This Crazy Pregnant Runner

Disclaimer: I do not pretend in any way to be able to give out medical advice. I think all women who are considering exercising in pregnancy should first consult a doctor.

On the run at 24 weeks pregnant (1/29/11)

Most of my friends have thought I am nuts for running so much when I wasn't pregnant. Running is a very odd sport, but it can be very addictive. I don't run to lose weight, to look a certain way, or because I have to. I run because I like the way I feel after a hard workout, I love pushing myself to my limits, and there is no better feeling than breaking a PR (personal record) or racing a new distance.

I am pretty sure most people would not be surprised to learn that I have kept running through my pregnancy. David sure wasn't surprised. I found out I was pregnant on a Sunday, the week prior I had run 60 miles and did 2 very intense interval workouts. I was close to being in the best shape of my life, having run my first marathon just a month before getting pregnant. I scheduled an appointment with my OB right away, and was able to talk with him quite a bit about my hopes to run through pregnancy. Because I had been running at a high level for a long time my doctor had no issue with me continuing to run. He was even okay with me continuing to do hard workouts, but for my own piece of mind I cut them out, or slowed them down a lot until I completely stopped doing them around 10 weeks.

I have set running goals for myself throughout my pregnancy thus far, but they are goals that are there to keep me from making excuses when I just want to be lazy. If I am not feeling well, or if there is something pregnancy-related that makes me feel like I should back off, those goals go out the window. Baby boy is number one, not my running goals. So far, I have met and exceeded all of my goals through 25 weeks. I am actually still surprised at how much I am running, and how normal it feels.

I read a great book called, "Exercising Through Your Pregnancy" by Dr. James Clapp. He did extensive research explaining the effects of regular exercise on all phases of pregnancy. After reading this book I really felt that if I am physically able to exercise I should, simply because of all the benefits to mom and baby. A few interesting points from his studies and research:

• Exercising women (EW) aren't any more likely to have preterm labor. They are more likely to deliver at full term (37-40wks) and less likely to deliver past 40wks. They tend to deliver 5-7 early than sedentary women (SW).
  
• EW don't have low birth weight babies but they do have more lighter babies and fewer big babies.
• Exercise doesn't slow the growth of the placenta, it actually grows almost a 1/3 faster in mid-preg has about 15 more vessels and surface area at term.
• There is a dec in the need for medical interventions for EW. 75% dec in incidence of maternal exhaustion; 50% dec in need to artificially rupture membranes; 50% dec in need to use pitocin to induce or stimulate labor.
• Babies of EW tolerated the stress of labor, measured by fetal heart rate, much better than those of SW.
• All measurements of growth and development after birth in babies of EW were equal to or better than those of SW
  
• EW gain less weight, deposit and retain less fat, feel better overall, and are more likely to return to pre-pregnancy weight within one year.
• When studied a year after birth, EW who maintain exercise after birth routinely increased their max aerobic capacity by 5-10%

There are tons more benefits that I could list, but that gives a good idea of some of them. I also don't mean to say that running while preggo has been all great. I have to stop a ton for bathroom breaks thanks to increased pressure on my bladder. My running clothes do not fit so well now, but it is way too expensive to by new stuff just for pregnancy so I am trying to make it work. With the increase in weight and shift in my center of gravity, my stride is changing which has caused my calf muscles to burn every single day while running for the last month. I have to now stop every 1 or 2 miles to stretch them in order to alleviate the burn. I get more stares than normal, especially when I run on the treadmill at the gym. I can't run outside right now in the snow because it is too dangerous given the likelihood of a fall, so it is boredom on the treadmill for the time being.

All those things aside, I am grateful that my body has allowed me to continue running, because I know there are many women who run even more than I do who are unable to continue in pregnancy. I hope to continue over the next 15 weeks, but I have to hold it loosely since it is not in my control! My doctor here in France and in the US are both supportive and aware of how much I run so I plan to continue to listen to my body and keep going! Maybe in May you will hear a story of how I ran the day I went into labor!

Costume Party!

David's team had a fun idea for the year, each player would host a little party at their house and serve foods from their home countries. With 7 or so different nationalities on his team, it makes for a fun a way to get a taste of people's home countries.

This last weekend we enjoyed foods from South America! David's Brazilian and Argentinian teammates and their wives prepared some great food for us to enjoy, but they put on twist on the party by making it a costume party! I think the theme was supposed to be movie characters and superheroes but really anything went. Most people went to a costume shop and rented costumes, some of which were hilarious. We decided to go the homemade route and be...

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES! Cowabunga Dude!

David did most of the work on our shells, which was the best part of the costume. We were cracking up the whole time about how silly our costumes were. It was fun that Kristen was still here too and got to take part!

Anyone ever seen a pregnant ninja turtle?

Kristen comes to France Part 2

There are over 300 châteaux in the Loire Valley, all varying in size and distinctive architecture. From Tours we are able to easily drive to lots of different ones within an hour or so, so we hit up 3 different ones while Kristen was here.

After we all returned from Cannes, David and Kristen gave this pregnant lady a day alone so I could catch up on my relaxing! They took advantage of David's rare morning off from practice and headed to Château d'Amboise, which is just 30 minutes away from our house. Leonardo da Vinci is said to have been a guest at Amboise of King Francis I and there is a chapel there were he is said to be buried.

Kristen outside Chapel of Saint-Hubert,
David warming up by the fire!

The next day Kristen and I took advantage of a sunny day and headed to Château de Chambord, just over an hour's drive from Tours. It is one of the most recognizable châteaux in the world because of its distinct French Renaissance architecture. It is also the largest in the Loire Valley, with 440 rooms, 365 fireplaces and 84 staircases! It is surrounded by 13,000 acre wooded park and game reserve enclosed by a 20 mile wall. I think when David's parents come to visit in the spring they will love to spend a day at Chambord, enjoying the grounds just as much as the château. During the nicer times of the year they rent bikes that can be ridden over numerous bike paths throughout the grounds.

Have to fill all those rooms with something!

Finally, we visited Château de Villandry, which is only 15 minutes away from my house. We weren't quite as lucky with the weather, there was a hail storm while we were there! The highlight of Villandry is the gardens. I am looking forward to visiting again in the spring when things are blooming because I know the colors and variety of plants and vegetables will be amazing! 250,000 individual flowers and vegetables are planted each year. The layout of the vegetables changes during each of the twice yearly plantings, to vary the colors and shapes as well as to avoid deprivation of the soil. They keep 10 full time gardeners on staff to maintain the gardens. Even thought there was bad weather and nothing was really blooming, it was still really great to see!

Kristen comes to France! Part 1

David's sister decided to come visit us for about a week and a half. Her trip was timed perfectly with two away matches in a row for David in Cannes. When Kristen flew into Paris I met her at the airport and from there we flew to the South of France, known as Côte d'Azur or the French Riviera. We spent our first two nights in Cannes, caught one of David's games, then we were in Nice for two nights and then back to Cannes for one more night and another volleyball game.

Cannes is a great city to visit, very clean, easy to get around on foot and the weather was amazing! We had lots of fun wandering around and checking out the sights. The weather was so nice that we didn't need our coats and we ate one of our lunches sitting on the beach soaking up some sun!

City view
David got to come hang out for a few hours one of the days. Here we are on the red carpet!

We took a 40 minute train ride from Cannes to Nice and found our way to our hotel, which was conveniently located right in the heart of the city and near the water. Nice has a very different feel to it, a more big-city type feeling. The coastline in Nice is hard to beat though! We had some great food in Nice and were able to see a lot of the main sights throughout the city. Gotta love how easy public transportation is over here, I can't even count how many buses, trains and trams we took on this trip!

Nice!

Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Nice

The great thing about Nice is that it is only a 45 minute (and 1 Euro!) bus ride into Monaco (or Monte Carlo as some may better recognize it as). Monaco is the second smallest (.76 square mi), and most densely populated (pop 35,986) country in the world. Some other interesting facts: Monaco has the world's highest life expectancy at 90 years, and the lowest unemployment rate at 0%!!! They also have the world's most expensive real estate market, at $56,300 a square meter. I guess it shouldn't be surprising that they also have the world's lowest poverty rate and the highest millionaires and billionaires per capita in the world. Makes you wonder just who I was sitting next to on the bus...

Kristen and I took the bus out to Monaco in the late morning and enjoyed a whole day in the city. It is one of the most unique and beautiful places I have ever seen, and also super clean!

The Grand Casino in Monaco, dress code strictly enforced!

Exotic Gardens...never seen so many pretty cacti!
Checking out the grotto at the exotic gardens!

Up next...the castles of the Loire Valley, and a costume party!

Hey There Little Guy

I made it! Finally got the chance to go with Kelli to one of her ultrasounds and get to see baby boy in live action.

The doctor doing the ultrasound was really nice and spoke English very well. He did a great job explaining to us what we were looking as he moved around and checked out everything. Technology is amazing these days, but times like this it just magnifies the amazing process of how the baby is growing and developing inside Kelli. We got to see his profile, his hands, feet and little thighs. Crazy how he is only 3/4 of a pound and the length of a carrot, yet so completely human and forming his own unique qualities already.

Quick funny story though. Having done the previous ultrasound with Kelli, the doctor was aware that she is a crazy little runner. About 3/4 of the way through the doctor abruptly stopped the imaging to shake his hand out while telling Kelli that her strong abs were making his hand tired. Kelli was obviously excited to hear that someone thought that she was still buff despite the changes her body is going through!

Anyways, it was a lot of fun and we are getting more excited everyday as we see Kelli's belly grow little by little and get to feel (and see!) the little guy kicking inside.