baby's first trip to nashville & 5k race

before we found out we were pregnant, i had planned a trip to visit ashley (my daily bread partner and bff from dominica) and her husband, ryan in nashville the second week of april. the main plan for the trip, other than to catch up and relax, was to run a 5k in honor of ashley's cousin, Joe P (for more about joe & his family, check out this blog: http://prayforjoseph.blogspot.com/). i think the instant i found out i was pregnant, i started to notice symptoms - and a big one was just being plain exhausted. the day after we took the pregnancy test, i felt like i couldn't even get out of bed without wanting to collapse and take another nap...

so training for a 5k didn't sound like the most appealing thing at the time. kyle and i did the race to wrigley 5k about 2 years ago, and as we prepared for it, kyle reminded me "morgans are made for speed, not for distance running..." and it was true. running just over 3 miles felt like a half marathon to us. we're just not runners. but thankfully this time around i had a wonderful trainer - giacomo, the then 1 year old little boy i nanny. along with his jogging stroller, he encouraged me to get my behind in action. he was a tough little trainer, but i appreciated his dedication to get me and baby morgan running that 5k!

little did ashley know that i was pregnant as i did this training. and we talked on the phone on the days leading up to my visit, i so wanted to tell her about our little surprise, but thought it would be best to do it in person. thankfully, we both weren't too concerned about getting the best time and agreed walking part of the way would be just fine. baby was very happy about this agreement.

as i headed to nashville, pretty much that was the week i felt the complete worse during pregnancy to date. thankfully i never had true morning sickness, but i did feel nauseous all day long like i wanted to get sick but couldn't, and i especially felt not so great when i was hungry. but then the most amazing thing happened - i actually felt worse when i ate. oh wonderful. i was tired but couldn't sleep/nap well. basically, the best time to go on a trip...

it didn't take long for me to tell ryan & ashley that i was 6 weeks pregnant (i actually told them after dinner in the car. ashley yelled "i can't believe you're telling me you're having a baby from the backseat of our car!?!") little did they know that they would be taking care of me and the little "blueberry" (kyle & i get emailed each week with baby updates, complete with what size the baby is. that week, it was the size of a blueberry) my entire trip in nashville. and i am so blessed that they are such sweet, understanding friends. they stopped to get me peanut butter crackers and other snacks, let me sleep when i needed, and would totally change plans if i wasn't feeling well. the blueberry and i (and even kyle, who was back home) were so thankful for them!

so the day of the 5k came, and it was pretty much the coldest spring day nashville had ever had.... freezing, cloudy, raining. perfect to run a race! but we woke up ready to go that morning! ashley and i stuck together the whole race, and though we walked a bit, we ran a lot more than i thought we would. actually, during the race was pretty much the best i felt the entire trip! i forget our exact time, but i know it was under/right around 30 minutes, and i was just fine with that!

i did get to see a bit of nashville, but skipped out on some parts when i wasn't feeling so hot. what was great was being able to stay with ryan & ashley's parents in franklin and jackson. it was so fun to meet them and get to see the towns where ryan & ashley grew up. it was a wonderful first trip to nashville (even if i was half asleep or nauseous most of the time) and baby & i couldn't wait to go back. thank you pearmans - we love "y'all" !!!