A Very Tardy and Incomplete Preggo Journal #2

I can't believe I haven't posted while pregnant. I am going to have no pictures, and when my memory fades I won't be able to recall a dang thing!  Baby boy due in approx 7 weeks.  I hardly have any good pictures and didn't write anything down, so here is what I could find at 3am when I can't sleep due to pregnancy peeing, heartburn, and carpal tunnel syndrome.

9 weeks: I remember just feeling the normal first trimester awfulness.  I was counting every day and week getting out of the first trimester to lower my risk of another miscarriage.  My training load went way down, although I can't remember how much of it was conscious or just because I felt sick.  We were definitely excited to be pregnant again, and by 12 weeks we knew it would be a little boy.

14 weeks:  I don't have many pictures during this time, but here is one of me and Isla running.  So, I guess I was still trying to run!  Although I remember it was very hot and I had a feeling if Isla came with me we would not be running for too long.   Sure enough probably a quarter mile later we were picking flowers and walking when Isla decided it was too hot and she was too tired.  I was probably only jogging up to 2-3 miles at this time, and probably with plenty of walk breaks.

22 weeks:  I hated every minute of wearing a bathing suit on the beach.  I had to force myself to do it, and not be that self-conscious person.  But I struggled.  And I hate to admit this, but this is the best picture I could find.  Sorry I did that!  Trying to keep it real, but I didn't want to post everything hanging out.  I was not a cute looking pregnant woman on the beach. 22 weeks this time around is about my 34 week equivalent with my first pregnancy.  At 22 weeks I was just starting to stop all jogging due to the extra weight and discomfort, plus the constant 100+degree heat indexes.

But I did do daily crossfit with Dave at the beach, which is our yearly routine.  I am not a crossfit person, but on vacation I go with Dave so we can spend time together.  I actually worked hard in there, and I truly believe that having peers around you in your training can help.  Now if I could just actually find those peers here in Nola going forward...  

The elusive beach family picture- Isla is always too wiped out to really participate.

25 weeks:  This was my one of my only and last outdoor ride of 2019 so far!   The heat index was well over 100+ this day, even in the am, so I remember being so slow!  (but kind of happy to be on my bike, too :)

27 weeks:  I don't remember much about this time, except I have zero pictures and this one seems at such a weird angle.  I remember not being able to find anything to wear that fit me.

But, here is a pregnancy hack that works for me:  swimming helps me with the swelling quite a bit.  The day of the swim photo below, also 27 weeks, I could not put on my shorts or see a single bone in my foot/ankle joint.  After 30 minutes of swimming (term "swimming" used loosely but I am just trying to move), I was able to fully see my ankles and pull my shorts up.  The swelling has been real this time around!  Perhaps because I swam a ton when I was pregnant with Isla I did not have such a problem with swelling?  This time around I can count on two hands my swimming, mostly due to logistics of my work and the pool, but I am trying to make a more conscious effort to get in there 1-2 times a week going forward to help with everything.  

28 weeks:  Most of my exercise, if I am able to do any, has to happen after 7pm.  I usually get home from work anywhere around 5:30-6:00, and after being on my feet all day at the hospital, I am usually so swollen I just sit down and elevate them.  I try to stay motivated to get out and walk in the evening anywhere from 45-60 minutes, but I am definitely not making it happen as much.  Early pregnancy I was at about a 14-15 min/mile clip.  By 28 weeks more like a 17 min/mile clip.  Every now and then I think to jog a little bit during my walks, but then I remember it doesn't feel good and I can just run post baby and enjoy it.  

29 weeks:  Made it to Memphis for a class reunion with my PT friends.  I was also sick with a respiratory infection I just could not kick, and that has probably been the worst part of pregnancy.   

Also- 29 weeks:  This is a FAKE NEWS picture.  I took this and thought, well, now I know why everyone looks so amazing on instagram.  I look "smaller" at 29 weeks than I did at 22 at this angle.  I have developed some better guard rails over the years for my social media intake, which has helped during this pregnancy.  I still have the urge to compare myself to the gals that run marathons throughout pregnancy or maintain their athletic figure with a tiny baby bump, but I work hard to manage it and continue to be grateful for everything I have, which doesn't necessarily have a lot to do with athletics right now. 

31 weeks:  Heading out the door for a PT meeting.  I regretted those shoes 30 minutes later.  

32 weeks:  Can't really see anything due to the darkness of this picture, but I still try to have a tiny social life.  I was able to hang for about 4 hours at the #PussyFooters Pub Prance before taking my swollen cankles home.  

I will try to take some more pictures in these last final weeks.  This pregnancy has been very different from my first pregnancy, but I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I already have responsibilities as a mother, and my work load has significantly increased.  I have had more fatigue and swelling and not once did I go to prenatal yoga this time around, where as last time I went several times a week.  Life is just different.

Mostly I am looking forward to running and cycling again!  This is the most significant and true amount of time I have taken off, and I think the challenge for me to return to sport will be very hard indeed.  I am going to have a lot of weight to lose, muscle to gain, and skeletal integrity to make happen.  It will be a good challenge :)

And I will finish up with my favorite picture thus far with pregnancy- Isla and Sullivan hugging baby boy :)  This picture makes me so happy!!!!