Racing season began today! I have wanted to do the Triple Crown and MiniMarathon for several years now. After just “never getting around to it”, then having 2 pregnancies keep me from doing it, I was ready to run this year! Two years ago I watched the Mini on TV and was just kicking myself for not signing up, then last year I watched it with my 2 week old, obviously unable to run 13.1 miles. But I told myself that I would not back out in 2011! So I signed up a long time ago, I think it was in November, knowing that I would not back out if I had already invested money into it! I love running so I have thoroughly enjoyed training. But more than anything it's been nice to do something for myself. I love being mom and wife more than anything in the world, but since I'm at home with the girls and Ronnie has such a demanding job at times it feels like that is all I am. I sometimes feel like I've lost myself, so it's been nice to do something just for me. And thankfully Ronnie has been more than supportive and has happily watched the girls a lot lately during my runs...which has been great for the girls. They don't get a lot of Daddy time due to his work schedule, and rarely get Daddy time without Mommy. It's been a great situation for all of us! Though Ronnie, who also likes to run, has been a little jealous and would love to run with me! I think he's just jealous because I may be faster than him now. :)
I signed up for the Derby Festival MiniMarathon (13.1 miles) shortly before Christmas and then soon after signed up for the Triple Crown – 5K (3.1 miles), 10K (6.2 miles) & 10 miler. One of the main reasons I had never signed up is because I really hate racing. Don’t get me wrong, I love running and have been an avid runner since college, but races make me unbelievably stressed, nervous and nearly sick at my stomach. My friend Kebra joined a running group that is training for the Triple Crown and Mini and she encouraged me to join, too. I joined them for a run one Saturday and then decided to join. Aside from the running benefits and opportunity to run with other people, one of the main reasons I signed up was to get used to running at 8 a.m. on Saturdays with people. I hoped it would help calm my nerves and fortunately it seems to have helped a lot.
This morning was the first leg of the Triple Crown – the 5K. My last experience with a 5K was not good. In 2007 Ronnie and I ran the Health Care Classic 5K that the Med School hosts and it was a disaster. We trained hard in hopes of having fast times, but someone did a crappy job of measuring the distance of the race and it was actually 3.6 miles instead of 3.1. When you are running a 5K you are running fast, and an extra half mile makes a big difference! Ronnie had finished before me and was told what happened after his time was a lot slower than he expected. He met me at the finish line to tell me because he knew I might burst into tears when I saw that my time was about 4 minutes slower than what I was aiming for! So that was not so great.
The 5K this morning went great! The worst part was waking up at 6:30 a.m. Yuck. I met my friend Ashley at her house and we rode together, so it was very nice to be with a friend for the event! Ronnie was off work and able to stay at home with the girls. It was just too cold, and too crowded, to get them out for a short run like that. We figured out where to park and made our way to the starting line, with 10,000 other people. I desperately, desperately needed to use the restroom before the race started (if you know what I mean), but unfortunately the lines were so long that I would have probably missed the start of the race. And yes, I said 10,000 people ran the 5K! It was insane, and at times a bit frustrating. We got as close to the front as we could, which wasn’t very close at all. Once the race started it was actually 3 minutes 30 seconds before we even crossed the STARTING line. So obviously the time on the clock wasn’t anywhere near our actual times, but thankfully I had my GPS to watch my time. I don’t know how I ever ran without that thing. My goal going into it was 23 minutes – a 7:24 pace. Honestly though I thought 24 minutes was a more realistic goal. I was pleasantly surprised and ended up finishing in 22 minutes 52 seconds! I had an embarrassing moment after I crossed the finish line. There was a guy who looked like he was giving me a high five. I started at him for a few seconds and thought, “I don’t know him…why is he giving me a high five?” Then I realized that I probably looked absolutely exhausted, and a bit sick because during the last quarter mile I thought I might actually throw up, so maybe he thought I just needed a high five. Nice guy. All this actually crossed my mind in about 5 seconds. So I reached up to give him a high five, as his arm reached over my head to high five the guy behind me. Woops. We had an embarrassing three-person high five. So I just kept running like it never happened! Then came the best part – the free, post-race snacks. Thank you Panera Bread, for providing free cinnamon crunch bagels. I had never had one before, but I would call it a little piece of heaven in bagel form.
I'm also excited about the Mini for another reason. Several people from our church decided to sign up this year in honor of our Pastor's wife, Connie Towles, who passed away in December after a tough-fought battle with cancer. She was an avid runner and participant in the Mini and we are all excited to be running in her memory and will even wear matching t-shirts with a special Bible verse on the back. It makes running the race so much more meaningful!
I was really happy to get the races off to a good start and have a strong (for me!) first race. It makes me much more confident and less nervous going into the next races. Ella is pretty excited to get to go to the races, too. Today she kept saying, “Mommy I missed you soooooo much!” I said, “But I was with you all day!” Then she said, “No, but I missed you sooooo much when you were at your race!” Ronnie plans to bring them to the 10 miler and Mini so I’m excited to have my little support team there!
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
I need vacation help...
On July 1 Ronnie will officially be finished with residency…woo hoo!! It’s been a long road for him and I am so proud and excited that he has almost completed his training. He hopes to take a few weeks off before starting his next job and we are talking about taking a long-weekend vacation…just the two of us…sometime that month. We aren’t looking to go very far or spend a lot of money. The girls would be at my parent’s house in southern Kentucky, so we would like to stay within maybe 4-5 hours driving distance. It doesn’t have to be a place with lots of activities or people. We mostly just want to relax and enjoy ourselves for a few days. A lake would be nice. Romantic would be nice. We are going to Gatlinburg in October so we are not interested in traveling there.
If anyone has any ideas or recommendations please let me know!! Thanks!!
If anyone has any ideas or recommendations please let me know!! Thanks!!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
E-L-L-A
Lately Ella and I have been practicing writing letters. She knows all of her upper case letters and some lower case, so we have been working on writing upper case letters, especially her name. She has been doing a great job, but today she even surprised me! She was coloring a picture for one of our neighbors who moved today and I mentioned that she should write her name on the paper. Usually when she writes I'm kind of standing over her helping and reminding her how to write the letters. Today I was in another room and wasn't watching her. Turns out she does even better that way! This is what I came back to find:
I'm so proud of my big girl!
I'm so proud of my big girl!
To the allergist we go!
Last Thursday morning Ella and I made our first trip to the allergist. Ella’s allergies have always been a problem – she has been taking antihistamines (started with Allegra, then Zyrtec, now Claritin) since she was 15 months old, and Singulair and Nasonex were recently added to her daily regimen. Her allergies just get worse as she gets older. Last spring, summer and fall we pretty much couldn’t go outside at all because her nose would instantly start running, her eyes would start tearing, then turn bright red and get itchy, then swell up and stay dark and swollen for a few days. It’s been terrible. Around Christmastime she had about a month when these attacks, particularly involving her eyes, would happen 3-4 times a week. Before, this would happen right after she had been outside around allergens or near a dog or cat, but it started happening when there was nothing we could think of that would set her off. I suspected an almond allergy so I stopped giving her almonds. Then she had her 3 year checkup and Dr. Bindner added Singulair and Nasonex to her daily routine and referred us to Dr. Damin at Kentuckiana Allergy. This was about a month ago, and since then she has only had one allergy attack and that was when she was around a cat. So it appears that Singulair and Nasonex have been helping, but we still needed to see the allergist to nail down exactly what all she is allergic to and discuss shots as a treatment.
We talked a lot about her appointment to get her prepared…she does much better in these situations when we discuss everything and she knows what will happen and why. We talked about Dr. Damin and that he was a nice doctor like Daddy and would help her with her allergies and her itchy eyes. We talked about how she would get “pokes” on her back. I would poke her back with my fingernail to try to give her an idea of what it would feel like. (in a playful way, of course!) She seemed about as prepared as she could be for a 3 year old who was about to get about 50 sticks in the back. :( After arriving at the office we discovered that they had a playroom. One of the nurses gave her Hello Kitty stamps on her hands and turned Mickey Mouse on the TV for her so she was excited about that. We’re off to a good start! Then another nurse called her back. Ella immediately asked her what her name was…Ella asks everyone their name…then said, “I don’t need a shot.” “Oh me,” I said. “It’s going to be a long morning!” The nurse laughed and agreed. They checked her height, weight, blood pressure and temperature. Ella was a little on edge but let her do what she needed to do Then Dr. Damin came in. Of course the first thing Ella said to him was also, “I don’t need a shot.” *Sigh* We went over the MASSIVE amount of paperwork I had filled out the night before involving her entire history of allergies. The paperwork had stressed me out. Ronnie made fun of me and said I was being waaaay too particular about it. But Dr. Damin was glad I had been so thorough, I got the impression that most people probably give up before they complete it all. I wouldn’t blame them! He looked in her ears, throat and nose and said her nose looked like the classic nose of an allergy-ridden child. After we talked about everything he said the nurse would be back in soon for the testing. Then he pointed out that they had a TV with a VHS player in the room and movies to choose from so we headed to the bookshelf to pick out a movie. This made Ella super excited. The first thing she grabbed was Snow White. It came on TV the other day and I DVR’d it for her, so that one was fresh. I also grabbed Cinderella since it is a story she is familiar with but she had never seen the movie. She decided on Cinderella first and by the time I finally had it rewinded (rewound…? it’s been a long time since I’ve used a VHS!) the nurse was ready to start. We stripped off her shirt and I sat in a chair with Ella in my lap. She was straddling me and I had her arms under my armpits so she couldn’t squirm or reach for her back. I tried so hard to get her engrossed in the movie while they nurse put a ton of lines and letters on her small little back. Then they began. After the first few pokes Ella said, “Ouch!” Then, “Don’t do any more!!” Then it turned to bloody murder screams. By the time they were done I think I was as upset as she was, but thankfully the nurse went really fast so it didn’t take too long. For poor Ella I’m sure it felt like an eternity! She calmed down very quickly after they were done. They told me to keep holding her arms so she wouldn’t scratch, but she did great and never tried to touch her back after I explained why she couldn’t, so I didn’t have to continue to restrain her. I took a picture of her back with my phone and sent it to Ronnie. It looked rough…I don’t think I will post it. The nurse came in to check on us, then at 20 minutes she came back to analyze the results. While she wrote down the results she explained to me how the process works. It is actually really, really neat. I decided that if I were going to be a doctor of some sort I would really like to be an allergist, ha ha. They first stuck her with histamine…which everyone reacts to…to make sure that she has a reaction and nothing is in her system that would alter the results. They had told us to stop giving her Claritin one week prior to the testing so it wouldn’t interfere. But lots of drugs have antihistamines in them so sometimes people have one in their system and don’t even know it. They also stuck her with saltwater, which shouldn’t cause a reaction. But sometimes, particularly in fair skinned, Caucasian females, people react to just the poke, so they compare the reaction to the saltwater to the other reactions to see which is a reaction from just the poke and which is a reaction from the allergen. Maybe that makes sense…I thought it was cool!
While she had lots of reactions, there were a couple of spots other than the histamine that clearly had the worst reactions. While she measured one of them I said, “I bet that one is cat.” She told me that she actually didn’t have a reaction to cat, but she could still be allergic. I thought that was odd, since generally Ella can just think about a cat and her eyes will swell up! After she wrote down all the results she cleaned off Ella’s back and sprayed it with anti-itch medicine. A few minutes later she came back into the room and said, “You’re right…she is HIGHLY allergic to cats.” That’s what I thought. Unfortunately she came back a few minutes later with a row of syringes. Crap. They had mentioned that if some of the results were unclear they might have to poke her arm using needles to get the stuff a little deeper for a more clear reaction. This part was no fun. After going through all the pokes, the last thing Ella wanted to see was a metal tray with items on it that look like they would hurt. I had to hold her really tight while they gave her 6 pokes in the arm. Some of the spots bled a little so she was freaked out, but also really interested, in the blood. She immediately asked for a bandaid and after those results were documented the nurse brought her a Little Mermaid sticker, a bracelet and 2 bandaids – one was a yellow crayon and the other had Bugs Bunny on it. I think she felt really bad for making Ella scream twice! They were friends again after that. They waited 20 more minutes and then came back to document those reactions, then Dr. Damin returned to go over the results and discuss treatment options.
Out of 48 pokes, she had 20 reactions: Cat, Dog, Almond, Mold (Fusarium, Mucor, Rhizopus, Curvularia, Pullaria, Grain Smut, Grass Smut, Phoma betae), Tree Pollens (Mulberry, Sweet Gum, Oak, Walnut-Hickory, Birch), Grass Pollens (Timothy Grass, Orchard Grass, Fescue, Bermuda Grass). Her strongest reactions were to Cat, Oak, Orchard Grass & Bermuda Grass. Thankfully the paper they gave us listed the month that the tree and grass pollens are the worst. Dr. Damin was surprised that she had reacted to almond. It was a slight reaction so he said to start slowly with almonds and see how she does. A couple of days ago she found some cocoa roast almonds in the pantry and asked for some. I told her she could have a couple, but of course she ate probably 10 and had no reaction. Either she isn’t truly allergic or the new medicines she is on are keeping her from having a reaction. He thinks that the random attacks she has been having with her eyes are due to cat dander. He said that the eye itching and swelling is a classic reaction to cats and that it could happen anytime she is around someone with cat dander on them. Then he went on to talk about cat dander...it's really, really gross. He said it takes 6 months for cat dander to break down. It just hangs in the air. He said you can clean as much as you want but it won't get rid of cat dander unless there is a full cleaning of the HVAC system, new carpets, etc. He encouraged us to medicate Ella before she is going to be around a cat, and we already do that. He went on to say that whenever we go to buy our next house, if a cat has lived there it wouldn't be worth it. He said if it was like our dream home then we would have to have the house completely cleaned, all of the air filters and HVAC, new carpet installed, etc. If not, she would be miserable. Wow. It really makes sense with her eye attacks. Most mornings we go to the YMCA and a lot of her attacks were happening around that time. I would feel very confident betting that some of the ladies who she hugs and is close to probably have a cat at home and the close contact is setting her off. We have friends with cats who have come to our house, and after Ella has been sitting in their lap she will start rubbing her eyes. Crazy cats.
We then discussed allergy shots for Ella. Since adding Singulair and Nasonex have been helping her a lot I thought maybe we would be able to avoid it. Because she really has been a lot better. The reason we chose this particular allergist was because her pediatrician said that he was very conservative and wouldn’t recommend shots unless he felt it was absolutely necessary. He felt it was absolutely necessary. I shouldn’t say that…he didn’t put it in those words, but he HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that we consider allergy shots. He said that if it takes 3 daily allergy medications to keep her under control and 2 others to supplement when she has attacks, she needs some relief. Good point, doc. I didn’t really understand how allergy shots worked until he explained it. I always thought it was just a treatment for symptoms, like medication, but allergy shots are actually similar to a vaccination and help your body to develop immunity against allergens. You receive small injections of your allergens and build up your dosage over time. As time progresses your shots are spaced out more. It’s usually a 3-5 year process but most people feel better 3-6 months after beginning shots. We will more than likely go that route. I need to make a phone call to our insurance company to see how much will be covered, because allergy shots are expensive. He compared it to getting a set of braces. I’ve been putting off that call because I would normally prefer to have my toenails yanked off than talk to the health insurance company. Her doctor knows the situation we are in with Ronnie completing residency, and he mentioned that if we would have better health insurance when he starts a new job in July than it would absolutely be ok to wait until then. He said that even if we started now it wouldn’t be enough time for them to really help her in the upcoming allergy season. So that is the route we will probably end up going. I hate to put poor Ella through shots but anyone who is around her much knows how much she suffers from her allergies, so we want to do what we feel is best for her in the long run. If we can get her allergies under control at a young age hopefully they won’t be as brutal on her as she is older and doing more things. Both myself and Ronnie have dealt with allergies all our lives and know it can really interfere with daily activities. So hopefully Ella will soon have some relief!
We talked a lot about her appointment to get her prepared…she does much better in these situations when we discuss everything and she knows what will happen and why. We talked about Dr. Damin and that he was a nice doctor like Daddy and would help her with her allergies and her itchy eyes. We talked about how she would get “pokes” on her back. I would poke her back with my fingernail to try to give her an idea of what it would feel like. (in a playful way, of course!) She seemed about as prepared as she could be for a 3 year old who was about to get about 50 sticks in the back. :( After arriving at the office we discovered that they had a playroom. One of the nurses gave her Hello Kitty stamps on her hands and turned Mickey Mouse on the TV for her so she was excited about that. We’re off to a good start! Then another nurse called her back. Ella immediately asked her what her name was…Ella asks everyone their name…then said, “I don’t need a shot.” “Oh me,” I said. “It’s going to be a long morning!” The nurse laughed and agreed. They checked her height, weight, blood pressure and temperature. Ella was a little on edge but let her do what she needed to do Then Dr. Damin came in. Of course the first thing Ella said to him was also, “I don’t need a shot.” *Sigh* We went over the MASSIVE amount of paperwork I had filled out the night before involving her entire history of allergies. The paperwork had stressed me out. Ronnie made fun of me and said I was being waaaay too particular about it. But Dr. Damin was glad I had been so thorough, I got the impression that most people probably give up before they complete it all. I wouldn’t blame them! He looked in her ears, throat and nose and said her nose looked like the classic nose of an allergy-ridden child. After we talked about everything he said the nurse would be back in soon for the testing. Then he pointed out that they had a TV with a VHS player in the room and movies to choose from so we headed to the bookshelf to pick out a movie. This made Ella super excited. The first thing she grabbed was Snow White. It came on TV the other day and I DVR’d it for her, so that one was fresh. I also grabbed Cinderella since it is a story she is familiar with but she had never seen the movie. She decided on Cinderella first and by the time I finally had it rewinded (rewound…? it’s been a long time since I’ve used a VHS!) the nurse was ready to start. We stripped off her shirt and I sat in a chair with Ella in my lap. She was straddling me and I had her arms under my armpits so she couldn’t squirm or reach for her back. I tried so hard to get her engrossed in the movie while they nurse put a ton of lines and letters on her small little back. Then they began. After the first few pokes Ella said, “Ouch!” Then, “Don’t do any more!!” Then it turned to bloody murder screams. By the time they were done I think I was as upset as she was, but thankfully the nurse went really fast so it didn’t take too long. For poor Ella I’m sure it felt like an eternity! She calmed down very quickly after they were done. They told me to keep holding her arms so she wouldn’t scratch, but she did great and never tried to touch her back after I explained why she couldn’t, so I didn’t have to continue to restrain her. I took a picture of her back with my phone and sent it to Ronnie. It looked rough…I don’t think I will post it. The nurse came in to check on us, then at 20 minutes she came back to analyze the results. While she wrote down the results she explained to me how the process works. It is actually really, really neat. I decided that if I were going to be a doctor of some sort I would really like to be an allergist, ha ha. They first stuck her with histamine…which everyone reacts to…to make sure that she has a reaction and nothing is in her system that would alter the results. They had told us to stop giving her Claritin one week prior to the testing so it wouldn’t interfere. But lots of drugs have antihistamines in them so sometimes people have one in their system and don’t even know it. They also stuck her with saltwater, which shouldn’t cause a reaction. But sometimes, particularly in fair skinned, Caucasian females, people react to just the poke, so they compare the reaction to the saltwater to the other reactions to see which is a reaction from just the poke and which is a reaction from the allergen. Maybe that makes sense…I thought it was cool!
While she had lots of reactions, there were a couple of spots other than the histamine that clearly had the worst reactions. While she measured one of them I said, “I bet that one is cat.” She told me that she actually didn’t have a reaction to cat, but she could still be allergic. I thought that was odd, since generally Ella can just think about a cat and her eyes will swell up! After she wrote down all the results she cleaned off Ella’s back and sprayed it with anti-itch medicine. A few minutes later she came back into the room and said, “You’re right…she is HIGHLY allergic to cats.” That’s what I thought. Unfortunately she came back a few minutes later with a row of syringes. Crap. They had mentioned that if some of the results were unclear they might have to poke her arm using needles to get the stuff a little deeper for a more clear reaction. This part was no fun. After going through all the pokes, the last thing Ella wanted to see was a metal tray with items on it that look like they would hurt. I had to hold her really tight while they gave her 6 pokes in the arm. Some of the spots bled a little so she was freaked out, but also really interested, in the blood. She immediately asked for a bandaid and after those results were documented the nurse brought her a Little Mermaid sticker, a bracelet and 2 bandaids – one was a yellow crayon and the other had Bugs Bunny on it. I think she felt really bad for making Ella scream twice! They were friends again after that. They waited 20 more minutes and then came back to document those reactions, then Dr. Damin returned to go over the results and discuss treatment options.
Out of 48 pokes, she had 20 reactions: Cat, Dog, Almond, Mold (Fusarium, Mucor, Rhizopus, Curvularia, Pullaria, Grain Smut, Grass Smut, Phoma betae), Tree Pollens (Mulberry, Sweet Gum, Oak, Walnut-Hickory, Birch), Grass Pollens (Timothy Grass, Orchard Grass, Fescue, Bermuda Grass). Her strongest reactions were to Cat, Oak, Orchard Grass & Bermuda Grass. Thankfully the paper they gave us listed the month that the tree and grass pollens are the worst. Dr. Damin was surprised that she had reacted to almond. It was a slight reaction so he said to start slowly with almonds and see how she does. A couple of days ago she found some cocoa roast almonds in the pantry and asked for some. I told her she could have a couple, but of course she ate probably 10 and had no reaction. Either she isn’t truly allergic or the new medicines she is on are keeping her from having a reaction. He thinks that the random attacks she has been having with her eyes are due to cat dander. He said that the eye itching and swelling is a classic reaction to cats and that it could happen anytime she is around someone with cat dander on them. Then he went on to talk about cat dander...it's really, really gross. He said it takes 6 months for cat dander to break down. It just hangs in the air. He said you can clean as much as you want but it won't get rid of cat dander unless there is a full cleaning of the HVAC system, new carpets, etc. He encouraged us to medicate Ella before she is going to be around a cat, and we already do that. He went on to say that whenever we go to buy our next house, if a cat has lived there it wouldn't be worth it. He said if it was like our dream home then we would have to have the house completely cleaned, all of the air filters and HVAC, new carpet installed, etc. If not, she would be miserable. Wow. It really makes sense with her eye attacks. Most mornings we go to the YMCA and a lot of her attacks were happening around that time. I would feel very confident betting that some of the ladies who she hugs and is close to probably have a cat at home and the close contact is setting her off. We have friends with cats who have come to our house, and after Ella has been sitting in their lap she will start rubbing her eyes. Crazy cats.
We then discussed allergy shots for Ella. Since adding Singulair and Nasonex have been helping her a lot I thought maybe we would be able to avoid it. Because she really has been a lot better. The reason we chose this particular allergist was because her pediatrician said that he was very conservative and wouldn’t recommend shots unless he felt it was absolutely necessary. He felt it was absolutely necessary. I shouldn’t say that…he didn’t put it in those words, but he HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that we consider allergy shots. He said that if it takes 3 daily allergy medications to keep her under control and 2 others to supplement when she has attacks, she needs some relief. Good point, doc. I didn’t really understand how allergy shots worked until he explained it. I always thought it was just a treatment for symptoms, like medication, but allergy shots are actually similar to a vaccination and help your body to develop immunity against allergens. You receive small injections of your allergens and build up your dosage over time. As time progresses your shots are spaced out more. It’s usually a 3-5 year process but most people feel better 3-6 months after beginning shots. We will more than likely go that route. I need to make a phone call to our insurance company to see how much will be covered, because allergy shots are expensive. He compared it to getting a set of braces. I’ve been putting off that call because I would normally prefer to have my toenails yanked off than talk to the health insurance company. Her doctor knows the situation we are in with Ronnie completing residency, and he mentioned that if we would have better health insurance when he starts a new job in July than it would absolutely be ok to wait until then. He said that even if we started now it wouldn’t be enough time for them to really help her in the upcoming allergy season. So that is the route we will probably end up going. I hate to put poor Ella through shots but anyone who is around her much knows how much she suffers from her allergies, so we want to do what we feel is best for her in the long run. If we can get her allergies under control at a young age hopefully they won’t be as brutal on her as she is older and doing more things. Both myself and Ronnie have dealt with allergies all our lives and know it can really interfere with daily activities. So hopefully Ella will soon have some relief!
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