Week 13: Waiting is The Suck

So, I'm still feeling a lot less nauseous, and for that I am extremely grateful. In fact, I've made multiple promises to people who probably don't care that I will NEVER AGAIN take feeling NOT nauseous for granted. (If I had to diagram that sentence, it would be horrible).

I went to my 12 week appointment last Wednesday (on Halloween), and was given my choice of prenatal tests:

The standard Nuchal Translucency scan, which involves a sonogram and a blood test. It's a screening, so it would just tell me my chances that something might be up with the baby (Downs or other Trisomies). If that were the case, I would have to have more invasive testing, like an amnio or something equally horrible I imagine.

or

MaterniT21 test: This test involves them taking blood (lots of blood, as it turns out) and doing the analysis from that. From what my doctor said, though, it is NOT just a screen, it is actually a diagnostic test. Also, it can tell you gender, and I'm the kind of person who can't wait at ALL so I want to find that out as soon as possible.

I chose the MaterniT21. And now, I have to wait "about a week". Wow. Waiting is the suck. Yes, I'm curious about the gender, but of course, I'm *really* wondering about the other issues. Even when I get the results, I suppose there could be things going on with the baby that we won't know about until the anatomy scan, some time around 20 weeks.

So I wait. While waiting, I'm trying to keep my mind off of the fact that I'm waiting. That's working out about as well as you might think.

In other news, I'm doing Body Beast workouts for weights, and running. Yes, running. Something strange happened: I started to like running again. Pregnant. I mean, really? Anyway, no pressure. I'm running with walk breaks, usually only about 2 miles. It's just enough to calm my nerves and hopefully slow down the colossal weight gain (I've gained almost 20 pounds in 2 months).

And here's a Week 13 picture:

My uterus has already given up.

Oh hai, Week 12.

Oh, Week 12. For the love of David Boreanaz, it's about time you showed up.

Source

Here's how things are looking as we start Week 12:

 

Last week, the nausea was pretty bad. It was also exhausting. I went home early on Wednesday, and struggled through Thursday and Friday. But, over the weekend, it wasn't so bad. The only time I started to feel sick was when I went too long without eating. We visited a new church on Sunday, and when church was over, everyone in the whole world wanted to talk to us, and all I was thinking was, "I need to get to the snacks. For the love of DB, let me go eat something."

I have my next doctor's appointment tomorrow, and we'll be doing some testing. Apparently, there is a new test that just involves a sonogram and drawing blood, but it's as effective as the more invasive tests. Yes, sign me up for that. I'm also kind of hoping they can tell me the gender, but since this is a new test, I haven't been able to find out for sure (even using my mad research skills).

Workout wise, I've been kind of enjoying running again. Well, run/walk-ing. I need to get some kind of support because I'm already having stretchy round ligament pain after I bounce around.... this has resulted in my holding my belly on the treadmill at the gym, which may look stupid. (It's good that I don't care about those things, then.)

I've also been doing Les Mills Pump and Turbofire. Mainly, I just need something that's fun. Pump may not get me the humongous muscles I love, but it's SOMETHING, and will keep me going for a while.

Okay, now I'm just starting to ramble. Here are the basics:

- Not nauseous so much

- Working out daily

- Not at all nervous or afraid of genetic testing.

- David Boreanaz. Duh.

Have a great Monday folks...

Week 11: Still pregnant. Still a bit punchy

Something funny happened to me over the weekend. I started to feel better.

Well, let me correct myself.... Saturday I did NOT feel great, but there were a number of factors involved:

- I was unable to pry myself out of bed to workout (or do much of anything) before the kids woke up, so I woke up frazzled with their demands starting before I even went to the bathroom...

- My husband was playing at an outdoor Jazz fest and wanted me to bring the kids... so I got them ready (which is always a special experience) and carried them there, parked in an odd place, walked a really long way, then tried to get them to sit still for an hour. In the Texas heat.

- I felt like I was going to throw up pretty much the entire time, and I also needed to pee, but couldn't figure out a way to get all three of us into a port-o-potty, so I just did my best to ignore it.

After my husband's set was over, we agreed to go to a restaurant. My hunger/fatigue/nausea/bladder issues led me to dive into the bread and butter offered to us (once I had gone to the bathroom, of course). I also had bacon cheese burger. And it was really good.

After this, everyone had to have a shower. I couldn't believe some of the sticky stuff on my two year old. It's probably better that I didn't know what it was. But then we laid down for a nap. I was pretty miserable at this point (so hot, so tired...)

Then for dinner, I made frozen banana ice cream :-) I figured that made up for the burger. At least a little.

Sunday, however, I woke up feeling great. I was motivated to clean. I got to the things on my to-do list. I cleaned the garbage out of my car. I cleaned the heck out of the hall bathroom. I threw away 2 garbage bags full of paper. I read some of my book. It was a miracle.

I also noticed that my belly didn't feel as huge as it had been. It wasn't hard like it was the past few weeks. The only thing I can think of is maybe some of the awful pregnant bloaty-ness has gone away.

But today (Monday) it continued (for the most part). I did have some episodes of nausea, but for the most part I had energy and was able to function without feeling like my mind was in a cloud.

So, I'm hoping it will be like this for a while. I'm hoping to get back on track with nutrition and slow down some of the weight gain. In fact, today I weighed at the gym, and I have lost 2 pounds! Now I weigh in at 148. Much more reasonable, right?

Anyway, here are some Week 11 pics:

The belly hasn't grown too much, and I still have delts so WIN.

Also, ignore the look on my face, because I swear I saw a vein.

Here Comes Week 10...

So I figured, Week 10 is starting, and I'll go ahead and do a weekly documentation of all the exciting details of trying to stay in shape and grow a person at the same time.

10 weeks. The baby is the size of a grape. Why is my stomach so big?

And from the front you can really see how my hips are expanding in preparation for childbirth

I'm in this fun stage where I just look fat, not pregnant. Of course, the fact that I have eaten terribly for a month surely has something to do with it.

However, as I predicted, I started to feel a bit better the past few days. I had a terrible sick headache that started Friday night and lasted into Saturday, but by Sunday, I woke up feeling lots better. I didn't crave crap (as much), and felt like I had a little more control over what I ate (as opposed to the overwhelming urge to consume EVERYTHING lest I vomit for the past few weeks).

Workout wise, though, I have no motivation to do CrossFit. Part of it is that it's easier to workout at home rather than leave the house by 4:45 am. Part of it is the dread factor. I just want to do the stuff I like. Or as my 5 year old says, "I just want what I want!"

I just don't feel like pushing myself until I feel like I'm going to pass out. So I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that. To be honest, as I look at the budget for the next 7 months and I think, "What can I cut back on?" and add that to "I just don't feel like doing CrossFit pregnant"... well, there's some money I could save. However, I've paid through November 5, so there's the need to get my money's worth until then. That and, oh yeah, I don't like to be a "quitter". Oh the drama.

What I *do* enjoy right now: Turbofire, Lifting, Yoga. And eating. Wait, that's not a workout.

So. 10 weeks down (pretty much). 30 to go. It's going to be a while.

And God laughed....

I have been a little quiet lately. Hopefully someone noticed. It would be a little sad if I came in and said, "I'm sorry I've been so quiet" and everyone went, "Wait? You were gone? I had no idea..."



Anyway, life has thrown me a little bit of a curve ball.

Remember how this summer I was in absolutely great shape. I actually would venture to say I was in the "Best Shape of My Life" (and I think I did, which was one way to tempt fate a little).

"I am in the best shape of my life! Look at the delt veins!"

"Woohoo! I'm looking good!"

Then I started the Whole30 and CrossFit. I was on top of the world. New job, new town, new way of eating, new workouts....

Well, I got a little surprise....

Apparently, God thought it was hilarious how I had everything planned out. It was especially hilarious how we gave away EVERYTHING that had anything to do with babies when we moved from Tennessee to Texas this summer.

Source

I don't want to make a huge big announcement. It took me a little while to get used to the fact that my body was going to basically belong to someone else for nine months again, and that I will be a mother to THREE children. But, I do feel like it explains some of my lack of posting.

Here are some of the things that have been going on:
- Nausea. I'm not one of those ladies who loses 10 pounds in the first trimester. I get the kind of nausea that only eating crap can fix. So I've been eating crap for a month, and have gained 10 pounds.
- Tired. I can't believe I'm about to say it, but I have absolutely no interest in working out. None. I gave it a good effort for a while, but for the past 2 weeks or so, I'm really having to push it. If it comes to a choice between sleeping and working out, I'm sleeping.

So my new  goals are:
- Survive until May 13-ish, and then probably never sleep again.
- Gain less than 40 pounds.
- Get back to a more regular workout schedule sometime in the next few weeks.
- Keep going to CrossFit twice a week
- Get that diet under control once the nausea stops demanding I eat CheezIts all the time.

Every pregnancy I try to do a little better. So, maybe this will be the one where I finally get it perfect, right?

(*I should add that once I got over the initial shock, in all seriousness, I am quite happy. Every baby is a blessing, even the ones who were the surprise of your life...)

My Very First CrossFit Competition

Saturday, September 29 was the SeaCity CrossFit September Smackdown. Considering September 3 was the first time I ever actually went to CrossFit, it seemed like a great idea to go ahead and enter a contest.

Source

Honestly, I was assured there was a place for beginners, and sure enough there was.

We were divided into beginner, intermediate and advanced. Coach Tim sent us specific guidelines so that we would know where we belonged. The guidelines for beginners was this:

Beginner – I scale most if not all the wods.

I can push press 65/50#
I can step-up or jump on an 18” box
I can swing a 35/26# kettlebell

Well, I got this. Sign me up for beginner level!




They divided us into multiple heats. I went in the first heat of the day. Each athlete (I love how they kept referring to us as "athletes". Take that, middle school gym teacher!) was paired with a judge. The judge would count your reps with you and tell you if it was a "no-rep" (it didn't count). My judge was a super nice guy named Xavier who is a CrossFit coach at another box.

We had 2 WODs.

Beginner WOD 1:

Stationary lunges 8 each leg (alternate)
Push Press 50 pounds 8 times
Jump or step up on 18" box 8 times

AMRAP in 10 minutes.

We did a few practice moves with our judge before the timer started to make sure we had it down. Sadly, I could *not* do an 18 inch box jump. I tried. It was sad. But, luckily, I could step up instead. That I can do.

Lungin'

One Push Press at 50# is cake. 40+? Um...

 (I think that's the face my kids see when they're in trouble)


I felt really good about WOD #1. However, once the timer went off, we had 5 minutes to rest before WOD #2. WOD #2 was MAX BURPEES IN 2.5 MINUTES!

Mid-Burpee

I hate burpees. A lot. And I was already tired. But, dang it, I was going to BRING IT. I decided I would do 10 at a time as a psychological game for myself. I ended up with 30 BURPEES! Holy cow! I didn't know I could do 30 burpees in a row EVER.

What my legs looked like when I was done.

After that, I was done. I had brought a babysitter and my children and envisioned a lovely day with my children getting inspired to pursue a lifetime of fitness..... well, it may not  have gone as planned, but they seemed to enjoy themselves...

My daughter doing her own burpees

Then she somehow became a ninja

My son shows off his muscles.

Playing with wall balls.

 Watching the other groups do their WODs was inspiring. The intermediate women were CRAZY. Their first WOD included burpee box jumps (!!!!) and crazy kipping pull ups. Their second WOD was 10 minutes to work up to their Clean and Press ONE REP MAX. It was inspiring to watch these ladies lift such heavy weights overhead. I definitely have some new goals.

The advanced men was a small, elite group of CrossFit coaches who had to run 800 m (about a half a mile), do 12-9-6 of some crazy stuff including muscle ups and double unders, then run 800 m AGAIN. Holy cow.

I waited the whole day, mostly because I wanted to see the other groups compete, but also because I was a little curious to see if I placed. It was silly to expect to place in my first competition, and when they announced the top 3 and I *wasn't* there, I wasn't surprised.

However, later they posted the complete results and I was shocked to see that I was FOURTH in my group!

When I arrived at the 5AM WOD Monday morning, Coach Tim came up to me and congratulated me on a great job. He said I was first in my heat, and that he was really impressed with how well I did. He also gave me some surprise swag: A bracelet, WODShop Coupon, and a jumprope (so I can practice double unders... she said with irony). I was really moved.

My surprise swag

Overall, I'm very proud and excited that I chose to participate. I had a great time, and I was inspired by what people can do. The support I received was amazing and is going a long way towards healing my PTSD from middle school P.E. class.

Once Upon A Time...

I had a blog. I loved to write in my blog.

Then, I got a new job, and moved 2 kids, 1 cat, and a husband over 1000 miles.

Then we got to our new house, which is a beautiful house on the beach, but found that we still had to actually put all our stuff away.

So, yeah, sitting and writing in my blog seemed like such a luxury.

But, I've completed my first week at work. I've got an *almost* functional house (although, I don't think I'll be posting any pics of it on Pinterest any time soon), and I'm ready to get back on track.

If I told you how I've eaten this past month, you would shake your head in shame. I'm not proud. But, like I said before, my goals shifted from "diet and be healthy" to "survive".

One of the exciting things I have planned is to do a Whole 30, starting tomorrow.

What's a Whole 30? Well, take a look over here at the Whole 9 website:



Basically, for 30 days I'll eat very very clean, healthy, whole food. No processed food, no dairy (yes, coffee withOUT cream. It is going to be tragic).

But the reason I'm doing it is not to lose weight. The main reason is to get healthier. Maybe see my skin improve. Some of the digestive issues I have may go away. But basically, I just want to try it.

So, I'll do my best to document it here. I know, I know, I've promised this before. But it's my goal. One day at a time.

One of the things the creators of the program suggest you do is take pictures to document. For example, a lot of people notice improvements in their skin, so it's suggested that you take a Day 1 pic. So, here's me at the gym today (but actually I guess that would be Day 0).

And I could not look more excited...

I'm ready, and I've got a friend who's an old pro who'll be doing it with me (you should check out her blog, by the way. She rocks.)

So, here we go. Is this thing on?