Thursday, April 23, 2009

Morning Sickness


I would only be so lucky if morning sickness would actually live up to it's name. It seems this go round I have been plagued with 24/7 sickness. Yes, I am nauseas every single waking moment and then it wakes me up in the middle of the night as a sick joke. I haven't had the pleasure of actually vomiting quite yet. Although I think I would feel better if I could just get it over with. I have had the pleasure of having to talk it back down in the middle of teaching a fitness class as well as while training a client. We are already both certain that this one is a girl. Our reasoning; already high maintenance!

However, yesterday I thought I had beat the plague. I woke up feeling like myself again. I got up early to tackle my hair and makeup (something that had been lacking) before little Grif rolled out of bed. I cooked a yummy egg burrito breakfast, took Maggie (my wonderful lab) and Grif for a walk, cleaned the bathrooms (all before 9am) and headed off to work with a smile on my face. I trained a client and then, instead of dragging myself into my Fit Moms exercise class, I showed up energized ready to kick some mom butt. Everything was good until I layed my head down on a pillow to rest up while Griffin napped. All the sudden my stomach started doing flips, my legs started to become restless and the baby reminded me that yes, I am still in the dreaded first trimester and that he/she is still in charge.

I am sad to announce that the first trimester fun still has my stomach clinched at this very moment. I feel incredibly exhausted. However, I attribute that to the fact that I over did it yesterday in the workout arena. Three, one hour intense workouts in a 24 hour span was not a good idea. In my defense, I get so caught up in pushing my class and clients that I end up pushing myself at the same time. I keep reminding myself that exercising to exhaustion is not a good thing during pregnancy. My plan is to back it off a little without people noticing...I don't want them to think they can start slackin'.
I do want to take a second to defend the importance of exercise during pregnancy (mostly so my mom doesn't call and lecture me). It releases feel good chemicals that can lift your spirits, prepares one for an intense labor (and usually results in a shorter labor), relieves stress, improves sleep, generally,increases one's energy, and I could keep going. I have to admit, the 2 hours that I am usually working out during the day are my 2 best hours of the day. I usually feel the best and leave rather energized for the next hour or two. It's my fault. I need to learn my limits and listen to my body...I'm working on that, Mom! And don't worry, the baby doesn't pay the price for this, I do.

Side note...I do think the four pounds of mayonnaise that I gained have melted off. No, I'm not on a diet. This baby is an incredibly picky eater...nothing sounds good to me at all. See, I told you it was a girl.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Everything Tastes Better With Mayonnaise


So, the pregnancy hormones are starting to really kick in...the weirdest being my incredibly strong craving for mayonnaise. I know, crazy. I don't even like mayo on a normal basis. However, about four weeks ago, before I even knew I was pregnant, I had a sudden urge to dip my cold cut snack in a big jar of mayo. This same craving haunted me in my last pregnancy. I spent most of my nine months dreaming of french fries dipped in the white creamy goodness (and on occasion, that's what I did). This time the urge is stronger than ever. I lather up anything and everything with it. Seriously, everything tastes better with mayonnaise.

Here's the problem, mayo is loaded with calories, fat and more calories. I went to my first prenatal appointment...I gained four pounds...in a week! No, they weren't alarmed but I was (to the point my husband was sick of hearing about it). I came to the conclusion that the mayo is going to have to go. It really doesn't have any positive nutritional value to it. And even though we see pregnancy as the green light to devour all the things we have been depriving ourselves of, it is actually the most important time to clean up our eating habits (not a time to diet) and make the most of our calories when it comes to nutrition. Did you know that the fetal brain may grow as many as 250,000 nerve cells each and every minute. Even more, the brain is consuming about 70 percent of the nutrients delivered to it. Obviously, mayonnaise isn't going to cut it.


We did have an emergency ultra sound to ensure that I wasn't having a tubal pregnancy which can be a complication associated with endometriosis. I am happy to say that all is well. We saw our little peanut (he called it the yolk sac) for the first time. I am now 6 weeks and 3 days along. Baby Riley/Cooper is only 1/3 of an inch long — a little bigger than the top of a pencil eraser. He or she weighs less than an aspirin tablet...amazing...where did the four pounds come from then? Well, it is quiet possible that I have eaten four pounds of mayo in the last couple weeks.

The pregnancy hormones haven't just attacked my cravings, they have disabled my ability to hold back tears. A couple days ago I was driving home from dropping Grif off at school when a sad country song came on. I cried like a baby all the way home, pausing to laugh at myself, only to burst back into tears. What the heck? I forgot about this part. To top it off, my short term memory has completely gone out the window and I sleep most of the day away. If Grif is asleep, I'm asleep. How am I going to get anything done this way?!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

At Last!

It looks like some weight gain is in my near future...let's hope not 43 lbs this time. My husband, Chad, and I have been hoping and praying for 5 or 6 months for another addition to our incredible family. With Griffin, we hit the jack pot after just two months. Not so easy the second go round. We started to really worry after about the 4th month. I understand that the average woman takes anywhere from 6-12 months to get pregnant. However, I had a knock-down drag out fight with endometriosis that ended with surgery about 9 months ago. We feared that the disease had done the ultimate damage (as the doc warned was a possibility).

However, my parents had a different theory. They were concerned I was over doing it in the gym...is that even possible? Well, I was teaching seven fitness classes a week and training for a half-marathon. I guess I can see their concern. However, my body fat hadn't dropped too dangerously low. Not to mention, there are plenty of elite athletes (much more extreme than me) who have (semi) regular periods and get pregnant while training. To top it off, I had already paid my registration fee for that half marathon and trained my butt off so I was bound and determined to cross that finish line.

Needless to say I didn't listen to my parents. I continued to train and four of my awesome high school friends flew out to Washington to run that race with me. By the time race day rolled around I was seven days late. Not too crazy for me. I was 10 days late the month before. After 3 negative tests and about 30 bucks (those suckers are expensive), I started my period. However, I let my friends convince me that this might just be the month.

Lindsey, Elizabeth, me, Shana, Kelly


My incredibly small bladder woke me up at 4am. Since the test is most accurate with the first bathroom break of the day, I tip-toed down stairs to take the test as I didn't want Chad to know so I could surprise him if the test was positive. I stared at that stick expecting a negative reading. To my surprise, a faint second line appeared...then it got darker...oh my gosh, WE ARE PREGNANT. I set my surprise Chad plan into action and tossed and turned in bed until I heard some of the girls fumbling around the kitchen. I couldn't hold it in. I had to tell someone. I rushed down to stairs to share the news and we quietly jumped around in excitement.

We set out for the race and still, Chad had no idea. The half marathon was incredible. I loved every second. I never felt like I couldn't go another mile and I never thought, who does this to themselves. The last mile was the easiest. I couldn't get to the finish line fast enough. As I rounded the corner I could see Chad kneeling to take pictures of this big accomplishment. Little did he know, he was going to be a dad...again. When I was 20 feet from Chad I held up a yellow sign that I had made at 4am that morning. It read: WE ARE PREGNANT! The look on his face was priceless. He fell face first in disbelief and even shed a few tears. His buddies, and even perfect strangers, jumped on him in celebration and I crossed the finish line with a big smile on my face!
We are so incredibly excited and Griffin claims to want a little sister. No morning sickness yet, but I am only 7 weeks along. I plan to continue teaching my classes and I still run 3-5 miles twice a week. Don't worry, Mom and Dad, since I was exercising like this prior to getting pregnant it is still safe! I will keep you posted on my journey.