Go Green

I so want to go green.

I'm not talking about a green Earth, though I do try to recycle and ride my bike whenever I can. I'm talking about being part of Team Trakkers. They are accepting applications for their team right now. I actually applied last year, but didn't say anything because they shut me down the day after I sent in my application. I really want to apply again this year. Is that crazy?

Why I want to Join

Sonja (who's on her way to Kona!), Michelle, Megan, James, Kelly, Sherry, and Carol are all people I stalk - I mean follow on Twitter, and they all belong, or did belong, to this really cool triathlon team along with pros like Amanda Lovato and Mary-Beth Ellis. These people are super fast and inspiring! They're my triathlon heros, and I couldn't even imagine how awesome it would be to be on the same team as them! They are all super nice and really supportive, and did I mention fast?

Another reason I'm looking for a team to join is that I don't really know that many triathletes. I wish I had a friend in town that I could train with. I do have Pete's aunt, Heather, who I'm going to try and talk into doing Ironman St. George with me in 2012, and she's great! She does live about half an hour away, though, and both of us are super busy. That puts a damper on things.

Is This High School Again?

I seriously feel like I'm in high school again, and I'm thinking about trying out for cheerleading again, even though I've been turned down twice, or auditioning for the upcoming musical even though I've only ever been an extra or in the choir. I really want to do it, but I don't know if I can handle the rejection. I mean, what do I have to offer them? What is it about me that stands out above others, and what makes me an ideal sponsored athlete for Team Trakkers? (seriously, this is one of the questions on the application)

The other day (before Mindy broke her arms and I was able to stop thinking about tri-related stuff for a minute), I posted this on Twitter:

I want to apply to Team Trakkers again, but don't think I could handle the rejection.

I know you're thinking, "how could a triathlon team turn down a slow pregnant lady from Utah?" but crazier things have happened! :)

And these are the responses I got:

@jamesonbull: You'd be surprised. The pregnant/mom factor on #TeamTrakkers is pretty high.

me: what about slow pregnant moms?

@jamesonbull: Slow pregnant triathlete moms get bonus points.

also

@IronmanSherry: I did my first Rev3 Race preggers in Trakkers green:)
@IronmanSherry: Apply dammit. Just sayins!

That just made me feel good and they pretty much talked me into applying.

Here I go!

... or maybe I should wait until next year when I won't have a brand new baby and I'll be Ironman training again... What do you guys think?

Work That Belly

Wanna see some belly pictures? I know you do! :)

July 1 (I can't believe I'm putting this on up...) about 11-12 weeks I think.

This is when I got my new speedo swimming suits from donating to World Swim Against Malaria when they were giving away swimwear for every $5 you donated, up to $20. Look at the goods I got!

I was so excited about them, but I've only been wearing the biggest (maroon) one since I don't want to stretch the others out. I'll save them for when I'm ready to work on my speed again.

This is what my old swimming suit looked like. I have to say, that's not bad for being used A LOT over about 5-6 years.

August 8 - 17 weeks and 5 days.

Here I am August 14 at 18 weeks just after going running. Weird how I actually look smaller in this photo...

And here I am September 18 at 23 weeks, on the way to go maternity clothes shopping with Pete.

I'm now at 25 weeks, and I am feeling much better than at the beginning. That isn't to say I don't have my days where all I want to do is lay in bed until January, but at least I'm feeling better for the most part and the last 2 weeks have been much better.

Most days I ride my bike with the kids to school (which is about a mile away) and back (so 2 miles) to drop them off if we have time, and to pick them up (4 miles total!). If we don't have time to ride bikes in the morning, I'll usually put their bikes in the bike trailer and go pick them up in the afternoon with the bike anyway because Elle LOVES riding her bike, and I have to get my exercise in somewhere.

Last week I also started swimming again. I had taken a break for a little while because I had been feeling really sick again, and (it's embarrassing to say) I was feeling really self-concious about my belly. I know it's nothing to be embarrassed about, but I was feeling like I was getting too big for my swimming suit and that everyone was staring at me when I walked into the pool. I'm trying to get over that and just go especially since Elle has started preschool, and I just got a new maternity swimming suit in the mail today along with some sweet paddles and a lycra swim cap so no more excuses! I have really enjoyed my swims, and I actually feel normal while I'm in the water. I even dove in last time and that was so fun! I haven't done that in forever!

I also went running yesterday with Elle on her bike. I hadn't been running for a long time because last time, probably 3 weeks ago, I was getting a lot of pain in my belly. Or maybe it was just side aches. It's hard to tell if it's pregnancy related or not. I did start getting side aches right around when I got pregnant. Yesterday was no exception, but it didn't last long, and the last little part of my run was so fun, I had us go around the block because I didn't want to stop yet. I probably did close to 3 miles - some of that running around the park while Elle played.

Popsicle Stick Arms

Monday afternoon, Elle and I had just finished lunch, and I was about to make my 3rd attempt at doing the dishes when the school called. The woman on the phone told me that Mindy fell off the monkey bars, and my thoughts immediately jumped to: “broken arm,” but then she was saying that she hit her head and that I needed to come check on her so I got even more worried. I told her I’d be right down. The dishes would have to wait. Again.

When I got there they said that Mindy was really upset and that she’d been crying the whole time. I went in and found her on the little cot in the back of the office, covered in tears. I looked at her head and could see where she’d hit it, right on top, but it wasn’t really bleeding. She said her head hurt and her arms hurt and hurt chest hurt so I helped her to the car and took her home.

When we got home, I was thinking, “She’s pretty hurt,” but I always tend to want to wait a little while to make sure it’s really bad before taking her to the doctor. Pete, on the other hand, was like, “You need to take her to the ER.” I really didn’t want to go to the ER so I called our Pediatrician at The Bryner Clinic (thanks for the reference, Somer, I love those guys!) to see if we could get her in there. I knew it would be a lot cheaper and just a much better experience overall if we could do that, and they told me to bring her right in!

Back in the car, and we were in seeing the doctor within probably half an hour. So nice.

The doctor checked her head and eyes and chest and said that all looked ok. The skull wasn’t cracked or anything like that, just a big goose egg. By now, Mindy was mostly complaining about her arms, especially her left arm so we shifted focus to that.

They have their own Radiology center so they just took her back and did the x-ray, and we really didn’t have to wait too long before we knew the verdict. Turns out she’s got TWO broken arms! Poor girl! But, the good news is that all the breaks (1 in the right arm, and 2 or 3 in the left arm) are buckle fractures. I had never heard of that before.

This is NOT Mindy’s arm, but it looked a lot like this, just a little bump on the bone.


It's also called an incomplete fracture, and it should heal a lot quicker than a regular fracture would (maybe 3-4 weeks). We will go in to a specialist next week to find out if she needs a cast or 2, and how long she'll need them and everything. For now she's just got splints on her arms



It's pretty hard for her to do anything. She can't write and it's hard for her to feed herself.

Seeing her with these splints on her arms, brings back memories of when she had splints on her arms (aka "popsicle-stick arms") 7-years ago:


Mindy was born with a cleft pallet (instead of that hangy down thing in the back of her throat, she had a hole), and when she was 11 mos. old, she had surgery to fix it. Nothing was actually wrong with her arms, but they put the splints on so she wouldn’t stick anything in her mouth and mess it up.



She was so cute and little and sad walking around with her arms sticking out like that! It’s amazing how well kids adapt, though. After a few days, she was playing around like normal. Well as normal as she could without bending her arms. :)


(Notice she's got exactly the same look on her face as the above sad picture.)

Yesterday, I took her to school, but I hadn't timed the pain medication very well and started worrying about her after a few hours. I went in to check on her and give her some Motrin, and she started crying as soon as she saw me and wanted to go home. I took her home and she rested for the rest of the day. On the bright side she finished the final Harry Potter book, and she's really excited for the movie to come out. :)

Today I made sure to time her meds better before dropping her off at school, and when I went back to check on her and give her more, she seemed fine and was totally ready to face the rest of the day! We'll see if she's up for ballet tonight though...