It has been a difficult decision, but I have decided that I will not be participating in the 2008 Weekend to End Breast Cancer as planned.
This decison has been made for 2 reasons:
1) I am really not convinced I will be able to do it physically at 6 months pregnant. I know women have done it pregnant, but I suspect they are the fit pregnant sort of women. I am not. I planned to be this time around…but the very first time I exercised after becoming pregnant I gushed blood. It may not have been related to the exercise at all, but it was very scary and freaked me out, and I have not attempted anything exerting since. In addition, this pregnancy, like my last one, has plagued me with headaches. Over-exertion and over-heating are big headache triggers for me, and I get over-heated and over-exerted far more easily pregnant than not. These days, just walking up the stairs from the basement leaves me out of breath and with a pounding head for hours. I suspect, if this pregnancy is anything like my last, this will only get worse. I was sincerely hoping this pregnancy would not be like my last in this aspect, but so far it is and I truly do not believe I can possibly train for a 60k walk over the hot summer, or complete the walk itself.
2) I have not fund-raised enough to participate. I am very excited and thrilled to have raised almost $1200 for the cause, and sincerely touched by the generosity my sponsors have shown..however I am still over $800 short of the $2000 minimum required to walk, and feel like it would be wrong to actively fund-raise to get the extra $800 while knowing that there is a good chance I wont be able to participate in the walk even if I do raise the money.
So, it is with a heavy heart that I announce that after years of planning to do this event and finally committing to it, I have put it on hold for another year or 2.
I do want to share that I went into this with the very best intentions. When I registered for the walk and did my first fund-raising, I had every intention of participating, and had NO IDEA that my life plan would change so drastically that a few months later I would be trying to get pregnant. In fact, when the man and I first discussed the possibility of trying to have another child, we were planning to wait a year FOR THE SOLE REASON THAT I WANTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE THE WALK. However, after much thought we realized that with me being in my 30s, the man in his 40s and the girl already 4…it would be pretty foolhardy to put off TTCing for a whole year at a time when we were already at the age were fertility is not at it’s peak. In the end, it seems that was a good decision as 33 was not what 28 had been (I got pregnant very easily with the girl), and it took 7 months to get and stay pregnant. I am scared to think of the struggle we may have had if we did not start trying for a whole other year!
I hope my sponsors understand my decision, and are proud to have given to such an important cause.
