This blog post is a little later than expected. With all the hustle of the Christmas season, trying to fit in all my clients before the holiday break and those little issues that pop up before school Christmas vacation for my son this blog was pushed to the backburner.
Now on holidays I have time to update on all the ‘goings on’ of this pregnancy.
Let’s start with my health. According to my doctors- I have 3 a team of three that I rotate between- I am in perfect health, and overall have a healthy pregnancy. I really could not ask for more.
Weight wise I am sitting between 145-150lbs and am well within the 25-35lbs weight gain range recommended for my height/starting weight.
Energy wise I feel good most days. I start early for work rising at around 4am and finishing my day near 1-2pm in the afternoon. A small nap usually holds me over to bedtime before I get up and do it allagain. I know I will have to start tapering my work schedule a bit as I can feel on my body the fatigue, the swelling/bloating by the end of the work day, and typical achyiness in the lower back/mid back due to being so front heavy.
There are frequent nights of insomnia. I wake up near 1-2am, am up for 1-hour of so, then back to sleep. I do eat during this time as it is one of two reasons I get up-having to pee so frequently-a constant issue throughout this pregnancy or hunger at odd time that wakes me up.
This baby is a mover and shaker. In the last 3 weeks the movements have gotten stronger, and more frequent. I feel ‘braxon hicks’ contractions daily and the are far worse when I walk frequently or long distances. I can at times see my belly moving and it can be a little alien-esque especially when you feel arms or legs brushing across your belly. I have experienced a few good kicks that startled me.
Training has been more consistent in the last 3 weeks. I have managed 3 workouts per week, which for me I consider a #win. I perform a full body training focusing on 1 exercise per muscle group. My sessions last around 30 mins or less.
Recently I did this:
Nutrition has been pretty much the same but much smaller portions. I eat salads now-yay another #win, protein shakes, protein pancakes, chocolate (at times) and oatmeal with milk. I have been craving more milk, swiss cheese, peas and carrots lately.
Through trial and error I have figured out that drinking soda water can contribute to my heartburn. So can sitting for too long periods of time, as I find my belly now gets in the way, and my stomach gets squeezed upwards. Also a too tight bra band can squeeze me in a way that hurts the ribs by the end of the day. All things I can adjust for but it is good that I can manage to make it better knowing what the cause.
Here are a few progress photos for the last 3 weeks. I am writing this blog on my phone so I hope that everything shows up.
In the Week 27 picture, my son came to workout with me so that is him being a ‘ham’ in the background. He is 9 years old now, and says really funny things. It is always an adventure with him.
Lastly, I have been having some pregnancy fears, that probably contribute to my insomnia. Things are progressing nicely so thinking about the actual birth has been on my mind, a lot. I decided to watch various youtube videos on giving birth and really I should have stayed away from doing that.
You see back in 2005/2006 this was not really an option to watch videos in the numbers that are out there today. Quality was poor, there was not that much information about individuals birth stories, photos or videos. Having your first child you really have no idea what you are getting your self into. At times I think being a bit niave can be a good thing as you really don’t know what to expect.
Many pregnancy books focus only on the baby and don’t mention the after and how you feel like you have been hit by a truck or how tired you are going to be.
You see my birth story I had posted to the old (now defunct) Oxygen mag board and well now it is gone.
Short synopsis – I went into labour naturally, got to 10, no meds, then was so exhausted by the time I started pushing, had interventions like a local to the uterus, but no epidural, pushed for 7 hours (which I found out recently was ‘ not normal’ by my current team of doctors) then ended up with C section as my son was just not coming out. I do have the option of a C section now, but my issue the first time was it felt as though my hips were goung to break apart. The nurses, my doctor did not believe me when I kept telling them that.
Now, I am in the information gathering stage surveying all my friends for their birth stories. It seems (through conversations with other uber athlete types) that us athletics tend to be a little on the tight side, that actually makes labour/giving birth harder not easier as you would think. I still want to feel the pain of labour, but not sure I want a VBAC as that comes with a host of potential problems, not just during the birth but possibly after. They say second pregnancies are easier but my son did not come out that way the first time, so would it actually be easier?
All to be discussed leading up to the birth but having some understanding of the process (as I forget most of it) and my options, hopefully will ease my fears.
My c section recovery in my opinion was not that painful, and I was back in the gym 2-3 weeks later, mind you, with no direct ab work or movements that over contracted the core as I could feel the pinching in my scar.
So if you would like to share your stories I am all ears or eyes – [email protected].
I know I am probably over thinking things at this point, as there is no way to plan for these things. I should be ‘giving up’ control as things will work out the way they should. Still the type A person in me wants some sort of a plan that is adjustable of course.
A
