Not even born yet...

and this kid is already causing grief. :)

The ultrasound last week showed a very healthy little boy in there. While he's healthy, Mom's not so much.

Starting on Sunday I started cramping rather badly. I thought it might be due to the fact the office was 87 degrees (83 with the door wide open and fan blasting on high) so I thought maybe I was dehydrated (even though I was drinking tons). Nope. Not it. The cramping continued on Monday. It was pretty intense at work, but I was hoping it was a growth spurt or something, so didn't say anything about it. In the car the cramps were steady - almost 10-25 minutes apart. I made a deal with the Evil Overlord. I'd lay down in bed and behave if he'd stop the cramping. That worked until I tried to get up on Tuesday. It was still totally bad. I ended up staying home and flat out to keep the cramping at bay.

Today was the doctor appointment. I did have some good news, heart was strong, the tape measure came out for the first time, bloodwork from last week came back fine, the quad screen was negative and even the Down syndrome risk was really low.

The bad news is I have placenta previa. The bleeding started today. It's still light, so no one's really stressed, but this does mean I'm off work for at least a week. I can't work out at all, and have to stay horizontal and stress-free. I'll go for weekly ultrasounds for a bit and have an appointment next week. If anything gets worse, I need to call immediately. So not entirely happy but rest is about all I can do. The doc's reasonably convinced it's going to resolve itself, we just need to wait for things to grow enough to lift the placenta up. So what to do in the meantime. I wonder if I can play Oblivion and stay relaxed and not get stressed playing it.

Training

I haven't really said much about training in a while. If at all actually ...

Right now, I'm in the best shape of my life. Honestly. I can run 5 miles, I can do 50+ military style push ups in one go, I weigh 203lbs, and have 21% body fat.

It's all rather new to me - 2008 has been the year I went from 255lbs (more in 2007), 35% body fat index, and last January I managed a whole 7 push ups in a fitness test, when I did the "Biggest Loser" program at the gym (I came second place in the guys team). Summer of 2006 my doctor told me I was at risk of high blood pressure. At 27.

I have a personal trainer, Matt, and a work out buddy, Michelle. Matt hooked us up, and I don't think he knew what he was going to create when he did - we motivate each other, push each other and keep each other honest about our food and our exercise. We even have the same birthday.

Recently, Michelle and I talked at a weight loss seminar held at our gym, as a favor to Matt, and have motivated a bunch more people to push themselves beyond the limits they set in their head.

Next January, both Michelle and I will be doing the Biggest Loser program again, but not to loose weight ourselves - this year we will be captaining teams, and providing motivation - we both think it's important for the people in the program to see that *real* people with *real* weight problems can not only lose the weight, but become so passionate about keeping it off.

There are talks of doing a triathlon next year, but I'm not sure I'm strong enough in the swimming to train for that - I may just have to bite the bullet and try.

Yesterday, I donated 6 pairs of 38" wasted jeans. They were replaced with a pair of 34" waste jeans. I have XXL T Shirts that are sitting dusty, and now I have L shirts.

Before 2008, and even during the first quarter of 2008, I never would have thought I could write a post like this. I've got the bug to work out. I've got the bug to get, and stay, fit. Food will *always* be a struggle for me, for whatever reason, but with Dancers help, and good planning, I'm getting better. I still refuse to call my new eating habits a "diet" - I hate that word.

Go me.

Saving on heating

When we first moved into the house, the thermostats they installed were super cheap. We had two, one upstairs, one down. There was no programming options on them, beyond on or off.

But oil was cheap two years ago, and we never had a problem with the bills, and never thought about it much - very low on our priority list.

Then last year, our oil bills went up by over $300 a pop during winter, and became harder and harder to find the cash to pay - by the end of winter, I had invested the time and money into some programmable thermostats, and we have had them all year - but not had to fill the oil tank back up yet.

Now it's cold out. It's been down close to freezing at nights, and is 40 - 60f during the day. We have a feature on the thermostats that tells us how long they have been on to maintain the temperature we're programmed.

Today, so far, the downstairs thermostat has been on for 13 minutes. It's warm in here, we're both comfortable, the puppies are happy, the bunny is happy.

We didn't lock in the oil prices this year - we were quoted $4.29 when I did think about it. I'm damned glad I didn't, as today's full tank refill was only $2.79.

They have to be on more as it gets even colder, but it's nice to know that when we're not in, the house can be 62f, instead of a much more comfortable temperature for humans :)