Growin' a Baby KAVU Style

By: Ashlyn Baird

By KAVU

April 15^th, 2025

Let's be real... What it takes to grow a baby IS KAVU Style, no matter how you do it. This, here... is my version.

I'm going to be a mom! ... Oh my goodness me -Ashlyn- a mom?!?

Here we go! After a year of unknowns and hiccups in my life plans, this was one thing I knew I wanted and was going to love. I saw it as a time to reset, step back, find myself in a whole new light, and prepare as best I could to raise a kind, adventurous, loving little human. Parenthood was my next ultra marathon and I was ready to take on the challenge.

I went straight to reading all the research I could find about exercising while pregnant. Google says "you're good to go, or maybe you're not", but as a first time mom, how on earth do you interpret that? Well, come to find out research also says "it depends". After a few weeks, I got to attend my 8 week appointment and my Dr. happened to be an ultra runner. At this point, it was June and I had registered for a 50k in September. This was obviously not a priority, but move of a curiosity. At 6 months pregnant, I could run a race this grueling? Her answer: "you should be just fine! Just listen to your body".

Though it was exciting to have a definitive answer, I was a first-time mom with a body hosting for two. My body did not feel like the body I had known for the last 24 years. I had no idea what "listen to your body" meant now. I wondered if I was going to spend the next 40 weeks slowly running a couple miles here and there, or if I could run an ultra?

No better time to learn about my body than now!

For the first few weeks I ran trails, my longest being 15 miles, where all I was able to consume was a cucumber, some cherry tomatoes, & liquid calories because of how bad my food aversions were. Not ideal for a gal who loves and prioritizes adequate calories for training! So, the following two weeks I benched myself from exercise all together.

Weeks 7-9 were not how I was expecting to learn. It began with sleeping 15 out of 24 hours, and struggling to consume 500 calories when my norm was nearly 3,000.

Lesson 1: This is our body now, so when you need rest, I'll rest.

From week 10-13, we grew together and learned what balanced us. Lots of sleep, good food, and sunny trail days made us a pretty great team. I was also seeing moms everywhere accomplish their big goals while pregnant. Seeing Anna Rohrer win the Indianapolis 500 half marathon at 23 weeks pregnant kept my feet beneath me. Especially, because I wasn't aiming to win any race, I just wanted to move one step at a time for 30ish miles. Logan and I soon found out we were going to have a little boy; he was looking healthy! We continued to ask questions & though I was doing the baby grown', I was sure to check in with Logan to make sure he was comfortable with my many trail miles with his little man on board. Not only did he say "of course", but at week 14, he crewed us for our 1st ultra together: 30 miles through the Gallatin Range In MT.

The annual Scummy Summer Slammer: 90 miles from Bozeman to Yellowstone.

The same girl, Mallory, that crushed this run with me 2 years prior when I was in the best shape of my life, stuck with me through all 12 hours of Day1, with grueling ridge lines and what seemed to be endless route finding at 4 months pregnant. Instant cold packs, snacks, snow in my hat, and water were on repeat all day long.

Day 2 of Scummy was a rest day full of river dips, calories, and naps to prep for the 20 miles of day 3. Being preggo with a few extra liters of blood was miraculous for recovery because my legs were ready to rip when the next day rolled around. We took it slow, packed snow, ate nearly double what I normally would, and hydrated like crazy.

Side note: I'm not sure if you've ever had to hike over horse-made whoops, but that was by far the biggest challenge...I mean look at these things!!

We took these babies allll the way to the finish line and it was one heck of a way to end it.

The following weeks were for recovery, hearing heartbeats, growing organs, and getting comfortable with moving at a slower pace. I was quickly finding out that a mile is a mile, no matter how slow, and because of that, I enjoyed every view just a bit more. During weeks 16-20 we summited a few more peaks as I prepped for the Rut 50k.

This was my mom's first ultra marathon, so our only goal going into this was to keep my legs under me, and to support her through the finish line. Whether I crossed that line or not, it was going to be an incredible day in the mountains. Things didn't quite start off how we wanted when a stranger told me he was worried I would go into preterm labor because of my participation.I had worked so incredibly hard to trust my body, to ask all the right questions at my appointments, and most importantly, to keep "little man" safe in my belly. So, questioning everything at the start of a 50k with 10,000+ feet of elevation gain sucked! But... It also meant I had hours upon hours with myself and multiple aid stations to check in and evaluate. I spent the first 6 miles in the dark with sunglasses on while I bawled my eyes out. I hit mile 10 ready to quit, but instead I ran into Moonlight aid station #2 with old friends cheering me on, strangers encouraging me, and hugs from Logan and my family- All who did so with my belly out in the open. Not a single person questioned my decision.

Leaving that aid station, the tears dried up & my legs kept moving. My adjusted goal was to make it to the Swiftcurrent aid station at the base of Lone peak at mile 18, right before the steepest climb of the race. I caught up to my very fast mama right before dropping into the aid stations, so when we reached Swiftcurrent ,we weren't ready to part ways. Up Lone Peak we went! It was TOUGH, but we giggled our way through it and summited together. The downhill from this point was my biggest concern with a baby on board; so there it was - my 1st DNF. Only a couple hours later my mom was crossing the finish Iine of her first big race!!

I entered the tail end of the 2nd trimester with a full heart and appreciation for slow miles. DNFing was absolutely the right decision, but what it did make me realize was that I was absolutely capable of those final miles if I had been okay moving a bit slower. These remaining weeks were full of 20 minute miles and long, slow days on trail. I felt like I finally accepted my new norm. It was so freeing.

The 3rd trimester was all about "loving the bump"! We explored the green mountains of Maui, and snowy mountains of Montana during the thick of winter. My favorite thing with a bump was to pretend that my belly was his view of the world- whatever views the bump saw, he saw. It was the motivation I needed to get outside doing hard things.

Here's what he saw through the big belly: aka his "personal l-max theater" with unlimited food and drinks:

2 days after his due date, Brage joined the adventures! I had a c-section, so recovery was slow, but it.... once again, made me slow down and enjoy the very short and magical newborn phase. Don't get me wrong... I was dying to get outside! So, the second we got cleared, we were both out and moving.

Though at first, walking a half mile took all of my remaining energy, we were getting fresh air and enjoying the massive snowflakes while bonding on the trails I grew him on. It was truly healing for my body and mind.