The ultimate endurance event… childbirth
Since we obviously have big news this week, let me dispense right away with the formalities of my usual weekly stats update:
Training Days: 2 (To Date: 42)
Rest Days: 5 (To Date: 42)
Body Weight: 149.5 (Net Gain/Loss: -10.5)
Running Days: 2 (To Date: 32)
Running Miles Logged: 34.7 (To Date: 314.1)
Average Run: 17.3 (Short = 9.7, Long = 25)
Cross-Training: None
Week 12 started off typical enough. A planned rest day on Monday. A moderate 10-mile trail run on Tuesday. Tuesday was also the due date for our second child (which is why I’ve been running with a cell phone for the last few weeks…). As the day wore on, it appeared that we would have to wait a bit longer for Baby Bronski #2 to arrive.
This pregnancy was different for Kelli than last time around with Marin. As most of you know, although I’m gluten-free for medical reasons, Kelli is voluntarily gluten-free. Strictly speaking, if she wants to have some gluten here or there, she can do so without any overt ill-effects. But as we moved into the third trimester, Marin’s pediatrician gave Kelli strict doctor’s orders: go 100% gluten-free. She’d read a newly published journal article from a study that showed that gluten consumed by a mother during the third trimester of a pregnancy can have a negative effect on the health of the soon-to-be-born baby. With Marin’s and my sensitivities, we weren’t taking any chances, and Kelli went fully gluten-free (which wasn’t much of a stretch, since she basically was GF already, except for the occasional meal at work…).
I haven’t yet found the citation for the new study, but it adds to a growing body of evidence that shows that gluten consumed by the mother can either come through in the fetus, or in the breastmilk, to produce negative health effects. For example, I came across an intriguing 20-plus year old study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that looked at pregnant and lactating rats. Rats were fed a diet where their 13% of their protein came from wheat gluten, wheat gluten plus amino acids, or casein plus amino acids. They were fed the diet from conception through day 15 of lactation. In the group of rats that were fed gluten, on Day 1 of lactation they were nursing 48 babies. By Day 15 of lactation, only 2 pups were still alive. By comparison, the rats that were fed a gluten-free diet with casein-based protein were still nursing 47 pups on Day 15 of lactation. Something to think about.
Charlotte, circa 24 hours old
As Mother Nature would have it, Tuesday almost was the day of arrival for Baby Bronski #2. Kelli went into labor that evening. Around 12:30am Wednesday morning, we went into the hospital. And by 2:54am, Charlotte had arrived.
Just as this pregnancy was different from the last, so too was this hospital stay different from even Marin’s stay in the same hospital roughly one month ago. Whereas last time we had to meet with someone from nutrition services to try and figure out what gluten-free foods they could serve, this time around they seemed to have overhauled their menu. Boulder Community Foothills Hospital now offered a gluten-free cheat sheet with a pretty nice sampling of menu options, including several new additions – gluten-free frozen dinner entrees from Amy’s Kitchen.
Mom and Baby both came home from the hospital on Thursday afternoon, and are doing great. We’ve already noticed a stark contrast between breast feeding with Marin and breast feeding with Charlotte. They are of course two different little people, and lots of factors might contribute to the difference. But Kelli and I are both convinced that her 100% gluten-free diet, and its subsequence impact on her breast milk, is a major reason.
It goes without saying that I took pretty much the rest of the week off from training. And that’s okay by me. Those first hours and first days with “my ladies” – Kelli, Marin, and now, Charlotte, were priceless. Kelli’s sister, Karla, flew in from Texas to help out with Marin while we were in the hospital. On Saturday, Karla’s last day with us, I did take advantage of the extra helping hands to head out for a long run…25 miles. I wasn’t about to leave Kelli all on her own with a newborn and Marin just days after giving birth.
So now, the trick becomes…how to squeeze in training with work AND caring for two little ladies.
On a final note, my fundraising is now up to $1,185, which is almost 24% of my goal. Huge thanks this week go out to Jared S. and Nancy V. for your generous donations! Please help me reach my goal of raising $5,010 for the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. Visit my fundraising page and make a pledge today! Thank you!
– Pete
Congratulations! A baby – so wonderful! I hope you’re getting some rest!
Congratulations on your new addition! Gluten Free is a good thing! I feel so much better myself! And when I do eat it, I feel it! I only have an intolerance, but feel so much better now! Thanks so much for all your education and recipes of course!!! Keep up the good work on your training!!!!! LA :o)
Congrats again to you and Kelli, Pete! Your new little lady is beautiful. 😉 I love when you talk about all your ladies. 😉
The gluten info during pregnancy is fascinating, because I’m convinced my son came out of the womb with gluten issues. So glad that Kelli’s doctor is so foreward thinking! I’ll be paying attention to this new info.
Congrats on your fundraising and getting in that 25-mile run! Hopefully the endorphins from being a dad again helped compensate for the disruption in daily schedule. 😉
Shirley
Thanks for the congratulations, everyone! Yeah, it was good to get out for the 25-mile run, but tough given the sleep deprivation (and knowing that Kelli, Marin and baby Charlotte were all back at home…).
Cheers, Pete
I have not posted before but follow your blog simply because I LOVE your cookbook! I think GF Naan is my favorite. I made the cheesecake this past weekend and everyone loved it.
Congratulations on the new little lady!
Marci
How exciting! Glad everyone is doing well, and hope you are all able to get some sleep…eventually 🙂 Congrats!!
Hi Marci… Thanks for the congrats! Much appreciated. And so glad to hear you’ve enjoyed the cookbook!
Hi Stephanie… Thanks for the congratulations! Sleep is hard to come by these days, but hopefully we’ll get some rest sometime soon! =)
Cheers, Pete
Congratulations on your second babay!! she is a real beayty!!
I am gluten sensitive but I eat now since june 2010 completely gluten free & my symptons are gone & I feel a whole lot better!
You 2 have a grand & COOL foodblog!
your recipes ROCK too!
Many greets from a fellow recently GF blogger from Brussels, Belgium!
Hi Sophie… Many thanks for the congrats! I’m glad to hear you’re feeling better on a gluten-free diet. Good news all around!
Cheers, Pete