Category Archives: Pregnant

Reclaiming My Power

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Until I was 30 years old, my body had never failed me in any significant way.  I never had any major illnesses or injuries. I never had to battle my weight. I had never broken a bone. I was one of the lucky few that could call themselves healthy without even trying. It wasn’t until I was 32 weeks pregnant with my first child, lying in a hospital bed in pre-term labor that I knew what it felt like to be helpless and completely out of control.

Pregnancy was a beautiful time in my life.  I had never felt better- no morning sickness, minimal aches and pains, and an overall sense of peace and fulfillment. I passed every prenatal test with flying colors- no abnormalities, no high blood pressure, no gestational diabetes, nothing at all to indicate that I was at risk for preterm labor.  I had every reason to believe that I would have the birth that I so strongly desired: from the moment I found out that I was pregnant I began researching and planning and decided that I wanted a completely natural birth. I saw a midwife rather than a doctor,  hired a doula, sought out a hospital that had a birthing tub and took natural birthing classes. Although I had all of the normal apprehensions about labor, I looked at it as a challenge to myself to fully experience everything my body was capable of.

All of my plans went out the window, as they so often do, when I awoke one morning, having contractions much too early. I labored naturally for quite some time, but I was not ready and really scared- and eventually succumbed to interventions. My baby was born healthy, and for that I am obviously grateful- but I still mourned the loss of the experience that I felt I missed out on.

Two years later, pregnant again with my second child- I felt I had another chance to give birth the way I so desperately wanted. Again my body failed me. I was diagnosed with placenta previa halfway into my pregnancy and in the end had  the extreme opposite of everything I had hoped for, a C-Section. My baby was perfect in every way, but I was left with an emptiness knowing that I would never have another chance to “get it right”. Intellectually I understood that all that mattered was a healthy child, but the experience of a natural birth was something I had so wanted so badly that when it didn’t happen, twice, I felt like a complete failure.

The extreme disappointment I felt after those two experiences left me wanting to regain control of my body. I had stood on the sidelines at many of my husband’s races, and always thought how great it would feel if I participate, but for some reason never thought I could. Those feelings started to change when, by default, I started to run. I joined a new gym when we moved to  California, and the class offerings were very limited- as a result of that, I started running on the treadmill. (I’d run a little off and on in prior years, but never much more than 3 miles at a time) Each week, seeing my mileage go up and my pace go down, I started to realize that I was capable of doing much more than I had ever thought possible. My focus started to switch from the failures my body had endured, to the successes it was having and what else it could accomplish.

I decided to run my first half marathon last January. In the months leading up to the race, I had a ton of self- doubt. I was about to do something that I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would do- no matter how you slice it, running is hard. It takes dedication, motivation, and pushes you to the limit both physically and mentally.  I wasn’t even convinced that I could finish a 13.1 mile run, much less do it even remotely fast.

I finished that race it 2 hours and 10 minutes- not super fast, but not too bad for a mother of two small children that had only been running for a year. I never told them, but when I saw my family at the finish line I wanted to cry- not in pain, but because I was so proud of what I had done. Whether they knew it or not, I felt like I had done it for them too- I proved to myself and to my family that I was able to finish something that I had been determined to do. The satisfaction I felt that day helped to fill some of the hole that was still there from missing out on the births I had wanted. I’ve often heard people compare giving birth to running a marathon, and though I haven’t run a full one yet, I feel like I have at least gotten a taste of what I missed out on. I have pushed myself to the limit and been given the ultimate reward of regaining confidence in myself. I know now that my body is not weak, and I am not a failure- I am powerful in a way that I never knew I was.

Me and my girls after the Carlsbad Half Marathon, January 2012

Speed Bumps: Finding Motivation

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Top by For Two Fitness – http://fortwofitness.com/

As I have written previously, I am expecting with my 3rd child.  While I am happy to be pregnant and excited at the thought of a sweet newborn to cuddle (and photograph), I miss my relationship with running. One of the first signs that I was pregnant, was how I felt on a run.  My body was tiring quickly and I was working harder at things that once came easily.  The entire first trimester I was exhausted, and although I was able to go on long runs, running a 10K on St. Patrick’s Day, my pace began to suffer.  Needless to say it was frustrating.  I was excited to get my energy back at the beginning of my second trimester and I have been able to continue to run and take classes at the Y, but I am not able to do any speed training or really push myself in classes. It was kind of nice at first, not following a schedule and just running however far I felt like running, but now I miss my long runs.  There was a time that I would have considered 6 miles or less a short run and if I were to  run 3-5 miles it was only for fartlek training. Now, at 24 weeks pregnant, a long run is 5-6 miles and these runs have become few and far between. Watching my body become unable to perform at my pre-pregnancy fitness level has been hard.  Finding a balance between feeling like I am doing enough, while cutting myself some slack because I am pregnant has been extremely difficult.

Now that it is the summertime and school is out, another speed bump I have encountered is my own kids. Trying to coordinate their summer activities with working out has been a challenge. Then there is the weather. I live in Southern Texas and it is now 100 plus degrees outside. The lows are in the 80′s! Yes, that means if I were to get up early and run before the sun comes up, it would still be 80 degrees and humid outside. In the first month of the summer I have endured a 3 day long migraine because I did not stay properly hydrated after a run. The following week I came down with a bad cold and was miserable. Being pregnant, all I could take for the cold was Tylenol. After about a week, I started to feel better physically, but I had more obstacles in my path.   The summer months are vacation time for many and we had a plethora of family members in town from all over the country & world.   My father-in-law’s 90th birthday party was a big weekend celebration, followed by my daughter’s 4th birthday, which included 2 parties and was a week long.  While I did get in a few classes and several runs in June, I am way behind my normal amount of activity. And what goes hand in hand with family visiting and lots of parties? Food! That’s right, lot of delicious food that didn’t fall anywhere within the confines of the clean eating I have recently adopted.

I hope I am not coming off as whiny. I am enjoying the time I get to spend with my kids during the summer months, and I consider all the time spent with family to be priceless. I just wanted to share the kinds of things I have been dealing with that I consider to be speed bumps.  We all have obstacles in our lives that can get us off track with our nutrition, runs, workouts, etc. So, how do I get past these things? It’s simple.  It’s because it is IMPORTANT to me to stay fit and healthy. I make the time to go.  When I fall off track, I pick myself up and start the week again new. This week I am back to my routine and already feeling better.  Maybe your speed bump is a full time job that has you exhausted at the end of the day. Maybe you have a new baby who keeps you up at night. Maybe you also have the weather working against you. Maybe you are pregnant like me. Maybe you didn’t get enough sleep, maybe your legs hurt, maybe you’ll just go tomorrow… Stop making excuses and start making the choice to live a better life. Make the choice to be a good example of fitness and health to your children. It’s up to you. It’s your choice.

Here are some ways that I find help me stay motivated.

  • Have friends who are also into fitness & running and support each other. My friends motivate me daily. I love seeing their runs or workouts posted on Facebook and I always like or comment on their posts to motivate them. In return, they do the same for me.
  • I love Pinterest! Sometimes when I need a little motivation, I will check out my own Run Board to get pumped up.
  • Workout clothes – having a cute outfit (especially one from Lululemon) always helps motivate me. :)
  • Sign up for a race. Not only are they a fun activity, there are so many different kinds and causes, you are bound to find one  you’ll love.  I am currently registered to run the Armaco Houston Half Marathon on January 13, 2012. I plan on running the Color Me Rad run in March 2013.
  • Another Mother Runner books, blog, podcasts, etc. Sarah & Dimity are such an inspiration. You should check them out if you are a mother runner.

My Running Story

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I never considered myself to be athletic and I am not particularly coordinated. About my sophomore year in high school, my idea of physical activity became shopping at the mall and talking on the phone with friends.  This sedentary lifestyle continued well into adulthood. It wasn’t until my late 20′s that I started to have any desire to exercise, and that was only after I noticed my metabolism slowing down, which resulted in adding on a few pounds.  Thus began my slow fitness journey.

So there I was, in my mid-20′s, experimenting with fad diets and finally deciding to join a gym. I was intimidated by all the gym equipment, with the exception of the treadmill. I didn’t want to go to a group class all by myself, so I decided to run. There was no rhyme or reason to how often or to what distance I ran, I just went when I felt like it and ran until I wanted to stop. For the next few years I was anything but consistent with exercising.  When I got pregnant with my first born I thought I had a free pass to eat whatever I wanted.  The only exercise I got was the short walk I took the dogs on.  After my son was born the weight came off fairly quickly.  Without much effort,  I was back down to my pre-pregnancy weight.  Shortly thereafter, I got pregnant with my daughter.  Again, I thought I had an excuse to eat whatever I wanted.  Since I was chasing a 2 year old around, I was a little more active than I was when I was pregnant with my son.  At first, the weight I gained while pregnant with my daughter started to come off pretty easily, but then I hit a wall with about 15 pounds to go. I was not running anymore, my gym membership had expired, and slowly the pounds started adding on.  At one point, I weighed as much as I did when I was 9 months pregnant with my son! As I moved up clothing sizes, I knew I had to do something, and so I began running sporadically. Then in March of 2010, Erika (who was living in Virginia at the time) and I decided to run a 5K together while she was home visiting. I enjoyed my race experience and it marked the first time I thought I could actually be a “runner”.

Inspired by my marathon running dad, I decided to sign up to run the 2011 Houston Aramco Half Marathon. Since he would be recovering from the Marine Corp Marathon that takes place a couple of months prior, my dad decided to forego the full and run the half with me. This time it was totally different, running had changed for me. Armed with a training plan and a goal, I found myself looking forward to my runs.  It had become “ME” time.  As with any type of training, there were challenges, including getting a horrible stomach bug about 3 weeks before the big race.  It was hard to recover from, but I had a fairly solid foundation of training and was able to complete my first half in a respectable 02:26:29.

Feeling great after finishing my 1st half-marathon with my dad – January 2011

Following this race is when I began to get serious about running. I started learning more about the sport. I took up cross-training with classes at my local YMCA, and I continued to run 5K’s for fun. I signed up to run the 2012 Aramco Half Marathon, with the goal of running a sub 2:00.  I started a training plan and was on schedule to do so, when I went off track for a couple of reasons – one of them being an unexpected trip to Guam for my sweet grandma’s funeral.  It was a very long trip, but I was able to get in a long run and a couple of short runs.  I even ran a 5K with my family members in honor of my grandma.  It was one of the most fulfilling races I have run because it was with the people I love in honor of an amazing woman.

Me and my family on Guam after the Spirit 5K. We all wore purple arm & wristbands in honor of my grandma, whose favorite color was purple – January 2012

I returned home from a 16 hour flight, 3 days before the half.  Since I was dealing with jet lag, my goal changed from a sub 2:00 to beating my time from last year.  Luckily, my months of speed training payed off and I completed the race with a PR (personal record) of 2:08:07.  Invigorated by this race, I planned on running the full marathon in 2013.  As I mentioned before, I am expecting my 3rd child,  so I put this dream on hold for now.

Me and my friend Eliza after finishing the Houston Aramco  Half Marathon – January 2012

I don’t know when it happened, but at some point along the way running & working out changed from something I had to do into something I wanted to do.  If I don’t get a run or workout in, I feel bad. Not because I didn’t go, but because my body and mind literally crave it.  The more I run, the better I feel. It has helped me in so many ways and parts of my life, including empowering me.  I honestly can’t imagine how I ever lived the life I did before all this.

About Us

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My name is Erika- I am a stay at home mom of two preschool age girls. I am not crafty, I am not an aspiring gourmet chef, I can’t teach you how to save a fortune by clipping coupons, nor am I very organized. Actually, I am probably alot like you- a mom doing her best to raise healthy, happy children while not losing herself in the process.

Since having children, my health has become incredibly important to me. Not only do I want to be a good example for my girls, but I also want to do everything I can to ensure that I am around for them as long as possible. In recent years, I have taken up running as my primary source of excercise- in the blog you will learn how badly I hated running most of my life, and how I finally learned to enjoy it. You will also read about my struggles with food- I am a picky eater who wants desperately to eat and enjoy clean, nutritious foods and cut out all of the junk. You will probably also hear about my slight obsession with Lululemon, my love of reading, my frustrations with home remodeling and of course, my beautiful daughters and fantastic husband!

Erika, covered in mud after the SoCal Warrior Dash – March 2012


My name is Christina- I have been married to a wonderful man for 12 years and we have two (soon to be three) beautiful kids who are my world.  I am a professional photographer who loves coffee, reading, shopping, and going antiquing. I may or may not have a small obsession with Pinterest, Instagram, Lululemon, and my iPhone. I mean really, how did one ever live without these things?

Although I come from a family of runners, I wasn’t a runner myself until a couple of years ago.  Since then, I have run numerous 5K’s and 2 half marathons. I had plans to train and run a full marathon in 2013, but that had to be put on hold for baby #3. I also enjoy staying fit by cross-training with classes at my local YMCA.  Right now my biggest challenge is realizing the limitations of pregnancy, while coming to terms with what I can and cannot do.  I am by no means an expert on running, fitness, or healthy eating. In fact, I learn something almost daily and my hope is to share these things with you through this blog.

Christina, 12 weeks pregnant with baby #3 – April 2012


The two of us met in kindergarten in Houston, TX and managed to stay friends even when thousands of miles separated us. Though we currently aren’t close in distance (Christina is back in Texas and Erika is now living in Southern California), we are actually closer than ever now that we are both moms. We share texts and emails nearly every day, and  decided to start this blog together because quite often our discussions are about the same things: how to stay fit and healthy while juggling family obligations and raising kids.

We both seemed to start taking a greater interest in our health at the same time, which more or less, began with our first 5K that we ran together.

Erika & Christina after the 1st 5K they ran together – Houston Area Women’s Center 22nd Annual Race Against Violence – March 2010

We had both given birth to two children, and like many moms were struggling to get our bodies back into shape. After this race, we both started running more- Christina ran her first half marathon the following year, and Erika followed suit the year after that. We also both started paying closer attention to nutrition, and placing a greater emphasis on our health in general.

Each of us has come a long way since then, although we are still most definately works in progress. We hope you will enjoy this blog, our  labor of love- and also hope that you find some inspiration in our struggles and triumphs.