Thank you so much for your wonderful comments on the blog, Instgram, Facebook and Twitter! I have read every single one of them and I can’t tell you enough just how wonderful you all are! It has been so hard keeping it a secret for so long, but my husband and I were very cautious in the beginning.

Now that it is out, I have so much to share with you all! It is hard to even know where to begin. I thought I’d go ahead and answer some of our questions and then I’m sure there will be lots more posts coming.

 

How did you find out you were pregnant?

My husband and I had decided to start trying to get pregnant right after the Chicago Marathon in 2015. We both felt it was the right time. We were a bit naive in thinking it would happen quickly, but we kept the faith. The hope was that I would be far enough along so that I could still run Boston, but just go out there and enjoy it. After 4 months with no success, we decided to back off of it a little bit and try again after I had run Boston.  That was the plan at least.

February I focused on training and just accepted that we would try again after Boston. I tried not to be disappointed, and I was so excited to finally run Boston. As March came running was getting harder for me, really hard. It was so confusing to me because I had even backed down my training and my workouts were less intense. I’d have an occasional good day here and there, so I kind of just figured I was just having a tough time.

The frustration started growing even more, and since we weren’t actively trying as we had the previous cycles I thought something more serious was wrong. After some blood work and testing, low and behold I was pregnant!

 

Did you use any ovulation kits or track your periods?

I’m thankful that I’ve always been someone who has had a pretty regular cycle (give or take a few days). A couple months before October I downloaded a pregnancy ap to track my cycles so I had a better idea.

After the first month with no success I went a little overboard and bought ovulation predictor tests. I don’t think they are necessary but it helped better pinpoint ovulation. I got a little too stressed about them and I think in some ways they added stress to the situation, but they definitely helped me get a better idea of when I ovulated each month.

Like I said earlier, the month we got pregnant we had stopped doing most of that and didn’t focus on it. We weren’t planning on going back to it until after Boston.

 

Is this why you didn’t run Boston?

I made the announcement that I wouldn’t run Boston before I knew. However, just a day or so later I found out the wonderful news. I’ve heard of so many women who run Boston pregnant but since I was so early into my pregnancy I just didn’t feel comfortable putting my body through 26.2 miles.

After seeing the weather for the day and knowing how tough Boston can be on the body I believe I made the right decision 100%. Sure, it was tough and there were some tears shed, but the health of our baby is most important.

 

When is your due date?

I am currently due on December 5^th.

That was my due date according to my last cycle and I had a dating scan done just over 7 weeks and it was confirmed.

I know it just looks like a little bean, but that’s the most beautiful little bean I have ever seen!

 

What were your symptoms?

Obviously, the first few weeks I just felt pretty exhausted and sluggish. This has actually been one of the biggest symptoms the entire time. Even when I get lots of sleep some mornings I still feel so tired. However, when you are getting up at 4 AM and late into a marathon training cycle you seem to also always be tired! I also get really dizzy off and on and have to be careful when I get up from sitting down for an extended amount of time.

This may be TMI for some, but my breasts have been SO SO sore and enlarged. It’s actually been quite frustrating because many clothes don’t fit the same anymore and right now I have to wear two sports bras until I can find a better one that can give me enough support. The soreness also happens around when I get my period, so this wasn’t an immediate indication.

I haven’t had any morning sickness thankfully. I do get nauseous if I go too long without eating, so I now eat something every 2-3 hours and that usually keeps things feeling better.

Now as I am getting further along I am feeling a lot of stretching and light cramping in my lower abdomen, but that is to be expected.

 

How did you tell your families?

My husband and I were a bit paranoid early on, so we waited a few weeks after we found out to tell our parents. It was so hard for me, but I wanted to find a weekend where we would see them both to announce the news.

We made onesies and had them wrapped up to give to each of our parents.

I wish I had gotten a video of their reactions, but I figured that would be too obvious what was happening. This will be the first grandchild for both families. Needless to say, everyone is extremely excited!

 

Will you find out the gender of the baby?

Yes! I’m too impatient to wait and we are excited to find out. We really have no preference either way, we just want a healthy baby.

We will find out at our 19-20 week anatomy scan. I am planning a little BBQ for family and friends and then I will announce it here!

 

Do you have any feelings on if it is a boy or a girl?

Honestly, no not really. In the beginning I thought it would be a girl, though I have no idea why. Then I had two dreams where it was a boy. Ha! I honestly have no feeling either way now so I look forward to finding out when the time comes.

 

Are you going to continue running through your pregnancy?

The goal is to continue running for as long as I can during pregnancy. I talked to my coach when I first found out and got some good suggestions on how to maintain a base during pregnancy. Of course, I have to be much more in tune with my body and take breaks when I need to.

Pregnancy running is hard. I guess I knew it would be different but I didn’t realize just how hard it would feel some days. Most days I feel exhausted and it makes it hard to get moving. My pace has slowed down dramatically, but for once I am completely okay with that. I don’t have a pace in mind any day when I run, I simply go out and run for enjoyment.

I try to keep my running at a conversational pace the entire time and if I feel my heart rate getting too high, I stop and let it slow down. I also don’t ever leave the house without water during my runs. One of the dangers during early pregnancy is your body temperature getting too high. As the weather warms up, I have been on the treadmill more but also focus on having lots of water.

I’ve been tracking my pregnancy running and workouts and will continue to share with you all if you are interested. Here is what the past several weeks have looked like.

I’ll be going into full detail of my plan for pregnancy in a future post.

 

Are you going to do weekly/bi-weekly updates?

My blog has always been about running. I’ve really kept it to that and don’t often go much outside of that. I’m obviously going to be talking about running and pregnancy but haven’t decided yet if weekly updates are going to happen or not.

If you all would like to see them – I’d be happy to do them! So let me know.

Obviously, blogging has been tough for me since we found out because I felt like I haven’t been entirely honest. Now that it is out I will be back much more often and will be able to share more without feeling like I’m being dishonest.

 

Ok, well I think this post is getting a little lengthy, so I’ll cut it! If you have any other questions, I will be happy to do a follow up post – just let me know!

Thank you again for all your support!