Pregnancy Update- Halfway there! (Almost)

Oh, pregnancy. How I love you right now, but I didn’t always!

I have been getting some questions about how my pregnancy journey is going and I thought it would be pretty cool to look back on this blog if we decided to have another child (as of now, yes we do) to compare pregnancies.

I thought I’d start off by setting the mood for you as to how I started my day...

I woke up seeing a deflated belly even though last night you could have popped me with a pin and I would have blown all the way to China. Yes, I felt that big! I started my morning off with a lot of water, prenatal and spirulina pills. Then (because my cravings are for wholesome meals, not snacks like I am used to) I followed up my pills with a big fluffy egg casserole I made over the weekend. It hit the spot. I worked for a while writing up detox meal plans for clients and did some meditating. By ten o’clock I was ready for a banana and peanut butter. Back to work I went… until twelve thirty hit and I was starting to get hungry again. However, I knew it was now or never for my workout so I slipped on my oh-so-small-for-me sports bra and did a leg workout. Feeling wobbly and weak, I just kept pushing through until the thirty minutes were over. Afterwards I gobbled up a whole plate of chicken, broccoli and gluten free pasta.

And here I am now.

Some more thoughts…

Honestly, working out while pregnant has been hit or miss. I am finding that I don’t feel like getting creative when it comes to programing my own workouts so I have been using Beachbody on Demand or running. I alternate back and forth and right now the program I am doing is 21 Day Fix. When it comes to my strength and stamina, some days I’m on fire and then other days it takes everything in me to not get discouraged. But I know that is all part of the journey- and can be controlled by my mind-somewhat. I have been trying to stay positive when it comes to my fitness and be forgiving when it comes to my changing body. Although, I quite like my bump as it stands today. I think it’s cute. My girls (ahem… chest) on the other hand are becoming somewhat of a tough task to manage and keep up with! You would have thought I was feeding them miracle grow! If they are not sore, they are itchy or just in the way. I never thought I’d have to maneuver them around as much as I am.

I was promised the second trimester would be better than the first and I have to absolutely agree. The first trimester was incredibly tough (some days more than others) because I have to workout for a living… while feeling extremely hung over AND not being able to tell anyone what was going on was really hard. But I put on a strong poker face and got it done. Brain fog, fatigue and headaches got the best of me most days, but I would take that over morning sickness any day. So for that I am actually very thankful. I just kept telling myself that as every day passes, I am closer to creating a fuller and healthier baby. “Just hang on. Just hang on.” were my thoughts. During my first trimester I craved a lot of salty foods- Pot stickers with soy sauce, burgers and french fries, pizza, and chicken salad hoagies with chips. Because I was craving so much salt, I realized that meant I was low in calcium. When I checked my prenatal pills I saw that the calcium percentage was definitely not meeting the standards. So I went out and bought extra calcium with D3 and within one week my salt cravings went away. I took many three-hour naps and would work from my bed when I could (to be frank, I have never drooled so much in my life!). During that time I think I only worked out if I needed to be with a client. My first trimester I lost two pounds and then slowly gained it back about ten to eleven weeks in. As you can probably tell I didn’t cave to all of my cravings. But currently I am six pounds heavier than my starting weight- sitting at 19.5 weeks in.

My emotions really started to kick into high gear. I can be so short with Mike (like completely out of nowhere) and then cry about the fact that I felt so snippy and mean to him. But also simultaneously I will be laughing and snorting from such irrational feelings that took over my body. Sometimes he just looks at me bewildered, almost not knowing what to do. I don't think he realizes that exactly what he does to help calm me is exactly what I need- A long rub on the back and reassurance that I am not crazy (even if he truly thinks I am).

We are bursting at the seams to know if there is a little girl or boy buried in my belly. We find out in about two weeks! We are holding an extremely small gender reveal party for our parents (we are just going to do the classic cake cutting reveal). We've been tossing around names and have one pinned down for a girl, but a boy name seems to be harder for us. We tend to like the modern or slightly unusual names simply because every name we spurt out is of someone we already know- not that there is anything wrong with that, but sometimes memories are brought up, etc. A clean slate with a name is much preferred!

Lastly, I have been asked if I have a birth plan. I hear that ninety nine percent of birth plans go out the window. So we are planning on going to classes, become as educated as we can, communicate about how Mike can help me handle my pain and just go from there. If the pain is too great, I’ll take an epidural. If I go into labor and it is too late to give me one, than it is all-natural. I have heard all stories under the sun and you never know what baby and your body have in store for you. I am going to take it one minute, contraction, and push at a time.

I may write another success secret soon about our pre-baby journey. I did a decent amount of things to prime my body for this new chapter in our lives and Mike took time to get his mind together for it as well. We feel as though those things helped us greatly with conception and beyond thus far!

Thanks for reading this very lengthy, but dear to me post!