Race Report: 2011 Kaohsiung Romantic Love River Triathlon

The calm before the storm: race venue, T-16 hours

Look, I didn't name the race, OK? It's a silly translation from the Chinese - nothing about "romantic" in there, except that the river really is called the Love River.

There, now that that's out of the way, let's talk about the race!

The good: The course was flat and fast. The river was slow-moving and free from waves and currents. The swim start was conducted in three waves, making it a less "punchy" situation in the water than when a mass start of all competitors is used. The weather was highly cooperative (read: the sun didn't come out and the day was essentially cool, with an overcast sky). There were many enthusiastic supporters cheering on the competitors. There was essentially no wind on the bike course. (BIG contrast to my last triathlon!)

Watch out for "logs"

"Other"*: The Love River is an urban river. Yes, that means that there is at least some degree of sewage drainage that reaches it. It smells a little bit like a sewer. It was hard to get past that during the first part of the swim today. Thankfully, I didn't see any "logs" floating by as I was swimming. There was a marked lack of restroom facilities both at the transition area (a middle school, which had a few restrooms that were quickly overwhelmed by the volume of participants and support personnel) and on the course (no facilities dedicated to the race - not a single port-a-john). Race materials were entirely in Chinese. There seemed to be little to no enforcement of drafting rules on the bike - there were pace lines and pelotons all over the course.

Random: This is the first triathlon I have ever seen where flotation devices were not only authorized, but seemingly encouraged! Seemed like about every other person was "swimming" with some type of "floaty". Weird.

"Floaty" at center

Let's discuss my times for a moment. I am not sure when or if official finish times will be published, so I can only go off how my wrist-mounted GPS unit describes my performance and the time on the official race clock when I crossed the finish line. I finished at about 3 hours 5 minutes on the clock, but if you subtract the five minutes that elapsed prior to my start (five minutes between waves; I was in the second wave), then you've got pretty much 3 hours flat. This exceeded all my expectations for the race! I figured I would be lucky to finish in 3 1/2 hours. (It had been a while since I had run this length of race, known as an "Olympic distance" race: 1500m swim, 40 km bike, 10 km run; so I couldn't really remember what my last finish time in this sort of race was. I just looked it up - I've got to get a bit faster to catch up to where I was in 2008!) I didn't wear a timing device of any kind on the swim, so I am not sure how that turned out, but based on the overall finish time (approx. 3 hours) and the times I did record on the bike and run, we can interpolate the approximate swim time. More on that in a minute.

Heading for the finish line

My bike time was 1:12:28, good for an average of about 20 mph (this is probably my biggest triumph of the race; I have been doing close to no cycling recently), and my run added another 55 minutes and 30 seconds. That's a grand total of about 2 hours and 8 minutes. That leaves 52 minutes for the swim and 2 transitions. Supposing each transition took 5 minutes, that would mean I did the swim in about 42 minutes. Remember, this is just an estimate. Hopefully at some point I will be able to get my hands on the actual official finish times, split times, etc.

Looks like 3:05:12 to me

I was hampered by thigh cramps on the run. At about the same place each lap (it was a 5-lap run course) I had to stop and do some static stretching and a bit of slow walking to work out cramps in my right (and later my left) quadriceps which slowed my overall run pace average considerably. Since it was only a 10 km race course, I tried to pour on a little speed, but it kind of backfired on my with the cramping. I am not going to be trying to go fast on the run in Singapore in a couple weeks (see below).

One interesting aspect of this race that made it really unique was the participation of a great number of Taiwan's military personnel. The Republic of China (ROC) Marine Corps is actually headquartered in the greater Kaohsiung area and there is also a major ROC Navy base here, too, and there were no shortage of personnel from both services participating in the race.

Me n' my boy

As for the future, I won't have much time at all before it is time to race again - exactly two weeks from today I will participate in my 5th Half Ironman race in Singapore, where the course might be flat, it might be calm (not windy), but it won't be cool. (Daytime highs there this week have been around 90 degrees, whereas it only got to about 80 degrees here today.) The Singapore race is notorious for being hot, in fact it is advertised as being quite similar to the Ironman World Championship course in Kona, Hawaii, in terms of the climate and environment. Since I've raced on the Kona course twice (just the Half Ironman, not the full shebang), I know that it gets really hot out there. The temperature and climate in Singapore will be a challenge for me.

I need to keep up the training, because before you know it, it will be time to head to Beijing in May for the big one - 2011 Ironman China. I had a scare in this race last night - I saw something online that said wetsuits were compulsory for the swim (turns out they changed that at the last minute, which is good for me, because I don't have one). I am going to need to pick one up soon, though, because I am sure the reservoir we will be swimming in near Beijing is not going to be warm! (I recall a triathlon I did in May some years back near Kansas City - the water was absolutely frigid! I think Kansas City's latitude is a little bit south of Beijing's...)

"W I N N E R !"

Happy racing!

GJS

*A Marine aviator I once worked with told me that these are the two categories that they use during their after-action debriefs - "good" and "other" - in an effort to make the not-so-good less, umm, charged, shall we say. I kinda like that formula, and will use it forever myself.

9 months

Here comes trouble!

Lance will be 9 months old this week.  Hard to believe how time flies!  I am really enjoying seeing him grow up.  There are a lot of things I missed when John was a baby because I was deployed – his first tooth, learning to crawl, pulling himself up, and standing on his own. (Just for a second!)  His hair is growing in and starting to get longer.  I have been able to see all these things with Lance, and I am very grateful.

He can do more and more each day.  He loves to explore the house now that he is a good crawler, especially, it seems, the bathroom.  If you let him crawl where he wants to, invariably he will head there.  He is completely fascinated by the toilet and the toilet brush. (!)  We are doing our best to keep him away from both things, but especially the latter.  The other day, Barb caught him standing next to the toilet, seemingly trying to reach in and touch the water.  No, baby, no!

I love this toy!

While he once really enjoyed spending much of the day in his walker, he now enjoys crawling and exploring without it much more, for he can get to places this way that he was unable to when in the walker.  He pulls himself up on furniture and other items all the time.  Sometimes he will walk while holding on to my or Barb’s hands.  Too cute!

I'm growing up fast!

GJS

2010 Taipei International Half Marathon: The Report **UPDATED**

**UPDATE** December 26, 2010: Official finish time was 2:01:48 - a bit off my race goal.  Better luck next time!  See http://www.sportsnet.org.tw/score_101219_21.php and search for finisher #2712 (they list 1000 finishers per page, if you select the "all finishers" under the half marathon results choice).  There you will see me.  Or you can try to search for my bib number (18253) or my name (c'mon, you already know that one).  Merry Christmas!


**********


Editor’s note: the below race report was drafted on the day of the race, as the competitor rode the High Speed Rail train back to Kaohsiung.  At the time he wrote this, the running human did not have a chance to access media or news reports about the race, nor to examine his own results.  An addendum will appear at the end of the post that adds some clarifying information in these regards.  Read on…

The "writing salon" aboard the HSR train where this post was drafted

Without yet having had a chance to see any news reports about the 2010 Taipei International Marathon, I would have to say that I think there very well may have been 100,000 or more participants.  There were so many people, it took me over 10 minutes to move from where I was at in a mass of people (thousands and thousands) at the race start over the timing mats to actually start the race (it was about 7:15 AM local time when I started the race, which actually began at 7AM as advertised).  I actually saw one fellow crowd-surfing towards the start line, as if it was a giant rock concert.

My aims for the race were quite modest.  I no longer establish “finishing” a race like this on as a goal – I’m sorry, but barring some type of catastrophic injury or natural disaster, I am going to complete a half marathon, it’s no longer such a long distance to run for me.  I wanted to finish in less than 2 hours, a decent but not too difficult pace that under normal circumstances should be attainable quite easily for me.  I wanted to run easy for the first hour (~the first half of the race), and then step it up in the last hour for a nice “negative split.”  I reality, because of the crowds of runners, my pace during the first hour was far slowed than I figured it would be, so I changed strategy, trying to “keep the horses in the barn” until about the 9 mile mark.  Then I ran harder during the last 3-4 miles to produce the negative split I was looking for. (I have yet to have had a chance to review my race data, but I’m quite sure that it was a pretty decent negative split run).

2010 TAIPEI Marathon

EveryTrail - Find hiking trails in California and beyond

(Note: this map is not my personal results/pace, etc., but of another competitor that I found online)

The race was on a very flat course that made a loop of Taipei City.  The only elevation changes of note during the entire ½ marathon course were a few on- and off-ramps traversed when moving from regular streets to elevated highways or underground tunnels.  Coupled with the fantastic weather for the race today (about 60 degrees F and clear at race start), conditions were ripe for a fast race – that is, if you started with the elites at 6:57 AM.

 

Why?  Well, go back to the first sentence in this post.  I have never, in all the races I have done in the past 10 years, seen anything close to the number of people turn out for a race that I saw today.  In my mind, I consider marathons like those held in Chicago or New York City to be very large (I have not yet run either one, but have heard that they boast something like 40,000 participants).  I do not know as of yet how many people were out there with me today, except to say that it was A LOT.  So many that at no point on the 13.1 mile half marathon route did the congestion ever go away.  There were tons of people from the start to the finish.  Usually in these races once you make it several miles in, the crowds of runners start to thin.  Not so today.  I was trying to duck and weave in and out to find running room from beginning to end.  It’s not a set of conditions that are conducive to fast finish times (again, unless you are out in front of the pack, like the elites runners).

Gear staged the night prior to the race

Because there were so many runners, it seemed to me that the aid stations were lacking in adequate personnel to keep up with demand.  I actually missed the first two aid stations because the throngs of people blocked my view of them and I was pretty much past them by the time I realized they were there.  But when I finally saw one in time to stop, I was hardly able to get any refreshment.  Unlike at any race I have done previously, it was essentially self-serve – that is, there were bottles and containers of water or sports drink on the tables at the side of the run path, and there were cups, and it was sort of a free-for-all to pour your own drink.  This created “madhouse” conditions – every runner for himself.  I had to elbow my way to the table to try and pour a beverage.  Generally, in other races I have done there are either volunteers holding the drinks out to the runners – pre-poured – and you can grab one as you pass, no need to stop and try to pour the drink yourself; or there are pre-poured drinks set on the tables that you can grab and go – again, no need to self-serve the drink.  I believe these methods to be superior in terms of quality and speed of refreshment.  But it seemed to me that the rest stops did not have enough personnel to support these methods.  I only saw one or two volunteers at each table, far too few to keep up with the thousands of runners coming past.  This is certainly an area for improvement.

Another needed improvement is related to the lack of on-course restrooms.  Just as I remarked on in my write-up of the 2010 Ironman 70.3 Taiwan triathlon a couple months back, the race today had far too few restroom facilities on the course.  In fact, I didn’t see a single race-provided venue for this type of need until after 6 miles into the race.  I saw some people, prior to that point, running off the course to businesses and fire stations along the course to use their facilities, but if the race was doing what it should in terms of providing adequate ON COURSE facilities, this behavior shouldn’t be necessary.  Finally, about 5.5 miles into the race, near the river, was a toilet provided for use by people who use the riverside recreation path.  Because the race did not have any on-course toilets to that point, there were some people waiting to use the facilities (women, and presumably men who needed to “sit”), but far more men who chose to use the nearby bushes and treeline for their “facilities.”  This would not have been the case if portajohns had been placed on the course in sufficient numbers and often enough to relieve the (literally!) pent-up demand.  On later portions of the course, near the aid stations, there were generally a couple portajohns, but even so these were insufficient in number to prevent long lines (and the concomitant choice of convenience for many men, trees or bushes nearby).  The race would be better for everyone if this issue was successfully redressed in future iterations.

I was able to see some of the elite runners at the end of the race – the marathoners, that is.  The top men were finishing the full marathon as I was coming in to my finish.  It’s a bit depressing to be “lapped,” so to speak, by these runners, but quite amazing at the same time to see up close how fast they are moving in comparison to a “regular” runner like me.  I heard (but have yet to confirm) that a new course record was set today.

Post-race "snacky-treats"

In all, it was a nice experience.  I am glad I did not try to run the full marathon because it would have been pretty tiring to keep on going.  I was glad to be done after 13.1 miles.

GJS

Editor here again: check out this page on Flickr (note: it is not the running human’s Flickr page – he did not take a camera with him during the race; http://www.flickr.com/photos/future77/sets/72157625503659903/) for some photos from the marathon.  See also this report (http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aSPT&ID=201012190019) from Taiwan’s official news agency that puts the competitor estimate at 110,000 (with 31,000 in the marathon itself).  A course record was NOT set yesterday; the top male finisher crossed the line at 2:14:04 (course best is 2:11:05) and the top woman finished in 2:30:37 (course record was set last year by the same woman, at 2:30:05).  Finally, while final results for all runners were not available at press time (they will eventually be posted here: http://www.sportsnet.org.tw/en/,  some unofficial times for the running human are 1:51:14 (from the Taipei Marathon Information and Results Finder here: http://marathon.taipei.gov.tw/change.action?request_locale=en_US; screenshot below) and 1:55:45 (from his wrist-mounted GPS unit).  As posited above, the runner did indeed increase his pace throughout the race, averaging 9:40/mile over the first ~5.5 miles, then 9:23/mile for the next ~4 miles, and a swift 7:23/mile over the balance of the race (about 4 miles).  Both of these times seem to be a bit low, as in, faster than the actual finish time.  This post will be updated when the official finish time is available.

2010 Ironman 70.3 Taiwan recap

Done!

Want to get this written before too much time passes since the race and I start to forget stuff.  Where to start?  Some people have expressed interest in how the mini-van driving went.  I enjoyed the utility of the Chrysler Town and Country we rented.  It had seats that folded into the floor, making it easy to take advantage of the cargo room necessary for hauling my bike and our luggage.  The auto-open side doors were nice, and it was easy to get the boys in and out (unlike when you are stooping and bending in a car to do the same).  "If the sweatpants fit..."

Before the swim start

I'm out there somewhere

 As for the race, the swim course was unlike any I had seen before.  It was a two-lap out-and-back course in which you actually had to come back up on the shore and cross the timing mat between the first and second laps.  Originally it was supposed to be a triangle-shaped course (pretty standard for these types of races), but perhaps due to the currents they changed it to the out-and-back format.  Whatever the case, the first half (the "out" portion) of the first lap of the swim course was as bad as any I have experienced.  It was a mass start of close to 900 athletes, and it seems like the preferred swim stroke here is the breaststroke, with its attendant side-flaring arm pull and frog kick.  This stroke takes up a lot of room, and made for a much-kicked and struck opening leg of the swim.  Along with the "fisticuffs" taking place between competitors, the current also seemed quite strong, pushing back as I tried to swim out to sea.  It was only on the first "back" portion that I started to get into a rhythm, finally beginning to use bilateral breathing and getting some space around me to swim more comfortably.  The water was surprisingly warm (wetsuits were optional and lots of folks were wearing them, though I definitely think they were unnecessary in terms of water temperature) and pretty clear - I could see all the way to the bottom of the ocean for most of the course.  I came up on my first lap in the water at about 27 minutes and figured I would be able to beat that pretty easily on the second lap since the crowd had thinned out a lot and I was swimming much more comfortably, but perhaps due to fatigue or increased current, the second lap was actually slower, about 30 minutes.  My total swim time was 56 minutes 34 seconds. (By the way, full results [PDF] are at http://www.ironmantaiwan.com/editor_images/im-70-3-tw-final-res.pdf; do a search for my bib number, 391.)

"Quick draw" caught me going from the swim to the transition area

I was unconcerned about how long my transitions took and tried to stay relaxed.  The path from the beach to the transition area (TA) was long!  We had to go up a couple flights of stairs and then I had to transit the entire length of the TA to get to my bike.  I should mention the weather in Kenting, Taiwan, on race day - absolutely gorgeous!  Blue skies, lots of sunshine, and seasonally cool - about 80 degrees for the high temp.  I think that the cooler temperature in comparison to the site of my last 2 Half Ironman races (Hawaii, in June) really helped me (though I still got sunburned - one of these times I will learn).  There were some pretty gusty winds, which made the bike course interesting, but I will talk about that a bit later.


I felt really good on the bike course. (see above)  It was also a two-loop course, this time essentially circumnavigating the Hengchun peninsula in southern Taiwan.  The course was mostly flat, except for two uphills just after leaving the TA, and then one climb portion covered once per lap thereafter.  There were many parts of the bike course heading north along the coast where you basically had the ocean on your left side and mountains on your right side.  It was quite scenic.

Enjoying the scenery

The gusty winds were coming from the north - northwest, which gave a nice push coming back in on the second half of each lap.  I tried to keep from over-extending myself on the bike, which tends to lead me to excessive cramping on the run portion (I know from past experience), but still putting in a decent effort.  I think I struck the balance well, as evidenced by my run performance.  My overall bike split time was 3 hours 8 minutes 25 seconds (about 17.4 mph average).


Unlike in past Half Ironman races, I only had to stop due to cramping (hamstrings both times, first the right and later the left) twice, at 5 miles and again at 10 miles.  I was able to easily address the cramping with only 10-15 seconds of static stretching followed by 10-15 seconds of walking.  Then I was back on my way.  I ran all the rest of the course, with the exception of aid stations.  I stopped and walked every one of these, making sure to get the food and drinks I needed, as well as sponges to keep cool.  Once I was done, I ran again to the next aid station.  I believe this tactic, which gave me 11 short walk breaks on the course (there were aid stations almost every mile), along with my conscious effort to find and run with other competitors who selected a pace a little bit slower than what I would self-select to run, allowed me to be relatively cramp-free on this half-marathon. (You can see some photos of me using this tactic, as well as all the other race-sponsored photos [13 in all] at http://www.finisherpix.com/; go to "Select Event" - Ironman 70.3 Taiwan 2010; enter my bib number [391], press "Go".)  My run split was 2 hours 20 minutes 54 seconds (a pace of about 10 minutes 25 seconds per mile).  I actually did not look at my run time at all on the course - my pace wasn't important to me, finishing with as little cramping as possible was.  Mission accomplished!

In this race, I believe I learned that doing this type of race and not being completely destroyed at the end is possible for me, IF I race smartly and don't overly concern myself with the amount of time I am running it in.  This is the first time I crossed the finish line on a long-course triathlon and felt like it would be possible for me to extend my effort out over a longer course...

I didn't really have a good idea of what my finish time was as I crossed the line (like I said, I hadn't really been keeping track very closely, unlike in some past races when realizing I wasn't going to be able to make whatever time goal I had set before the race my morale began to flag).  In all, it was 6 hours 35 minutes 50 seconds.  I had forgotten all but my most recent Half Ironman finish time (Hawaii, 2008), and I knew that I beat it by a fair margin (about 20 minutes, as it turns out), so I was quite happy with the improvement.  Later, I looked up all my Half Ironman times.  I have developed quite an interesting patter of doing these races, at least in the past 3 iterations.  My first race was actually my fastest by far, the 2002 Pigman long-course race in Iowa (5 hours 37 min 34 sec).  Then I raced Half Ironman-length events again in 2006 (Hawaii, 5:50:19), 2008 (Hawaii, 6:54:53), and now 2010.  I fear I will not keep the pattern going forward, though - I have my eyes on another Half Ironman race in the spring (March 2011) in Singapore, which will set me up for the ultimate goal - the full Ironman China race near Tianjin, People's Republic of China, in May 2011.  There's no time like the present to do it, and I believe it's time.  Who's with me?

I have a couple criticisms of the race.  First of all, there were no port-a-johns on the race course or even in the TA.  The only restroom facilities I am aware of near the TA were at the beach, near the swim start, very inconvenient if you need to use the facilities while transitioning.  I did notice two "rest area"-type areas along the bike course that evidently could be used by competitors as needed, but this seemed quite inadequate to me.  I pulled off in the bushes along the side of the road during the run about 4 hours into the race for a quick pit stop, since no facilities seemed forthcoming, but what about the women doing the race?  This needs to be addressed in future iterations of the race.

Second, the race course and even the host hotel changed several times before race day.  I understand that this was the first year of the event, but it's pretty inconvenient to have to keep adjusting your plans for the race as the organizers sort things out.  I figure this will be less of a problem during future iterations of the race.  I actually am glad the bike course was changed.  Originally, it was going to be an out-and-back course that went from Kenting down around the southern tip of Taiwan and back up the east coast a ways.  I drove this area the day after the race and the terrain was much more challenging there than it was on the actual (Hengchun peninsula) race course.  That and out on the east coast, the winds were absolutely WAILING.  I felt like I was about to be blown over as I stood and looked out over the Pacific Ocean.  I am glad I didn't have to bike out there for the race.

The wild, windy east coast of Taiwan

I'm glad to be writing this some 9 months after I basically wrote off being able to run triathlons and other races again due to lack of training and deconditioning.

GJS

P.S. I found this additional account of the race, from the fellow who finished 2nd overall: http://www.triathlontribe.com/blog/post/show/id/77-Jamie-Whyte-Blog-My-best-Ironman-70-3-result.  Looks like I am not the only one who thought the winds and current were challenging.

6 months!

Our newest addition isn't so new any more!  

To celebrate his "ripening", he decided that today would be the perfect day for his first tooth to erupt from his lower gums, right in the front, on the right (his right).  We also fed him vegetables for the first time - carrots! (cooked and blended, of course)  He was a bit flummoxed by the taste and texture at first ("Hey - this isn't rice cereal!"), but before long he took a liking to it and finished the bowl.  And he followed it with his customary bowl of rice cereal - and kept it all down!

GJS

Recent breakthroughs in child-rearing

Home from school

We have a couple significant developments on the child-rearing front to report.  First, John has recently begun 5-day a week, full-day pre-kindergarten classes.  This school, unlike the one he had attended since last October on a part-time basis, teaches in English. (John likes this much better.)  Week one was successful, and John even told us that staying at home was "kinda boring" compared to all the fun stuff he gets to do at school.  You go, John!  Keep that attitude forever, son!

我喜歡吃crackers!

Lance is also hitting the developmental milestones.  Like I mentioned in a recent post, he is just a week shy of 5 months old right now, and this past week he began limited non-breast milk food trials, a first for him.  One evening he dined on a cracker (pictured) and since then he has begun regular evening servings of rice cereal while sitting in his high chair.  It took but a few days of this for him to develop quite a gusto for the stuff, pulling the spoon into his mouth and celebrating each mouthful.  This new food's "staying power" seems to be allowing him to go longer without feedings in the middle of the night, sleeping for a solid eight hours the other night.  In non-food related updates for Lance, he is edging ever-closer to becoming mobile, perfecting his ability to hold his head up high while on his tummy and beginning to get up on his knees (but not the essential hands and knees that he needs to figure out to crawl).  He's also working on being able to sit up by himself (actually, maintaining a sitting position on his own after being helped into it by Mom or Dad).  But he likes being in a standing position more than anything (photo).

Only a little help!

The boys are getting big!

GJS

"The streak" broken

No ride today folks, sorry.  It wasn't the weather that gave out, it was me.  Legs were toast this morning when I got out of bed, plus there are a bevy of pre-China trip administrata that can wait no longer to be tended to.  On top of that, this afternoon we have plans that don't include me laying on the couch while my legs throb (which has been pretty much how the past few afternoons have gone), so it just isn't going to work.  If today is productive on the administrative side of the house, then perhaps I can get one more ride in tomorrow AM before we head out, we'll see.

Hopefully before we go I can do a photo upload for you, which would include Lance's 3-month photos (funny, since now he is nearly 4 months old!) and various other fun.  I like to "get the books clear" in terms of sharing photos before embarking on any major trip, for we all know that once the trip begins I will be snapping even more photos like a madman!

GJS

Punting on the pics

Sorry folks, time is not going to permit me to upload the pics I alluded to this morning.  I will tease you, though...

As some noted about a week ago, this fellow is 2 months old now, and last week he went in to be weighed, etc. He's already topped 12 lbs (12 lbs 2 oz, up from his birth weight of 8 lbs 11 oz) and is now 23 3/4 inches long.  Growing like a weed, he is!

GJS

Still Waiting

OK, so it appears that yesterday's "prediction" is not going to be true - seems things have toned down a bit and we're playing the waiting game again.  Contractions continues apace throughout the night until about 4AM, after which they tailed off...so we carried out our Friday in a "business as usual" manner, for the most part.

Grandma brought with her a new stroller from the US that we ordered but couldn't get shipped to Taiwan, so we spent some of the morning "building  it up."

We also went for a stroll around the neighborhood to get Grandma used to the surroundings a bit, including a visit to the local fresh market to see some "sea creatures."  The fish was so fresh it was still flopping around!

Of course there was a lot of this going on today:

John is happy to have his Grandma here to play with him.

Since baby has not come yet, we will carry on as usual with our weekly OB appointment.  Like I said, due date (40 weeks) was yesterday, but there shouldn't really be any issues in terms of outside intervention to initiate the birth for at least one or maybe 2 more weeks (depends what we can convince the doctor of - so far we have had good success in staving off his desired interventions).

GJS

Baby update - no baby yet

The trip to pick up Barb's mom was a success and labor did not commence while I was on that errand.  The day (Thursday) is nearing a close now and it appears that it will not be "go time" before tomorrow comes.  We remain at home and are waiting for the onset of true labor.  It probably won't be too much longer now.  If I was into making predictions, I'd say that we are probably less than 24 hours out from birth.  Barb is having contractions every 1 - 2 hours and they are becoming stronger - mild to moderate "uncomfortableness."

Hopefully we don't have to do the 3AM mad dash to the hospital.  With John we went there at about mid-day and he was born later that same day, about 10PM.  With luck, it will play out about like that this time, too.

GJS

Week in (P)Review III

Better late than never, right?

Keeping cool

GJS

Bun in the Oven update

OK, so I have been seriously lagging on providing updates on how Baby #2 is coming along.  Hard to believe it, but the due date is pretty much right around the corner! (March 18) We had our most recent checkup on mom and baby just after returning from our trip, and all is well.  Included are a couple snapshots from the ultrasound.


Baby is estimated to be close to 6 lbs now.  The doctor warned us that he seemed to be "a little large."  We told him that John was 9 lbs 3 oz when he was born, so a "big" baby is nothing new for us. (It does seem that Taiwanese babies are typically a bit smaller than the average American baby, so for our baby to seem a bit large as compared to the local standard is not troubling.) John really enjoys seeing his little brother on the screen at the appointments!  He has been known to comment, "He looks just like me!"  I would say there appears to be more than a passing similarity, based on the images we have seen thus far.

Barb has noticed some differences this time around.  She definitely thinks that this baby is nowhere near as active in the womb as John was.  She says that John was active "all the time," while this baby is mainly active in the afternoons.  She is able to get good rest at night with this new baby.

We all know that will be going by the wayside once he is born - not much sleep, quality or otherwise in the first few weeks after the birth, from what I remember of the hazy, sleep-lacking time after John was born.  We're fortunate to have some help on the way from home for that time, though - you people are like angels!

Next appointment is scheduled in two weeks.  More to follow on this topic then.

GJS