Week 13
This was the first week that my morning sickness went away. I have gotten a tad bit of energy but I'm still waiting on the magical energy surge. I don't believe it exist lol.
I started to get round ligament pain in week 12 so that made my hiking, running, lunging, squatting, etc. interesting but once I knew what it was and was assured I wasn't hurting anything by continuing my routine I felt better. Other than the ligament pain, week 13 was quite uneventful.
Week 14
This seemed to be the week where everything happened. I swear overnight my belly grew ever so slightly enough to make it impossible to button my skinny jeans. I have a bella band and wore it for about a day before ditching it because it was so uncomfortable with jeans. I felt like I was stuffed into my jeans like a sausage. I was miserable but I wasn’t showing enough to go buy maternity clothes (or so I thought). After my last attempt to button a pair of extra stretching skinny jeans resulted in a brief crying fit my husband told me to bite the bullet and buy some clothes. It wasn’t the weight gain that had me crying. I have only gained 3 or 4 lbs. since I got pregnant. It was the uncomfortable feeling of being squished and walking around with my pants unzipped with a band that is supposed to magically make them comfortable. The classic “I have nothing to wear” excuse because a reality. Since it was mainly my jeans that I was having a hard time with (luckily my size 2 dress pants still button-for now at least) I bought a pair of maternity jeans and some comfy khakis and oh my gosh the moment I put them on it was like crawling into a pair of sweat pants after a long day. It was amazing. I don’t know why I waiting so long. The jeans are super cute and you can’t even tell that they have a maternity band at the top. Needless to say I was a happy camper. I will probably wear the crap out of these pants. Since I will have to go through the summer pregnant, I have decided not to buy too many pants. Instead, I will buy dress, very stretchy dresses so that I can be comfortable and still have some summer style. Any recommendations are welcome!
As far as energy goes, it has picked up some. I think the Georgia pollen problem has been a major factor in robbing me of the second trimester energy increase but it is definitely better than it was. I have been able to increase my intensity during intervals a lot more this week and then allow my heart rate to recover. As most of you who follow me know, I am a huge fan of my Polar watches and right now I use the Polar M400 for the activity tracker, GPS and heartrate monitor all in one. I absolutely love it. It allows me to gauge how many calories I burn so I can add more fuel in on days that I burn more than expected and I can keep an eye on my heart rate and targets for training. They don’t sponsor me, I just happen to love Polar products. Thankfully, with no food aversions my meal prep game is as strong as ever. Back in the earlier weeks I couldn’t meal prep because I just couldn’t bear the thought of eating the same thing over and over. Ok, more like I couldn’t stomach the thought. Now, I have no food aversions and I have been able to eat everything without having to force it down. I have added in more carbs in the form of gluten free whole grains and lots of fruit. In fact, the fruit is one of things that make me love my pregnancy diet. I don’t eat a ton of fruit normally- just berries and maybe a banana with a shake post workout due to minimizing carbs and sugars. Some fruit is loaded with sugar without the fiber that makes fruit so good for you. Now, I am obsessed with mangos and could care less if they are high in sugar. I do watch my sugar intake but due to the fact that the only sugar that I get comes from natural sources, I am fine with a little extra to get the nutrients my baby needs. I haven’t had any other cravings besides fruit. I take that back, I do love me some pickles but I loved them pre-pregnancy too so I don’t count that. They are packed with sodium so I try to limit them as well.
My workouts have been extra energetic this week so I am thankful for that. I am doing the exercises that I can now before my belly is too big to jump to or to do certain exercises without losing balance. I am still having a lot of round ligament pain and Baby Wade stretches me but I have structured my workouts to help with the pain rather than work against it. It is only a matter of time before I break up with the squat rack for the smith machine. That will be a sad day but necessary so I don’t bust my tush. As many of you know, I have never been one to have a workout partner (let alone enjoy company while working out- it is my time to focus. However, ever since my bestie Nicole starting working out with me, I found that I push much harder and could see the results of this during my last competition prep for the NANBF show. During my pregnancy, her support at the gym (and way beyond that of course) has been amazing. There are days that I don’t want to go to the gym because I am so tired. I totally understand how people could sit on their butt for 9 months- making a baby is exhausting. Having her there to laugh with me as my body and strength changed and to remind me that I can stay fit throughout this pregnancy is so reassuring. It is just like having a coach to walk you through weight loss or competition. We all have times of self-doubt. Mine happen almost daily when I can barely get through one set of pushups. I have to drop to my knees and do girl pushups? No way! I would never do that. Oh ya, well Baby Wade says otherwise. Having her to remind me that your body knows its limits has been fantastic. Instead, we just laugh it off while making a video of me trying to modify pushups- it wasn’t pretty.
It looked like I was humping a stability ball. The poor guy who tried to make fun of me that day got a mouthful when I told him that he should try to do this pregnant. That shut him up. Lol. In all seriousness though, the fitfam that I surround myself with have been the most supportive (other than family of course). Most women in the fitness industry are terrified to have kids because they are afraid it will ruin their body. To some degree I understand. A friend walked up to me at the gym and said “be totally honest, is it killing you to see your body change while pregnant?” At the time, my answer was well not really. And at the time I meant it. Being pregnant is such a miraculous thing that it has become fun for me to see the changes. That was until of course I couldn’t button my jeans. Thank heavens for maternity jeans though. I would be lying if I said that watching your midsection get “thick” for lack of a better term) was fun. I am not really showing right now but am in the awkward, hey I’m not getting fat I’m pregnant stage. Everyone always rolls their eyes at me when I say that and they comment on how tiny I am but trust me, I am getting thick and that is what is supposed to happen J I am fascinated with the process though and while I don’t enjoy the feeling of being pregnant (sickness, tiredness, aching boobs, cramps, ligament pain), I love being pregnant- I can’t believe I just said that because up until now I have made fun of that statement. It is true though. It is the toughest but coolest thing I have ever done. This process is amazing and I learn more and more about how amazing the female body is. Will I long for my bikini body again by the time this over? I can guarantee it but I want to embrace the bump and rock my bikini regardless! Only time will tell how I will recover and how long it will take to see abs again but right now all I can think about is finally seeing the best abs of all- baby bump!!!!!
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