Bright Idea

Who ever came up with these "water bottle" holders on the Bob Stroller gets two thumbs up from me. 

Not too much longer before I start running again!  Until then, I'm enjoying our family walks together around the neighborhood.  Thank goodness for having babies in the warmer months. 

And Fletcher Makes Four

Newborn pic, by Sarah Nicole Photography

He's here!  Fletcher was born two weeks ago and is doing wonderful, we are so so grateful to have our little family here, healthy and happy.  And sleep deprived. 

Fletcher Michael Schwartz

Due to Fletcher being wrong-side up (breech) I had a c-section.  It's been interesting to compare my recovery after a c-section vs. my recovery after having Gabby.  There are definitely some differences, and since not everyone wants to hear me complain about crotch pain, I'm just going to leave it at that. My c-section was a little odd though, I had three doses of anesthesia (instead of ONE, which is normal) and having all those extra meds in my system really kick my butt.  They started off giving me a spinal (the norm for a planned c-section) and it didn't take, I could still feel everything.  So they gave me another....nothing.  I was lifting my feet off the table asking "should I be able to do this?".  Answer-no. Finally they gave me an epidural (what you usually get during traditional delivery if you don't go sans drugs) and thankfully it worked.  The anesthesiologist said he's never heard of two spinals not taking on someone.  I'm special.

Fletcher was born three weeks earlier than Gabby and weighed 2lbs more!  He's not a huge fan of sleeping at night so that's been an adjustment.  I learned quickly that I can't compare my kids to each other, that's a slippery slope.  But I will say this, looking back I realize how 'lucky' we were with Gabbs as a newborn.  By two weeks she was already sleeping 5+ hours at night. I think that was God's way of making sure we had another kid, giving us one who slept through the night early in life.  It's amazing how your body adjusts to much less sleep, and I don't mind the sweet cuddles I get with my little man, even if it means a 3-hour stretch of sleep is "long".

Gabby is doing wonderful with her little brother. She gives him little kisses on his head and pets him (like she pets our dog), calls him "baby" and "Flatchu".  So far so good. 

Gabby cuddling with her little brother

My world all wrapped up on the couch

I've started walking as a workout and am really looking forward to getting back into the swing of training, and eventually racing!  I am so excited to race this summer, even if I'm still carrying some extra baby weight at not at my top level, I can't wait to get out there and be part of the tri community too.

A Favorite Race Day Moment

I've been thinking a lot about how the 3rd trimester of pregnancy is similar in many ways to training for a long endurance event (mostly for another post, on a day when my head isn't full of snot and cold-gunkyness and I can think more clearly).  You know that moment on race day when you've done your warmup, your wetsuit is on, goggles ready to go, and you just wait...for the race to start.  This is a important moment for race day because so much of the mental game can be won or lost right there in that time.  It's like the quiet before the storm, and you control the chatter your brain produces. What's your chatter like, positive or negative?

I also love this moment while spectating races. I cannot wait to be back there!  I know I have to get through another big race-day moment first though, and that one is probably going to hurt a lot more in a different way.

If you've done Ironman before, this pic (Ironman CDA) should be familiar, this is the moment before the gun goes off (be sure I was right up there near the front, like the excited little swimmer I am):

But this is my absolutely favorite pic that captures that moment:

Anticipating the gun for the Boulder Peak.  LOVE IT!  It looks like a small wave but my dad just got the girls in front.  And a neat side-note about this pic, I'm in there plus Amy and Katie, and now all of us are moms of girls.  Maybe someday we'll be standing on the beach watching our girls elbow it out at the start of a race.  I don't think I'll be ready to do this race again this summer but I will be standing on the beach watching everyone else have their moment. 

Side by Sides

Last week I realized that I'm guilty of something I said I'd never do "when I grow up".  I have hardly taken any photos of kid #2 (well, of kid #2 pregnancy).  As a middle child I never thought I'd be making this confession, but alas, here I am, with only two specific pictures taken of me during this pregnancy.

Michael helped me remedy my shameful problem with some belly pictures.  This pregnancy has some differences from pregnancy #1, and one of the most significant differences is my size.  Yowzers.  I've gained the same amount of weight but the kid is measured much larger, and it's obvious to me. 

So with that, I bring you my side-by-sides:

 Above: Yeah, no joke.  Notice how much larger my belly is on the left?  This is a week #33 (Of 40) side-by-side.  Schwartzie 2.0 is laying transverse (picture a fetus swinging in a hammock, taking up tons of space, that's transverse...they are supposed to be head-down).  I think every night Michael hears me say "there is NO WAY I can get any bigger!" And then I wake up and am pregnant another day.  But really, how much bigger can I go?

Above: And this is my side-by-side comparison of me at 33 weeks with Schwartzie 2.0, and me almost two weeks OVERDUE with Gabby.  Using my advanced math skills, that's a difference of almost 10 weeks!  I know I keep saying it, but there's no way I'm going to make it to 40 weeks.  If so, there is a high possibility that I will be removing myself from society at a certain point.  And that point is starting to appear in my horizon. 

A Name is a Name is a Name

This child is never going to be named.  Why are boy names so hard for us?  We want something strong, yet not over done.  I feel a lot more self-applied pressure to get a boy's name RIGHT.  Yikes! I know we have a ways to go but Gabby was Gabby for a while.  I'm starting to be convinced Baby Boy Schwartz is going to be "2.0" for quite a bit longer.  Oh well, at least I know if he turns out to be a she we have a name ready!  And if 2.0 gets vetoed by the hospital, there's always Brutus.

Motivation Pregnancy Style

As an athlete, I'm motivated by goals and races, and that can make things tricky when I find myself pregnant and unable to run without peeing my pants.  So, what keeps me motivated when the going gets hard?  Breakfast. Case in point:

Friday morning. Vacation day.  18 inches of snow 24 hours prior. 5:20 wake up time.  Honda Civic.  After I spent 15 minutes digging out my car just so that I could legally drive it on the road I threw that thing in reverse and....and......got stuck.  One pregnant lady, stuck in the middle of the road and on a hill, snow up to the door of my car, in sneakers and PJ pants, cursing up a storm.  I was not happy.  And neither was Michael when I had to tap tap tap on his shoulder and wake him.  At this point a normal person would have thought about calling it a morning but french toast dreams were dancing in my head and I was going to make it to the pool (and then breakfast)!  Poor Michael.  He pushed and dug and pushed and dug, and after 30 minutes he managed to free up my car and sent me on my way.  Now in my defense, I NEVER drive my car when there is that much snow, we always just share the 4-runner.  Michael shoveled the driveway and around my car, but I completely forgot about the nice present snow plows leave you at the end of your driveway.  That's what got me.  Oh, and the inch of ice under all that snow.  Is it summer yet? I think I drove 20 mph the entire way to the pool. 

In all, it was a great swim with a wonderful swim partner (thanks Sharon!), some social hot tub time with more friends, and a tasty breakfast.  And it's a good thing Michael went back to sleep, he ended up pushing two other cars out of the snow throughout the rest of the day. 

Morale of the story: promises of syrup, bread, butter and freshly squeezed OJ work wonders on me right now.

What's that noise? Oh, it's just the crazy neighbor lady trying to get out her driveway at 5:30am after a big snow.

Well Hello There!

Oh, hello there friends.  So nice of you to join me for a cup of coffee, it's been way too long.  Coffee makes everything better, including those uncomfortable silences that occur when you don't update for...oh...4 months?

In all honesty, I've been toying with the idea of keeping my blog or not.  But the thing I keep coming back to is that I enjoy writing, and I'm super appreciative and grateful for the relationships that I've made through the world wide interwebs.  So with that, I bring you my cliff notes version for the past 4 months.

Gabby is awesome.  She is a full-on toddler with two speeds: sitting and running.  She has yet to master the flip turn but I'm confident with some extra after-day care tutoring and weekend practice she'll be flipping like Phelps before she hits 18 months old. 

Gabby working on running while carrying a purse. Note the sophisticated "elbow hold" position for the purse, a very advanced shopping skill used only by a few.

Everything else is business as usual.  Oh, except I now have this:

Yes, this was with Gabby but you get the point.  I'm working on Schwartzie 2.0, to arrive this April.  What does this mean for us? Well for one it means having two kids under the age of two. They will be 21 months apart, which happens to be the age difference between my sister and I, so I'm super excited about that.  We also found out that we are having a boy.  Yippee!

This pregnancy has been different than it was with Gabby.  I just hit the halfway point and I'm feeling much better than a few weeks ago.  I'm still swimming and am also walking and elliptical-ing (oh, the joy). Like my goal with pregnancy #1, I'm planning on swimming and walking right up to delivery.  Since this is a Spring baby that means I should be able to do some mid-late summer racing too!  I'm excited about that!

And with that...I conclude my cliff notes update.  See you in less than another 4 months. Promise.

Photo from Sarah Nicole Photography....love them (her)!