Belly Shots

Here are a few pictures of pregnant me.  This is at 33 weeks.  

Wonderland Cyclocross and The Iron Cross VI...

Last Saturday, November 22nd, I competed in the Cat C (Beginner) race at Wonderland Cyclocross in Lancaster, PA. The weather provided nearly perfect cyclocross conditions; as it was in the mid-20s, snowing, with fast changing cloud cover, and a windchill factor making it feel like it was in the 'teens. I say near perfect, because the temperature caused parts of the course to freeze (the sandpit and a number of corners that could have been really fun and mucky) making those areas far too easy to negotiate. Apparently the conditions favored me, because much to my surprise when I checked the posted results on Tuesday I discovered that I had placed 4th.


Ami and Zoe accompanied me to the race. Zoe got cold and started shivering, so Ami had to put her back in the car before I finished. However, that did give Ami a chance to take one photo of me on the course. Unfortunately, I neglected to point out to her that I had mounted a zoom lens on the camera and did not demonstrate its operation to her. The fact that we arrived at the course about 10 minutes before the start really was not very helpful in our preparation - I was unable to review the camera with her, warm up, or use the restroom after the 2 and 1/2 hour drive north. No, I do not believe that needing to use the restroom helped my finish and I do not plan on using that as a technique in the future. I've highlighted myself in the race photo; I'm just remounting my bike after one of the post barrier run-ups on the course.


While writing this post, it occurred to me that I neglected to write anything about the Iron Cross VI race that I competed in back on October 12th. I had been waiting on getting together some photos from the race and then I guess I just got distracted with all of the other things we have going on (baby preparations, job search, etc.).





The Iron Cross was definitely the most exciting race that I had the fortune to participate in this year. It is the longest cyclocross race held in the United States at 62+ miles and it covers the trails and roads up, down, and around the mountains/big hills of Michaux State Forest in Gardners, PA - about 25 miles north of Gettysburg.




The race promoters bill the race as 62+ miles because, although they go to very respectable lengths to prevent such disasters, it is still somewhat easy to get stupid and find yourself off the course and lost in the woods or Amish Country. I personally added about 10 miles to the distance I covered after touring some rustic cabins at the top of one of the hills and then later took a detour to race the horse buggys down at the bottom of another mountain.











This is a topo map of the race.












I think the best part of the course is a "run-up" called Wigwam Hill. This consists of a portion of a rocky hiking trail that ascends about 500 feet over the course of about a tenth of a mile, necessitating that your bike be carried as you use your free hand to staedy yourself while climbing the hill. There were also loose, rocky descents that necessitated the carrying of my bike.








Although I finshed 98th out of 105 in my category at 6:51:06 (some who finished ahead of me had actually been behind me when they had been forced to take a shorter, easier road route back to the finish after failing to make it to the final checkpoint before the cut-off time) I still had a blast and hope to ride the race
again in the future. Here are the results and more info about the race.





I would like to extend a special thanks to Element of the Eye Photography and Judy Allison for their great photos of the race.

Photo Shoot

Here are some of Liam's first photos!  We had a 4D ultrasound today and it was great!  He was not terribly coorporative at first, he had his hands and feet in front of his face, but we were able to get some pretty decent facial shots eventually.  Lars' Dad Sheldon and my parents Bill and BJ were able to watch remotely on their computers while they were conferenced in on a call so we were able to share this experience with them.  It's so hard to be far from your family at times like this, and it was wonderful that they were able to be involved!  So who do you think he looks like? 

And the Winner is...

Liam Anders!  This will be the baby's name.  It's been in the top choices since the beginning, even though Lars was really pushing for something with Magnus in it.  But this name won in the end because it has familial meaning on both sides.  My Dad is William (and my Mom is Billie, as she ointed out the other day) and Anders is a good Scandinavian name that is in Lars' family.  So we fnally have name!  

Another Dr.'s Visit

We had another Dr.'s visit today and it went really well.  My cervix is unchanged from my last appointment (which is GREAT news!) and he told me that the bedrest will only last until I'm 34 weeks, which would be December 17th.  Just in time for Christmas!  He has also scheduled our c-section for January 22, 2009, so that look like it will be the baby's birthday!  Unless he shows up early, which is entirely possible.  But it's so great to have that date scheduled!  Now if we could just decide on a name...

Bedrest

I went to the Dr. today as a follow up to our hospital visit on Thursday night.  She has recommended bedrest indefinately.  The good new is that my cervix still looks pretty good.  When she did the physical examination she said it felt very, very short (she estimated it to be less than 1cm) but with the ultra sound it actually measured almost 4cm, which is great!  She also said there was no funneling, meaning my cervix is not currently opening from the inside, which is also good news.  The bad news is that I continue to have quite a few contractions, some so painful they are waking me up at night, despite being on a medication called Pro.cardia to stop them.  I know the medication is working because they always start to get worse when it's time for another dose.  

In other news we are finally buying our crib today (thanks, Mom and Dad!!!).  I have been given permission to accompany Lars to the store to make this purchase as long as I don't drive and I don't lift anything.  We'll make it quick and hopefully it will arrive before the baby!

Labor and Delivery

We had our first experience with the Anne Arundel Labor and Delivery unit last night, sooner than we would have liked.  I started having pretty consistent contractions yesterday afternoon and my Dr. recommended a trip to the hospital so she could check me out.  By the time they got me hooked up to the monitors I was having contractions about every 5 minutes.  They wanted to give me a medicine called Tributeline (sp?) but decided against that because I have a history of tachycardia.  They ended up giving me Procardia, which has WONDERFUL side effects!  It makes your heart pound, it makes you really dizzy, and it give you a killer headache!  But it also stopped the contractions.  At least the headache only bother me and not the baby.  

I was not showing signs of cervical dilation,  but the Dr. did say my cervix was very short.  I will stay on the medicine and on bedrest until at least Monday.  I see the Dr. again on Monday and hopefully at that point I will not be having any more contractions and my cervix will have grown another couple of centimeters!

Also, they performed another test on my that measures Fetal Fibronectin, something that is secreted prior to delivery.  If you have a positive test you have a 15% chance of delivering in the next 2 weeks.  If it's negative you have a 99% chance of NOT delivering in the next 2 weeks.  Mine was thankfully negative.  

That has not been an easy road for us.  Getting pregnant was a struggle and being pregnant has also been tough, but it will be so worth it in the end!

The Name Game...

So, to answer one of the most common questions that we receive, we have not yet decided upon a name for our soon to be born son. I really want to choose something distinctive and at least somewhat Norse in sound. Ami's priority is to find a set of names that sound great together, that won't cause our son to be ridiculed (although, most children seem to be able to find something to make fun of in any name - or they find something else... it's just part of growing up), and that reflects her ancestry.

We've spent a fair amount of time discussing possibilities and this is what we have come up with so far:

Liam Henry Rhys Anders Hunter Magnus Christian Drake
Cash Crash Carter Luke Ryder Conor Austin Cooper
Issac Beckett Leif Turner Gunnar Lachlan Rainier

We have 2 sets of names that we both feel pretty good about, but neither have really claimed our hearts.

Liam Anders Johnson
and
Hunter Magnus Johnson

Since we have not yet made a decision, Ami thought we should open the floor to suggestions. Please comment with any thoughts on our lists or names that you think we might like to consider.

Lars

Election Day...

I do hope everyone went out yesterday and executed their civic duty. I was excited to do so yet again and happy to see that there was a pretty good line of 50-75 people at our precinct first thing in the morning (I have not had to wait in line for the 3 previous elections that I have participated in here). I had to wait about 30-40 minutes, but everything went very smoothly and I was kept occupied while in line by reading Moby Dick. However, I cannot say that I was able to make much progress - it is a pretty long novel. We really need to let all of the poll workers know how much we appreciate their efforts. As the day progressed, the line became non-existent and Ami was able to walk right in, vote, and leave.

I think we, as a nation, deserve a round of applause for seeing a dignified end to this long campaign and I look forward to our president-elect being the sort of "Uniter" that we were falsely promised 8 years ago.

Lars

24 Weeks

Here are a couple of pics of my belly.  Also my new haircut!  Not sure about the bangs...I always think I want them and when I get them I'm not so sure.  I feel like my face looks much fuller, but maybe that's the haircut and not the pregnancy.  

I need therapy!

So I got kicked out of Physical Therapy yesterday!  Actually I'm exaggerating a little...they recommended that I cancel the rest of my appointments because they didn't feel like they could be of any help to me.  Which is probably true.  But now what?  The physical therapist is going to call my OB and recommend that I work some type of restricted schedule, or at least work light duty.  I've never heard of light duty in retail!  Maybe corporate retail, but there is nothing light about my job!

I do think I may have FINALLY found a crib.  It's not too expensive, it converts into a toddler and a full size bed, and it may or may not come in the finish I want.  I found it at a local baby store that takes Ba.bies R U.s coupons, but my problem is that all the coupons I have exclude special orders, and if I can get the finish I want it will have to be ordered.  So if anyone has any coupons lying around that don't state a special order exclusion feel free to send them my way!

Breast Cancer Awareness Cyclocross results...

Wonder of wonders, the results (if you take a look at this link, I competed in Cat 4) from this past Saturday's Breast Cancer Awareness Cyclocross Challenge in Hagerstown, MD were posted yesterday, and I did better than I thought. While my performance was nothing to be proud of, I did not finish last, second to last, or even third to last. In the end I finished in 37th place out of 50 riders who started and 46 who finished. I was still lapped by the winner, second, and third place finishers (and possibly even more of the top finishers) twice though. As I said before, it was a great learning experience and I had a fantastic time.

Lessons to take away from this - 1)Use proper tire pressure, 2)Ride the full couse at least once before the start of the race, 3)If there is a switchback right after the barriers, run around it and then remount - rather than remounting, crashing into the course tape, and then remounting again.

Lars

Nesting the Nursery, Part 1

As we near the third trimester of our pregnancy, Ami has kicked into nesting mode. I had really wanted to be back in Baton Rouge for the birth of our son, but time is quickly passing and it is obvious that we must begin making some preparations. So, we picked out paint for the nursery on Saturday, painted a test patch on the wall yesterday (you can see it in the photo - the manufacturer calls it Ice Box, but I think most people would call it Robin's Egg), and began to do some serious cleaning and organizing last night. The room that used to be our guest bedroom will become the nursery, and Ami has evicted my art projects and our scuba gear from the room that was a sort-of studio so that it can become a guest bedroom. I hope we can expect additional visitors since we have had relatively few since we have been here (but those that have come to see us have been extremely appreciated) and don't want to do all of this re-arranging of rooms for nothing, not withstanding the fact that I understand the nursery is a necessity. I'll post again as we make further progress.

Lars

Some Cyclocross Races

I have wanted to compete in Cyclocross ever since I first saw it years ago, and I finally decided this would be the year to do so. I thought it might be a good idea to watch a race in person first and attended the Ed Sander Memorial Cyclocross on September 28th. The race is held annually at the beautiful Lilypons Water Gardens in Adamstown, MD - an aquatic water garden nursery.




The conditions were perfect for the race as it had been raining for several days, finally clearing up that morning.







The winner in Category 4, which is the "novice category" or the category which I will compete in, was Alex Driscoll racing with Adventures for the Cure.








Another competitor that I actually raced against and was beaten by the next weekend was 14 year-old (I think) Justin Mauch racing with National Capital Velo Club.











This past weekend, October 4th, I competed in the Breast Cancer Awareness Cyclocross Challenge held at the Hagerstown Sports Complex in Hagerstown, MD. They have not yet posted the results, but I won't make you hold your breath - I think I finished 2nd or 3rd from last. But I learned much , specifically that lower tire pressure is a good idea on wet grass (handling mishaps in turns caused me to slide out of control and/or crash numerous times)and that a late night and 2-hour drive prior to racing is not a good idea. In the end I had a blast though. I'll report the actual finish later.



Next weekend I will compete in the Carlisle Regional Medical Center Iron Cross VI race in Pine Grove Furnace State Park in south central Pennsylvania. It is a 62+ mile XC cyclocross adventure race. Wish me luck.

Lars

Washington Nationals vs NY Mets on 09/28/08

I'm not sure if we have any baseball fans reading our blog, but I
have been trying to expand Ami's sport horizons. One of her employee's gave us tickets to the September 28th game between the Washington Nationals and the New York Mets. I was not terribly excited about the match-up, not being a fan of the Mets and not impressed by the Nationals. However, I did want to see the new stadium and became a little more interested when I found out Johan Santana would be starting for the Mets. It was more exciting to watch him as a Twin, but I was still happy to see this future Hall of Famer pitch.


The new stadium is nice, but parking in SE DC is a pain and expensive. I believe they need to add a few more attractions on the inside, as it does not yet have the character of Camden Yards in Baltimore, which is the best stadium I have been in barring the Astrodome (which will probably always remain my favorite as it was with the huge lightboard display).


The only real competition during the game was the President's Race, which is always held in the middle of the Fourth inning. The race started out with Teddy streaking out of the gate and building a huge lead. The crowd grew ecstatic as it looked like Teddy would finally win his first race ever. Our spirits sank though as he seemed to get turned off course at first base and sprinted into the National's dugout, allowing Abe to win yet again. You can find out more about the Pesident's Race at the entry on Wikipedia.

Lars

What a Pain!

We had another Dr. visit last week and the baby looks great!  Not too big, not too small!  I seriously don't know what I will do when I don't get an ultrasound every other week!  But we feel lots of movement now, so that's reassuring!  My new problem is sciatic pain, really, really bad sciatic pain!  I am going to a physical therapist tomorrow, so hopefully that will help.  The problem is that I'm on my feet nearly 10 hours a day at work, and by the end of the day I'm practically crippled!  Hopefully the PT will offer some relief.  Otherwise I'm feeling pretty great!  

The Long Week

So we've had a pretty stressful week!  First our beloved Zoe got sick, we still don't know with what.  We took her to our vet and spent a fortune only for them to tell us that they weren't equipped to handle her case and we needed to take her to the emergency vet.  I really thought for a while there that we might lose her.   After spending another fortune at the ER vet they kept her overnight and sent her home with us the next day, but it was a few more days before she started to feel better.  But at least she seems to be starting to feel like her old self again!

On another note, I started having contractions on Sunday night, about 2 an hour, that didn't go away for over 2 days.  My Dr. put me on bedrest for 48 hours and it seems to have done the trick.  Not sure what caused it, but I hope it doesn't happen again!  Talk about stressful!  I wish I could have an easier time of it.  I feel so jumpy about everything related to this pregnancy.  I hope I'm not creating a high strung child because I feel so much anxiety!

Sunday Night Football

So this was not the way we wanted to start our football season, with a Co.lts loss to the Bea.rs.  But really this is Peyton's pre-season, because he was out during the regular pre-season, but hopefully this was his only "pre-season" game.  And I feel partially responsible because I made a not so nice comment regarding Tom Bra.dy's knee injury yesterday and I'm afraid it jinxed my team!  I promise to think nice thoughts Bra.dy and his knee in the future.  Go Co.lts!

Baby Pictures

We are starting this blog to record our journey to becoming parents.  After struggling with infertility, a failed IVF, and a miscarriage we are finally 19 weeks pregnant!  These pictures are from our last ultra sound on August 26, 2008.  Isn't he cute!