Karen's pregnant blog

Swam last night- sort of! Monday, my brother fell at work and shattered his right kneecap into three larger pieces and tore the patella tendon in half- ouch! They waited to operate to put it back together until his wife had their baby Tuesday morning. So he's on the 3rd floor of the hospital, she's on the 2nd.... crazy week. The week got more hectic, my stomach grew even bigger and more uncomfortable, and I haven't gained an ounce in 3 weeks. I needed some relief. As I was driving home last night, doing a two-hour errand for my mom, mostly in commute traffic, I found myself driving by Heather Farm Pool at 6:30 pm. I called Pat and said, "Do you mind if I swim?" I was 30 minutes early, so I took the opportunity to see if my swim bag was even in the car, and if so if I had a cap, goggles, towel, etc. Found my suit (size 38), a cap, a clean towel (miraculous in and of itself!)and put together some goggles with a strap that was way too short, but they were functional. (I'm getting tired of borrowing Kerry's goggles and towel!) Got into the locker room, surprisingly my montly pass hadn't expired, and I proceeded to listen to the Aquabear girls scream (as they do in the shower after practice) and tried to get my suit on in the bathroom. Some former students are Aquabears and I try not to change with them, but now even more so with my largeness! That'd be weird changing with your teacher :shakeshead: The suit went over my legs no problem. Stomach, BIG problem. Again, while I haven't gained ANY weight lately, my suit would not go over my stomach, and forget about the rest of the top of me! Not good. I really wanted to swim. It took about 10 minutes but I managed to squeeze in to my suit. It was far worse than putting on any "3 sizes too small" competition suit I assure you. It was about 38 degrees on the deck and the water was 81. I got a hug from Kerry and then jumped in next to Andy Nonaka. He's a speedy one if you don't know, and his wife Marissa is about 6 weeks behind me in her pregnancy. Andy said, "Are you going to swim with us?" I just laughed. We talked about Marissa and I proceeded to warm up. It felt so good. I felt so light. No pressure on my swollen ankles, or my feet. Ahhhhh. I swam about 35 yards and then felt really wet on my chest all of a sudden. I was packed so tightly into my suit that the water was trickling in after 35 yards!!!! I got to the wall and open turned. I didn't even attempt flip turns, and I realized fins would've been nice. I swam some backstroke and my breaststroke felt really good. Imagine how high my hips were in the water! I was still 8 strokes across the pool :) Life was seeming good again. About 300 yards into my warm up my stomach felt really tight. Whenever I was horizontal my suit was really pressing on the baby. I swam 50 more and told myself to get out. Grabbed a chicken sandwich on the way home... I just ordered a size 40 zip up water polo suit on-line and it should be here early next week. Hopefully, it won't be too tight. Only 4 more days of work and then I'm hoping to swim throughout winter break until our little guy arrives, hopefully in January.

I'm thinking that this little guy may decide to show up around Christmas, or maybe it's just wishful thinking! I don't want to be in the hospital at Xmas, because I would miss it with the other three. Maybe the day after!!! Karen - Just make sure the little tax deduction gets in under the wire, sometime in December!:agree:

Karen, Lucky you to get to swim with Andy... I am an admirer of his, as he is my age and really fast as you pointed out! He's got a great stroke and is nice to watch (seeing as how he is usually in a much faster heat than I, I get to watch his races often). Anyways, have you and Pat come up with a name for your 4th yet?

Wow, such service! I ordered my new suit Friday afternoon and it arrived at my front door Saturday. Awesome. It's a 40 water polo suit. Can't zip it, but it covers everything :) Yesterday, I decided to measure my stomach circumference. I was hoping my circumference wouldn't be bigger than my height. I am 68" tall and, drum roll please, 48" around my stomach!!! That's 4 FEET! NO WONDER IT HURTS. Last night Pat and I were supposed to have a date to go swim at the evening practice, but I was having incredibly painful stabbing pains in my lower pelvis. Pat got the kids in bed, and then looked on line what it could be. It said that this is normal in the 9th month and gentle exercise (HA!) or chiropractic could relieve some pain. I just looked at him like "you've got to be kidding me" and I said, "I really don't want anybody touching me. I just want to be left alone." He said, "That was the third suggestion." I did swim on Monday. I got in 1,000y with my new suit. Again, it was so nice to get the weight off of my REALLY swollen feet and ankles. I can't even see the bones in the top of my feet anymore! I'm thinking that this little guy may decide to show up around Christmas, or maybe it's just wishful thinking! I don't want to be in the hospital at Xmas, because I would miss it with the other three. Maybe the day after!!! So ready to be done being pregnant. And I know I need to post the pictures soon of my stomach! Absolutely amazing....

Andy is a great guy. Everyone who knows him speaks highly of him as a swimmer, student, and coach. He just finished his PhD not too long ago! When I watch him swim the word "tenacious" comes to mind. He's not really tall, so he doesn't glide through the water, per se, he just looks like he's giving his races his all. I admire him a lot. He always give 110% at workout. He and Pat have great practices together because they both love IM, especially the 400. (They are fun to watch. I think Andy is probably a faster swimmer, but Pat just kills him on the walls, being 6"4' tall has its advantages. So they are always very close!) Went to the doctor today and feel vindicated in my complaining. I mostly complain to Pat (not to other family or friends) because I don't want to be a whiner! I usually have a really high pain tolerance, but this pregnancy is killin' me. Anyway, my last appt. was 2 weeks ago and my stomach measurement was 38cm, which would indicate a baby about 38 weeks along. Mind you I was only 35 weeks based on the 20 week ultrasound; and in my mind I was only 32 weeks! At that appt. I gained one pound, whereas I had lost one pound 2 weeks prior. Today, 2 weeks after my last appt and at 37 weeks (again, based on ultrasound), I had gained 4 pounds and my stomach measurement was, GASP, 42cm! My blood pressure was also 120/90. Very high for me. My doctor, who is a man of not too many words, said, "Wow, that's a big jump." I said, "Whadd'ya mean?" He said, "You gained 4cm in 2 weeks." I said, "Soooo?" He said that means that this is a big baby. I coulda told him that! My really big t-shirts (XL) and sweatshirts are so tight, and just within the last week or so. While I was sure I was 3 weeks behind where the ultrasound said I was, I am now convinced otherwise. I asked today for the January 4th delivery date, as the doc suggested originally, instead of the 11th. I will be 39 weeks and one day at the point (on the 4th). He scheduled it today. If I make it that far. I'm afraid "babyzilla" may kick once too hard and send me to the Labor and Delivery early:p Mr. Peg: we've narrowed the name down to 2 or 3, but I think we better start getting serious soon! It took us 2 days to name Brenna after she was born! We liked Kelly and Brenna, with Shannon having an outside shot! Tomorrow, Brenna turns 5. I can't believe how the time has gone. Our little backstroker will be all grown up before we know it. But that's another blog isn't it? Oh, and because of this 4 pound weight gain, I measured my "circumference" again today- 50inches. Gees. As you can tell by the time of this writing, I'm pretty uncomfortable and not really sleeping. At least I'm off until March now. Yippeeeee!

Got to swim Wednesday last week. The pool is set up LCM so I swam 1,000m and got out. It was really hard to swim, at least my suit fit! When it's LCM I usually swim in the first or second lane (depending how many, and who, are there), but I branched down into the 5th lane for the first time ever! At least I kept up with them... It was a different view of the workout. I appreciate more the abilities of my teammates at all levels. I went to the doctor on Thursday and my stomach measured 40cm this time and no weight gain. I asked him what was up with that and he said that my intestines could have been doing something funny or the baby was in a different position. My BP was really high at 130/89. I have to go back this TH for pre-op stuff and then we have to be at the hospital about 10am Friday morning. That, of course means two things: maybe I'll make it that far, and I can swim before I go! The pool is literally across the street and one block up from the hospital :) Pat and I swam before our first two, but not with Carrick because he showed up unexpectedly early! Belated Christmas cheer to all, and have a wonderful, safe New Year's Eve. Pat will be working, so the kids and I might go over to the YMCA for movies, etc. Sounds fun. And as of January 2nd, Pat is off for three whole weeks. :cheerleader:

Apparently one can now "outsource" the entire pregnancy. From today's news: news.yahoo.com/.../india_wombs_for_rent

I have to go back this TH for pre-op stuff and then we have to be at the hospital about 10am Friday morning. That, of course means two things: maybe I'll make it that far, and I can swim before I go! The pool is literally across the street and one block up from the hospital :) Pat and I swam before our first two, but not with Carrick because he showed up unexpectedly early! You are SUCH a chlorine addict :applaud: Best wishes to you and yours Paul

What a bummer! I got to the pool a little after 4pm today to find about 15 of my teammates standing in the parking lot with Kerry. "Pool's closed," someone said. "Ha ha. Kerry's got the key," I said. "No really, the pool is closed. Health department closed it today." That I believed, because they closed it at least one other time I was there this year. Chlorine levels were off or something. :notworking: I had my Fruit Punch Gatorade, my coins to count my 108 25s and my new camera (digital video for Xmas) so Kerry could take pictures, and then nothin'. Very disappointing. Kerry said we'll probably make it up on the 12th. It's just not the same though. Whenever we're not in CT for Xmas, Pat and I have always done the New Years swim here. Oh well, Pat had to work tonight anyway- he couldn't do it either. :bighug: So, quick math. Baby comes January 4th, swim January 12th? Eight days? Hmmm, that might be tough. I was back in the water, after the other three in 2 weeks, and that wasn't what the doctor suggested! I guess it depends how my scar is healing and if there is still bleeding... :sad:

Mooshy, pregnant brain strikes again!!! It takes us about 30 minutes to get from Clayton to Danville for the baby dr. appts. We left at 10:20 this morning for our 11:00 appt. and as we were driving through the booming metropolis of Clayton(yea, right) my phone rings. It's the receptionist asking if I'd forgotten my appt. "Huh?" I said. "It was at 9:20," she said. "Oh, I thought it was 11," as I apologized profusely. She just said she'd see me when I got there. She's so nice. When I got to the appt. she and the nurse just started laughing at me. "Are you ready, Karen?" they teased. "Definitely," I said. What was worse though, is that two weeks ago I accidentally mailed my disability forms to MYSELF, instead of the school district, after this very same receptionist filled them out for me. She got quite the chuckle out of that one too. :agree: At the appt. today I was back to 42cm and a weight gain of 2 pounds. I asked the doc how big he thought "babyzilla" would be and he guessed 9 pounds. We'll know tomorrow. We go at 10:30 and will deliver some time around noon. The good thing is that Pat and I can swim before hand- plenty of time. I'm actually thinking of doing the 108 x 25 tomorrow. I can't eat or drink anything after midnight tonight, but I figure I'll be getting an IV anyway, so dehydration shouldn't be a problem :) The only ugly thing tomorrow might be the weather. There's a nasty storm coming in. It just started raining and winds are expected around 60 mph. Outdoor pool. BRRR. We'll see. I'm definitely getting in, but the distance may be determined by the weather... I'll be busy for the next few days, but I'll check back in next week. Have great workouts everybody and stay healthy :wave: