9 Month Checkup

Weight - 15 lbs. 8 oz (3rd-10th percentile)
Height - 28" (50th percentile)
Head Circumference - 17 1/2" (50th percentile)

The doctor was a little concerned about her weight since this had her gaining only about 1 1/2 pounds since her 6 month checkup.  I was surprised too.  She's been gaining about a pound a month so I assumed she would have been around 17 pounds.  We discussed her eating routine & I told him how she's gone from 5 nursing sessions a day to 4 since she's eating solids 3x/day.  So he suggested we go back to 5 a day & use solids as just "extra".  So I'm going to try that.  But part of me wonders how much of it is just because she's mobile now.  Babies typically burn off baby fat when they crawl or walk & she may have burned off the little bit of fat she had on her.  I can't imagine that she's been hungry.  I'm sure she would have told me.

Other than her weight, she's perfect.  Developmentally she's on track.  She had to get one shot, Polio.  She didn't cry at all.  We also had to have her tested for lead poisoning.  Not that she's been eating paint chips.  But in the questionnaire it asked if we live in a house built before 1978 & this house was built in 1955.  So they pricked her toe & squeezed blood out.  It took a long time but Shaylin just sat in my lap & watched.  Never cried at all.  I was so proud of her.

We won't be doing any weight checks till her 1 year checkup.  If she isn't back on track with her weigh gain then we'll look into it more.  I'm not too concerned about it now though.  I'm petite so it's not surprising that my daughter would be petite, too.

9 Months Old

Shaylin is 9 months old today.  Each month that goes by I'm in disbelief about how old she is.  She's growing up so fast.  And she has recently done so many new things to show her independence & maturity.

- Shaylin's biggest milestone is crawling.  I'm amazed at how quickly she's taken off.  One day she did a little hands & knees crawling but mostly army crawl (this after barely anything more than rolling) & then in just 4 days she was 100% crawling.  She's absolutely loving the ability to move around & exploring everything.

- This past month Shaylin also started pulling herself up.  She still doesn't do it very often & hasn't done it in her crib yet but we need to lower her crib now just in case she decides to do it early in the morning.

- This seems strange but she has finally started splashing in the bathtub.  She's liked bath time for a while now but she's always been very subdued & just seems to enjoy sitting in the water, maybe chew on a couple toys.  But now she's started splashing & seems to like it.

- She's eating solids 3x a day now.  She has oatmeal for breakfast, a fruit for lunch, & a vegetable for dinner.  This now has our nursing sessions down to 4 a day, maybe 5 depending on how the day is going.  I've also started offering her table foods.  She doesn't have any teeth but she's learning to gum things.  So far she's had chicken, ground beef, ham, pasta, mashed potatoes, carrots, green beans, & bread.  I also give her these yogurt melts by Gerber as "dessert" at dinner time.  These seem to be the most helpful tool for teaching her to feed herself.  Sometimes they make it in.  Other times I find them in her lap.

- Shaylin babbles a lot but isn't saying actual words yet.  Mostly it's sounds like "ma", "ba", & "ga".  I can hear "mama" when she cries a lot.  No "dada" yet but I'm trying to get her to say it.

- Recently I took her to my in-laws & Shaylin reached out to my mother-in-law.  Totally made her Nana's day.  She also did this to Jeremy the other day when he came home.  It sure made him feel great after a long day of work.

Needing Motivation

It's been 2 weeks since I ran a marathon.  Since then I've run a total of 3 1/2 miles.  That's really lame after doing 20+ miles in one week.  Or 20 miles in one day!

Granted, the first week I was recovering & was best to not run.  I also caught a stomach bug that week & lacked the energy.

But this past week I ran 3 miles on Monday & then a measly half mile on Thursday.  I delayed that run all because of a mesquito bite on my heel.  I had the same thing happen during my training but I sucked it up & ran because I was training for a marathon.  But now that there's no marathon, I find it easier to make excuses.  This is not good.

So other than my goal of running a 5k under 30 minutes I'm going to try to find a 5k or 10k in the next month or so that I can work towards.  I may even write out a training plan just so I feel like it's something I have to do.

I just know I have to find some kind of motivation.  Burning calories so I can eat my Ben & Jerry's Cinanmon Bun ice cream with less guilt just isn't enough.

She's on the move!

Shaylin is officially crawling!

For the longest time she's done nothing more than roll over & was content to get around that way.  Then last month she started showing signs that she'd be crawling soon.  She'd get on her hands & knees & rock back & forth.  She even made a few attempts of an army crawl. 

Then on Wednesday morning she did an actual hands & knees crawl.  And everyday she's getting better & better at it.  Sometimes she resorts to the army crawl because she can get to where she's trying to go much faster that way. 

Now I have to really keep an eye on her.  She's already starting to get into things.  She wants to check out the PS3 & the surround sound box.  Keira often leaves her chew toys out & Shaylin tries to go after them.  It's only a matter of time till she gets into the dogs' water bowl.

It's gonna keep me more busy now but I don't mind.  I love having a mobile baby in the house!

Self-Induced Insomnia

Is anyone else like me?  I go to bed totally tired & ready for a good night's sleep.  Then I end up tossing & turning for an hour (sometimes longer) all because I can't turn off my mind.  And it's not even huge things that normal people stay up worrying about.  It's just random thoughts that keep popping up that transition into another random thought.  Then I look at the clock & realize I have only so many hours before I have to wake up. 

Thankfully, Shaylin is at least getting back to her old sleeping habits.  So if I'm going to be awake till 1am, at least I can sleep in & make up for it.

What's Next?

Hey Shelly!  Now that you've completed a marathon, what are you going to do next?

Well, I'm not going to Disney World.

For one thing, I'm still going to run.  Yesterday was my first run since the marathon.  I probably could have run at some point last week but a stomach flu took over our house so I didn't do much at all the whole week.  There may have been a tiny bit of lingering fatigue that made yesterday's run a little difficult.  But I wanted to finish 3 miles & I got it done.

My plan now is just to increase my pace.  I would like to be able to run a 5k (3.16 miles) under 30 minutes.  To do that I have to cut down my current pace by 2 minutes per mile!  There is a 5k I may consider doing at the end of February.  But it will depend on my pace.  Most 5k's are pretty crowded & this one is no exception.  So if I'm going to do one I want it to be worth my while.  Ok, worth my money.  But this gives me a little over 4 months to get there & considering I went from giving birth to running a marathon in 8 months, this goal is very possible.

My 1st Marathon

We left the house Friday morning at 10am & got to Odessa at 3:30. Considering we were traveling with a baby, that's great timing. Shaylin was an angel. She either entertained herself or she slept. I couldn't have asked her to do any better.

Friday night we ate at Olive Garden to "carb up". I chose just a spaghetti w/ meat sauce. I thought alfredo would be too heavy & greasy. But I made the mistake of agreeing to an appetizer that we didn't know at the time we ordered it had red pepper flakes. That didn't make my tummy feel too good that night. Or the next morning. My nerves weren't helping either.

Then there was all the water I drank that day. I think I managed to consume around 160 oz. of water. I was using the theory of drinking 16 oz. for every half hour you'll be outside. Well, that seems to really apply to warmer temperatures where you sweat a lot. So that was my first real mistake. Then of course I drank 2 more water bottles at 5am on race day. So needless to say there were a lot of bathroom trips the night before & all morning before the race.

The temperature was in the upper 50s that morning. Great running weather! The race started at 7am so the sun wasn't even up yet. I went to the back of the pack at the starting line since I knew I wasn't going to be one of the fastest. The gun went off & it seemed almost immediately most of the runners were a good bit ahead of me. But that didn't discourage me. In some ways it's kinda nice being by yourself.

Jeremy had planned to ride his bike, cutting through streets to meet me at various mile markers but without staying on the race course since that wasn't allowed. But he wasn't well conditioned for it so he got the car which managed to not be any more difficult. He first saw me between miles 4 & 5. I had only had some sips of water from the previous aid stations (they had aid stations at every mile marker) so I was ready for my bottle of gatorade. My side stitch had been trying to act up but once I started drinking the gatorade it went away & then never came back. Weirdest thing.

The half marathoners went off the full course for a short mile so eventually I had some people catch up to me again. That's when people could finally see the back of my shirt & they loved it.

Jeremy saw me again around mile 8. It was so encouraging when I could see him off from a distance. He had parked on a dirt road & was blasting "Eye of the Tiger" for everyone to hear & cheering for the other runners. That's the great thing about running. It's not about competition & winning. You cheer for everyone.

At this point I was feeling great. I soon was by myself again but I was into my music & just loving the scenery. It was just beautiful! My favorite thing about Texas is the sky. It seems so much bigger here.

At mile 10 a family was waiting for their loved one & the kids had their hands out to give high fives so I took them up on it. Simple things like that really boost a runner's confidence.

Jeremy saw me for a 3rd time at mile 11. I told him to post on Facebook that I was feeling great. I really was.

Right after mile 12 the course takes you into a stadium & you're to run around the track & exit. This is where the half marathon ended. A half is 13.1 miles. So I finally got to see the clock. But I was discouraged to see it was 2:33 which meant there was no way I was going to finish in 5 hours. I knew it was a long shot so I didn't beat myself up too badly.

Oh, before I got to mile 12 I saw the leader. So here I was almost half way done & this guy was coming to mile 21. Crazy!

I saw Jeremy again at mile 14. This was the point when it was starting to get hard & I really had to focus.

At mile 16 I finally passed someone. Two runners actually! But they were an older couple so that doesn't say much for myself I guess. But it felt great just the same. I'm not sure of their relation since they were from different cities. Maybe siblings. But she had done around 50 marathons; she'd lost count. And this was his 5th marathon. So I was totally impressed. I later learned they were around 60 years old.

Off in the distance I saw another runner & started "fishing". I then realized who he was. This man is 62 I think. He is known for running this marathon in khaki shorts & a button-down collared shirt. For you non-runners, that is not good running attire. Finally after mile 18 I passed him.

Then at mile 19 I had to make yet another porta-potty break. At the same time another girl was stopping there. She had been walking. When I came out she said she needed a running buddy so I thought I'd help. We walked & talked for a bit & then got on our way again.

Jeremy saw us at mile 20 & again at 21. That was the last he could see us due to road closures. So my buddy & I were on our own.

By now I had some tightness in my left hamstring. I was able to run but it was hurting to do so. So at each mile marker we got water, gatorade, & stretched. And then walked for a bit. It was really starting to take a long time. So after mile 23 we agreed to try to keep going till the end but if one felt the need to walk it was ok for the other to keep going. Close to mile 24 my buddy started walking so I kept going. After the turn at mile 24 I couldn't see her anymore but I knew she had started running again.

Mile 25 was exciting because I knew it was just one measly mile to go. I walked for a couple minutes during it & started back up. Then I made a left turn where a race worker was & there was the finish line. I couldn't believe it! That was pretty much where the .2 came in. It felt so long. I was trying so hard to not lose it emotionally & just keep putting one foot in front of the other. I could see my little crowd of cheerers. Even better was when I could see Jeremy holding Shaylin & waving her arm in the air.

I crossed the finish line with a time of 5:55:39. That's about 25 minutes longer than I had expected. But for my first race it's not terrible.

Once I got my medal & walked to Jeremy I lost it. I felt ok to hold Shaylin & I just held her & cried. I know she doesn't understand right now but I hope that someday she will be proud of me & that she will even want to become a runner like her momma.

This is it!

Tomorrow is the big day. The day I've got 16+ weeks of hard work towards.

I should still be asleep but I woke up at 6:30 & couldn't go back to sleep. Our plan though is to let Shaylin sleep till she wakes up (which, listening to the baby monitor, sounds like it could be sooner than we planned). Then she'll eat breakfast while Jeremy loads the car & then we'll go. That's the plan though. But anyone with a baby knows plans get changed. So we'll see.

The marathon is in west Texas so we've got about a 5 hour drive ahead of us. Ideally one wouldn't do a drive the day before a marathon but it's not that long compared to past roadtrips we've taken.

Am I nervous? A little.

Am I excited? Very!

My ipod is loaded up with just barely under 5 hours of music. That should get me just about to the finish line. Music really helps me get going so I'm looking forward to listening to it.

I'll try to post the results as soon as I can. But that will all depend on how I feel when it's over.