Juddmansee.com

In April I said I’d be taking a little time to reflect before embarking on my next adventure.  Well, the next adventure for me won’t be a major race, it’s preparing for motherhood.  Today I’m 20 weeks pregnant, as you may have noticed from the hiking pictures we just posted.

FAQs

Q: How are you feeling?
A: I’ve been feeling good. A little tired during the first trimester, but nothing unusual for marathon training or early pregnancy.
I have also been really hungry (no nausea, I’m lucky!) – craving spicy food and cinnamon.
I didn’t notice any significant improvement at the start of the 2nd trimester, but since I was already feeling so good, that isn’t a surprise.

Q: You ran a marathon?!
A: Yes, of course I did! I wasn’t about to miss out on running the Boston Marathon after all that work!
I did purposely back off on my pace and make sure to stay cool and hydrated to ensure that the fetus and I stayed safe.
My doctor was ok with it, as the general rule is to keep doing what you are doing (in my case, running long distances).

Q: Are you going to find out if it’s a boy or girl?
A: We are not planning to; we are looking forward to a surprise. Of course if we happen to find out, that will be ok too.
We are pretty chill about the whole thing. And besides, it is fun to hear what criteria other people use to guess the gender.

Q: Was this planned? How long have you been trying?
A: We weren’t really trying, nor were we avoiding. We just pulled the goalie and decided we would be ok with whatever happened (with a short intervention once I got into the Boston Marathon – I was willing to run a few months pregnant, but not 7 months!).
It seems that my body decided the coast was clear after we sold our house in Newburyport.

Q: When are you due?
A: November 2 (give or take a couple weeks on either side)

Q: how much time are you taking off work?
A: I plan to work until the baby arrives, then take the rest of the year off using my banked sick leave and holiday shut-down.
That will allow me to check email and do a “soft” return to work if I feel like it (as opposed to taking disability).
My boss and staff are very supportive of my plan to stay flexible in January, perhaps working part time or from home a bit depending on how our schedule turns out.

Q: Where are you planning to deliver?
A: We visited two birth centers, one was Lowell General and the other was Emerson (in Concord). Both have good doctors and facilities and are covered by insurance.
Emerson has the benefit of a separate wing and entrance, more room to walk around, and we had a more informative tour there.
We decided to change Ob/Gyn practices to one that delivers at Emerson. The Harvard Vanguard practice has been great, and my midwife there was very supportive.

Q: What names are you considering?
A: We’re definitely discussing names but aren’t settled and probably won’t be sharing our picks until after the little one arrives.  But because it’s nice to refer to the fetus somehow, we’ve been calling it “Cletus.” (no we’re not really considering that as a name)

I can now feel Cletus move pretty regularly, and Brian’s been able to feel it too.  We have a fetal survey ultrasound next week, so we should have better images then, but in the mean time here is the little one waving hello.

Fetus, 12 week ultrasound