Updates

I am as ready to be a dad as I'll ever be. I had so much fun tonight playing with my friend's daughter and thinking about how much I already love the girl in this belly:


In other news, I've decided to train for the Richmond Marathon on November 15th, yes the full 26.2!! I'm pretty nervous and excited at the same time and glad to have a new goal. I've discovered the Carolina North Forest, a beautiful 750 acres of trails in thick woods which provide wonderful shade on hot runs. I've been increasing the number of days I run lately to 5 (I was only running 3 times during the busiest part of the semester), though I've taken a break from longer distance. I ran 6 miles once and 5 miles twice last week, as well as a couple 3 milers. I've been really inspired by one of my Econ profs who ran a 2:35 time in the Boston Marathon last week, coming in the top 100, averaging around 6 minutes per mile!! Imagine coming in the top 100 of one of the most prestigious races in the world. He said the highlight was passing Lance Armstrong and then not seeing him again the rest of the race.

Update

We went to the midwives yesterday and Sarah had her first cervical check. Turns out all those contractions have been productive because she's already 2-3 cm dilated and 60-80% effaced. This means she is well on her way and hopefullythe earlier phase of labor should be a little shorter. It might also mean we're closer to Olivia's birthday, though it's impossible to know. We know of people who have walked around 3 cm dilated for a couple weeks before anything happened. Even still, this is good news and means the end is right around the corner. Apparently the baby's head is also at station -2, which to me sounds like the name of a sci-fi thriller, but means that she has dropped a lot and is deep in the pelvic bone. Sarah had some regular contractions again last night, but only for an hour or so. She had worked herself so hard organizing a bridal shower for our friend Angela, that by the time she was doing dishes, they were coming every 4-5 minutes. They stopped by the time she fell asleep, but it's only 10am and she's already at a baby shower she planned. This girl doesn't know how to stop!

39th week

Today is the start of the 39th week of pregnancy and I couldn't be more excited. We'll be sure to let everyone know when it happens. Without getting your hopes up too much, you might be interested to know that Sarah has been having pretty regular contractions for a little while now. This happened last week too, so we're not letting ourselves get too excited. Last Wednesday (7 days ago) she was having contractions every 12-20 minutes for a period of three hours. We eventually went to bed and they stopped. Last night I got home around 8pm and Sarah said she had been having contractions for an hour already. They kept coming all night, about 10-20 minutes apart, so we eventually went to bed wondering if it would be like last week. When I woke up this morning at 7:30 Sarah was somewhat awake due to a contraction. I've been timing them this morning and they've been 12-16 minutes apart. In other words, while the contractions haven't been too strong or that close together, they have been pretty regular for over 12 hours now. Does that mean we're in labor? This is quite the week to go into labor as I have two huge papers due tomorrow and 2 final exams early next week. Luckily I've been preparing for this and have already finished the papers and think I could do well on the two finals. We'll see what happens!

Healthy Americans Act

This video was put together by a PR firm hired by Sen. Ron Wyden with the goal of building support for his bill to create universal health insurance. He's had the bill out for awhile, and I think by and large it's a pretty good bill. But what's interesting to me about this is that the video isn't really aimed at getting the public's attention but trying to get other Senators and Members of Congress interested. Apparently 7 dems and 7 reps have signed on to support the bill, which is great, but obviously way short of what he'll need. I doubt he'll be able to get this off the ground and I'm sure nothing major will happen until there is a new (DEMOCRAT) President in the White House. Even still, his bill could be the foundation they build on in 2009. What do you think, can we have our cake and eat it too?

Raleigh Half Marathon

Here are a couple of the official photos from the half marathon I ran on Saturday. It actually felt pretty good and I look forward to doing it again, though that was probably my last major race until after the summer is over. It was 65dgs and 90% humidity and I was praying for rain to cool me off; imagine if it had been 85 or 95 dgs!? I'm thinking about doing a 5k on Sat April 26th here in Chapel Hill, but I've been sick all week and haven't run once since Raleigh, so I'm not sure.

36 weeks!

We officially hit 36 weeks today, a major milestone in "our" pregnancy. Supposedly she weighs around 6 pounds and is about 13 inches from crown to rump. This week she is practicing blinking, has fully developed sucking muscles, and her gums are becoming more rigid. At our midwife appt yesterday we confirmed that she is really in the head down position, though we were pretty sure we felt her laying side to side last night (unless she has supper wide shoulders!) We have noticed her dropping a little bit, though she usually seems to come back up each time. It seems the mucus plug is starting to drain away, though it's hard to tell. Sarah is doing well, handling it like a champion. She's feeling pretty ready for it to be over and to be able to walk & job comfortably, as well sleep comfortably. We couldn't be luckier though and feel so grateful for how good everyone has been to us. We're really in the homestretch, although I must admit it feels like we should be a little bit closer than we actually are. Patience is the key at this point (though I'm ok if she waits to come until after finals).

New Prophet & Apostle

This is General Conference weekend for my Church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, aka the Mormon Church). Every April and October the 13 million members of our church gather for 2 days of meetings to hear 15 minute talks from our leaders. The themes this weekend included service, compassion, family, and an impressive report on the public health initiatives the church is conducting throughout the world. On Saturday Thomas S. Monson officially became the 16th President of the Church and David Todd Christofferson became the next Apostle (a lifetime appointment to top governing body). He is on the left in the above photo, with the next most junior Apostle, Quentin Cook. Click here to read the Newsweek article about Pres. Monson. Elder Christofferson (Elder is a title) got his law degree from Duke (I'll try not to hold it against him) and worked in Charlotte for awhile before eventually being called to work full time for the Church. He was in charge of running its huge geneology program. Check out his press conference after he was announced as the new Apostle.

Raleigh Rocks Half Marathon

Today I ran the Raleigh Rocks Half Marathon in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was my third half marathon ever. In fact, I didn't start running regularly until Feb 2007. So while I am still not very fast, I am pleased with my progress. In Ottawa in May 2007 I ran the (13.1 miles) 21.1km in 2:22:42. In Myrtle Beach last February I ran it in 2:09:40. Today I ran Raleigh in 2:07:37. It was still 2 minutes slower than my fastest time (which came in a training run). Again, it's not fast, but I'm pleased that I've been able to start from nothing and fairly comfortably run a half marathon. I haven't signed up yet, but I'm thinking seriously about gearing up for a full 26.2 mile marathon in 7 months. We'll see. Many thanks to dad for coming to me in Raleigh. He took the two pics, the top being the before picture and the bottom the after in the parking lot before heading home to watch conference.

Rep Henbest Retiring

Having read this article in today's Boise Weekly about Rep. Margaret Henbest, I feel particularly proud to have worked closely with her. During the 2006 legislative session I lived in Boise interned for her and Rep. John Rusche (now the House Minority Caucus Chair). Both of these people were incredibly kind to me and taught me a lot about the inner workings of state government. As this article highglights, Rep. Henbest is someone who knows how to get things done and is able to build coalitions and consensus around her ideas. We had our share of disapointing defeats while I was there, and I know she had others during her 12 year tenure, but she accomplished so much she can be proud of. The above photo was taken on my last day in the legislature, immediately after she and a few other Representatives and staff had taken me out to lunch. I will proudly say that I am 17 pounds lighter than in that photo!

The state capital building in 2006. It is closed for renovation right now and I think expected to re-open in 2010.
My office was through this door on the right. What a fun place to work (though it was kind of like a dungeon down there!)