We toured the olympic training center in Colorado Springs. Our tour guide was pretty pathetic with his enthusiasm and information, but just the video of the olympics was enough to make you feel inspired to do something with your fitness life.
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Pikes Peak with Ukki
When Ukki and Mummi came to visit, we had to take him to Pikes Peak. Mummi was not excluded from this outing, but she chose to say on the lower altitude level as she is afraid of heights. It had snowed just two days before so we brought our snow suits with us. We couldn't make it all the way to the top because there was ice on the roads, but I think Ukki was still happy with the views.
Saku and Eerika loved the snow. Aleksi liked it as well, but it was a bit trickier as he didn't have the proper gloves to keep him warm plus a snowsuit and one year old baby aren't the most stable combination for walking.
I had run my 10K race that morning and I got seriously sick with a headache and overall feeling of uneasiness as we went up the mountain. I had to take a nap and take some medication to start feeling better.
Ironically we do not have pictures with Ukki up on the mountain...
Zooma 10K
Back in August I signed up for a 10K in hopes that it would motivate me to run and train consistently. Well, I learned that 10K is not a motivating distance for me. If you really race it, it can be brutal but I know that I can finish it on most days, so I did not train seriously enough.
The race day came. We got up at 5:30 and fortunately, mummi and ukki were visiting so we were able to leave the kids home. It was pretty cold outside so we were wearing our winter jackets at the start line. It was nice to go with just Troy and it was nice that I wasn't running a marathon that I had poured my heart and soul into. It made for a much more relaxing morning.
The race started and as usual, I made the mistake of being too far in the back so it took a minute or so to get started with a comfortable pace and rhythm of the run. About half a mile into the run, I was in the front pack and I stayed there until the end. There was some serious hills that made me wish that I had trained better and more, but those hills were also so nice to run down. I was seriously running a seven minute mile coming down the canyon. I ended up being 4th overall and 2nd in my age group. The field wasn't very competitive as I think more of the serious runners did the half marathon, BUT I do get a sense of enjoyment seeing my name on the "leader" board. I did truly work hard during the race. I also loved cheering for the other runners. There was such a wide variety of runners since it was a mostly women's race.
I learned another thing that I should really learn the course maps so I know how much running I have left with the course so I know when to start doing the last minute sprints. Overall it was a great race!
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Aleksi's Birth Story-One year late
The crazy thing about being pregnant is that in just few hours it can change and you are not pregnant anymore!
Yesterday early morning around 2 am, I thought I felt a contraction. Just one so I didn't think much of it but I went back to sleep. I do remember having the thought "if we have to take the kids to someone's house right now, it will make the day little crazy with Saku's school". I slept well until 5 am when I felt another contraction, which made me think that this might be early labor. They came every 10 minutes or so, nothing too intense but definitely not just a Braxton Hicks. Around 5:30, I told Troy that I think I was in labor.
I went to the kitchen to make Saku's lunch and got things ready for swimming lessons because that is what you do when you are in labor with your third kid. I also decided to eat an English Muffin to have some food in my stomach as I wouldn't get anything once we got to the hospital. Then I got into shower so I could manage the pain and also to be nice and clean when it was time to push a baby out.
At six thirty, I was sure that this was the real deal so I called Rachael to see if Eerika could go and spend the day with Brad. Eerika was so excited to go and have a day with Brad that she demanded to eat her breakfast at their house so I packed it in her lunch box. Because I was doing so many things at once so I don't know how far apart the contractions were. By the time, we got in the car and started to drive to Saku's school, they were about 5 minutes apart and I could tell that I would have back pain with this labor.
I started to get the shakes as we were about 10 minutes from the hospital. I felt positive and in control as I figured if I wasn't progressing much, I would just get an epidural and enjoy the labor.
Troy dropped me off to check in and went to park the car to the garage. St Joe's has the worse parking situation for labor and delivery. I walk to the triage and explain what is going on as well as Eerika's labor situation. They calmly, oh so calmly, respond that it doesn't look that this is a repeat of this and hand me a gown and pee sample cup. Then I got hooked up to monitors so slowly. And finally after what seems forever, they finally check me to see how much I had progressed. No one is a fan of cervical checks, but I can deal with them just fine; however, this nurse was awful. It took her forever and it really hurt. I wanted to remind her that she was touching very sensitive lady parts of a woman in labor. Her conclusion was that she couldn't feel any cervix. Another nurse checked me and said that there was a bit of anterior lip left.
I am thinking that Little Ninja will be born in the next 30 minutes. Again, we slowly start moving to a room. Dr. Farias is being paged and she comes very quickly to break my water. I get poked twice for an IV and once for a blood draw. Neither of the IVs worked, but Dr. Farias being awesome said that I should be fine without one. She asked if I want an epidural, but I have no pain and I am thinking we will push soon and be done, so I decline. There are tons of people in the room to get ready And then we wait. And we wait and the quick delivery of this child that I had imagined is not happening. The water breaking makes my contractions more intense, but there is still that part of the cervix that doesn't budge and it doesn't budge until about 10 am. I was fine until about 9:30 and then I started having back and hip pain that gradually got worse and worse and so bad that I just couldn't deal anything. I started to whimper and cry with each contraction. Two amazing nursing students helped me by putting pressure on my hips with the contractions and telling me to start taking deep breaths when another contractions was about to come.
I asked for an epidural but there was no time for it. Dr. Farias came back. I could tell that she was surprised by the change in my coping mechanism and I could tell she was working hard to make things better for me.
When it was time to push, I was really in a bad place mentally. I didn't think there was any way that the pain would stop and I could push this baby out. I didn't feel any pressure to push and I felt so much pain, but somehow I was able to focus and follow the command the push. So I pushed for few minutes and he did come out. He had been facing up, which explained the back/hip pain and did some sort of a flip in the end.
I just cried and cried when he came out. He looked purple to me and he was the messiest one of our babies, but I didn't care. He was out, the incredible pain was gone, he was fine, and again the pain was gone. I kissed his messy little head until they took him away. He seemed so small, but he ended up being the biggest one out of the three. He was so calm. There was no crying while they examined him.
The labor was so good and manageable and even easy for so long. The nurses around me were so impressed and I felt a bit silly to receive so many compliments when I felt like the pain really was manageable. And then some kind of a switch got flipped on, and the back pain, hip pain and unbelievable pain and pressure in my uterus and and it just kept coming and people would tell me "you are almost there" and I just wanted to be done.
Edit: This was written a year ago and yes, it still sounds so fresh. I don't remember the exact time that he was born, but I remember the despair and then the relief when he was in my arms.
I went to the kitchen to make Saku's lunch and got things ready for swimming lessons because that is what you do when you are in labor with your third kid. I also decided to eat an English Muffin to have some food in my stomach as I wouldn't get anything once we got to the hospital. Then I got into shower so I could manage the pain and also to be nice and clean when it was time to push a baby out.
At six thirty, I was sure that this was the real deal so I called Rachael to see if Eerika could go and spend the day with Brad. Eerika was so excited to go and have a day with Brad that she demanded to eat her breakfast at their house so I packed it in her lunch box. Because I was doing so many things at once so I don't know how far apart the contractions were. By the time, we got in the car and started to drive to Saku's school, they were about 5 minutes apart and I could tell that I would have back pain with this labor.
I started to get the shakes as we were about 10 minutes from the hospital. I felt positive and in control as I figured if I wasn't progressing much, I would just get an epidural and enjoy the labor.
Troy dropped me off to check in and went to park the car to the garage. St Joe's has the worse parking situation for labor and delivery. I walk to the triage and explain what is going on as well as Eerika's labor situation. They calmly, oh so calmly, respond that it doesn't look that this is a repeat of this and hand me a gown and pee sample cup. Then I got hooked up to monitors so slowly. And finally after what seems forever, they finally check me to see how much I had progressed. No one is a fan of cervical checks, but I can deal with them just fine; however, this nurse was awful. It took her forever and it really hurt. I wanted to remind her that she was touching very sensitive lady parts of a woman in labor. Her conclusion was that she couldn't feel any cervix. Another nurse checked me and said that there was a bit of anterior lip left.
I am thinking that Little Ninja will be born in the next 30 minutes. Again, we slowly start moving to a room. Dr. Farias is being paged and she comes very quickly to break my water. I get poked twice for an IV and once for a blood draw. Neither of the IVs worked, but Dr. Farias being awesome said that I should be fine without one. She asked if I want an epidural, but I have no pain and I am thinking we will push soon and be done, so I decline. There are tons of people in the room to get ready And then we wait. And we wait and the quick delivery of this child that I had imagined is not happening. The water breaking makes my contractions more intense, but there is still that part of the cervix that doesn't budge and it doesn't budge until about 10 am. I was fine until about 9:30 and then I started having back and hip pain that gradually got worse and worse and so bad that I just couldn't deal anything. I started to whimper and cry with each contraction. Two amazing nursing students helped me by putting pressure on my hips with the contractions and telling me to start taking deep breaths when another contractions was about to come.
I asked for an epidural but there was no time for it. Dr. Farias came back. I could tell that she was surprised by the change in my coping mechanism and I could tell she was working hard to make things better for me.
When it was time to push, I was really in a bad place mentally. I didn't think there was any way that the pain would stop and I could push this baby out. I didn't feel any pressure to push and I felt so much pain, but somehow I was able to focus and follow the command the push. So I pushed for few minutes and he did come out. He had been facing up, which explained the back/hip pain and did some sort of a flip in the end.
I just cried and cried when he came out. He looked purple to me and he was the messiest one of our babies, but I didn't care. He was out, the incredible pain was gone, he was fine, and again the pain was gone. I kissed his messy little head until they took him away. He seemed so small, but he ended up being the biggest one out of the three. He was so calm. There was no crying while they examined him.
The labor was so good and manageable and even easy for so long. The nurses around me were so impressed and I felt a bit silly to receive so many compliments when I felt like the pain really was manageable. And then some kind of a switch got flipped on, and the back pain, hip pain and unbelievable pain and pressure in my uterus and and it just kept coming and people would tell me "you are almost there" and I just wanted to be done.
Edit: This was written a year ago and yes, it still sounds so fresh. I don't remember the exact time that he was born, but I remember the despair and then the relief when he was in my arms.
Aleksi is one!!!
Year ago I had a fresh new baby in my arms. Aleksi's birth had been a bit more work and pain than I had expected, but he was here and he was ours. I remember thinking that I didn't want to post anything on facebook for a bit as I wanted to keep him as our own private joy for a bit.
This morning he woke up at 6 am. I nursed him for maybe 15 seconds and he was back to sleep. I kept holding him for another few minutes and enjoyed the moment of being so close to him in such a calm way. He is all over the place now. He is walking. He is babbling. He is crying or yelling when he doesn't get his way. He is laughing and exploring. He isn't still for very long.
As a one year old, Aleksi loves to look at animals; especially dogs and birds. He has started to point at the Fruit Loops cereal box when he sees it. They have been used as a bribe to keep him happy while I make our meals. He lovess me. Oh how does he love me. He has the innocent, yet fierce love for me. If I am around, I am the queen that no one else can compete with. He is content with Troy, but he much prefers me if I am around. If I am not around, he plays happily with Saku and Eerika and Troy. I even hear that he is much more easy going when I am not around...
He is not a fan of sleep right now. He knows when we are about to put him down for a nap and he starts to fight it. He doesn't want to read his books, he doesn't want you to sing to him. It is kind of tough. It is the same thing for bed time. And because he is pretty easy going when naps get pushed, I have become more relaxed about it and his nap schedule is kind of all over the place. He is up once a night. I should stop nursing him but I haven't done it out of pure laziness. I can be up for 3 minutes with him and nurse him and then go back to sleep, so I haven't had the mental energy to stop the habit.
We tried to transition to regular milk but it seemed to give him diarrhea so we are still doing formula. He also nurses once or twice a day, so basically the kid gets a bit of everything. He also lately figured out the whole "sometimes it is fun to spit out food" when I feed him things like yogurt or apple sauce.
I did just look at his newborn pictures and I will admit that I feel quite nostalgic and while I am not sad that he is one year old; I feel a certain longing for the first few days of having a baby. You aren't exhausted yet. They are so tiny. How could he be so tiny.
Aleksi, you are a treasure. You are such a darling boy.
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Aleksi's Sunday Dinner
After a great nap on Sunday afternoon, Aleksi enjoyed a dinner of creamy tomato sauce with farfalle and broccoli.
He likes to feed himself and steal the utensils that you are feeding him with.
Troy noted that he was mostly using his left hand to eat.
The messiness of this age is evident in these pictures.
I hope my love for this child is just as evident.
Sunday, October 18, 2015
Skipping the Movie night
We try to do Friday movie nights as a weekly tradition plus a way to relax after a week of school and work. On this particular night we had rented Cinderella (not animated), which is a fantastic movie. About half way into the movie, Saku decided that he rather just read books than watch a movie. So he and I went upstairs and read books while isi and Eerika finished the movie.
I really cannot think of a much better way to spend time with Saku than snuggling and reading books.
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