Today was the big 20 week ultrasound. If you think you are going to find the gender in this post, you will be disappointed. No Girl or Boy reveal until Saturday. You’ll just have to come back and revisit my blog this weekend.
Here is what I do know. I love Maute Moo. Seeing my baby’s face through the ultrasound monitor was amazing. Christian and Cole were right by my side. Christian and I cried a few tears. Cole had a blast pointing out legs, arms, hands, fingers and toes. We got to see our baby’s brain, our baby’s heart beating inside his/her chest, and his/her future belly button.
Maybe it’s a mom thing or maybe it’s a wife thing, but I love watching Christian and Cole fall in love with Maute Moo too. I feel so lucky that I have Maute Moo with me 24 hours a day. I get to feel every kick. I know his/her every movement. Seeing Christian’s tears of joy make me love him even more (and by him, I’m mean Christian!). Seeing Cole turn into a great big brother already makes me a proud mom. I can’t wait to add another family member to our mix!
Maute Moo also got a clean bill of health (big sigh of relief). He/She looks great. He/She looks healthy. He/She is measuring in the 49th percentile. He/She is our perfect average size baby.
I also know that Maute Moo appears to be all arms and legs just like Cole (and me). Maute Moo appears to have Cole’s exact chin. In fact, Cole and I were just talking about his chin. He told me he doesn’t like the wrinkle across his chin. Guess who else seems to have that wrinkle? Maute Moo. Guess who loves their wrinkle today? Cole. Maute Moo looks like he/she already has Maute lips. From lips to eyes, his/her profile looks identical to Christian.
What a fun amazing exciting journey we are on. We are one incredibly lucky family!
Yesterday JT at Smile with Your Heart started a new simple brilliant campaign on her blog – Bring your Damn Cup! I immediately signed up to join.
Concept – Bring your own to-go cup with you when visiting your local coffee shop
Timeframe – 1 year
Consequences – No t0-go cup. No coffee.
Simple. Brilliant. One small act to better our planet and ourselves.
Because I’m a numbers gal, I wanted to know some fun facts about disposable throw-away cups. Based on Starbucks Annual Report, it is estimated that Starbucks sold nearly 4 BILLION cups of coffee worldwide in 2010 (source). There is no telling how many people actually bring with them their own cup. If 1/2 of Starbucks customers would bring in their own coffee cup, 2 BILLION cups will be saved from a landfill. 2 billion less cups would be produced in factories causing over use of power and water. 2 billion less cups would be produced in factories reducing air pollution and factory waste.
I know some will argue that they recycle their coffee cup. While the cups are still be produced in mass quantities, they aren’t ending up in landfills. I have found very little to support that disposable coffee cups are being recycled in cities across America. Starbucks hot coffee disposable cups are made of both paper and plastic (source). Most cities across American aren’t set up to support the recycling of products made from paper and plastic. While you may be tossing your hot coffee to-go cup in the recycle bin, there is a good chance that it is being sorted out and being sent to the landfill. Starbucks is making moves to have cup recycling programs in stores and compostable cups by 2015. (You can read more here if you’d like). The iced coffee cups are made of plastic, and they are recycled.
While Starbucks is doing their part to make changes in the next 4 years, we as citizens who live on this planet should do our part to help save and preserve the planet that is our host. It’s simple. Want a coffee? Bring your own cup. Our desire to fuel our bodies with caffeine shouldn’t impede on nature’s ability to maintain itself.
Bringing your own cup, even just once, is doing something to save our planet. Join JT’s campaign. Bring your Damn Cup. Commit to doing it for a year. Go to her blog and sign up.
While I’m not a big coffee drinker, I do love my occasional iced coffee in the summer (decaffeinated while I’m pregnant!). I also love their Chai Tea in the winter. I will be bringing my own cup from now own. Christian, a coffee drinker, is also up for the challenge. And Cole is too. He is a sucker for their vanilla milks. No to-go cup. No Coffee. And if we do walk out of there with a coffee, we will spend 1 hour of our time cleaning up trash in local parks or beaches. Take something – Give something back.
While the campaign is only requesting you bring your own cup for coffee, I think we can do better. Start somewhere. Start with coffee. But let if overflow into the rest of your life. Christian and I haven’t bought bottled water in over 6 months (and will never again – unless we are stranded in the desert and a 7-11 appears selling bottled water). Watch “Tapped” if you want to know why. Bring your own bags to the grocery store.
Do something today to make our planet a little better. Stop taking for a minute and give something back. And head on over to Smile with your Heart and sign up for this simple but brilliant campaign.
Why Not Bring Your Own Damn Cup?
(and of course this applies to all coffee shops – not just starbucks!)
Today marks the half-way point in my pregnancy (plus or minus a few days depending on the cooking time for Maute Moo).
How am I feeling? Great! I still love an afternoon nap, but who doesn’t love a nap. Minus the rare occasion, the throwing up, the headaches, and the lack of energy is all gone. Maute Moo has turned into a party animal. He/She turns up the music and starts to dance around 7pm each night. I feel him/her until I fall asleep. He/She kicks, flips, rolls, and pokes.
Hi Mom and Dad!
Cravings? I don’t really have strange cravings anymore. Yes. I love french fries still, but I think that is just a personal preference. Last night I really wanted chocolate, so I made brownies. Again, I think it’s just me not necessarily the pregnancy that wants these things. My appetite has definitely balanced out. I don’t have any weird foods that I must avoid or must have.
Concerns? My only concern at this point is making sure I’m still consuming enough calories on days that a run. On my run on Saturday I burned almost 1000 calories. I am eating when I’m hungry. Does any one know if there is a standard “rule of thumb” to go by when burning calories while pregnant. I know I read somewhere that the body needs about 300 extra calories a day for the baby. Should I make sure I consume the calories I burned while working out? I have a doctor’s appoint Thursday. I’ll be asking! Between my last two appointments (2 weeks apart), I didn’t gain any weight. Prior to those appointments, my weight gain has fluctuated greatly. I’ve gained A LOT one month. I gained a little the next. I really don’t know how much I’ve gained my entire pregnancy because I’m not exactly sure of my start weight to begin with (we don’t own a scale, and I only weigh myself when I step on the Wii Fit board or at the doctor’s office). I was definitely at my lowest when I was marathon training. I then stopped running due to my injury, and I’m pretty confident I gained a few pounds (5 lbs to be exact). A month later I found out I was pregnant. So, with all that said, I think I’ve gained any where from 12-15 lbs with this pregnancy.
I really don’t care about my weight gain number (as long as I don’t get up and over the 50 lb mark). I just want to make sure I’m providing my baby with the proper nutrition. I eat when I’m hungry. 90% of the time, I’m eating foods high in nutrition. We eat balanced meals in our household. I do love my snacks – french fries, gummy candies, and a few occasional chocolate snacks – but I limit my consumption of them. Honestly, it isn’t much different now than when I wasn’t pregnant.
Aches and pains? My lower back on the right side is throbbing each night. I’m pretty sure my hips are spreading. I also know that Maute Moo loves to hang out around my hips. I have a feeling it is a combination of spreading hips, baby and the rod and pins in my right femur and hip.
The BIG ULTRASOUND DAY is Thursday! We have decided to find out the sex of the baby (heart rate is still hanging out at 140). We are having an official “reveal the sex of the baby” party on Saturday with our families. Cupcakes for everyone courtesy of my friend Morgan! Pink or blue icing? Any guesses? My vote is still for pink!
Maute Moo at our first ultrasound. I can't wait to see how much he/she has changed.
After my long run on Saturday, I knew I need to say thank you to my husband. After a great concert last night, I knew I needed to say thank you to my husband.
So I’ve decided to do what every good blogging wife should do….I’m writing my husband’s thank you note on my blog.
To say thank you, I head on over to pinterest to find a fun thank you image to open up this post with. I typed in “thank you”. One of the first things to pop up wasn’t exactly a thank you, but it screams “Christian” to me. If it were on the front of a card in Hallmark, I would have to buy it for him.
Trust me. He is laughing right now! This drives him nuts – along with a few other weird speech patterns every day American’s have picked up along the way.
On to the Thank you……..
My husband has been listening to, dealing with, and accommodating my marathon training schedule since November of 2009. He has graciously and more than willingly turned Saturday mornings into Cole and Christian mornings so I can go for a run. He makes sure he arrives home at a prompt time during winter months, so I can run before it gets dark. He meets me at the door with cold water. He rides his bicycle beside when I need him. He’s dropped everything to bring me more water along my route when I’ve run out of water. He’s rubbed my feet, my legs, my butt, my back. He’s cheered me on in every race (once from a beach chair in Barbados – but he had the phone sitting next to him so I could proudly say “I did it” to my biggest fan after my run). He’s woke up on race day to make me breakfast, to drop me off at start lines, and to drag our non-morning person child out the door to cheer me on. He’s entertained Cole for hours on the side lines so I can see them for 2 minutes during 2+ hour races. He sat with me in doctor’s office appointments for my stress fracture, so I couldn’t ignore the doctor’s orders. He let me cry about my missed marathon. He went with me to the marathon I didn’t run to cheer on 1000+ strangers and a few friends for more than 4 hours.
Richmond Half-Marathon - Best cheer squad ever!
He doesn’t do any of this because he loves the sport of running. In fact, I think it’s safe to say he isn’t a big fan of running at all. He does all of this for me. He wants to see me smile. He knows how much I love it.
Just when he thought he was off the hook with running accommodations for a while, I got pregnant. If you run and if you are/have been pregnant, you know how similar the entire process is on your entire body. It’s wonderful. It’s exciting. You celebrate each mile marker. It makes your body hurt. It makes you tired. It’s the best thing you will ever do.
Christian continues to rub my feet, my legs, my butt, my back, and now my hips, my shoulders, and my neck. He is always right there to get me a glass of water. He makes me whatever snack I want. He lets me nap when needed. He doesn’t complain when I go to bed at 8pm (too much).
Not only is Christian dealing with pregnancy symptoms, he is dealing with training symptoms too. After my long run on Saturday, he rubbed my feet. He let me nap. He made me dinner. He tucked me into bed early. On Sunday night, we went to see Band of Horses. He stood in the back of the venue to accommodate my need to not be trampled by feet and elbows. He made numerous trips to the bar for water (which cost $1.00 – RIDICULOUS!). He made me my own dinner for the grill out before hand, so I could fulfill my pregnant desires. He only drank two beers so he could drive me home because I was tired. So much for the perk of having a permanent designated drive while your wife is pregnant. When we got home from the concert, I was over tired and over hungry. I threw up and crawled in bed. He brought me my favorite snack – carnation instant breakfast drink. He rubbed my feet. He kissed me good night.
My husband deserves more than a Thank You. As we laid in bed last night feeling Maute Moo dance away in my belly, he or she said thank you to his or her dad by kicking him in the head for the first time. Last night was the first night we felt real kicks not just movement. Maute Moo literally kicked Christian in the head.
For those of you who think running is an individual sport – It’s not. I couldn’t do it without Christian. For those of you who think carrying a baby is only the joy/responsibility/burden of the mother – It’s not. I couldn’t do this life without Christian. Without this life, I doubt I’d be happy. So Christian, thank you for the happiness in my life.
I don’t say thank you nearly enough. I don’t say I love you nearly enough. BUT THANK YOU! And I LOVE YOU! You are the best husband for me!
Remember my run back in June when I could barely make it 4 miles on the board walk? I vowed to avoid the boardwalk this summer. Remember my run last saturday? I swore I learned my lesson about the boardwalk and summer heat. I even posted yesterday that I wouldn’t run on the boardwalk today. To quote myself, I said “I learned my lesson last weekend. I won’t be running on the boardwalk.”
Guess where I ended up this morning?
The boardwalk. And a whole lot more of the oceanfront area.
I just can't stay away
I started off my running headed North on the boardwalk. It was 80 degrees at 7:30 this morning, but there was a great breeze. It was overcast. If I’m going to run in August, this is my kind of weather. I ran to the end of the boardwalk and continue North into the North End residential area – our old stomping ground. It was fun to run the route I used to run every day for more than a year. I turned around at the 52nd Street light and headed back to the boardwalk. As I got to the area where my car was parked (mile 5.5), I was craving something besides water. I knew I had an ice-cold Gatorade in my car. I took a quick detour, ran to my car, and thoroughly enjoyed some of the ice-cold drink. Well worth the pit stop! At this point, I was still feeling good. 4.5 miles didn’t sound so bad after I had already ran 5.5 miles.
I left my car and continued to head south on the boardwalk. At this point, I thought my bladder was going to explode. TMI ALERT! I think it did a little 🙂 Add that to yesterday’s list of the joys of pregnant running.
I ran down to 1st street and rudee inlet, quickly used the bathroom, and realized I had less than a 5k left in my run. A 5k? I can run a 5k!
Rudee Inlet
From there I ran up over the Rudee Inlet Bridge (ouch!) and past the aquarium. I turned around and head back to 14th street. At this point my car was calling my name. I hit 10 miles 2 blocks from my car. Double digits feels good!
10 miles! Done!
After a quick check of my cell phone, I realized my husband was surfing 7 blocks from my car. I did a quick wardrobe change (yes! outside! in front of my car!). I changed from running clothes to my bathing suit and flip-flops. Thank goodness for bathing suit cover ups. I actually managed to change my clothes gracefully. I grabbed my beach chair, and I made the LONG 7 block hike to find him. The 1/2 mile walk felt longer than my entire run, but it was so worth it. I haven’t watched Christian surf all summer (there hasn’t been any surf). I got to jump in the ocean and cool off. I also go to relax in my beach chair for over an hour.
Christian is one of those heads bobbing in the water
All of that was done before noon. Now that is my kind of saturday morning.
How did my run go?
GREAT! i walked about 0.1 to 0.2 of every mile. I never got winded. I pushed myself mentally. I didn’t over push myself physically. I didn’t have any stomach pains. I drank A LOT of water. I ate a few GUs. Maute Moo was happily kicking away the entire time I sat on the beach. I made myself proud. I wanted to run the 10 miles in less than 2:30. My official finish time was 2:13:39 (13:22 min/mile). This makes me very happy! I’m so glad I ignored the lesson I thought I learned last weekend. The boardwalk was the perfect spot for my run today.
While I’m trying hard not to set a time goal for myself for the Rock n Roll half marathon, a 3 hour finish doesn’t seem unrealistic at this point. Only race day will tell!
Guess what I spotted at mile 7 on my run? It definitely added some fuel to my run!
Kristy Maute 