Where'd they go?

I can't see my feet when I stand up straight. I can see them if I lean forward a little or if I stand with my legs wide. But if I stand up straight, I have no feet. Ahhhhhh!

All better! (mostly anyway)

Glad to report I am feeling much much better now! My pregnant immune system is still functioning - hooray! I woke up in a fog this morning, but I think that was more because I slept for 10 hours, which I haven't done in a while.

So the Biscuit has learned a new trick - jumping up and down on mommy's bladder. Unlike the funny tummy kicks and adorable punches to my sides, the bladder jumping doesn't elicit feelings of motherly love in me. Instead I wonder if the child has a grudge against me - like perhaps, "Hey woman! You forgot to eat the 3 chocolate chip cookies I wanted today!" Oh, well. I'm happy with any & all movement, but the bladder-jumping makes me want to start doing hand-stands to get him back up where he "belongs."

New pregnancy symptom

#7 - Loss of immune system. I went from healthy and happy to sick as a dog today, lovely. I'm not sure if I picked up a bug from the infants in the baby nursery at church yesterday or caught it at the Embassy Suites church retreat Friday/Saturday. Either way, I really hope I'm not sick with this head cold for the next 4.5 months. Blarg. And Richie won't give me any kisses while I'm sick so I don't get him sick & screw up his training - which I completely understand & support - but it's still no fun to be sick and not get any sympathy kisses.

So, I think I might be pregnant

Duh, right? But I still wake up every morning surprised at my belly and wondering why on earth my rear-end is getting so big. Besides the obvious symptoms, here are a few recent events that lead me to believe I really really am pregnant:

#1 - My favorite pair of heels are now officially closeted until post-pregnancy. I wore them to work last week and my feet felt fine. But when I took the shoes off after getting home, my feet looked like big blow-up water toys! It was not good at all and I have never had swollen feet before. They were back to normal the next day, but I am all-flats for now.

#2 - I left my purse at Quizno's. So, that could easily happen, right? But I usually don't forget things in public places. I might leave stuff at home or at work, or misplace my car keys...but leave my whole financial world hanging in a bag at the local Quizno's - not very Melanie-like. Unless we're talking about pregnant-Melanie and then anything's game.

#3 - There is a mounting stockpile of baby stuff in my bedroom and garage. Apparently, someone in this household is expecting.

#4 - A complete stranger asked me the other day when my baby was due. That really floored me, because I thought I was still in the "is she pregnant or just chunky?" phase.

#5 - Crying. I feel somewhat justified about this given why I was crying, but normally I would have just been ticked or thought the whole thing was kind of funny. At my last doctor's appointment, the NP who saw me remarked "Wow, you've gained 7 lbs since your last visit - that might be a little much." And then launched into a healthly pregnancy spiel. I did not cry right then, but 15 minutes later while leaving the office I find myself in the office bathroom crying my eyes out because that stupid bitch called me fat. I composed myself, only to wind up sobbing again in the car after Richard, unprompted, says "You haven't gained too much weight, she was off-base." He had to take me to a coffee shop to get a cup of tea and compose myself before returning to work. Geesh. (There will be no more appointments booked with her.)

#6 - I feel sure there are others but I can't remember them right now (see #2)

Biscuit Adventure

So, if our kid gets to do half the stuff after he's born that he's done in-utero, he's going to have a pretty decent childhood: trip to England & Scotland, Ironman spectating, roller skating, and now backpacking. Yes, I took my pregnant self on a backpacking trip. Richard & I hadn't been on a backpacking trip together since we've been married - kind of pathetic. So we went on a little short one over the weekend accompanied by Lil the Adventure Dog. We headed up to Grayson Highlands Park on Saturday, hiked in about 4 miles or so, spent the night, and hiked out today (Sunday). It was pretty spectacular. Saturday was a little foggy, cold, and rainy. But still enjoyable because it was an adventure. This is the view on Saturday (can you see me out in the fog?):

And later in the day, this is Richie starting a fire with wet wood, in a wet fire-pit (with the help of a propane gas stove/flamethrower):

The fire eventually became a white-hot, cooking machine and we had fresh veggies & Spam (gag - OK it wasn't that bad, but I wouldn't recommend it for everyday consumption) cooked over the open flame. We then spent a while drying out our gear & ourselves before heading to bed (I managed to sleep pretty well despite being 5 months preggers - I can be tough when I want to!)

Then on Sunday we woke up to a glorious morning:

All in all it was a great trip. Richard carried pretty much everything and I had a token backpack with my sleeping bag and water in it :-) I don't know what more we could have asked for. We experienced: fog, rain, cold, sunrise & sunshine, warmth, wild ponies (Richard even pet one), fresh blackberries & blueberries, cold fresh moutain spring water, blazing campfire, stoned hiking hippies, beautiful views and peeing the woods. We had a blast. Here are some more pictures just because I actually took a few decent ones this trip (sorry for the visual overload on this post):

Big Weekend

Happy Birthday Richie! Well, it was last Friday but we were on the road so I couldn't post about it. Richard is now an old fart like me - a whopping 27 years old.

We were on the road going to Louisville, KY for Ironman KY. We had a lovely dinner at an Asian restaurant called August Moon. If you're ever in Louisville, I highly recommend it. We were extremely blessed to be staying with our friend Martin's parents there. Chip and Doris were wonderful and made us feel so at home. It was really marvelous and we're so thankful to have met them and spent time in their home.

The Ironman went really well, I am super proud of Richie. He isn't so thrilled with it, but he's being too hard on himself. He dropped his time from last year in Louisville and moved up the pro rankings by 3 spots to 11th. I'm sure eventually he will post his race report on his blog and you can read about it here: itsonlysuffering.blogspot.com. He's also been given several shout-outs on the triathadork web forum Slow Twitch for both his performance and sportsmanship on the course. He's a speed demon and a gentleman :)

This was my first solo spectating at an Ironman. For those of you who don't know, Richard typically finishes an Ironman between 9 and 10 hours depending on the course/conditions (9:38 in Louisville) - so going it solo as a spectator is no small feat! Yay for me!

In baby news, over the past two days I think the biscuit is developing a pattern. He is an afternoon person like his mama. He's quiet in the mornings and then starts practicing his kung-fu moves around lunch time, which continue on until the sun sets. Then we both get sleepy again. Oh, if only he'll keep the same schedule as me after he's born...I'm feeling lucky!

Here are some pictures from the race:

Finishing the swim See you in a few hours!
Almost done! All done!

Richard and Lawrence post-race