Fit, Fabulous, and Pregnant-June 2011

Heather I can't wait to hear what you are having today?!!!

Hey ladies. Just wanted to check in. I'm feeling pretty good, but hungry! I woke up and ate a granola bar immediately this morning and had a banana as soon as I got to work. Not I'm thinking about some oatmeal. And I am typically NOT a breakfast person, rather force myself to eat it around 9:30 or 10:00. I weighed myself last Friday after 2 weeks of not weighing and had actually lost 1/2 a pound so that puts my gain at 0.5 pound for 9 weeks (today!). I am pretty happy with that b/c I am terrrified of blowing up. :ohwell:

I have my first appointment on Thursday so that's exciting. I don't think we'll be doing anything "fun" rather just taking blood and checking medical history. My husband is going; the lady suggested he should, so I'm glad for that.

So someone had mentioned the lunch meat issue. I have been avoiding it (unless I nuke it) b/c I read so many places that is the thing to do, and my sister (a dr.) avoided it her pregnancy. I don't want to be one those annoying pregos that needs to know what's in everything, but I feel like I should do my best. What do you all think about all the avoidance of lunch meat, soft cheeses, unpasturized cheese, caffeine, asparatime? I WILL NOT give up coffee; I have about 2 cups a day. Every now and again I'll have a diet drink, usually decaf. I gave up my sugar free Citrucel for fiber gummies. I am trying to aboid the "bad" cheeses, but am not obsessing about it. We were at a pizza place on Saturday with another couple and we ended up with a pizza with fressh mozz and gorgonzola. I probably shouldn't have had either, but oh well. I do the best I can.

Hope you all are feeling good! I could use a nap.....

Good morning, ladies! Has anyone had any experience with homebirths/midwives? This is baby #5 for me and I'm considering a homebirth for quite a few reasons. Still waiting to hear back from my prospective midwife, but I'd appreciate some feedback in the meantime if any of you have any!

First day of summer and I've been hit with a horrible cold. I'm thankful my in-laws are looking after Colby this afternoon (hubby's at work) so I can just rest up. The sun is calling my name but unfortunately the bed wins this one. I'm so tired and need the rest.

Over 27 weeks pregnant - entering my third trimester. Can't believe it! It goes too fast. I love being pregnant and as happy as we'll be to have our baby here with us mid-September I know I'm going to miss feeling our baby inside "my belly" like I did after Colby was born.

Heather - I'm glad your husband is home at long last! Thrilled for you and your news of baby girl Charlotte! Congratulations! Thank you for sharing that info about baby's heartbeat, too. Colby's heartbeat when in utero and this baby's heartbeat has consistantly been around 140 beats. Boy or girl, I'll be happy!

Well, just checking in and saying hi. Hope everyone is well. Enjoy the great weather if you're having it!

Heather, happy to hear it's a girl! Sounds like your dream earlier in pregnancy might have been a little premonition...

Amy, yuck! I feel your pain. I too am either dealing with allergies or fighting a cold. I lean towards allergies since it's been watery eyes and just a runny nose. Hope you get some rest and get better soon. I agree, what a gorgeous day we had, hopefully more are coming our way.

Minnesotamama, this is my first baby and to be honest, I am a hospital kind of gal. Just want all the options available to us if we need them. I do have friends who have done the home birth route and seemed very happy with their decision. I also have friends who have done the midwife thing, but had their delivery in the hospital. Ask lots of questions to your providers and do what feels right for you. With baby #5 I am sure you know how you feel about delivery! I always tell my patients to trust their guts and not let someone pressure them into treatment they aren't comfortable with.

Our crib got delivered today and I have to say it's just as I hoped for. Still have a bit of decorating to do, but the nursery is starting to come together. I'm starting to feel some fatigue creep back in as well as the need for more frequent bathroom breaks. I can only imagine it's going to get worse over the next ten weeks. My best friend is coming into town tomorrow, cannot wait to spend some time with her over the next couple evenings!!

Hi Minnesotamama, as far as the midwife thing, I would recommend watching the documentary "The Business of Being Born" it is a fascinating look at both sides and really interesting. I know it is available on Netflix, Just a good way to look at both sides!

bump!

minnesotamama - no we don't know the sex. I think we are in the very small group of people who choose to be surprised! I have this feeling it's a boy......I have a 50 percent chance of being right huh?

Lexi - glad to hear from you! You look great and glad to hear the bp has stayed under control. I too am still getting in three runs a week, I keep thinking maybe it's time to quit, but it still feels okay so I haven't. The time does really start flying by at this point. I can't believe my little one will be here in about ten weeks. Very exciting.

Hope everyone is doing well :-)

Hmm... maybe that's why I've been craving bananas lately! I have had a few leg cramps in bed, they suck!

smilegirl - I think it's so fun that you're not finding out the sex! We have found out with two of ours and have been surprised with two....we're choosing another surprise with this one.

911girl - hope you have success with the vbac. My friend had a succesful one a couple months ago, but my sister-in-law tried a couple weeks ago and had to go with a c-section again. Of course, she was just happy her and baby are doing well, since that is the most important thing.

Heather - girl stuff is sooo much more fun to shop for. Boys are crazy fun, but there's nothing quite like cute sundresses and ribbons.

911girl/Heather- I hear ya about loving your doctor and preferring a hospital birth. I don't think I would've even considered a homebirth with my first 3 pregnancies. I wanted to look into it with baby #4 (since that was the pregnancy right after my 45 minute labor/delivery) but my husband was not on board. And I absolutely love our doctor. So, it's a hard switch to make.

You girls that are running totally motivated me yesterday to actually get on the treadmill. I've been consistently working out with the 30 day shred but I wanted to add more cardio. It felt fabulous. I think I might alternate days of Shred and treadmill.

Um, here's a little info about myself....
My name is Stephanie, I'm 28 years old, pregnant with my 5th child (although, I did have one miscarriage so this is technically pregnancy #6). My kids are 6, 4(almost 5), 3, and 11 months - 2 boys and 2 girls respectively. My husband and I get rude looks and comments all the time because we're both so young and it's not the "norm" to have large families anymore. I think people must assume we're very careless in our birth control methods and that's why we have so many. On the contrary, only one has been a surprise, the rest very carefully planned. We joke that we're addicted to having babies. We probably don't look like the normal large family group. I don't leave the house looking like I haven't slept/showered in days. I like me and my kids to look neat and put together. Also, my husband's kind of a hottie and gets checked out left and right by girls when we go out. It makes me proud I'm his baby mama. I'm a recovering control-freak that loves cleanliness and order, although I'm learning to let that go with each kid we add! :laugh: My husband, Josh, is a truck driver and it's not unheard of for him to be gone for a week at a time, if not more. I also homeschool our older children so I'm super busy, but also have learnedd just how strong I really am since I have to take on so much. I've never gained more than 29 lbs in any of my pregnancies however I started out 10 lbs more with the last one so I'm wanting to gain even less with this one. My weight is in the "healthy" range at 142 so I'm not overly concerned. I just want to be healthy.

I love reading about all of you and your own personal pregnancy journey that you're on! And keep up all the good work to be healthy and fit...it's inspiring!!!

You all are very inspirational in your cotiniued activities! I have been a runner for a while but have backed off some since finding out I was pregnant. I still haven't talked to my dr. about what is safe for me; have my first appointment today! This is my first so it's all very new and exciting.

I know I hear from all of you that you have continued what you're doing and I have for the most part. I swam almost a mile on Monday and that was great so hope to do more swimming. I'm trying to up my cardio over the next couple weeks but have been pretty busy si haven't gotten as much as I'd like in this week.

Minnesotamama.....4 kids and counting?! Wow. That is impressive. I like that you keep yourself put together. I have a friend that has become all about baby since she had hers about a year ago. Her and a group of my girlfriends get together a couple times a month for girls night out and she rarely looks put together and says, "this is how it is when you have kids" (she is the only one with kids). I really want to maintain my identity and "put togetherness" once the baby comes. I know life will change forever, but I still think it's importatnt to still be Ashley, wife, friend, worker, athlete, etc. instead of only Baby's Mom.

Hope you're all having a great week!

Just curious....how many are finding out what they're having? We are mostly b/c we are big time planners.

Better_Balance,

I know so many friends/family members who have completely let themselves go just because they've entered the role of "mother". I don't come from a naturally "skinny" family so I definitely have to work hard to maintain a decent weight and level of fitness. And with 4 kids, it takes a tremendous amount of work and some great time-management skills to keep everything together. But, for me, it's totally worth it. And my husband completely appreciates all the effort I put in. So, I believe that as long as you make it a priority you can still be the most nurturing, loving mother and at the same time take care of yourself. You just may need to have a really good sense of humor on some (if not most!) days. :laugh:

Hey all. My appointment was relatively uneventful. I got some questions answered, like about working out. My dr. told me if I can talk, then I'm okay. But if I am rather winded, adequate blood flow is not getting to the baby. So I'm going to keep that in mind. I'm also going to cut out the heavier lifting. I had started a new program right before I found out I was prego, and have backed off for the past 3 weeks, but now I will put that on hold for now. Still try to do some strength, just lighter weights. She also checked my uterus and thinks I am more like 8ish weeks rather than 9.5 (the count we got from first day of my last period). I am a later ovulator (day 18) so that already puts me 4 days behind. The good news is I get to go back in 2 weeks to hear that heartbeat. For some reason I felt a little nervous after I left, like I wanted more confirmation that everything is fine. I guess the next appointment will provide me some comfort. We also decided against the extra testing (for Downs, Spina bifita and the one I can't remember). My nurse said a lot of people do it so they can have an early ultrasound, so we thought maybe we'd do it. Then when I mentioned that to the dr. she said that was a bad reason to do it. Once I realized it just gave us a risk factor, we decided we didn't want to know that. If our risk was high, I would be worried for the next 7 months. No thanks. I'm sure I'll find enough to worry about between now and then!

MinMama - way to go for working so hard on everything! I am a pretty motivated person and I hope I do not lose that part of myself through all this. I am glad to hear you have not! Good attitude and sense of humor is a must in life in general I think.

It's intersting to hear that so many people aren't finding out what they're having! Part of me wants to wait, but more of me wants to know. Even last night my girlfriends were bumming because "we" have to wait 10 more weeks to find out. Speaking of friends, most of ours found out the same day we did. We had a wedding reception and I tried to pretend drink and totally got busted. I still have kept it on the DL at work (only 4 people here know), but family and friends all know already. So everything better be good over the next few weeks!

Hope you all have a great weekend! I hope to get some activity in this weekend. I've been busy this week and have not worked out as much as I'd like. BTW...smilegirl....you are awesome. When I was not prego I used to get up every Monday morning to run and those rainy days are HARD to drag out of bed. I do not choose to work out in the morning much anymore. I hate mornings.

Minnesotamama- I kept up with ab workouts till I was maybe 18 weeks? I didn't really get that big though, but I worked out my obliques with weights, leg raises, but I didn't concentrate much on it. I figured that my running kinda sorta keeps my core worked out? I really don't know lol.

911girl - I read Battle hymn of the Tiger Mom yesterday. I really enjoyed it because I also had really strict chinese upbringing that did almost the same thing in the book, but as I grew older I really do appreciate how my mom raised me because I set really really high standards for myself in school and almost always end up excelling. I have been debating in my head on the best way to raise this child because my hubby is very very "western" as the book defined it and I don't believe in letting kids do their own thing and be "lucky" if they come out right... I rebelled a little when I became a teenager but I turned out okay... My mom softened up when I was 14 because she married an American so I feel like I got a really good balance. The book is controversial in the USA but it brings out the reality of how a lot of asian families... Might want to look that up it was very interesting! Another book I am reading is the Marathon book by Hal Higdon, I think I am going to come around and finally finish it, it is a really good running motivation book...

Heather- No WE are not taking childbirth classes... Like I told my doula, my husband is not into the whole process of childbirth so to him, understanding why I chose unmedicated birth and knowing he will be there is enough for me. I might go to a couple to help me relax but my doula (who also teaches the classes) says she has met plenty of husbands like mine and reassures me that she will help him in the moment (which he does better at, rather than taking classes in advance). She has also sat down and talked to me about techniques, sent me resources and reading homework... I am debating on taking lactation classes although I think it is pointless for me since I taught those classes last semester and did rotations with the lactation consultant during my rotation... I kinda feel like I won't learn anything new... lol Classes and stuff are in the air.. I might take some.. What do you think? The whole L&D, phases of labor etc is still pretty fresh in my mind from last semester so I am debating...

Can't remember who was talking about the 5 kids (don't want to press the back button and lose all this lol) but WOW. kudos!!

I really need to pop out soon (but hopefully not too too big)
Here is a 28 week pic

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v220/lexxxiee/258168_171173629612531_100001596858837_472905_4702058_o.jpg"&gt;

Well, I had my first appointment of Friday and got my first ultrasound pictures, everything looks great! Doc said not to stress too much over my diet and keep up the exercise! We made the big announcement, because as my bf says, if it isn't of Facebook, it isn't real, lol! So the word is out, the kids are thrilled, life is good!

We spent the weeknd camping near the Sierra Buttes and had a wonderful time with friends. We ended up hiking (not so fun with a whinning 5 and 3 year old) and then kayaking both days for almost an hour and a half each day. THis was our fist time out the year on the kayak, and the first day it felt really good. I didn't get tired at all! The second day was a different story, after just 30 minutes of paddling I was exhausted! I kept going but this time I really knew I was getting a workout! I have been targeting my upper body for the last few weeks, but it really doesn't feel like it helped! All day yesterday my shoulders were super-sore and my back is aching, I may have over done it. Going to do just a short cardio workout today, followed by a 1 mile walk tonight, taking it easy.

Hope you all had a great weekend, and that this week is productive as well!

BTW, I find that it isn't too hard to be well put together and have your children well dressed and groomed everyday, I think it is really a matter of priorities! I take pride in my own as well as my childrens' appearance (as well as behavior) and I think it shows.