Mrs. W and the Baby

Yep, Mrs. Wallace is having a baby! I love this picture my student drew of the baby inside my tummy with a little heart and sunshine - perfect symbols of how we feel about our growing baby! We are so excited to be parents and can't wait! I found out I was pregnant on my birthday - September 18th. This was the best birthday present ever! I was only 4 weeks along and really wasn't even very late yet and normally would have waited a week or so to test, but I had been really tired lately, and I realized on the 17th it was probably because I was pregnant. I decided to wait until the next day to test so I could find out on my birthday if I was.

Other than feeling extremely tired, I felt great - until about week 6. From week 6 until around 14 I felt awful!! I am definitely one of the unlucky few that not only have morning sickness, but have it very very badly. Believe me, I have heard about all the tricks and tried them all!! Most of them didn't work for long. I had to get a prescription for nausea medicine and am still having to use it. Starting around week 6 I was nauseous all day every day and had to call in to work about once a week, sometimes more. Luckily, my principal and the rest of the school was really understanding and supportive. I had an aid who would take my class to and from everywhere they needed to go so I could just sit in my chair all day and try not to move much. I would have the kids come to me and basically roll around my classroom on my chair if needed. When I got home I would sit on the couch and not move. Chad was AMAZING during this hard time and still is! He would clean the whole house (he kept it really clean), cook all his own meals, constantly get me things so I didn't have to get up, and do everything and anything I needed. He never once complained about it and was always happy to help. I could not have made it through the first trimester without him! Thanks Chad! I can't describe how thankful I am for you or how much I appreciate everything you do to help me and make me more comfortable!! Anyway, it was very hard to eat anything (or drink anything) and I mostly lived on all different kinds of crackers. I ended up in the hospital 3 different times with dizziness and bad dehydration - I hate the ER and hopefully will never have to go back again. Week 14 was Thanksgiving. This was the first "turning point" in my morning sickness. I was able to finally start eating a little bit more normal food throughout the day and could eat a little bit of Thanksgiving dinner. I still felt nauseous mostly all day, but not quite as bad and I was able to move around more. I was still nauseous most of the day through week 16 and had to be really careful about what I ate, but at least I could finally eat a little. Finally after week 16 I started feeling better and for once didn't feel nauseous all day - just in the late afternoon and evening. I had a lot more energy and was actually able to go shopping, do things with Chad, and hang out with our friends again. I'm now 19.5 weeks along. I still have to be careful about what I eat, especially at dinner time. I can't eat spicy food or any kind of chicken still and at dinner time I have to eat pretty bland things. Around week 18 some of the morning sickness started coming back a little and I am still fighting it and taking medicine, but it is much better than during the first trimester. I had expected to be feeling great by this time in my pregnancy, but I guess I'm one of the unlucky few who stays sick longer. Hopefully it will be ending soon. Either way, I know it will be worth it! I can't wait to be a mom!

We find out January 5th if we are having a boy or a girl. We are so excited and can't wait! What do you think it is? Here are some pictures of my baby bump progression:

13 weeks


15 weeks

18 weeks

19 weeks

19.5 weeks

13th Century

I did a 100 mile bike ride yesterday. It was the first century bike ride I did since the Ironman Triathlon I did back in September. It was really cold yesterday (mid 40's the entire day), so the bike ride was not very much fun. It was also a bit windy which made it hard during the first 50 miles. All in all, it didn't feel very good, which at the same time is what makes it important to me to do these types of workouts.

Completing really long-distance Triathlons and runs requires mental toughness, which for me is cultivated by digging deep in training and proving to yourself that you can go the distance even when conditions are less than ideal and you are not feeling great. There are occasionally times when I feel great running 20 miles or biking 100 miles or swimming 2 miles, but often times it requires discipline and mental endurance as much as physical strength. For these reasons, I am glad I did my 13th century bike ride yesterday.

Thanksgiving Break

Michelle and I had a great Thanksgiving; we got to spend Thanksgiving day with friends out here in D.C. and we did some really fun things over the break. In addition to running in the marathon that I already wrote about, we also visited some very special monuments in D.C. We went to the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial that was recently dedicated. It was a very inspirational monument. After that, we walked to the WWI marathon dedicated to the Washingtonians who fought in the war. It is a very small monument compared to the District's WWII memorial, but it was still a special place to go. While visiting these monuments, we got to walk through some of the most beautiful parts of our nation's capital -- just look at these pictures: