October 25, 2007

27 weeks and only 13 to go (hopefully!)

Well, I'm one week away from being officially done with the second trimester... and we'll be having a baby in approximately three months! I can't believe it. Time is flying by and I keep having this feeling that I'm not getting everything done. Get used to it, right? My stomach is getting noticeably bigger. It gets harder to do my yoga class every time.


Last Saturday, we attended the opening of my doula's yoga studio/wellness center, Blooma. I got a very cool henna on my belly which I wish would last the whole pregnancy! It's very fun to have something beautiful on your stomach when it's the size of a watermelon. Here's a picture of it:


We started our Birthing from Within classes last Monday and I think they'll be really good for us. I like the group of people who are in the class and the atmosphere is very calm and soothing. We got to practice pain management techniques using ice, which actually hurts if you hold it in your hands for a little while. Try it once!

Other than that, not too much new going on in the past few weeks. Jason's keeping up with school and he got to write his first real paper today after going to the Van Halen concert last night. Hmm, it almost feels like we're back in college.

Last weekend, Sandy & Miah and Danny & Charlie came to visit. Aymee had to work so she couldn't make it and we missed her. It was a really fun weekend. We all got to see my parents new house in Wisconsin and we got homemade waffles and white sauce for brunch on Sunday morning. Mmmmm. Danny, Jason & Miah had their usual Monopoly game, although Danny didn't win for once.

That's all for now - have a great weekend everyone!

October 8, 2007

Marathon Weekend ~ Kerri's perspective

What a busy, fun and exhausting weekend!

On Friday night, I attended a Faith and Friendship event at my good friend Jen's church in Chaska. We had a fantastic buffet, heard some great music and were treated to a fun and insightful discussion of the different types of friends and how friendship affects and enhances our faith. I had a great time and loved getting to connect more with Jen, her sister, Sara and Jen's neighbor. Thanks for the invite, Jen!

Saturday morning we got our pumpkins for carving - a dad, a mom and a baby pumpkin. How perfect! We'll post a picture of our carved pumpkins once they're done. We then had a frantic trip to the grocery store and barely made it to our seminar in the afternoon. The seminar was titled, Celebrations & Rituals During the Childbearing Years and was led by Pam England, author of the book, Birthing from Within, which is the childbirth class we'll be taking.

Here's a synopsis of the seminar from the website:
Deep in our bones we know that birth is a rite of passage. We feel that truth quicken our heartbeat; we seek ritual, we feel our feet want to dance, but we never learned the steps. This afternoon will bring joy, dance, color, tears and laughter as we look at celebrating the thresholds from conception to cronehood. Bringing our experiences, dreams and visions together, we will begin to piece together a “quilt” of ritual and ceremony in which to wrap ourselves and the next generation.

Like Jason mentioned, the environment was very soothing and womb-like. A warm, dim room with candles and incense burning and quiet music playing. I could have fallen asleep! The seminar was very good and definitely pushed us out of our comfort zone, which I appreciate. We live in such a sanitized, robotic (Western) culture devoid of true celebrations of motherhood. Expression of our deepest emotions is very rare in a group setting and tends to make us really uncomfortable. It's much easier to exist at a surface level, but not always the best way to live. As Jason mentioned, I got to participate in a ceremony which was meant to celebrate the passage into motherhood and to help me focus on what it means to me to become a mother. The ceremony involved drums, scarves, dancing, music, etc. It was at the same time very unfamiliar and very cool! I was struck with the awesome realization that the baby we are going to deliver in January will FOREVER be our child and we will be the only parents it will ever have. I know it sounds obvious but the absolute permanence of having a baby is amazing to me. It was a great experience.

Saturday night, I made supper for Jason, Tammy & Alysa which turned out great. And Sunday morning, we got up very early for the marathon. Jason and Dan (his friend and running partner) did fantastic especially considering that the day was excruciatingly hot and humid. It was about 74 degrees and 75% humidity at the start of the race and it only got warmer as the day continued. It was clear that lots of runners were struggling with the heat, but they pushed through and finished. It was a huge accomplishment for Jason and I'm very proud of him! Dan was a great running partner and supporter for Jason. Thanks Dan!

The Twin Cities Marathon is known as the most beautiful urban marathon in the US and I believe it. Here's a couple of pictures from the marathon. The first is a picture of the runners at Mile 22, just to the right of them is the Mississippi - that's the next picture. The last is a picture of the Capitol Building where the marathon ended.



Overall, we had a very busy and fulfilling weekend. I need some sleep...

Marathon Weekend - In Review

Well, what can I say??

This last weekend was one like I have never had before, and one that I will not likely ever see again, given the combinations of activities, people, places and things. Let's start with Saturday, shall we?

It started as a very relaxed weekend. Kerri & I slept in on Saturday morning - for me that means around 8:30 a.m. & for Kerri a little later. We both got ready (read: put on clothes and baseball caps) and went to get pumpkins for carving sometime soon. It was a rather sticky and warm morning, and we both talked about how we hoped the same weather would not spill over into Sunday. We found our way home a short time after pumpkins and a Byerly's shopping trip to really get ready (read: shower) for an afternoon workshop being offered by Birthing from Within author, Pam England.

We traveled to Woodwinds Hospital in Woodbury and were greeted by a few friendly faces that we recognized - and promptly sat for the workshop. The smell of burning incense, dimmed lighting and sound of soothing music welcomed us into the conference room where the workshop would take place. The workshop was very interesting - many of the topics and activities were outside of our normal comfort zone. We listened to discussion about rediscovering rituals and took part in a couple of native rituals ourselves. We will be starting a Birthing from Within class in the coming weeks. I am really looking forward to exploring the ideas and practices that were touched on in this workshop - I'm sure we'll have more to share!

After the workshop was over (at about 4:30 p.m.) we headed home to prepare my pre-marathon meal. Not long after we got home, we were joined by my sister (Tammy) and niece (Alysa). At the time of their arrival, Kerri was frantically hustling about the kitchen tending to four things at once - eat your heart out, Rachel Ray.

The smells of garlic and fresh tomato sauce began filling the house, and before long we were all treated to a fantastic dinner. The pasta sauce was incredible - and spicy! Coupled with the bread, which had freshly roasted garlic and melted cheese, the pasta was just the carb load that I needed to power me through 26.2 miles in the morning. Take note of Kerri's last post and make this one at home, even if you're not running a marathon. The shrimp in the pasta and red pepper flakes in the sauce were a tasty flavor combination. Cheesecake and plenty of glasses of water were the perfect dessert!

Fast-forward to Sunday, 6:30 a.m. After a decent sleep, I awoke, got dressed and started to mentally prepare myself for the run of my life. My running partner, Dan, showed promptly at 7:00 a.m. and we discussed our approach to the race coming up. Kerri dropped us off at the marathon start (Metrodome) and promised to see us at mile 7 (Lyndale Rose Gardens).

I'd take you through a mile-by-mile account of the race, but that would likely feel like the 5 hour and 42 minute torture that it was. In hindsight, it could've been worse. Sure, it was one of the hottest Twin Cities Marathons on record and my training "taper" turned into a "stop", but I didn't pass out from dehydration or burst into tears from the pain. With Kerri, Tammy and Alysa cheering (and with food and water) at miles 7, 17, 20 and 26 and with the constant pushing and encouragement from Dan, I finished my first marathon.

Here I am at mile 17 (still smiling for the camera!):


And here we are at the finish line:


By and large, the marathon was the most physically grueling activity I have ever been through in my life. A day later, I am struggling to walk down stairs and rise from a seated position. But, other than a sore back and tired legs, I am feeling pretty good.

Some tips for any of you would-be marathoners:
  1. Train properly. Don't let your taper turn into a stop. Do as many miles as you can throughout the training period.
  2. Hope that you are lucky enough to have a wife like Kerri to take care of you before and after the race. Thanks for the dinner, cheering, food/water, and loving at mile 17, babe. I'm glad you didn't leave - I was looking forward to a little sugar!
  3. Have a friend like Dan to power you through the rough spots. Dan could've finished the marathon at least an hour ahead of our recorded finish, but he stayed with me the entire time. He helped me push through. I'd like to think that I would've been able to push myself through had he not been there - but my thanks go out to him for sticking with me.

Thanks to Tammy and Alysa for coming to cheer me on through the run. I really appreciate you guys coming down to see me and help me make it through. Your words of encouragement meant a lot! I look forward to running the marathon with you in 2010, Alys. Let's start with some 5k's next summer!

Thanks to everyone else who also had my back but couldn't make it out on race day, for whatever reason. I appreciate the support you gave leading up to the race! I hope this post wasn't too long, drawn out and boring for you all to read. After all, it was my weekend to remember. And remember it, I will...

October 3, 2007

Twin Cities Marathon in 3 days!!!

In just 3 days from now, my brave, strong husband will run 26.2 miles in the Twin Cities Medtronic Marathon! It's supposed to be cool and raining all day Sunday, so please pray for dry, warm weather!! To help him out, I'm going to cook this yummy recipe for supper the night before and serve it with homemade garlic bread and cheesecake for dessert!

Marathon Fettuccine with Charred Tomato Sauce and Grilled Shrimp, Serves: 4

Charred tomatoes
8 plum tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat broiler over high heat. Brush tomatoes with oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on a sheet pan and place under the broiler until charred on all sides, turning several times with tongs. Remove, let cool slightly and coarsely chop.

Grilled Shrimp
20 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the grill to high. In a large bowl, toss the shrimp with enough olive oil to coat, and season with salt and pepper. Grill for 1 to 2 minutes per side or until just cooked through. Remove from grill and keep warm until ready to use.

Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium Spanish onion, peeled, halved and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
½ teaspoon red chile flakes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons fresh basil, coarsely chopped
¾ pound fresh fettuccine, cooked al dente
Fresh basil sprigs, for garnish

  1. Heat the oil in a large high sided sauté pan over high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, two-to-three minutes. Add the garlic and chile flakes and cook for 30 seconds.
  2. Add the charred tomatoes and salt and pepper and cook until the tomatoes are soft and break down completely, 20-30 minutes, stir in basil. Add the cooked pasta and using tongs, stir to coat the pasta evenly.
  3. Divide the pasta among four large shallow bowls and top with 5 of the grilled shrimp. Garnish with basil sprigs.
Here's the marathon website if you want more info: http://www.mtcmarathon.org/

If you're not busy on Sunday morning (and you're not scared of getting wet), come join me in cheering him on - I'm sure he would appreciate the support!

October 2, 2007

Natural Childbirth

Immediately upon finding out that I was pregnant, I decided that it was important to me to have as natural a pregnancy and delivery as possible, while knowing that there may be issues that are out of my control and being ready to accept whatever childbirth experience we are given. Personally, since it's my body and my baby that will be affected, I feel very strongly about being able to make choices without outside pressure from others, such as doctors, nurses, concerned friends, etc. (even though their intentions are usually good).

It's interesting to me how people react when they find out this is my choice. Some people think it's great but most people make a comment something similar this, "Oh, just you wait until you see how much it hurts - you'll want drugs for sure!" And then they tell me how horribly painful childbirth is and how I can't understand this since I've never experienced it before. While I appreciate and respect the fact that this may have been their experience, I truly resent being told that I don't have the ability to make the correct choice about my body, my baby's body and drugs, simply because I've never experienced childbirth.

During my first appointment with my physician (who is no longer my physician), she callously advised me that I would not truly want a waterbirth as the only thing I'm going to want to do during labor is lay flat on my back in bed and accept the pain relief they provide. I'd like to think that as a smart, educated, independent women, I CAN make that decision for myself - thank you very much!

In her book, Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, Ina May Gaskin writes:

So many horror stories circulate about birth - especially in the United States - that it can be difficult for women to believe that labor and birth can be a beneficial experience. If you have been pregnant for a while, it's probable that you've already heard some scary birth stories from friends or relatives. This is especially true if you live in the United States, where telling pregnant women gory stories has been a national pastime for at least a century. Now that birth has become a favorite subject of television dramas and situation comedies, this trend has been even
more pronounced. No one has explained the situation more succinctly than Steven King in his novella "The Breathing Method." Commenting on the fear many women have of birth, his fictional character observes, "Believe me: if you are told that some experience is going to hurt, it will hurt. Most pain is in the mind, and when a woman absorbs the idea that the act of giving birth is excruciatingly painful - when she gets this information from her mother, her sisters, her married friends, and her physician - that woman has been mentally prepared to feel great agony." King, you may not know, is the father of several children born at home. The best way I know to counter the effects of frightening stories is to hear or read empowering ones. I mean stores that change you because you read or heard them, because the teller of the story taught you something you didn't know before or helped you look at things from a different angle than you ever had before.

My beautiful doula, Sarah, has been the best in reassuring me that I am strong and I have the ability to have a baby. Now don't get me wrong... I don't believe that I can control every aspect of my labor and delivery and if something happens which requires intervention OR if I decide at some point that I do want drugs, then I'll be ok with whatever happens.

What I'm focusing on is believing that the birth of our child will be an amazing, beautiful, life changing experience (no matter how it occurs) and that I am truly strong enough to birth a baby without drugs. Millions of women, all over the world have done this and continue to do this everyday. I am choosing to trust my body and my instincts and to believe in the strength that ALL WOMEN possess, including me.

I hope that everyone who knows me, can both accept this choice and support me in this effort.