My First Podium

Annika Ruth Neuschwander here with another guest entry and my first race report.

My mom and I headed out the door to Liberty Station for the San Diego classic. We did a different triathlon that the rest of the racers. It was made up of burp, diaper, feed instead of swim, bike, run. It was my mom's first time driving with me and boy did she seem nervous. I wasn't nervous and I was only 7 days old and headed to my first triathlon.

My Dad went really fast. It helped he had a nice joust going with his friend Paul and I think my being there to cheer him on helped. Hopefully, he couldn't see that I was sleeping from inside the Moby Wrap. It was just so warm and snuggly.

We got to the event in time to see my Daddy twice on the bike and several times on the run. It was an Olympic distance which is about a 1/4 of a Full Ironman. I'll be honest I don't know how anybody can do a full Ironman because to be honest I couldn't keep my eyes open for the Olympic distance.

I sure did love my first podium experience. It was the highlight of my day. I had a lot of first this week. Unfortunately later that day my Mom got a high fever and we took our first (and hopefully) last trip to the ER. I was a BIG, BIG help in the ER. They couldn't not bring me because my Mom has to feed me but because I am so small they took us to the ortho room in the back of the ER. (Less germs in the ortho room) and saw us right away. I was really good in the ER. My parents couldn't believe it. I was just glad they were drawing my Mom's blood and not mine. My Mom says if postpartum you have a really, really bad headache and flu like symptoms that you can't attribute to anything else you are probably developing mastitis and get it taken care of right away. She didn't really think that was going to come on so hard and fast. Unlike in triathlon or labor when there is option of an epidural in motherhood there is no SAG wagon and she had to feed me all night long with her fever. She didn't mind though as she loves snuggling with me.

So after some IV antibiotics and a few days of playing around with oral antibiotics since they had a hard time finding one she wasn't resistant to (from spending over the last decade working in ICU with germs and bacteria) She was on the mend. On postpartum Day #11 I heard her say "Waiter, check please! We are moving on".

We headed off to Mission Bay Park for a "walk" . She walked about 3 steps and then we ran. Not fast, and not super gracefully getting used to the stroller  but we did it.I guess the human body bounces back quick.  I love the BOB stroller. It's really fun when my Daddy pushes me. We fly. My Mom is a bit winded and I think leans against the stroller like a geriatric walker but I better not give her a hard time about it as she bore me.

On top of running my Dad is teaching me to do pull ups. Boy are they hard work!

In other news I had my first bath this week. Let the record state: I didn't cry. I am a water baby.

Well it's time for me to eat and sleep some more.

9/10/11: Welcome to the World Annika Ruth Neuschwander

  

Hello there world, Annika Ruth Neuschwander here, reporting for my mom who has been a bit busy lately. Actually she's not that busy. Sometimes I fnd here just staring at me. Anyhoo, I was born at 8:30 p.m. on 9/10/11. As soon as I was born people started cuddling and cooing over me. I like it that way. They took good care of my and my mom in the hospital, but I like home much better. I kept getting woken up for vital signs and disturbed while eating. This one takes the cake, can you believe they poked me and drew my blood. As if coming through the birth canal wasn't enough for one day?

This is me in my going home outfit. It was a gift from my mom's "Little Grandma" 34 years ago and she wore it home from the hospital. My Grandma Judi saved it for all those years tucked away in a cedar chest. I weighed 8 lb 7 oz at birth. Guess what? So did my Mom and so did her mom. I liked the ride home in the car seat. 

This is my comfy basinett. My Dad slept in it, my Uncle Seth slept in it and my Grandpa Bruce slept in it ....but I am the first girl to ever sleep in the basinett. Well minus some dolls, but they really don't count. The hat I am wearing my mom made for me on the plane to Switzarland. She didn't know if I was a boy or girl then. Can you beleive I skied the Alps 6 months before I was born? The liner of the basinett was made by my Grandma Judy with leftover material from the quilt my Garndma Cindy made. These people are a team! And the blanket ensuring my toes don't get cold was made by my Great Aunt Nancy . It is warm and it is snuggly. Gee, I sure had a lot of people working for me while I was in the womb. It's nice to be loved!

One of my Mom's teachers in the parenting class said the Moby wrap was best for new born babies. My mom thought she was a little hippy dippy but look how snuggly I am. My mom, my dad, and I "LOVE" the moby wrap. It is so comfy and I feel like I'm included in everything.

My mom, my dad, and I "LOVE" the moby wrap. It is so comfy and I feel like I'm included in everything. I am a really good helper.  See me in the garage helping my Dad my mom's trainer bike ready. Yup, she get's the bike, I get the motorized swing. Do I not have the better end of the deal?

 See me in the garage helping my Dad my mom's trainer bike ready. Yup, she get's the bike, I get the motorized swing. Do I not have the better end of the deal? My Dad didn't want me to get greasy so he hid me under the apron.

Next up details of my first fun outing.!!!!

Week40: Where's the Beef?

Today is D-day. Where is the baby? Where's the beef? 

It's not that I am so uncomfortable. It's that I am impatient. I mean by the due day one should want to meet their baby right? Hello! It's Christmas morning!  I am not  allowed to open the presents under the tree?  Bah Hum Bug!

The events of yesterday should have moved that baby out. I swam short course, aka flip turned myself silly and voluntarily did a few laps of real butterfly (not one arm). Later I went back to the pool and aqua jogged. No signs of labor. I thought athletes were supposed to have their babies a little early?  Hmph! Of course, I have read that being in the water makes the uterus very "happy and relaxed" and it is often recommended as a way of finding comfort during early labor and false labor. Hmm, maybe too much pool time?  Well, I have to do something to stay sane/fit/and cool.  Maybe my uterus needs to drink a glass of "Liven Up" and squeeze that baby out. 

 Since Wednesday's  5X 200 M test set and  yesterdays real butterfly failed to motivate my uterus yeah I blame the uterus for being lazy not the baby  I went to Costco ( think heat wave: hot car and parking lot). I hauled home and unpacked the loot of course sweating the whole time thinking dehydration can causes preterm labor. No signs of labor. I realize my mistake. Costco is not near unpleasant enough, should have tried Walmart. From the official People of Walmart website....

On second thought. Maybe a post term baby isn't such a big deal. Good thing I have a stack of 4 library books to keep me busy. I'll read some mindless chic -lit that will be good.

Not willing to give up I launched into a cleaning attack.

 I don't clean well or often which is why it is worth blogging about.  For the record I am a member of the "I hate soap scum, dust, and cleaning products." Mostly, I really hate soap scum. I sweat for hours and apparently it did not induce full term labor, just left me with a stuffy nose from cleaning and a head ache.

I hate soap scum!

Just before 4:00 p.m. the power went out. At first I thought it was just my neighborhood and no big deal. Then I learned it was much bigger. The power went out for all of San Diego, to Orange County, parts of Arizona and Mexico. Since signals were out traffic was super jammed up. Tim left his car in the garage at work and ran the 9 miles home from work. Don't you love fitness as a emergency plan? I do. While we were eating dinner on our patio I noticed the  moon looked mostly full  I thought this situation is so strange the baby will come for sure. Nope!

Maybe today! Today would be  good day to give birth seeing as my groceries are stocked up, the house is clean, no city/school pools are open because they called off school last night and energy conservation request for today. Although couldnt you just see me at 40 weeks pregnant scaling the fence to get into the nice cool clean pool water? I don't think being dilated to 2cm and swimming in the ocean would be a great idea in light of the 3.2 million gallon sewage spill caused by the outage.

On the bright side of things according to Baby Center at 40 weeks the baby is now the size of a pumpkin.

Thankfully, they said a small pumpkin.

Tim keeps saying "Our baby is going to cry!!!!"

 I know all babies cry.  I am eternally optimistic and counter "She might not cry that much." Yes, I know all babies cry. Compared to my brothers (who must have been real cry babies ;) I didn't cry that much when I was a baby. I learned to be a whiner over the years. like I'm whining now. Seriously, my mom thought something was wrong with me and brought it up to the Doctor.

Tim also says "Our baby is going to be fat" Well all babies are fat, even if they are preterm, babies are not lean in terms of body composition. I think me not crying had a lot to do with me having lots of fat. Yup, I was a fat full term baby. I was a fatty! Apparently being born in the Midwest had nothing to do with my fatness.

 The good thing about staying in utero for the full 40 weeks is that she'll be a bit fatter, stronger and have a bit larger tummy than say if I gave birth 5 weeks ago. We are not going to talk about how I am going to manage delivering the "growing by the minute" child inside of  me.This all translates to Baby N having fewer reasons to cry. That has to be a good thing. I consistently point this out to Tim , who responds. "She's going to be a porker, Oink Oink, Oink, and she is going to crrrrryyyyy  " If only she would show up to prove execute some girl power and prove him wrong!

Rumor has it Baby N is waiting for the weekend to show up. See I am still a racer at heart and lots of races are going on. Good luck to (in alphabetical order) my San Diego friends  Beth, Lesley, Julie, Nooka and Stacy racing at Half Ironman Worlds this weekend. I think racing a Half Ironman in the hills  and heat outside of Vegas sounds comparable to labor. Of course labor is a bit harder to train for, on the flip side I get an IV, a call bell and drugs if I want them. I know I have them at the call bell. I also have a smack talking special bet with Stacy, that I can deliver my child in less time than she can do the race. I really don't think I can win this one  knowing ball park figure what she will do in a half and ball park figure of first time delivery. However, it's motivation for both of us and what's life without a bit of smack.

Happy weekend.

Week 39: Too Fat to Fly

I know what  you are thinking. Something along the lines of "Honey, hang it up, you are pregnant. Get off the weight, get off the Hagen Daaz and get ready to give birth. But that's not the case. I gave up any aspirations of flying when I waxed my skis for storage or hung up my mountain bike. That was soooo two trimesters ago.

It's Petunia I'm worried about.For a duck who brushed with death she seems to be thriving. In fact, I think she has become fat. Too fat to fly. Seriously, she looks full grown but she does not fly. She flaps her wings but she does not fly. I do not think she needs another duck to teach her how. She taught herself how to swim. Flying should be instinctual as well.

I know her water is filthy, but she likes it that way I swear!

Apparently she has it good here. A toddler pool, a garden, a hutch and bowls full duck/hen feed with no competition. It's hard to say if she likes it here, she's a duck. Always indignant, beeping at you with annoyance.

What other lucky duck gets such a nice hutch to sleep in at night?

She really only comes around and acts a little attached and loving when her food bowl is empty. Maybe she could survive in the wild, but I'm not sure she could survive in a park. She turns up her beak at bread in quite a snotty manner. I've tried high protein bread, honey white bakery bread and even gluten free bread. Petunia is not interested.

Apparently, she thinks she is above a dog crate and would rather sleep inside.

I guess you could blame the parents in this situation just like with childhood obesity. Maybe we've overfed her. I will have you know I drove all the way to Del Mar to get her hormone free feed. That's got to be like shopping from Wholefoods. Maybe she doesn't get enough exercise. When I come around she seems active. She waddles around the garden inspecting things. She shows off her swimming skills and splashes in her pool. However, I have caught her several times curled up sleeping in the shade when she thinks I am not watching. Maybe she's just too lazy to fly.

What is week 39 for me? We have established that I am not capable of flying.

Well last weekend was HOT. The pool water was HOT. I was just a bit cranky as I was sweating sitting in front of a fan. felt a bit like sloth, singing "stand by your fan" I termed myself an Oompa Loompa .

Sadly, after reviewing the picture I realize Oompa Loompa's despite having a horrid BMI our much smaller than me. I more like a whale, but not a beached one, but an efficient sea creature.

Numbers don't lie. At 38 weeks 5 days I swam this week's test set at masters swim faster than prior weeks and probably  faster than I ever have before. Disclaimer: I never swam this much when I was capable of riding my bike 200 miles/week.  400M, 200M,100M freestyle on 7:19, 3:29, 1:38 respectively and respectfully. This is meters not yards and meters are longer. I post this here so in future I will hold myself to these times.

I think this is a testament to gaining swim efficiency, perhaps improving stroke form, and not loosing too much fitness. Disclaimer: I am now on maternity leave so I have more time. I have never swam so consistently as the past 6 months. At some point in life we all take a deep breath and say to our self or someone else "just do what you can". Now I can utter those words with a bit of validation. I'll remember I did what I could and had a bit of success. It's nice when the numbers on the time clock validate your effort. Especially when the numbers on the scale have no place to go but up :)

Side note: Now that I have just been Holly high on myself and Polly Positive I must admit that the pressure of beating the preceding weeks times has become too great ,compounded by the  scheduled switch to short course which means double the flip turns. The test set changes each month and I might not like the September test set.  Rumor has it to be 8*100 yds. This calculates to 23 darn flip turns with half the time for recovery as long course. It's really easy to goof up a flip turn when you have managed to contain most 39 weeks of gestational growth within your 5'3 torso yeah there is a bit more padding in my butt, thighs, arms, chest and face. but shhhh!!!! It's a secret. Anyway a goofed up flip turn can cost a lot of time.  If I don't have the confidence I can swim 100   yrds faster than 100m then I am going to come up with a good excuse to miss test day. For example, I will have a baby on  or prior to next Wednesday's test set and nobody will guess I just didn't want to be timed doing 23 flip turns.

Family heirlooms: Rocking chairs and bassinet. Tim's guitar for lullaby's and a soft, fluffy rug.

You could say I am nesting. I've spent a great deal of time going to Target, organizing, cleaning, arranging and rearranging the nursery, because I can never get things right the first time. Case in point suspending this bike from the ceiling was no easy task. Having my child drift off to sleep with sweet dreams of riding a pink bike is very important.

Note:This bike is not suspended above baby's bed in case of earthquake.

Yesterday, I spent a freakish amount of time and energy going to Target, Henry's, vacuuming, mopping and organizing only to mess up the mopping and eat half the produce today. I organized baby clothing not just by size on the label but actual size. It turns out baby brands participate in psychological sizing too. Anyway, this over the top behavior made me think the baby might actually be coming sooner vs. later and I worked like a woman trying to meet a qualifying time or somebody trying to finish Ironman with no glow sticks when the sun was setting. They say it's hormonal which is true. I also would say that when you are one week from D-day, there's a bit of rationale FEAR that kicks you in the pants. Hello! Does anybody really want to figure out being a first time parent and deal anything else? Seriously, who in their right mind wants to return home with a new baby to a messy home with no food, especially when you know you'll have guests? Seriously is anybody that stupid. I mean it 's different if you are 30 weeks and I know it may seem pregnancy could last forever, but to record PREGNANCY HAS NEVER LASTED FOREVER. At week 39, hormones or common sense?

.

You are an ICU nurse when you feel compelled to label things just like IV tubing.

Week 38: Looking Ahead: Full Speed Ahead

Although aqua jogging has proven to be quite a workout. I'm looking forward to when I can run  again. Thanks to my foot it won't be until post partum. Call me a princess but after months of running with extra poundage I can't wait to run with a little less load.  People voice many concerns about running postpartum, with no disrespect I am a bit tired if hearing it actually.  I am not all that concerned, if I have  a postpartum issue that makes running not possible it will be self evident. I don't think I need tons of warnings for something that will render itself obvious. I plan to just deal with what is. This may sound bratty but after months of running with increasing load I feel entitled to attempt running as soon as I feel healthy enough and have the energy to try.

I realize there are some concerns: The Bebe

Baby out of the womb and on Board the stroller.

 I am really looking forward to running with Baby in the BOB.

The concern would be BOB recommends not running with the stroller until the baby is 6 months. The car seat adapter is not bolted in place, BOB does not want to get sued by people who fail to secure the car seat into the stroller, however it is safe for walking? The infant adapter is quite secure and I feel the baby will be just fine.  Sadly, I ....do.....not .....run ....fast.... enough to worry the car seat may eject itself.  People voice concerns about head and neck stability. First, that is what the car seat adapter is designed for. It provides proper fit with head and neck support. I personally know teenagers that were placed in running strollers as infants with no adapter. If you ask the parents the only problem they have today is that they are  teenagers. Tim did two long rotations at Children's Hospital, while there he worked many, many, many, many, many, many, many,many hours. He saw lots of children/infant orthopaedic issues. He saw zero head and neck injuries from riding in a running stroller. He does have a few things to say about the safety of tightly swaddled hips.

I am fairly convinced the BOB stroller is a more plush ride than my 1999 Mazda. If for some reason running with a baby in the stroller is a concern I do have an EE Treadmill. I call it EE, for excuse eliminator. Seriously it works. Tim and I don't use it too much because it is a great motivator to run in the rain, cold, dark, you name it. We bought it used for $300 and it has been worth every penny. As you can imagine a $300 treadmill  is very basic. No TV , no bells or whistles. Guess what? In about a month it will be a state of the art Alter G treadmill since my last run on land had me at 29 lbs above baseline. Tim lost 5 lbs because we went off cookies so it's an Alter G treadmill for him too.



The alter G treadmill allows you to run at a percentage of your body weight.

Fatigue Factor

If I had a penny for every time I was told to sleep when the baby sleeps I'd be rich, rich, rich!I respect I will be tired. It sounds as though babies sleep a lot during the day though ;)  I have  "a limited time only offer" to run on a luxurious alter G treadmill and  I may be motivated to run during one of those naps and through fatigue.

After all the limited time offer to run on the Alter G treadmill will expire and then....it's just a treadmill. A lot of new Mom's find time to watch Oprah. I don't own a TV so for me a treadmill trot is the same thing. I am fairly certain my mother did not sleep whenever I slept. My brothers would have burned down the house. Seeing as the house is still standing, I believe she survived without napping every time I did.

The Effects of Pregnancy and Delivery on the Body:

There are a lot of scary rumors about what happens to the female body during delivery. Somewhere somebody came up with a rule that if a woman ran within 6 weeks of giving birth she would be incontinent for the rest of her life. Although, some women do have unfortunate pelvic floor issues post partum. I'm a bit tired of hearing "if you run too soon after delivery you will be incontinent for the rest of your life". Yes, some women have issues and need treatment for this sad but real problem.....but research has proven it was not caused by running. It is just physiological misfortune. Urinary and fecal incontinence  have NEVER been proven to be linked to post partum running. Although the latter may be hard to convince you on. 

True, he probably wouldn't have crapped his pants if he wasn't out running.

 Somewhere a blanket rule of know activity above a walk for six weeks post partum was formed. I have a HUGE amount of respect for heeding the body's needs and an even bigger one to  the bonding and developing  of feeding schedules with a new baby.  I do not believe in blanket recommendations. Besides that, I can name names of people who didn't wait 6 weeks to run (try less than 6 days for a few) and are not, and have never been incontinent. I also deem them to be good parents, in fact probably better parents then if they would have holed their naturally active selves up inside watching TV, weeping while the effects of changing hormones kicked in. To protect their privacy I'll refer to the guidelines set by the Mayo Clinic. I actually worked at the Mayo of Scottsdale when I was a travel nurse and I will say they are top notch. For a full report see below:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise-after-pregnancy/MY00477

The skinny is below:

"In the past, health care providers often instructed women to wait at least six weeks after giving birth to begin exercising. The waiting game may be over, however. If you exercised during pregnancy and had an uncomplicated vaginal delivery, it's generally safe to begin exercising within days of delivery — or as soon as you feel ready." 

I highlighted the uncomplicated. I am optimistic in hoping for the best but also realistic. I would rather focus on the  positive, like Kara Goucher running a personal best of 2:24 at Boston this year, 7 months post partum.

What Kara did seems to be nothing new either.

Courtesy of Active.com I learned In 1982, elite runner Ingrid Kristiansen ran a 2:33 marathon and on investigating why it was (for her) so slow, discovered that she was four months pregnant. Oopsie. Four months after giving birth, she won the Houston Marathon in 2:27 and three months later set the women's world record in the London Marathon in 2:21.It is a wonder the pregnancy and post partum police did not arrest her!

I'm also a realistic enough person to know that expectations and plans may have to change based on the reality of the situation. Oh yeah...and don't worry I am not setting unrealistic goal like personally running a 2:40 marathon. I do feel that a lot of goals and hopes in life are naturally limited, There is no use sitting home watching Golden Girls (with a bowl of Golden Grahams in hand that's what I do when I watch TV) thinking I can't return to normal activity because I "might have" a physical complication. I might be healthy as a horse too and wouldn't that be a terrible thing to waste.


There are concerns regarding the stability pelvic region post partum. Orthopedists like to keep things simple and based on my consultation with husband and my review of case reports the advice is simple. Activity as tolerated. Meaning whatever can be tolerated is probably safe. If you have some PSD it will be uncomfortable and one will adjust your activity or seek treatment as needed. Same with coming back from a C-section, one probably will be too uncomfortable to harm  healing with activity. When one is able to tolerate the activity the area is probably healed sufficiently.

Anectdotaly speaking, a friend , who is a physical therapist, noted that women who wore slightly too tight skinny jeans post partum improved faster than others with PSD because the too tight jeans functioned as an S1 brace.
Baby Food:

The final concern would be the effect of running on lactation. The Mayo Clinic addresses the subject and  it's not much of an issue. Ok, if you are racing and producing lactic acid  the milk can taste funny and the baby may not like it. If this is a issue they suggest the good old "pump and dump" immediately post workout then feeding 30 minutes later.

 I'm no expert but I what guides me is this thought. Milk in Switzerland tastes better. I wonder why?

American Cow, compare to the mom not allowed to go run, forced into confinement.

Swiss cow, compare to the mom out running and free from confinement.

You decide what is healthy and best for mom and baby.