MeganKate

What a beautiful run! And I love the baby bump pic.

That view is amazing! I'm jealous. Not jealous of the gnats though, definitely the worst!

From all the stories you guys share, Marshall does sound like such an amazing race. Someday I hope to run it.

You are such an amazing dog owner!

Well hello there new Loop. MK here. I was a regular around the old Loop parts oohhh 5+ years ago... but that was seriously a lifetime ago. I'm sure I'm more likely an unfamiliar face nowadays than a familiar one, but I'm hoping to get back at it. Although, as much as I'd like to contribute more often, I will probably be sticking more so to a lurker status, as running has taken a huge backseat to life. Right now, this is my current status: He won't let me put him down, but I'm learning he's totally fine with me typing while holding him. #MomLife, am I right? Anyways, this little man is Crosby. He's my second. I also have a spunky 21-month old, Finley. I didn't know it at the time, but Finley was actually with me during my last Loop meet-up. That was back in May 2015 during the mitten challenge (I did not do the mitten challenge, just one half marathon. I was mostly just along for the ride). That was also my last race. I discovered early on that I carry my babies low, making pregnant running not so much fun for me. I was able to CrossFit through my pregnancy with Finley, but after she was born, we quickly learned that parenthood is busy! I did try to do some stroller miles from time to time, but 8 months after Finley was born, I became pregnant with Crosby (because everyone told us how easy 2 under 2 was ). Once again, running pregnant was a bit difficult on my hips, and besides I was getting a workout chasing Miss Fin around (she began walking at 9 months, so we had our hands full!) During my pregnancy with Crosby, I was committed to start running again once he was born. I missed my active lifestyle and I really wanted to get back into races. But life had different plans for us. Crosby was born the end of May. The labor was hilariously perfect, and my gosh this boy was scrumptious. But little man was born with no T-cells and no NK cells. We found this out 6 days after he was born and he's been in the hospital ever since. His official diagnosis is Severe Combined Immunodeficiency or SCID. This basically means he was born with no immune system (think bubble boy), and it would be too dangerous for him to be out in the world, so instead he's been tucked away in his safe, hepa-filtered, sterile hospital room. I could write a novel about the past 4 months, but I'll spare you the details. The big news is that last week Crosby received a life-saving bone marrow transplant. Now, we wait. We'll find out if the transplant is successful in about 100 days. He's been doing really well, he's so strong, and I'm optimistic that these beautiful donated cells are going to grow. If successful, we should be able to bring little man home in January. I'm looking forward to his second welcome home. During Crosby's time at the hospital we are expected to have someone with him 24/7, so between balancing hospital life/home life/work life/parenthood, running has been pretty nonexistent. I have gone a mile or two here and there, and despite being seriously out of shape, it felt amazing to just get back out there. So I'm going to try my darnedest to sneak it nuggets of time and hit the road every now and again (I mentally need it). If so, I'll try and bloop about it (do we still say "bloop"?). If not, I'll continue to lurk and comment (I do have a lot of time for that while little man sleeps and this platform really does make it so easy! Nice job Dave!). Anyways, I just wanted to pop in and say hi and give you an update on me - although, I do apologize for my messy life dump (I hope it wasn't too much). I've missed the Loop and I'm hoping to be able to catch up with/get to know you all. Cheers, MK

I loved following your Ironman journey and I look forward to following your 100 mile journey too! You have always been a huge inspiration to me. PS. I miss you! When my life settles down, lets get together.

You are so right, grief is hard and confusing. I'm so sorry that you have to experience it, and I'm sending you so much love. I know how hard it is to lose a parent, and how hard it is to go through every new milestone without them. But gosh your wedding pictures are absolutely stunning! Congrats! I'm hoping to keep popping into this new loop and looking forward to following your comeback.

Happy birthday to you and early birthday to your babies (I had no idea you all had b-days so close)! Sending you so much love for your dad and prayers for good news on Wednesday. As you know, I totally understand how scary that is. My username has always been super boring, too, but I figured it might be easiest to keep it. Plus, I have no creativity right now. =)