Mike took me to my first NFL football game on Sunday--Bronco's vs Jaguars. It was a blast even though our Broncos lost. The fan energy is really incredible--80,000 people cheering, stomping their feet, booing the refs--wow! It is an experience that everyone should have.

Reeser sent me this present today. She made me an awesome CD and two potholders. These are not just any potholders--they are handmade and frickin cool!

An up close shot of her handiwork.

I had 4 different people comment on my belly today--I think it is really growing this time. Wes called and made fun of me for trying to stick out my flat belly in all of the previous "belly shots". Whaddaya think now, Wes?

Mike and I went to Crested Butte a few weekends ago and found these sheep in the middle of the road. It was really a huge flock that went all the way across the road for about a half mile. They were having some sort of sheep drive.

Here is the lovely sound of our baby's heartbeat from my midwife appointment yesterday. What an incredible thing!! The baby is about 4 inches long now and growing about 1/2 inch each week--that is equivalent to an adult growing about 8 inches in a week! My computer is having a hard time embedding the video, so just follow the link. You Tube-Baby's Heartbeat 14 weeks

On Exercise and Pregnancy:

I have tried to keep my fitness up during this pregnancy, but have had a very difficult time finding good information on what exactly is safe to do. Most websites talk about prenatal exercise in terms of yoga, stretching, walking, swimming, etc, not running marathons. They often give a magic number to keep one's heartrate below, usually 140. But, there is no discussion of what a person was doing for fitness before pregnancy or what their normal resting or max heartrates are. When I got pregnant, I was about a month out from running a 50 mile trail race and was not ready to start stretching for exercise. I quickly found out that running was much more difficult than I was used to, but I really wanted to keep it up, so I did and continue to do so. Originally, I had planned on doing a bunch of races during the pregnancy, but have since changed my mind. Different experts gave me different advice--an OB doc gave me the OK for the marathon, while my midwife told me not to run for longer than an hour at a time. I have since found what I think is a happy medium between the two. I have continued to do 1-2 hour runs but have decided against the marathon in November. Honestly, the 10-12 mile runs are leaving me completely wiped and the thought of turning around and repeating the distance is unfathomable. 6-8 miles seems to be just perfect. Plus, there is the uterine-pressure-on-the-bladder problem. I have to stop at least every 15 minutes to pee, often every 8 or 10 minutes. I have to plan my routes very carefully, making sure there are sufficient bushes along the way for my bathroom breaks. It's quite hilarious, I run for about 10 minutes, feel the overwhelming urge to pee, get out barely 1/4 cup, and repeat the process. One major problem with the marathon was that it is all on the road (meaning not enough bushes) and there is only one port-a-pottie on the entire route--that is a major problem. I guess they just don't think of pregnant women when planning their courses. Reese also asked me about the whole thing last week, namely "why do you want to do this?". Well, I couldn't think of a better answer than just to say I did, and that is not good enough. (thanks for your insight, Reese) I'm still going to do the Las Vegas half marathon (13 miles) in December, but it is a flat course and there are toilets every mile. Plus, because my pregnancy will be so obvious, I won't feel the pressure to go fast.