Healthy Heddleston

Bamboo Bottle Review + Giveaway

Healthy Heddleston — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:47:44 +0000

Hello Fashionable,

You are probably the prettiest water bottle we’ve ever owned!

John and I actually love bamboo products — both of my desks have bamboo organizers, we have a set of bamboo tongs + salad bowl, plus our silverware organizer is bamboo! It just looks so nice!

Anyway, back to the bottle… it is made by the Bamboo Bottle Co. and it comes apart for easy washing (you don’t put the bamboo in the dishwasher).

The bottle is kind of heavy due to the interior being glass, but John has been loving it for work. The cap is the spin off kind and there is no spout. John said that he has to be careful when he drinks sometimes because the bamboo makes the interior very dark and he has occasionally spilled water all down him (hehe). Guess that’s why I’m used to a spout! (If you look at the Bamboo Bottle Co website there is a flip top option now!)

Nonetheless, the bottle is stylish, eco-friendly, and easy to wash. I wouldn’t recommend using this as a sport water bottle since it’s glass and heavy, but definitely appropriate to have around the office. Oh, it also is appropriate for both hot and cold drinks thanks to the bamboo insulator!

To learn more about the Bamboo Bottle Company, please visit their website, Facebook, and Twitter pages! To receive 20% off your Bamboo Bottle Company purchase, please put the word “health” in the coupon code box during checkout!

And one of you has the chance to win a bottle of your own! I’ll give you until LEAP DAY at 11:59 pm EST to enter (February 29, 2012). Just answer the following question in a comment below:

When are you most likely to use a water bottle? What is your go-to water like?

Good luck everyone!!

Disclosure: I received this bottle free of charge and agreed to review it. No compensation was provided. As always, all opinions are my own.

My Pregnancy Journey: Week 34

Healthy Heddleston — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 01:35:57 +0000

This post usually gets published earlier in the day, but I was just too tired! Week 34 was definitely a sleepy and emotional one – but it was still great. My mom visited for the weekend and made lots of curtains for our townhouse and especially baby’s room. I plan to do a vlog tour of his nursery once it’s all set up! Another reason for the late posting is because John had President’s Day off and we spent the whole day together – it was a no blogging zone!

Anyway, as of today – February 21, 2012 – I’m officially 35 weeks (what?!). Time to tell you all about week 34 – which started on Valentine’s Day!

Wearing red for my little Valentine inside!

What’s Up With Baby: According to BabyCenter, baby H. is weighing approximately 4.75 pounds (the weight of a cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. I believe it because baby boy likes to play in my ribs now!

Weight Gain:This week I gained 1.2 pounds, making my total weight gain 19.3 pounds. I’m right on track!

What I’ve Been Eating: Mac + Cheese, shrimp cocktail, cheese + crackers, lots of apples, strawberries, salad (!!), and dined out at Macaroni Grill (they have a great gluten-free menu), etc.

How I’m Feeling: I was definitely more tired this week. I felt bad when my mom was making curtains for us because I would just randomly fall asleep! I know she understood, I just kind of felt a little useless I was also more emotional this week and John had to give me lots of huggies!

Midwife Appointment Details: My appointment last week went great! I met one of the other midwives, Tara, in the practice and loved her! She answered all my questions and I would be thrilled if she were on call when I go into labor. One annoying thing happened though, and it was to no fault of the midwives, the lab forgot to run one of my blood samples, so I had to go get sticked again this week. Not a big deal, but just inconvenient.

Anyway, more about my appointment: Tara gave me a packet to fill out and read in preparation for my week 36 appointment. She gave me information on taking primrose oil (John needs to research it more) and starting peritoneal massage. The packet also included filling out background information that we can just hand to the triage nurses instead of having to sit there an answer questions, as well as a check list for my (hopeful) wishes during delivery. The packet was very informative and I’m excited for the week 36 appointment!

Oh, I also was measuring 33 weeks at the 34 week appointment, which was totally normal. Makes me feel better after measuring 34 weeks at the 32 week appointment. I’m really not a fan of the belly measurement thing – clearly there seems to be a lot of error!

Buying for Baby: Baby is set and ready to go! All we have to do is order my glider! That’s happening this week – I better remind Johnny!

John’s Thoughts: Well I didn’t get a chance to write the more lengthy post I teased last week. It’s still in the works; don’t worry! However as Katie alluded to above, this week has been a bit more of an exercise in patience and understanding. I completely understand that right now her body is flooded with hormones and she doesn’t even realize how sensitive she is to unknown triggers. With that said, I still have to work on my patience when she starts leaking tears and her hormones make her blind to reason, logic, and all other forms of cognitive function. I’m exaggerating (a little) but this week definitely taught me how unpredictable preggers Katie can be. On the plus side, I’m really having fun feeling our little guy having his dance parties (as Katie calls them). It’s half unreal and half exciting to feel that little being squirming around. With each passing day I get more and more excited to meet my son!

Baby-Related Accomplishments:

Window valance and “curtain door” completed – thanks mom!
All clothes, sheets, blankets, etc. washed!
Pack n play and swing/bouncer assembled!

Baby-Related To-Do List:

Order glider for nursery
Hand wash little baby toys

What We’re Looking Forward to This Week:

Relaxing!!!

For all baby-related posts, please visit my baby page!

Elliptical Workouts While Pregnant {or not}

Healthy Heddleston — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 16:52:29 +0000

The baby boy growing inside me has been very cooperative and has had his head down during my entire pregnancy. This is know as “perfect positioning.” Well, this is could also be known as “make Katie need to pee while running” positioning. I did continue running up until ~25 weeks pregnant, but the elliptical became a close friend as well.

I’ve actually never minded the elliptical as a cardio workout, but I know some people dread it. I’m glad I kept track of some of these workouts because I think they are a great way to mix up those elliptical workouts and make them less boring.

I am not a personal trainer and the following workouts are simply based on my own experience. Also, whether you are pregnant or not, please consult with your doctor before starting a new fitness routine.

Big Elliptical Hill Climb — Total Workout Time: 45 minutes

I had the cross ramp set at 6 the whole time, which works gluteals, quads, hamstrings and calves.
At 16 weeks pregnant, this workouts covered 3.5 miles and burned 400 calories.

Small Elliptical Hill Climb — Total Workout Time: 35 minutes

I had the cross ramp set at 6 the whole time, which works gluteals, quads, hamstrings and calves.
At 16 weeks 6 days pregnant, this workout covered 2.75 miles and burned 300 calories.

Elliptical Quick Back and Forth — Total Workout Time: 30 minutes

I had the cross ramp set at 10 the whole time, which works gluteals and quads.
At 17 weeks 1 day pregnant, I covered 2.30 miles and burned 250 calories.

Back and Forth Hill Climb — Total Workout Time: 40 minutes

I had the cross ramp set at 8 the whole time, which works gluteals, quads, hamstrings calves.
At 19 weeks 6 days pregnant, I covered 3.23 miles and burned 358 calories.

I’ve really enjoyed completing these workouts while pregnant and hope you do too!

Are you an elliptical lover or hater?

What was your favorite way to workout while pregnant?

11 Things!

Healthy Heddleston — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 21:07:23 +0000

After being tagged by Lisa and Heather in this “11 Things” meme, I thought it was time to finally complete it!

Rules

Post these rules.
You must post 11 random things about yourself.
Answer the questions set for you in their post.
Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
Tag them on Twitter, Facebook or their blog.

————————————————————–

11 Random Things About Me

1. I still sleep with a “blankie.” It is not, however, the original. The current blanket that is my favorite is the one I got freshmen year of college when my originals were beginning to shred too much. Well this blanket is now entering the shredding phase and John would really like it out of my life before the baby is born. I do have two other blankets, but they just don’t feel right yet. Please tell me someone can relate to this.

2. I can touch my tongue to my nose. So can my dad.

3. I enjoy watching the X Games — the skate boarding is my favorite but I like the bikes and roller blades too. John recently learned this about me and was shocked. It’s funny because I can specifically remember staying up late to watch these when I was younger — I wonder if my sister remembers this about me!

4. I highly dislike cartoons. This includes most animated movies too.

5. My older brother’s wife (yes, my SIL — but not to be confused with John’s sister), is full Filipino. John is 1/4th Filipino. I think it’s pretty fun that both sets of my in-laws have Filipino blood and I feel like I know a lot about the culture! My sister was able to The Philippines already and John and I would love to go sometime as well. Once my younger brother gets married (and then my sister too), all my in-laws won’t have the Filipino connection, but it’s kinda neat right now!

6. I finished my undergraduate degree in 3.5 years without attending summer school and without having any high school AP credit.

7. I’m weird about texture in my foods. I don’t like celery in salads like tuna, egg, etc. And I don’t like sprinkles or crunchy things in my ice cream. Ohh, and don’t get me started on nuts.

8. I usually don’t wear makeup.

9. I’m really good at explaining what “first cousin once removed” means to people.

10. I love checking the mail. The excitement of checking the mail never seems to disappointment me. I was like this through college and every place that John and I have lived.

11. I loved summer camps as a kid. I usually went to sport specific summer camps, but I think camps are such a great experience for kids and teens. I really hope our kids like camps! John didn’t attend very many camps as a kid, but I think they are the best! Also, I chose to go to the camps, my parents didn’t force me or any of us. I would do the research and find the camp online and present all the information to my dad (and mom), but for some reason dad was the camp person.

————————————————————–

Answers to 11 Questions (I used a combo of Lisa and Heather’s questions)

You can live one place for the rest of your life and it can’t be anywhere you’ve lived before. Where would it be? I probably would pick somewhere in North Carolina. Close to the mountains and close to the beach! Plus, great weather all year long!

2. Roller blades or roller skates? BLADES!

3. Can you recite the alphabet backwards? Can you recite the Greek alphabet? (Both gals had the alphabet on their brains apparently, so I included both questions). Absolutely not to both of these. I might have a chance at the regular alphabet backwards, but I couldn’t get past the first few letters of the Greek alphabet.

4. What kitchen utensil do you use most often? Probably my pairing knife or kitchen scissors.

5. If give one million dollars, how would you spend it? Set aside enough money for my kids’ college. Go on an elaborate vacation. Save the rest.

6. If you got to be on any game show you wanted, which one would it be? Amazing Race, hands down. It’s funny because I don’t religiously watch that show, but I would love to travel around like that in a competition. I would be really bad at the eating challenges though — John would have to do those. Also, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve looked at the application and deadlines.

7. Would you rather go to the Olympics or the Oscars? Olympics. But don’t make me pick between summer and winter.

8. You’re the pilot on a plane. You can fly it anywhere you want. Where would you go? This is really hard because I really like to travel. If it were to visit a place I’ve been before, I would pick Kauai. If it were to a place that I’ve never been before, I would pick Alaska — or Italy — or Australia/ New Zealand — or the Philippines. Ugh, told you that was a hard one!

9. Would you wake a sleeping baby? Generally this answer gets an absolutely not. However, I know I may have to wake my sleeping baby if he is sleeping too long and needs a feeding.

10. If you could get paid to do anything in the world without worrying about being realistic, what would you do? Travel around the world and bring anyone I want with me at anytime.

11. Brussels sprouts: friend or foe? Friend. Especially when bacon is involved.

————————————————————–

11 Random Questions

Which states have you visited?
What’s your favorite talk show and why?
If you could live abroad, where would you choose?
If you could change something about your home/where you live, without worrying about expense or mess, what would you do?
What’s under your bed?
How far away from your birthplace do you live now?
Do you sing in the shower?
Would you rather swim in a pool, lake, or beach?
What was the last movie you saw?
Who was the last person you received a text message from? Why are they important to you?
Do you like to ice skate?

————————————————————–

11 Tags!! (Sorry if you’ve already been tagged!)

Alicia at Poise in Parma
Heather at Mile 26 and More
Amanda at Cucina Amanda
Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean
Kristen at Naturally Free RD
Kristina at SpaBettie
Julie at Wearing Mascara
Bethany at One’s Girls Taste on Life
Brittany at A Healthy Slice of Life
Sana at Super Sana
Gretchen at Honey I Shrunk the Gretchen

Have fun everyone! This actually took me quite awhile to complete!

What’s a random thing about you?

My Pregnancy Journey: Week 33

Healthy Heddleston — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:30:42 +0000

Today, Valentine’s Day, I’m officially 34 weeks pregnant (whoa). Time to tell you all about week 33!

What’s Up With Baby: This week Baby H. weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17 inch mark — no wonder I feel him playing around in the right side of my ribs!

Weight Gain: I gained exactly one pound this week, bringing my total pregnancy weight gain to 18.1 pounds.

What I’ve Been Eating: Lots of salad, lots of clementines, chicken soup, chocolate milk, and more. This are the only things that really stick out this week.

How I’m Feeling: Hm, well, this week I was a little emotional. I’m missing having friends in the area and my mind has been letting me think about that a lot this week. Sometimes when John tells me, “you have your two best friends built in,” it makes me all better and sometimes it just makes me tear up more.

Buying for Baby: We bought Baby H. a combo swing/bouncer seat over the weekend. We hope he likes it! The babies I’ve nannied for LOVED their little seat — the vibrations just soothed them to sleep. We also picked out bottles for our little man (of which will not be introduced until breast feeding is well established).

Next Midwife Appointment: Tomorrow! I get to meet one of the other midwives at this appointment; I hope I like her as much as I like Terri (the first midwife I’ve met).

Child Birth Class Details: I’ll write a full post about the class, but I thought it was a very helpful for the most part. The caring for baby section was the least helpful since I’ve been a nanny for many babies. My favorite parts were learning about the different positions to labor in, breathing techniques, and how to utilize the birth ball. Oh, I also enjoyed John wearing the empathy belly!

John’s Thoughts: As a pseudo-update to my thoughts last week, both the breast feeding and birthing classes were far more useful than I expected. The breast feeding class gave us great information on what is a proper latch for baby as well as time frames when certain milestones should be achieved (no bottles until 4 weeks, painful nipples = poor technique, etc.). I feel more knowledgeable about what should and should not happen with breast feeding so I can be of use to Katie and help her with the monumental task of nourishing our little dude. The birthing class also held a significant amount of useful facts and information that I had not expected. I will say that this class, which was 12 hours in total, had several areas of fluff that I feel could have been condensed. Part of the reason was no fault of the instructor: Katie has nannied for little babies for years and we both have medically-based training. A good deal of what was said was not news to at least one of us. I’m sure for brand new parents who have never cared for a baby, there was a lot more to glean from the class. One great thing that came out of the class was Katie’s enjoyment of the “birth ball.” As Katie mentioned above (and will go into more detail later), the birth ball helped her sit more comfortably and has various uses during labor. I’m sure she’ll be purchasing one soon. All-in-all, the classes were great and I would strongly recommend any new parents to take them. I feel even more prepared to welcome our little baby into the world and hope that I’ve been able to learn enough from these classes to improve my deficiencies. Even then, I already know parenting is a learning process…..

Before I end my thoughts, I want to give a little teaser for next week…I am going to talk about methods of enforcing rules (not talking about time out or spanking)! You’ll just have to tune in next week to see what I mean…

Baby-Related Accomplishments:

Attended a prenatal group interview at a pediatrician’s office.
Child birth class = done!

Baby-Related To-Do List:

Buy birth ball (aka exercise ball) pronto!
Attend another pediatrician interview tomorrow.

What We’re Looking Forward to This Week:

My mom is coming down to help me with curtains this weekend.
My neighbor is having her baby shower!

For all baby-related posts, please visit my baby page!

Closer and Closer

Healthy Heddleston — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:44:03 +0000

Earlier in the week John and I attended our hospital tour and breast feeding class. Both events are really making us both think about how close Baby H’s is to arriving!

Today I wanted to share with you some of the things we learned at each event. I want to do this for two reasons: 1) so I remember it and 2) I find this stuff incredibly interesting and hopefully at least one of you will too!

Information from the Maternity Tour (Please remember this is specific to our hospital)

Once in labor, even though we are supposed to arrive through the ER entrance, you don’t stop there. You take the elevators to the maternity ward where you will be checked in a separate triage area. You’ll then be told to stay in triage for a little while, go home, or will get admitted.
6 weeks prior to your due date you should pre-register with the hospital. That on my list of things to do next week! Yay!
We received tips on what to pack for mom, partner, and baby. We were also told to only bring a small tote bag for the labor/delivery process into the hospital when we first arrive. The rest of the bags should remain in the car.
All rooms in the birth center (where labor/delivery occurs) are private suites. The mother-baby unit (where you stay post delivery) are also all private suites.
During the labor I am allowed to have my main support person (generally husband/partner) and up to two other guests. I was a little surprised that it was 2 other guests and not just one. The only people present during my labor will be John and Mom. The hospital has a great waiting room with many amenities for other family and friends that may be waiting.
There aren’t step hospital policies regarding IV’s, monitoring, epidurals, c-sections. These are up to your provider — which I really like. I’m very happy that our midwife allows intermittent monitoring, encourages walking, and only requires the IV port and not the IV the entire time.
8 of the rooms in the birth center have jacuzzi tubs. If you think you’ll want one, you just have to tell the nurses when checking in. All other suites have full showers.
All babies stay in the room with mommy unless they have to go to the NICU.
There are many safety precautions taken at our hospital — the doors, matching bracelets for mom/baby/partner, as well as electronic bracelets that cry when your baby leaves you and sings when you and baby are reunited (something like that).
Unless otherwise advised, discharge is 11 am. Most moms of uncomplicated vaginal deliveries will stay for two nights.
There are two classes each day for breast feeding support. An overhead announcement will remind us. The first class in the morning is for mom, baby, and any support people. The second class is just for moms and babies. I am really excited to take advantage of these!
We also received information regarding: breast feeding support groups after you are discharged, how to contact the lactation consultant, how to contact the hospital birth advisor, who in the county does car seat inspections, what to do if you are in a car crash, and more!

The maternity tour was very informative and we are so glad we went. The lady who gives the tours is a “retired” nurse. She solely gives the weekend hospital tours and helps in the breast feeding support groups post-discharge as a lactation consultant.

Next up was our breast feeding class. As a dietitian, I’m a huge supporter of breast feeding and believe mom’s milk is the best nutrition you can give your baby. Even though I know these things from a medical perspective and know how to take car of babies/kids (from all my nannying and babysitting experience), I haven’t ever breast fed myself and knew a class would be helpful!

We learned A TON during the breast feeding class and brought home whole booklet and many papers. The items I’ve bulleted below are simply the items I specifically wrote down myself — meaning I really wanted to remember it or didn’t know that information before. This is by no means an inclusive list of what we learned.

Information from the Breast Feeding Class

Avoid bottles and pacifiers for baby’s first 4 weeks of life.
Baby hunger signs include: sucking motion, open mouth when touch, bringing hands to mouth, rooting, fidgeting while sleeping, and crying (which is the last sign).
Mom-related sign that the baby might be hungry: full boobies!
Breast feeding frequency should be 8-12 times in 24 hours.
You start timing feedings and distance between feedings at the beginning of feed.
By ten days, baby should be back to birth weight.
Baby should gain ~1 oz/day until the end of 3-4 months.
Take your prenatal vitamins as long as you are breast feeding.
Mature milk will come in around day 3-5. Before that it’s all colostrum.
After 37 weeks pregnant, if approved by your OB/midwife, you may be allowed to wear a nipple shell (to help pull nipple out) and/or use lanolin cream. These help to prepare your breast for feeding. No nipple roughing is necessary.
Baby should be lead nose to nipple for the latch on. It should be an asymmetrical latch with some of your areola visible on top, but not on the bottom.
Baby’s chin and nose should touch the breast. You’re not going to suffocate him!
Alternate position of holds so you don’t get a plugged milk duct.
Always offer both breasts during a feeding. Allow the first breast to empty and then offer the second breast. You just need to remember to offer the second breast first during the next feeding, or some women may pump the remaining excess from the second breast.
After two weeks of breast feeding, the time if takes you to breast feed will decreased by 50% because you and baby know how now!
Your breasts should be soft at the end of each feeding.
Don’t pump or breast feed in bathrooms — too many germs!

Alrighty, so those are the items I wrote down specifically, so I must have thought they were important. During our class we also learned breast feeding positions and held a baby doll. The lactation consultant walked around and gave us pointers on our hold and tips on how to hold our breast / massage our breast while breast feeding.

Overall, I’m SO glad we went to the breast feeding class! I’m sure we’ll be reviewing some of this information over the next few weeks and then again when baby arrives. I’m also thankful that my mom breast fed us (all four of us), so she is a wealth of knowledge. And from the stories she has told me, we all really liked to breast feed, so I hope our baby does as well!

I know this post is long and doesn’t have any pictures, but I hope you found it informative!!

What did you find most informative when you tour your maternity tour and/or breast feeding class?

Sparkly Soul WINNER!

Healthy Heddleston — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:38:08 +0000

Good evening friends!

Just a quick post to let Jen from Why CLE know that she is the winner of Sparkly Soul Giveaway! Jen feels sparkly when she is “dressed up for a night on the town.”

Congratulations Jen! Please email HealthyHeddleston (at) gmail (dot) com with your mailing address and your choice of color for the thin and thick bands!

PS. You can still all be winners by entering FitFluential upon check out during the WHOLE month of February for 15% off your Sparkly Soul headband order! Have fun! (Plus, if you want to think ahead, these make awesome stocking stuffers!)

Macaroni Salad Two Ways

Healthy Heddleston — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:30:41 +0000

John and I like our “salads” different ways. I’m talking about macaroni salad, tuna salad, chicken salad, etc. We also prefer our deviled eggs differently too. He likes his sweet, I like mine tangy (from lots of dill pickles or relish). If you’re a house divided like we are (plus, I need GF noodles and he doesn’t), here are two recipes that will make both of you happy!

Tangy Gluten Free Macaroni Salad

by Katie Heddleston

Prep Time: 20-25 minutes

Keywords: assemble refrigerate/freeze salad side gluten-free vegetarian

Ingredients (a lot!)

8 ounce box of quinoa elbow macaroni — I used Ancient Harvest brand, cooked
1/4 of a small sweet onion
1 small carrot
4 dill pickle spears
4 boiled eggs
3/4 cup olive oil mayo
1 Tablespoon honey mustard
1 Tablespoon pickle juice

Instructions

Prepare elbow macaroni according to package instructions. Rinse with cool water and allow noodles to cool.
Boil eggs while dicing up sweet onion, carrot, and pickles.
Combine mayo, mustard, pickle juice, sweet onion, carrot, and pickles with the elbow macaroni.
Mix well.
Allow macaroni salad to cool in refrigerator for at least two hours before serving.
Enjoy!

—————

Yummmmy, mine is so good. I probably could have put even MORE pickles and pickle juice in it. Now, for those who like a sweeter salad, go ahead and enjoy John’s version. Oh yeah, his also has celery — I don’t like too much crunch — probably one of the other reasons why the pickles work better for me.

—————

Sweet Macaroni Salad

by Katie Heddleston

Prep Time: 20-25 minutes

Keywords: assemble refrigerate/freeze salad side

Ingredients (a lot!)

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
1/4 of a small sweet onion
1 stalk celery
1 small carrot
4 boiled eggs
1/2 cup olive oil mayo (however, John prefers Miracle Whip because it’s sweeter, but i picked up the wrong thing)
1.5 Tablespoons honey mustard
1 Tablespoon agave

Instructions

Prepare elbow macaroni according to package instructions. Rinse with cool water and allow noodles to cool.
Boil eggs while dicing up sweet onion, carrot, and celery.
Combine mayo, mustard, agave, sweet onion, carrot, and pickles with the elbow macaroni.
Mix well.
Allow macaroni salad to cool in refrigerator for at least two hours before serving.
Enjoy!

—————

How do you like your “salads?” Sweet or tangy?

DC Races

Healthy Heddleston — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:22:38 +0000

If you connect with me via Facebook, you may have seen a little status about John and I registering for our first race post-baby. That race is none other than the Rebel Race on July 7th!! This race is a 5k mud run with obstacles and we are very excited! Completing a mud run was on our list of goals last year that didn’t get completed, so we were very excited to see that this race was far enough away from when our baby would be born — plenty of time to train!

The early bird price is good until February 16th in case you want to join us!

It’s been really fun learning about what the racing companies are in Washington, DC and the different types of races that are offered around us! I feel like I’ve been doing some great research and I have at least three other races in mind that I definitely want to complete in 2012.

On August 12, there is a Splash & Dash event put on by Capital Sprints that John and I both want to do. We’ve been intrigued by triathlons and this event would be a nice way to get our feet wet with a multi-sport event. The “splash” is only a 300m swim (in a pool) and the dash is a 5k. A nice and quick event!

The next event I want to do just looks like pure fun! It’s called The Color Run! You wear a white shirt during the race and along each kilometer you get hit with “magical color dust.” Go check out the post-race pictures on the site to see for yourself!

And finally, I know which half marathon I want to complete as my first half post-baby: The Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon. I found this race last year and really wanted it to be my fall half marathon, however, then we got pregnant So, once it was confirmed that we were moving to the Maryland/DC area, I knew this would be a great race for my first post-baby half!

It’s kind of funny that I want to do this race so badly; I really hate bridges — haha. However, running over bridges is much easier for me than driving over them — so I know I’ll be okay!

Anyone ever complete any of these races? Let me know your thoughts!

Other races that look fun for the 2012 (or 2013) season are the Rockville Twilighter in late July and the The Parks Half Marathon in Montogomery County in September.

Other helpful websites that are race organizers or list races are:

Any other websites I should check out for races in the MD/VA/DC area?

My Pregnancy Journey: Week 32

Healthy Heddleston — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:30:59 +0000

Today, February 6, 2012, I’m officially 33 weeks pregnant! It’s crazy to think that I only have 7 weeks to go and only 4 weeks until full-term. CRAZY!

What’s Up With Baby: According to BabyCenter, baby now weighs 3.75 pounds (the weight of a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long.

Weight Gain: This week I gained 1.2 pounds, which brings my weight gain to 17.1 pounds.

What I’ve Been Eating: Pancakes, hash browns, lots of oranges, raw broccoli/cauliflower/carrots cut up with dip, taco salad, sharp cheddar cheese, grapes, and other stuff!

Number of Workouts: I took three walks this week — two 45 minute walks and one 15 minute walk. I had an annoying cold for about 5 days of this week and getting rest and fluids was of top priority. I’m glad to be walking though!

How I’m Feeling: I’m not sure exactly how to describe this, but after my walks I really have to take it easy for a few hours. Baby feels like he’s been head banging inside, so my lady parts get all tender. (We know that baby is head down already. He actually has been the entire pregnancy.) I know this tenderness is normal because the hormone relaxin is, well, just making everything relaxed; so it’s no wonder things feel a bit sensitive!

Gifts for Baby: I’ve had a few more gifts for baby trickle in last week since my baby shower — it’s been fun getting surprises in the mail!

Gifts for Mommy: The breast pump that my mom and I ordered last week arrived! I’ll be sure to answer what type we decided on in my question/answer post coming up soon!

Midwife Appointment Details: At 32 weeks 2 days pregnant, I had another appointment with my midwife. While I do like her and my practice, I left very frustrated and overwhelmed. John wasn’t at the appointment either, so I’m sure I would have been a little more relaxed had he been there. First, my pulse was crazy. Then, the midwife just wasn’t saying the right things when I asked my questions. Third, this was the appointment occurred on the worst day of my cold. Then, the most frustrating part of the appointment was when she said I was measuring at 34 weeks. Well, at my 30 week appointment she said I was measuring at 29 weeks — so how could little baby jump 5 weeks when they said my weight didn’t change. Argh. The only thing she said in an attempt to make me feel better was say, “maybe he’s just in a funny position.” And lastly, if I hadn’t had a bad enough appointment already, I walked out forgetting to schedule my next appointment.

Of course everything is fine now; I know I was overwhelmed and emotional. Plus, I feel better and just have a better mental state.

John’s Thoughts: Big thought on my mind this week was the hospital tour, breastfeeding class, and parenting class. The hospital tour was very useful; it was good to see where Katie would be delivering and what kind of room we would have to recover for the few days afterwards. I am a bit more reluctant to get excited about the breastfeeding and parenting class as they are significantly longer (2.5 hours and 14 hours, respectively). There are certainly a lot that Katie and I need to learn on both of those topics but I’m not sure what is going to fill that much time. I hope for my thoughts next week I can say how wrong I was and that both classes were informative and the full 16.5 hours were absolutely needed….but I doubt that.

**Disclaimer: I am also battling a terrible head cold and have not really had much time to rest so the thought of sitting in a room for 16.5 hours while not being able to breathe does not appeal to me.

(Katie’s note: John had a cold for about a week before I got it last week… then I got it…. now he has it again, but I’m all better. It’s been stuff over here in the Heddleston household).

Baby-Related Accomplishments:

About 80% of the gifts from the shower have been organized in the nursery.
Door has been taken off of the nursery closet in order for us to fit a rocker in the space.
We are now owners of a breast pump!
We took a hospital tour! It included seeing the labor/delivery suites as well as the mother/baby suites. All rooms are private and have full showers (and many have jacuzzi’s). Anyway, I’ll write more about this in my recap post.
Last night we had our breast feeding class! I found it very useful (and I think John would agree!) I’ll be recapping this as well!
My mom and I scheduled a time for when she would see our apartment for the first time and help us get the rest of the nursery finished! (Mainly, making a window valence and closet door curtain). It’s gonna be cute everyone!
Picked photographer for our newborn photo shoot.

Baby-Related To-Do List:

Attend child birth class this weekend.
Purchase rocker and little foot stool.
Take our shower gift cards and get everything else we absolutely need.

What We’re Looking Forward to This Week:

Attending child birth class.
Possibly registering for our first post-baby race!
Having John get over this lingering cold.

Sorry for the lack of pictures this week — you can tell I wasn’t feeling well!

For all baby-related posts, please visit my baby page!