Andrew #2

It had been a wake up call last week when Jenna had basically forced him out the door to the gym. It had only been two weeks away from the gym and his stamina had left him. It really couldn't just be the time off - it was probably all the hours of sleep he and Jenna had missed since Annie's birth. After his last limping experience at the gym, he had convinced Jenna to go on nightly walks with him. She could use the activity as much as he could. The evening strolls seemed to calm Annie down at least a little bit and she was often asleep by the time they returned home. Of course it didn't last very long. Whether it was the transfer to her crib or the five minutes of quiet after the transfer, Annie was awake and crying soon after our return. Jenna was beginning to get worried about Annie's almost constant crying whenever her eyes were open. Although she ate, played and went through diaper changes like any other baby, she cruised through the whole process. A few times, Andrew had walked into the baby's room to see both Annie and Jenna crying. It tore at his heart. Jenna wanted to take Annie to the pediatrician to be sure it really was the colic they had read about online but he had talked Jenna into waiting until the end of the week when he could go to the appointment with her.

Andrew felt guilty leaving Jenna this morning with a crying Annie in her arms. His paternity leave was up at work and he needed to go back. Jenna still had almost five months left since she had worked until she went into labor. That would be a funny story to share with Annie someday even though it was stressful at the time.  He also felt a little guilty about going to the gym today - there was lots to catch up on at the office. Since he had returned to work; however, he automatically returned to his routine that included a trip to the gym on his lunch hour. 

This time as he approached the stairs, they did not seem as high. He didn't sprint up them as in the past, but he  was not out of breath at the top either.  Those nightly walks had helped! 

After standing at the top of the stairs for a second in thought, Andrew picked a treadmill at the end of the row. Selecting a quick walking pace - but no incline (he wanted to make it through his 25 minutes) he started to walk. 

About ten minutes into his walk. Andrew was feeling good - he grew brave and upped the speed. He was feeling so good, he would jog a bit. He used to jog on the treadmill everyday at lunch, he was ready - it was feeling good - easy even. 32 seconds later - it wasn't.  Back to a walk. At least he had tried - if he tried it everyday he would be back to jogging in no time. He would come during lunch everyday this week - he would be jogging by Friday.

As he stepped off the treadmill and headed for stairs his phone binged. Surely the guys in his office, who had managed to survive for three weeks without him, could handle him being gone during his hour lunch break.

But it wasn't John and Mark - it was Jenna. He needed to hurry...