We Love our Little Girl

Two appointments have no occurred since I last wrote on this blog.  I decided to wait to report, because I wanted to get more clarity and answers from my doctor to ensure an accurate report to you.  Let me start off by saying that Ping and I are very happy to be expecting a child in our lives.  We rejoice in the fact that God has provided us with a child to care for and raise.  We only hope and pray that we will do the best that we can for her.  With that said, we received some news at my level II ultrasound.  This ultrasound is done at 20 weeks.  It looks at the baby's organs, and other anatomy to ensure the baby is normal and healthy.  If some of you have read earlier, you will know that at 12 weeks, we chose to do the Neuchal Translucency screening to test for the possibility of Down's Syndrome and Trisomy 18.  Our results from that test came back with the result of "screen positive: increased risk of Down's Syndrome."  At that time, we chose not to do an amnio because our chance of having a kid with Down's (although increased) was only 5%.  At the level II ultrasound, it was revealed that our child had some physical markers for Down's.  Her long bones (limbs) measure only in the 2 percentile range for her gestational age.  Her Iliac Bone (hip) is widen, also consistent with Down's.  The notes of the ultrasound state: High risk Down Syndrome.  My doctor today talked with me more about these results.  He stated that in his experience, it is safe to say that our little girl does have Down Syndrome.  With her proportions (a chubby baby - her abdomen measurment is in the 77 percentile- and short limbs- in the 2 and 5 percentile) she pretty much has Down Syndrome.

Right now, I feel sad that we won't be having a perfectly healthy girl.  Overall, we know that God has made this baby just for Ping and I and we are delighted to love her and raise her no matter her condition.  Dr. Jeng has suggested seeing a Genetic Counselor to discuss more about Down Syndrome and how we can prepare for our little girl's arrival into this world.  Here is her newest picture taken in 3D.  A bonus too: a belly picture....(I don't like posting these normally)  I am currently 5 months today!

Good-bye Old Jeans, Hello Nice Stretchy Elastic Panel!

A few weeks ago, I broke down and bought my first pair of maternity jeans.  I stood at the rack in Target looking at the funny panel designed to hold your belly.  "Is this REALLY going to be as comfortable as they tell me?"  I thought.  I grabbed the size 6 pair and went into the dressing room.  The attendant said, "What is that?!? Oh!  They're pants!"  I felt kind of embarrased at this point because I don't think anyone can tell that under my jacket is a bump that no longer can be hidden or fit into my favorite regular jeans and all other pants that can be found in my closet.  I took an available room and tried on the "funny" looking pants.  "Oh my!" I said to myself.  "This IS comfortable!" 
It was just a week or two before that I had been delivered the news that Little Lee has a 5% chance of having Down's Syndrome.  Ping and I decided not to go through with the amniocentesis at this point.  If something shows up on the anatomy scan in three weeks, we might re-evaluate.  However, at this point, we've got 96% on the normal side. 
At 16 1/2 weeks today, I am happy to have a baby inside me and now coming to the realization that we are going to have a child in our hand in just 5 months!  My last appointment was last week.  Dr. Jeng tried to take a peek at Little Lee's goods for us.  Ping is really wanting a boy.  As Dr. Jeng moved the ultrasound wand across my tummy, he said, "Well, if it is a boy, I'm supposed to see something right there, and all I see is black. Looks like it will most likely be a girl."  Let me just say that Ping is still holding out hope.  Given his family history of the boys hiding their parts until birth, I'm hoping this kid does not follow in her Daddy's footsteps.  The picture makes her look a little fat, but she is looking away from the camera a little on her side. 

Can you say Neuchal Translucency?

October and begun to be a really busy month.  On the 3rd, this past Saturday, I ran a leisurely half marathon called Grete's Gallop in Central Park with a friend.  She is training for the NYC marathon on November 1st and I decided to join her for some company.  Rain and thunder where in the forecast at 90%, but none of that took place!  It was just humid.  The run was good and I felt awesome throughout.  Grete Wiatz is a Norwegian marathoner who holds the record for most NYC marathons won. 
Tuesday, the 6th, I had a special ultrasound and blood test done called a Neuchal Translucency (NT) test.  This is to test for the possibility of Down's Syndrome.  It was the most annoying test I hope I ever have to go through!  In order for the ultrasound tech to properly measure the space in the baby's neck, the baby MUST be a certain position (lying on it's back).  Usually, the baby's cooperate and are in the position.  Little Lee, DID NOT COOPERATE!!!!  Try #1:  Little Lee was doing a hand stand and kicking his/her legs in the air!  The cool part, the u/s tech played around with the machine and the baby, I got to see my cervix (whoopie), she pointed out the placenta, made me cough and shook my belly many times to get the baby to move.  Little Lee just wanted to continue the acrobatics.  I even got to hear the heartbeat for the fist time!  haha.  She sent me out in the waiting room and told me to cough and remain standing while she took another patient.  People kept looking at me wondering if I was sick.  Try #2.  Little Lee was somewhat still on his/her head, but was turning back to us too.  She brought the doc in to see if the position was acceptable.  He of course said no, but it would be perfect to get the measurements via transvaginal.  She we waited for the next room to open up to continue.  Try #3.  The tech wanted to check one more time to see if the baby moved.  Little Lee finally cooperated after a little wait.  During this wait, I got to see Little Lee's brain....kind of exciting actually, we know it won't be an "airhead" (har har)!  The official results won't be available for another week, but by the space in the neck, we have nothing to worry about.  After telling Ping about our baby being ever so active, we said, if he is like that outside of the womb, I should just take him for a run.  Good idea!

10 Week Appointment

Yesterday, Ping and I saw the doctor for our 10 week appointment.  I was kind of nervous because my symptoms in the past week have started to subside, thus making it hard to really know that I am still pregnant.  As the doctor administered the ultrasound, we were delighted to see our Little Lee moving about, waving to us, turning around, very active!  Little Lee must have really liked that grilled cheese sandwich for lunch!  All arms and legs were there!  Little Lee looks very much like a human now!  The doctor had a hard time getting a good view to measure Little Lee's length.  Once he got it, we knew everything was on track.  Ping got to see Little Lee's heart beat for the first time, it was pumping at a good pace of 178bpm!  It seems that Little Lee did very well during the half marathon last Sunday! 

Little Lee's First Race

A few months ago, my dear friend Tracy approached me after my marathon and said, "I would like to run a half marathon some day."  I got excited about this and suggested that we run the Queens Half Marathon in September.  She agreed and we signed up for the race.   Tracy worked hard the entire summer increasing her mileage and training for this race all while she was working as a nurse at a Summer Camp upstate.  I had other ambitions to train for the Seattle Marathon held in November.  My plan was to use the Queens Half as a test on my performance as my goal was to finish Seattle in under 4 hours.  Two weeks into training for Seattle, I learned that I am pregnant and ditched my plans to run the full marathon in Seattle this November.  I then set my sights more seriously on the Queens Half Marathon.  My training felt great every moment.  My pace has slowed since I became pregnant, which is natural, but as long as I listen to my body, my doctor and I are excited to have my running.

Yesterday morning, I woke up around 5am, gave Tracy a wake up call at 5:30 and headed out the door at 5:45.  The start time of the race was 7am, a free shuttle was provided from downtown Flushing to the start.  Tracy and I decided to take it rather than have the trouble of looking for parking at the race in College Point, Queens.  Upon arrival to Main Street, Flushing, I was in for a big surprise.....a HUGE line for the shuttle was waiting and no shuttle had arrived.  NYRR stated that the last shuttle from Main Street would be at 6:15am.  After a long wait, extra buses provided by the city, Tracy and I were finally boarding a packed bus at 6:55am.  Five minutes before the start of the race!  My dear friend Ellen, had driving in from Manhattan to cheer us on and had arrived at the start very early.  I called her to let her know we were running late.  She said she would call if they started the race without us as there were hundreds of people still in line for a bus when we left.  Around 7:05, Ellen called....the gun had gone off.  What now?  Are we going to be able to still run when we get there?

As we head to the start, we hit a portion of the race course that was clear.  It was obvious that the runners had already passed through this area.  However, it was barricaded and the police officer would not let us through to get to the start.  The bus driver could not get clearance, so we had to walk to the start from there!  16 blocks!!!  Oh man, this is an adventure!!!

We finally arrived at the race start, quickly checked our bags, stopped by the porta-potties, and rushed to the start line.  Ellen was waiting for us just past the start with decked out signs for us!  Tracy and I started and had the experience of a lifetime.  Not only was this the first race I have ever been late to, it is also the first race where I have started with so little people!  It was just Tracy and I that crossed that start line at the same time.  The clock when we crossed: 22:00.  Twenty Two minutes late. Wow.

Tracy and I stayed together until between miles 2 and 3 where we hit a long hill, she slowed and I kept going.  I kept looking back and Tracy kept telling me to keep going.  So, I kept going.  I kept thinking, "this course is pretty hilly, but no more hilly than Central Park."  I was proved wrong around mile 6.  The hills started to get steeper and longer.  My pace was still pretty good and I kept feeling really strong.  I stopped at all water stops to get water and Gatorade as staying hydrated is extremely important while pregnant.  The course had so many turns in it I couldn't tell how far into a mile I had gone.

As mile 10 approached, I got really excited because I still had a lot of energy and pushed the pace a bit more.  As I came into the finish corral the last .1 mile.  Ellen was there to take my picture and cheer me to the end. (above on the right) I sprinted after her and finished strong crossing the finish line in 2:03:44!  What a great time for a hilly course and a girl that is 10 weeks pregnant!  I met Ellen and we cheered the other finishers wait for Tracy.  Tracy arrived at the finished at 2:25:34. (on the left) I ran on the sidelines with her as she crossed the finish line and gave her a huge hug.  She was so proud of herself that she did it!
( Ellen and I after the race)

Folks, We have a heartbeat!

I had my 7 week appointment today.  This is one I was really anxious and excited for as it is expected to see the heartbeat at 7 weeks.  In preparation for hurricane Dan, my half marathon coming up, and to get some anxiety out, I did a 10 mile run this morning.  It was raining the entire time, but felt so good to be out on the trail, seeing other runners and in God's wet nature.  As I layed in the examination room, I heard, "Do you see the heart beat?"  I was like, "no." In an anxious voice, then I looked a little harder and saw it!  Little Lee is measured at just under 1 cm long, the heartbeat was at 107 bpm and we could faintly hear it!  It was so exciting to actually see a human being inside of me!  Here is a picture of the sonogram.

A New Adventure Has Begun In Our Lives!

On Monday August 3rd, I found out that I am pregnant! Ping and I hadn't been trying that long and I didn't think it would happen so soon, but the Lord has definitely blessed us! We don't have an official estimated due date yet, but hope to get one soon. My calculations: the baby will be here mid April. Oh my gosh! That's a few weeks before Ping's last actuary exam! I am around 7 weeks right now and I don't seem to have many symptoms, which is nice. I have had slight nausea off and on after breakfast and dinner. The extreme fatigue set in last week which has made our bed my new best friend. I've been able to keep up my running pretty well with the exception of last weeks long run of 9 miles. (I was just too tired to get out of bed) I plan on keeping my mileage of 30 miles per week up until I'm due, hopefully God will bless me with that!

NJ Marathon 5/3/09

Wow, I have done a REALLY bad job at blogging for almost a year. It is difficult to do this even though I started and never really followed through. I am now going to make the committment to keep up with blogging my races and significant runs for all to see. Here is my latest race report from the New Jersey Marathon.

hree years ago, I had no idea was GU was. It would have been very useful for my first race back then. Yesterday, GU was my best friend as well as 2 salt packets, Gatorade, water and Kat Cheng. It all actually started Saturday afternoon with a nice drive from Flushing, Queens to a tiny town on the New Jersey coast called, Long Branch. Kat and I spent 2 hours in the car enjoying fellowship with each other. The drive was beautiful! There was sunshine, confusing toll roads, and nothing but trees in New Jersey. We even witnessed my car hit its 100,000 mile mark!

As we arrived in Long Branch Saturday afternoon to the Race expo on the beach. Long Branch is a very quaint town with cute shops and cafes. The expo was small and crowded, but we were able to get my bib, timing chip and goodie bag quickly. We walked around the booths, got our gait analyzed for free and then headed up to New Brunswick for the night.

We arrived an hour later at Jonathan's apartment near Rutger's University. Jon is one of Kat's friends from a Christian conference a few years ago. He cooked us spaghetti with meatballs and garlic bread. For some odd reason, the garlic bread was more delightful to my stomach than the spaghetti. The three of us stayed up talking and getting to know each other better and then headed to bed around 10pm.

4:00am, my alarm goes off on my phone. I felt wide awake, but had barely slept due to the unfamiliar surroundings, noise outside (college town), and nervousness of waking up late (even though we had 3 alarms set).

4:30am, we load up the car and head out to Long Branch. Kat and Jon try to sleep a little as I drive.

5:15am, we reach Long Branch and are directed to park at the horse race track.

5:20-6:00am, we wait in line for the shuttle buses to show up....in the rain.

6:00am. the buses finally arrive, we pile on and head to the start line....in the rain.

6:20am, we reach the start line, unload the bus, and get into the hotel to check baggage, and hang out until about 7:00am.....still raining.

7:00am, head out to the start line as we hear the start of the race is delayed due to a minor car accident on the course.....not raining.

7:15am, I line up at the starting line and start looking for the 4:00hour pace group. I find them, meet my pacers and other runners. I meet a girl from Colorado, and we hit it off right away.

7:45am, the start gun goes off (15 minutes late) and we take off. The 4:00 hour pacers took off fast! As I was running next to my new friend, we both looked at our garmins after the first mile and realized we were going way too fast. I realized at this point I forgot to take my first GU 15 minutes before we started the race. Oh well, I might used it later. Mile 1 pace: 8:37! However, we stuck with our pacers. It started raining again. By mile 3 when our pace was still in the 8:30s, we backed off a bit and stuck to a comfortable 8:40 pace. When my friend and I hit the 10K we both PR'd for our 10k haha (clock time: 53:37)....still raining

Shortly after the 10K mark, my new friend and I realized we hadn't introduced ourselves, I told her my name was Tricia and we immediately knew who I was. When we started training for this race, we both joined a forum on Runner's World.com to keep each other accountable. There were a good number of people posting. She asked me if I was T.Lee, I said, "yes!" and she said "I'm RW-Strider." We both got more excited that we had randomly met and realized how coincidental it was for us to happen to stand next to each other at the start and had been running together this whole time have great conversations!.....still raining

Mile 7, I take my first GU. We were way on target for a major sub-4 time. We felt great and kept on trucking...by the half way point we had a ton of energy. As the half marathoners were ushered to the left approaching their finish line, we marathoners were ushered to the left. This part was a bit tough and encouraging at the same time. Encouraging because the crowd was HUGE and it made you go a little faster hearing, "YOU'RE ALMOST TO THE FINISH! KEEP IT UP! FINISH STRONG!" These words really put a spring in my step...my overall pace at this point: 8:52....still raining

"Bummer, no 1/2 marathon PR for this one, but that's good! I'm running a marathon, not a 1/2, you have to run the loop again!" I thought to myself. My friend had stopped just before the 1/2 way point to use the bathroom, I kept the pace and waited for her to catch up. At mile 14, there was still no sign of her, so I walked to take my GU instead of run. Just as I was finishing up my Gu, she caught up to me. By this time, we had passed the 4 hour pacers as they realized at 13.1 miles, they went WAY too fast and slowed their pace WAY down to compensate.....still raining

At mile 16, we were starting to feel the normal aches, but still felt pretty good. Our pace had slowed to an over all 8:55, but a 4:00hr finish is a 9:10 pace, so we were still really good. By mile 20, I was really starting to hurt, I took me last Gu a mile early as I felt I Really needed the energy. My friend and I were still together at this point and planned to keeping up with each other until the end. Mile 22, I really started to fade, I was having a really difficult time keeping up, my overall pace was 9:00 so I knew I was still o.k. for a sub 4 finish. Mile 23, I was incoherent. All I remember was thinking that I needed to try and focus, pick up the pace, my watch now said an over 9:10 pace. Darn! No sub 4! My brain was sending signals like crazy to my legs saying, "Go faster! Go Faster! Make up your lost time! You can get back under 9:10 if you push these last 2.2 miles!" I took my extra GU to help, but my legs were rejecting these singals.....still raining

Mile 25, I'm back on the boardwalk. There was finally a crowd again. I thought good, I can really kick hard and still make up the lost time and possibly get a 3:59:?? finish if I just let the crowd and slight downhill carry me through, and give me a burst of enery. But, it didn't happen, I really felt the urger to fall over and pass out right there. People on the sidelines were cheering me on BY NAME (It was printed on my bib) and it wasn't giving me ANYTHING! I saw the clock at 25.5...it read 4:03:?? I decided to make a last minute goal of finishing under 4:05. I tried so hard to pick up the pace!! But it wasn't happening....still raining

I crossed the finish line as the clock read 4:05:??. I stopped my garmin which read, 4:04:37. The moment I crossed, I literally fell into the arms of a fireman. (Every woman's dream come true right?) I was extremely dizzy, Kat rushed over to me and the fireman passed me on to her. Kat helped me off the course to the baggage. It was pouring rain at this point. Jon joined us and held my umbrella over me. I was shivering and really mad at the race organizers for NOT passing our Mylar blankets. They decided to forgo them for environmental reasons. I'm sorry, but my warmth after I've run 26.2 miles in the rain, is a MUCH MORE IMPORTANT reason to pass out Mylar blankets at the finish!!! I just want to bear it until we got back to the baggage check where I had a towel and dry clothes to change into.

After I changed, Jon, Kat and I headed back to New Brunswick to take Jon home. Kat and I stopped at Red Robin for a nice juicy burger and fries (a restaurant we cannot get in NY). It was Kat's first experience of this place, and she liked it! We both downed a total of 4 lemonades (3 freckled and 1 pomegranate/blueberry), and headed back to NYC. The drive was rainy, Kat slept and we made it safely home.

Yes, GU is a runner's best friend. It is energy, tastes good, and can satisfy hunger during a race. It feeds our muscles with power in each stride...GU is a runner's best friend.

I am a little disappointed that I didn't break the 4:00 mark. I know that if I kept a steady 9:00 pace from beginning to end, I easily would have done it, but I didn't. I am happy that I PR'd and shaved of 10 minutes of my time! I have yet to find out my official chip time, and will let you know when it is posted.