Welcome to the Family--Part 2

I'm still recovering and adjusting to life with a newborn. It's hard to believe he's already 2 weeks old!!! Time is FLYING!!! If you missed Part 1 of my labor & delivery story, be sure to check it out HERE before reading. And now, here's the fun part--where we actually get to meet our little prince!

We got to the hospital around 3 a.m. and they brought us straight to labor and delivery. To be honest, I really could have lived without the wheelchair, but it was their policy, so I just wheeled along. We headed into triage and I was just hoping not to be sent home. There was something about being admitted; in my head that indicated we'd meet Robby soon. They checked me and I my water did break the evening before, as I had thought, but I was only 3 cm dilated. We headed to our room and I was immediately hooked up to IVs and monitors. My birth plan was to move as much as possible, so we kept disconnecting the monitors so I could walk, rock, even use a "birthing ball" (yep, fancy name for an exercise ball that they probably charge people 5 times as much for since it's for labor).

Once we hit the 24 hour mark, I was really tired and pretty much over it. The staff turned over and we got the BEST nurse! She was awesome and so supportive of me and my choices. The hours kept ticking by, and Bill need to make some important phone calls. At around 27 hours into labor, they checked me again and I was at a 3.5 cm dilated. The nurse tried to make me feel better by saying a 3-4, but really I wasn't making much progress. My midwife finally came to check on me, and we had to have a tough conversation--she wanted to prepare me that since I was progressing so slowly I might have to start on Pitocin, since once my water was broken for 24 hours the risk of infection becomes a factor.

I had wanted an all natural birth--no medication and definitely no drugs to induce or move things along. I had watched all the Netflix documentaries and really had put a lot of pressure on myself to do things as nature had intended. Finally, after somewhere between 27 and 28 hours of labor, I very teary-eyed looked at Bill and asked for an epidural. It was not what I had wanted, but I was exhausted and knew that we were in for a long day. About half an hour later, I got the epidural and was finally able to rest. I could not help but to feel like I had somehow failed; I was weak and not doing what was best for my child. That feeling sat with me for a few days, but now that he's here, I have no regrets.

As an added bonus to the epidural, the anestesiologist asked "did you know you have scoliosis?" Great. Just add insult to injury. Because of that I had some difficulty getting my right side to numb up. I ended up needing an extra boost a few hours later. It's really a weird feeling, but I don't know if I could have gotten through labor without it.

Pitocin was started to help move things along. They were super conservative and I only needed the very lowest dose. It got me moving, but also put Robby is a small amount of distress. Add in the oxygen! My all natural, granola labor was a faint memory! I don't know how, but the hours just ticked and ticked by.

I finally started to progress, and around 7 p.m. my midwife came back for delivery. We tried pushing once, but they wanted me to labor down for another 15-20 minutes to get him moving down. They positioned me, and of course, as just one more boost, I threw up. The midwife and nurse said this was a good sign that he was moving down. Finally, it was time to really push. That was the best and easiest part--5 pushes and he was here! I guess all that working out was helpful for something.

Photo Credit: Bella Baby

He was absolutely perfect--ten little fingers, ten little toes. 7 pounds, 12 ounces. 20.5 inches. A little bit of strawberry blond hair. All 39 hours were worth it, for sure, when I saw his little face. We had waited 40 weeks and 3 days for this little one to arrive; it was amazing. We are actually parents!

We've already had him in some great Disney outfits and imagined what our first trip to Disneyland will be like in September. He's already primed for a big finish at the 2016 Disneyland Half Marathon Diaper Dash! The future of this Disney baby is bright, and we can't wait to share some of his best Disney moments with you all!

Welcome to the Family Robby!

It's official! Disney Runs in the Family has grown! We welcomed our little prince Robby to the world on 1/7/16 at 7:53 pm. No, it's not really running or Disney related, but trust me, this little guy (and I) participated in the marathon of all marathons, ironically enough during the WDW marathon weekend. And hey, since it's my blog, I can share what I want--and I can't wait to share my labor story.

The newest member of Disney Runs in the Family

I'll start with a quick summary: 39 hours. Yep, that says it all! With that in mind, I figured a multi-part post was in order.

My due date had come and gone (I was due January 4th). Oddly enough I never even thought I'd go this long; I always assumed I'd have him early. He apparently had different plans. There's something really strange about waiting to go into labor. You're just sitting around, hoping to have a sign that something was going to happen. You take everything as a sign--I stubbed my toe, must be labor; the light twitched, must be labor; my hair looks bad; must be labor. I think we Googled "what does a contraction feel like" at least 100 times. People kept telling me "you'll know" but that wasn't good enough.

Our little runDisney family

It was true, though. Around 5 a.m. on Wednesday, January 3rd I was woken up by some significant pains in my belly. They were different, more painful, and I had the urge to get up and move through them. I paced in my bedroom for a little, then decided to grab Bill's phone and start timing. Yep, it was different, and I was having contractions every 7-8 minutes. Woohoo! It was finally starting. I had planned a beautiful, natural labor, so I took a long, hot shower to get myself in a relaxed mind and body.  When Bill woke up, I let him know that I was pretty sure I was in labor. It was all very calm and relaxed. My mom was still at our house, and I really just wanted to be alone, so we spent a lot of time in our bedroom just being quiet.

To move things along, we headed out for a morning walk. It was peaceful and relaxing, but the contractions weren't really progressing any quicker. I also tried to nap but the excitement and anticipation combined with the contractions didn't leave much room for rest. My contractions slowed (even to as little as once every 10-11 minutes) but they never stopped. I ate small, energizing meals. I was doing everything I had read and seen to move labor along and make sure my body was ready to welcome this new little one into the world.

The night kept progressing, but the contractions never got more frequent than every 7-8 minutes. We binge watched a few new shows on Netflix (that I now have to go back and start over, because apparently I wasn't actually paying attention). Around 9 pm my water finally broke. That started to move things along, but not nearly as fast as I thought it would. We kept timing contractions and debated going to the hospital. My plan was to labor at home as long as possible. I wanted to be in a comfortable place and able to move around without being constantly monitored. We finally decided to go in around 1:30 a.m. so I took a long, hot shower, finished packing the hospital bag, even put on a little makeup and fixed my hair (hey, I knew there were some really important pictures in my future). The hospital is less than 2 miles from our house, so we arrived around 3 a.m. It was our last time driving anywhere as a family of 2. Our lives were about to change!

Stay tuned for part 2! I know you already know the ending, but it's about the journey!

2016 Race Calendar

Yep, I'm still waiting on the arrival of the newest member of Disney Runs in the Family. Seeing that baby Robby isn't here yet, I've had plenty of time to think about the year ahead and goals I want to accomplish, specifically in running. Of course, I'm being realistic and know that I'm about to take on a whole new life with our baby, so my goals are short and sweet.

My "comeback" race: Las Vegas Hot Chocolate 15k--February 28th
This local race will be my first run postpartum. I'm honestly a little nervous, especially since it looks like I'll be going right up to or even past my due date of January 4th. I've stayed somewhat active, but may end up pulling back to the walker corral depending on when I can get back on the road.

My "speedy" race: Disneyland Half (as part of the Dumbo Double Dare)
I plan to take back my speed this year at the Disneyland Half Marathon. Since knee surgery and pregnancy, I haven't come close to my half PR of 2:04. This year, I'm planning on focusing my energy on getting my speed up so I can work toward that number again. I doubt I'll PR, but it will feel great to run fast and get close. I'm tired of running slow. I've learned a lot as a runner myself and as a coach to others, and I'm ready to put that in place and conquer some goals. I'm not setting a time YET, but once I can get back to running regularly, I'll have a better idea of specific goals.

My "just for fun" race: Disneyland Paris Half
We are so excited to be going to Paris, and there's no way I'm rushing through this race! We even got a Go Pro for Christmas so we can document every step, and we plan to take a million pictures on the course. No need for speed here! I'm ready to relish every magical mile, then spend a week putting in tons of miles of walking around the most romantic city on earth!

It's not a long list, but again, life around the Stater household is about to change BIG TIME. I can't wait to take Robby out for walks and runs (my BOB stroller was one of the first things I bought when I found out we were expecting). I really can't wait for his first race--the Diaper Dash during the Disneyland Half weekend. It'll be a fun, challenging year! Now, back to waiting for our Disney baby to arrive!

#YearOfYou Diet Bet--join us!

I love the New Year: it's a time to set goals, dream big, and say goodbye to the negativity of the past. For so many (and this year, me included), January is a time to set some weight loss goals. Of course, I'm going to have to wait until our little man makes his debut before jumping into my fitness and weight loss goals, but you don't so we organized a little Diet Bet to help you along! You just can't take the coach out of me, even when my mind is preoccupied with a million other things!

So...how does it work? We start on Monday, January 4th. The bet is that you lose 4% of your body weight in 4 weeks. Diet Bet handles all the money, the payouts, the weigh-ins, and verifying that everyone is playing fair. Once you register, you will get an individual word that you will photograph with your scale, as well as photographing yourself on the scale, all within 24 hours of the start. As long as you lose the weight, you are guaranteed your money back at the least, BUT (this is the fun part) everyone who meets their goal splits the pot. Not that you want others to not reach their goals too, but the odds are in your favor that you stand to win more than you put in, that is, as long as you reach your goal. So it's you against yourself--you don't have to worry about being the "biggest loser".

There's even an app to keep you on track and I'll be posting tips throughout the game to give you an edge over the rest. It's fun, it's social, and it definitely works!

Are you in? It's time to get started! Follow this LINK and join us in betting on yourself in 2016!

Pregnancy, Nutrition, and Running--Oh My!

Well, we're getting close now, and it's almost D-Day! My due date is right around the corner and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the newest member of Disney Runs in the Family! Sitting here at 38.5 weeks in the middle of the holiday season, I'm feeling a little reflective of my pregnancy journey and how proud I am that I have made staying healthy a top priority for myself and my little man! Yes, I'm bragging, but why not? It would have been much easier to "eat for two" and spend 9 months living on Netflix!

During this pregnancy, I ran 3 race weekends: The Tink Half, The Disneyland Half, and The Avengers Half. The first two, I did the challenges with the 10k on Saturday and the Half on Sunday. I'm pretty darn impressed by that. My training wasn't perfect. It was actually far from perfect, but it's still a major accomplishment that I am very proud of. One half marathon per trimester--that just sounds really cool! I also managed to keep up with my other workouts, still teaching classes at the gym until 35 weeks. I had to eventually give it up, though, because I couldn't get through the hour of jumping around without using the restroom. I'm still taking classes and getting my workouts in, but I've really had to modify now that the baby is sitting low and we are close to the end.

One thing that I KNOW helped tremendously has been my nutrition. I really tried to stick with a healthy diet, rich in protein, fruits and veggies. Of course I had Shakeology daily to fill in any gaps with nutrition and drinking lots and lots of water was a top priority. My energy was a little low the entire time, but luckily I haven't had too much trouble sleeping except for the past 2 weeks. I also have not had any medications and only had to suffer through one quick cold right after Thanksgiving. All in all, I was super healthy. Of course, I attribute part of that to the choices I made, but I have to admit that I was lucky too.

Now, we are at the sit around and wait part. Depending on who you ask, I'm either already full-term or will be within a few days. I personally really wanted to get through Christmas, and that looks pretty good. Once I hit 39 weeks, though, the eviction notice will be served!

I have to admit, I'm really excited to get back to running fast and working out hard. Between my knee surgery last year and pregnancy this year, I haven't been able to work on speed in a long time and I'm ready to set some big goals! My first race will be the Hot Chocolate 15k in Vegas on February 28th. I know I won't be breaking any records, but it will be nice to be on a course with friends for some fun running! (By the way, if you're interested in this race, use my code LASVEGASBUFF3 to get extra swag in your bag) I'm hoping recovery from labor is quick and I can get a good month of training under my belt before race day, but I won't make any promises.

Stay tuned for our big birth announcement--hopefully sooner rather than later! We can't wait for our little monster to arrive!

Race Report: 2015 Avengers Half Marathon

Warning: I'm not an Avengers fan, I ran this race almost 8 months pregnant, and I didn't even get any Disneyland park time in during the weekend...I might be a little less than my normal positive self in this review! HAHAHA

Way back during the Tink Half weekend, I was about 5-6 weeks pregnant, feeling great, and got lured in by lower pricing and a cute runDisney bag--I registered for the Avengers Half Marathon at the Tink expo. I knew that our time living close(ish) to Disneyland was coming to an end in the next few years and traveling with an infant is difficult, so I thought this would be my chance to run the only race weekend I hadn't previously experienced. It seemed like a good idea at the time...

We arrived at Disneyland on Saturday around lunchtime. We had decided to save the cash and not even go to the parks--I had been there pregnant quite a few times already and it just didn't make sense. First stop was the expo to pick up my bib and swag bag. It was pretty empty, so that was nice, but there was nothing left. I thought maybe I could get some Christmas shopping done, but nope, that wasn't even an option with how picked through everything was (I was looking for just some generic runDisney stuff-not even the Avengers swag, which I knew would be gone). It wasn't a huge disappointment, as I knew that finding anything would be difficult so late in the game. I was, though, super disappointed in the speaker series! This was one of the things I would have liked to do. Since we didn't have theme park tickets, I thought we could spend the afternoon listening to speakers. Not so much. We ended up having lunch and browsing shops at Downtown Disney before heading back to our hotel. Not crushed, but just kind of blah.

For a pleasant bonus, we got to our hotel and were upgraded to the Presidential Suite--this room was seriously bigger than our house! It made the perfect excuse to stay in, order some food, watch some TV and rest before the race.  Ironically enough, I did NOT sleep well in our beautiful suite. I probably knew what the next day was going to bring.

In typical runDisney fashion, I was up early, costume on, taking pictures, and ready to roll. I was in corral B, so when we got to the race, I promptly lined up at the very back on the right side. My plan was to do 30 second run, 1 minute walk intervals to try and give my pregnant self a break. I definitely set myself up for disappointment, though, as I hadn't trained well and the last few weeks have been really tough as far as feeling "pregnant" (tired, big, tired, achy, and TIRED).

The race started late, which is not typical of runDisney at all. It just added to my bad attitude that morning. I started out with a 30 second run/1 minute walk interval. I felt fine for the first 4 miles. I even met another running mama-to-be, who was probably a lot smarter than me and was walking the entire race. I was maintaining an easy 12:30 pace, but at around 4.5 miles I had the most excruciating pain in my stomach. As I'm writing this, I haven't been through labor yet, though, so I'm sure this "most excruciating" will soon be replaced! I was tempted to pull myself off the course and for the next mile slowed to a snail's pace of walking. I debated for about half an hour on what to do, but since there was no medic tent in sight, it gave me enough time to walk it off and feel better. I wasn't about to chance starting to run again, so I decided to walk the rest.

The course was definitely my LEAST favorite of all the Disneyland courses. There is way too much time on narrow, dirt and gravel paths, and seeing as I was walking, I constantly felt like I had to walk so far right that I was tripping over everything on the path. Runners also were coming up around me on the right, which I absolutely HATE. I get it, you're running, I'm not, but I'm also trying to be as courteous as possible, so when you fly around me in the 6 inches of space on my right and almost knock me out, I start to get a bit irritable! The costumes were kind of "eh" on the course, so it didn't give me much to look at.

Soon enough I was nearing the finish. I had been out on the course almost 4 hours and I was done! My hubby was waiting right before the finish line, and asked "How do you feel?" My answer--I'm bored!!! The family standing next to him so sweetly started cheering for me. I didn't feel very cheery, but it was so nice of them to encourage me at the finish.

Overall, this was definitely my least favorite Disneyland race. I'm not a big Avengers fan and it was a recipe for disaster from the start. I'm still glad I did it, though, because I really do want to run all the races someday. I don't want to say I'll never be back, but this won't be on any of my must-do lists in the next few years for sure. On a happy note, up until this point Baby S had been breech. I have come to assume that the miserable pain that I felt at mile 4.5 was my baby flipping to get head down and ready for birth. Crazy, I know! When other mom's to be ask how to turn a baby, my answer is "run a half marathon". Guess that won't work for most mamas, but at least it did for me! See, the moral of the story is runDisney makes everything better, even if you don't know it at the time!

Have you ever run Avengers? What was your thoughts? Am I being too harsh?

I've Been a Bad, Bad Blogger!

What happens when you work a full-time job, run your own side business, work a part-time job, have a baby on the way, and it's the holiday season? Well, your blog goes unattended for weeks on end! I'm still here, I promise, and there's so me great stuff coming your way soon, from the race reports on the Avengers Half to our big Disney nursery reveal.

We only have a few weeks to go before we welcome our little monster, so stay tuned for a few pregnancy updates as well. Hope you are all enjoying the holiday season!