PART 23, TRYING FOR ANOTHER BLOG SERIES
I haven’t written about my current exercise routine in awhile. So here it is:
M- I teach a 40 min cardio kickboxing class that gets me torched and sweaty.
T- 30 min Strength- lower body
W- Long family walk 3.75 miles around Spring Lake
Th- 30 min Strength- upper body
F- Walk 2-3 miles
Sat- Teach yoga & 30 min full body strength
Sun- Rest
In addition, I go on about a 1 mile walk a few evenings a week after dinner to help digestion.
I’m still being very mindful to not engage my core and to release it as often as possible, and especially as I inhale during weight lifting. I’m avoiding lunges and one legged movements to ease pubic symphysis dysfunction (which is actually challenging when it comes to lower body work- there’s only so many squat variations I can come up with.
Nutrition:
I’m not even remotely as careful as I was initially (liver is no longer being consumed except in capsule form). I eat dessert almost every night now, but I eat pretty healthy during the rest of the day. My diet now looks very similar to how it did when I wasn’t pregnant. I actually haven't had much of an appetite these last couple of weeks because I feel stuffed all the time, like my insides are coming up my throat. Then heartburn hits at night, stopping me from really pigging out. Whenever I eat a dessert, it has to be on the smaller side, because I end up burping constantly with heartburn.
Some pregnancy staples for me are still: LMNT hydration packets (every other day), FullWell Fertility Prenatal Vitamins, Ancestral Supplements Beef Liver Supplement, Bubs Collagen Protein Powder in smoothies, Bubs MCT Oil Powder in my coffee, a banana a day, an egg a day, and extra water of course.
Sleep: I’m feeling a drop in energy again. Not as much as first trimester, but noticing feeling consistently drained. I’m also back to sleeping 9+ hours regularly. I know this is all my body’s way of recuperating from the hard work of baby building.
Digestion. This has been an issue for the past month or so. Something not a lot of people talk about (maybe not a lot experience it, I don’t know) is the issues with constipation during pregnancy. Constipation is not the actual issue. For me, the issue is the side-effect of constipation, which is the swelling and pressure on the pelvic floor that comes from pushing during constipation. I’m getting rather worried about this. This makes me really concerned that I am pushing towards a prolapse. I have a couple of months before the real pushing begins, and I certainly don’t want to create a prolapse issue ahead of time. Hoping that upping my water and fiber intake will help.
Belly Measurement
Sooo, two weeks after my appointment with Kaiser where I measured small, and three dynamic body balancing session with Dr. Jen later, and two weeks of hanging myself upside down three times a day, I went back to Kaiser to see what growth I had made with my belly. Luc came with me this time, and the two kids, to offer his support, only to find out that none of them would be allowed back with me because of Covid precautions. I was already on edge, but that ticked me off. The MA was super nice in her attempts to ease my nerves. Also the midwife I met with was very sweet. She asked how I was feeling about my belly’s size, and assured me that there could be lots of benign reasons for my belly to measure small. And it turned out her measurement came to a whopping 28 cm, putting me right at the bottom of the normal range- wahooo!! “Normal range” at 30 weeks is 28-32 cms: + or - 2 cms from the week. I was very relieved and happy to be on my way outta there! And I’m scheduled to go back next week for my 32 week appointment.
This whole belly measurement thing got me thinking to how silly it is to get worked up over a couple of cms. I mean, don’t people, including babies, grow differently and at different rates? Um, yes they do. And a cm is so small unit of measurement, two of them is as well. Anyways, I’m glad it’s no longer an issue for me. And it made me realize how challenging pregnancy can be with a concern. I can imagine how nerve-racking it can be to have a serious concern or condition that you’re dealing with throughout your pregnancy.
My Very Own Doula
I’m soooooo excited to say that we have hired Bee Johnson as our doula. Bee came to our house last week and met Luc for the first time and we hired her on the spot! More to come on all of that next time.
For now, I’m really enjoying creating a safe cozy home for my growing babe.