I should have known. Despite all my grand plans of having one-hour escapes of guaranteed activity, joined with my supposed hours of guaranteed time to work when Sam’s at daycare, sometimes things change.
Last week, Sam had a cold and cough. He sounded part foghorn, part seal, and he was running a low-grade fever. We skipped swim class one night. We skipped the 90-minute daycare at the gym, where a couple times a week, I get my guaranteed workout. And we skipped his day at daycare, because he was too dang sick.
So I sat on the couch, with my little coughing, warm-headed, koala bear clinging to me with his head on my shoulder.
I do still cherish the cuddle time. I know pretty soon his insanely fast-growing body won’t even fit on my lap – it seems the length of him is already longer than my whole upper half. We sat and cuddled. I took care of my boy.
The problem was that I had a big story due—some details to finish—and I couldn’t do it. It’s hard to type (and think coherently) with a coughing koala on your chest. I was helpless, and stressed out.
Luckily, Sam fell into a deep enough sleep that I was able to slide him off my body and onto the couch. I built a landing zone of pillows, should he roll off quicker than I could react, and I got to my computer a few feet away.
I was able to do what I needed to, on the work front. But I wasn’t able to do what I needed to on the workOUT front.
Once my husband got home, I snuck out for a quick run through the neighborhood as the sun was going down. It was my time to unwind, and it worked. By the time I got home, I was ready to act as a human eucalyptus for a couple more hours as my sick koala hung on.
Sometimes, despite the seemingly predictable outings we plan, things just change.
ps. Reader Kimberly: You might want to contact the race director to ask what's allowed. (I assume you're thinking of walking the race with baby in an Ergo.) And: It looks like this Bay Bridge Run/Walk in May allows strollers. In general, if a race's website doesn't say anything about strollers being allowed or not, I think it's a good idea to call or email the race director to find out. You don't want to shcelp yourself and baby to a race to find out you'll be strolling on the sidelines.
You are so right about how too soon the cuddle time will be gone, even if they are sick, it's always nice to hang onto them when they need that extra time. I missed 3 days of workouts this week with my sick kiddos and work. I did manage to make up for it today and yesterday though!
ReplyDeleteI hope he's feeling better soon!
Hey...not really sure if this is the right forum to ask this or not. But I found your blog from runnersworld.com and am in search of answers :) (I tried searching online and in the forums/chat rooms on rw.com to no avail.)
ReplyDeleteDo you have any info on running while nursing? I have a 6 month old that is still nursing and I'm starting training for my 11th annual 1/2 marathon this week. I don't want to wean just so I can train. But I can't find much info on doing both nursing and training. Didn't know if you had any insight or any direction to point me in? I have many friends who run. And many friends who nurse. Just none that do both :)
Thought I'd ask a fellow runner and mother...
Thanks so much!
Kelly
Hi Kelly, I ran and nursed, and didn't have any problems with my milk supply diminishing because of it...But some readers commented on the runnersworld.com blog that they did experience milk supply slowing down when they increased their training. I did have some problems with my ligaments being really lax because of the hormones from nursing, and i do think that is part of the injury i'm still kind of dealing with. I think eveyone's body reacts differently...I'd just say listen to your body as well as you can, and adjust accordingly. It's hard to listen when you have a race goal, but it's important to back off if your body (or your milk) isn't cooperating. Good luck!
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