days before, actually. The second picture was taken about 2 minutes after his birth. The third was taken at home maybe a week later. Of course, I have many, many more pictures of him. Let me know if you'd like to see more!

Pregnancy and yoga

A few years ago I was doing a lot of yoga because it kept me limber and kept my arms and upper back toned without using weights. I enjoyed yoga, but didn't regard it as a primary source of exercise. Well, my friends, prenatal yoga is another story.

These days, I look like this:

It's beautiful and I'm a happy pregnant woman, so what I'm about to say is not meant to be a complaint. That said, at 38 weeks there is just a lot of weight to carry around. My back, calves, hamstrings, and especially my hips get very tight. Sometimes I find myself at 3am stretching at the foot of the bed. Prenatal yoga is the solution! I find that if I do about 30 minutes every 3 days or so, and do some walking in the interim, I stay fairly comfortable.

At the risk of sounding like a commercial, I'm going to endorse the DVD I use. For Christmas my husband gave me "Prenatal Vinyasa Yoga with Jennifer Wolfe." I had read reviews of it online before asking him for it. I was afraid of getting a DVD that was, well, frankly, lame. The Jennifer Wolfe DVD is for people who have done yoga before. It's rigorous enough that I think I'll continue to use it after the baby is born. It's also nice in that it demonstrates alternative poses for women in various stages of pregnancy.

My due date is two weeks from today, so it could be any time now! Stay tuned.

A brilliant idea

Tonight while on the phone with my brother I was explaining that I was burning up because I had just consumed a cup of decaf coffee. He asked why I was drinking coffee if it was making me too warm. I told him I'd brewed it because I was thirsty. His response? "You know, I've never considered coffee a thirst quencher. If it were meant to quench thirst there would be a coffee flavored Gatorade."

Why has no one thought of this? It's brilliant. Runners could still (sort of) have their morning coffee, hydrate rather than dehydrate, and get all of those electrolytes. Starbucks could cash in on this.

"What will it be this morning?"
"I'll have a mocha latte Gatorade, please. Hold the whipped cream."
"That will be $4.73."

I'm buying stock now. You'll soon find this in my Catalog of Obscure Running Gear, right after the maternity dry-fit clothing section.

Shout out, Nashville edition

Congratulations to Debby Rehn for finishing her first half-marathon this past weekend in Nashville!! Not only did Debby finish, she beat her goal time, finishing in 1 hour 57 minutes 25 seconds. Good job!!

As for my efforts, it isn't even particularly comfortable to walk much anymore. The baby has moved down as far as humanly possible, so there is a good bit of pressure from time to time. I will however be walking and/or doing prenatal yoga tomorrow. It's high time! In either case I'm not sure how much I'll be able to do, but it will feel good to get some exercise.

Shout out, Boston Marathon edition

A big congratulations to my TNT coach, Harley Johnson, for completing the Boston Marathon in 2:49:21! That's an average pace of 6 minutes 28 seconds per mile. Way to go!!

I also heard through the grapevine that some of my teammates are gearing up for their next races. It looks like one will be running Indy with Meg and me in October. A few are planning on doing the Chicago Marathon. Two of my former teammates are coaching the TNT fall team. I think they'll be great coaches. The fall team kicks off here in a few weeks. I can't wait to take my baby for early morning strolls and see the team while they train! All around, very exciting news from my little community of runners!

Sorry Mom, concerned members of the public

I just couldn't help myself. It was pushing 60. The sky was a beautiful blue with fluffy and lightly scattered clouds. Meg and I are both having light weeks (though admittedly, "light" means entirely different things for us). So we ran. That's right, I said we. We ran.

We ran/walked about 2.9 miles. We walked at least as much of it as we ran, and the running was not particularly fast. Following doctor's orders, I was careful and walked when I felt tired or too heavy. I have to admit, after the fact I'm feeling a bit uncomfortable, but it was worth it. Tomorrow I will do prenatal yoga and loosen my muscles back up again.

I apologize to my mother because I told her that "the last mile" a few weeks ago would be it. She worried about that mile even, and breathed a sigh of relief when it was over. To the concerned members of the public, I apologize because I know it's surprising and odd to see a woman 8 months pregnant running. I understand your confusion and concern and I assure you, I'm being careful and talking regularly with my OB.

Earlier this week I walked and did prenatal yoga. I'm still liking that combination in these final weeks. It keeps me active and maintains some muscle tone without making the muscles too tight. My doctor recommends prenatal yoga, since loose muscles make for easier delivery. Today may really have been the last running I will do; my hips really are not happy about it. Stay tuned though.

Article of interest

It's a really slow day at work, so I'm being rather naughty and posting to this blog. For anyone who cares, my work schedule is 100% flexible, so I'm not actually stealing "company" time. I'm not on a clock. Regardless, it feels sort of naughty.

I just saw this article on MSN and wanted to post it. When I started running in earnest, just about a year ago, I had concerns about my left knee. I had surgery on it in 1995 and was concerned that running would further tear the cartilage. I was concerned enough to talk to my general practitioner about it. She told me that many people have noisy knees and that it's no cause for concern vis-a-vis running. She said that if I start to get an ache, take some glucosamine and ice my knee. In the whole course of training for the CDC last year it never became a problem. As the article mentions, I hear a lot of people use this fear as a reason not to begin running. I'm encouraged that the article advocates responsible running and points out the dangers of sitting on the sideline.

In the world of Joanna, things are going well. I've been mixing walking, light to moderate weight lifting, and prenatal yoga. Never before have my muscles been as consistently tight as they are now (I'm at 34 weeks, for anyone who is curious). The yoga makes a noticeable impact by loosening up my legs, back, and arms. I feel like brisk walking is keeping my cardiovascular strength up somewhat, for which I'm grateful. My doctor gave me the best news of the week, though. As long as I slow down and am careful, I can still go run the occasional mile. Given what the nurse had told me at the last visit, and the fact that my ligaments are loose now, I had thought it was discouraged. There may yet be another mile or two left in this pregnancy. Now that the weather is turning toward spring, it's torture for me not to run a lap here and there.

And finally, I have some commentary on spring runners. When it's 55 or 60 degrees out, you do not need long sleeves to run. Regardless, it makes me happy to see everyone out putting in some miles, enjoying the spring weather.