New Priorities

Colt with me at the hospital this morning.

When I got pregnant I knew and accepted that running would never be my top priority again. While I hoped that I would often be able to put as much into it as I always had, I was prepared to make sacrifices as a runner for the sake of being a good mother.

Now I am a mother, and those sacrifices are a reality. After a tough first several weeks I got some momentum going and was maintaining a good balance. Colt was doing well and I was getting the hang of being a mother, so I was able to make a full commitment to my running without making any sacrifices as a mother.

Then, two weeks ago, Colt got his first cold. It was brutal. He was up all night crying. Of course, I was up with him without a second thought. I knew the sleepless night would wreck my running the next day but I didn’t even think about it. I only thought about these kinds of consequences before Colt was born. Now that he’s here, whenever I hear his cry those maternal instincts kick in and everything else that’s important to me goes out the window, running included.

Unfortunately, Colt’s cold somehow left him with a swollen neck. We took him to the doctor, who said it probably wasn’t anything serious—maybe just a swollen lymph node, but over the weekend it got worse, so she checked him out again and sent him to a specialist. The specialist ordered a CAT scan to find out exactly what was going on. I’m glad he did, because the test showed that Colt had a huge abscess on his jaw that was likely caused by a staph infection.

The fluid inside the growth had to be drained quickly before it continued to grow. It was growing so fast and starting to affect how he was holding his head. If it had burst he would have become septic, and the doctor said that would have been life threatening. Adam and I are counting our blessings that this didn’t happen. We slept head-to-toe last night in Colt’s hospital room. We were supposed to travel to Arizona today for the P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Half Marathon, but that’s not going to happen. The doctor says Colt can travel as soon as he’s released, but that might not happen until Friday.

If nothing else, Colt has given me a great excuse to use if I don’t win my showdown with Mario Fraioli in the race! (I’m glad I’m able to make this joke—I sure couldn’t have done it 24 hours ago.) Speaking of that upcoming battle of the sexes, check out the Kara Goucher vs. Mario Fraioli update in the latest RunCenter show. It starts about three minutes in.

I’m still really looking forward to my first race in a long, long time. It was the last thing on my mind for a couple of days, but Colt is going to be OK, and life goes on. I’ll let you know how it goes next week.