Baby Runner Girl has arrived!!!

My weekend didn't exactly go as planned. I expected to cross off a lot of things on my "pre-baby" to-do list. I did not expect to cross off "actually have the baby." But on Sunday, April 10, she decided it was time, and that meant it was time ;)

I'll be brief on the labor/delivery details, but I will say that when you don't expect to go into labor (wait, I still have 2 weeks!), it certainly adds an element. My water broke Saturday night and by Sunday morning I was in the hospital. I looked at this whole labor/delivery thing as an athletic event. I had no choice but to get to the finish line. I guess all those years of National Ab Month paid off, since I was able to push her out in a short time. She is a cutie!! It's still so hard to believe that I now have a baby - the same one who was kicking and moving and hanging out inside me for all those months. I cannot stop looking at her!

My mom's theory on why she was 12 days early is that she wasn't happy about the lack of running. She was bored just sitting around and figured it was time to see the world. I agree. I also think she's smart enough to know that the sooner she gets out, the sooner she can get in that baby jogger! I also like the fact that she picked the day of the Scotland 10K in Central Park AND the Shamrock Shuffle in Chicago for her birthday. I was kind of hoping she'd be born on Boston Marathon Monday, but she wanted to pick a race I had actually run, which was perfect, just like her. In addition, my friend C of Team Stick reminded me that exactly one year ago I ran and PR'd in the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler, so I guess there's lots of quality running events associated with the birth of my first born. Leave it to me to point them out ;)

As for my current state of fitness, the good news is I certainly don't look like I was just pregnant. The belly was pretty much gone with the baby. It's so weird seeing the missing baby bump. I'm also pretty weak and feel like I have no muscles. My back has been hurting nonstop since the delivery. Luckily I can pop any kind of pill I like. Since I didn't really know what to expect re: childbirth, I feel like I had it on the easy side. The hardest part was worrying about my baby and whether or not she'd be ready for the outside world given her small size and earliness.

I have six weeks of recovery ahead of me, so the running will be on hold for a while. There may be more talk of "running after baby" than running on the roads. Be warned.