19 weeks...

I had my 19 week check up this week at the doctors. Everything is going fine. I gained 3 lbs this last month and so, even though I haven't been that hungry, I have clearly managed to still gain weight. I have to see a new doctor each time I go in, so each time you have to go through the whole story about what I do and how I look like I workout. Funny, because I am pretty sure I don't "look" like I workout! However, my heart rate was 65, which is really quite awesome considering your heart rate generally goes up when you are pregnant! This is probably up for me, from when I am in actual training, but still low for most people at any time.

This doctor said that she doesn't actually measure until you are quite a bit above the bellybutton. But at 20 weeks (I'm at 19) you are suppose to be at about your bellybutton. I am just barely above now, so that means that I am measuring a little big right now, going by that idea. I got to hear the baby's heartbeat again, and still each time I hear it, I am quite surprised that there is a baby in there! Even though I have (obviously) gotten bigger and I still get bloody noses, the only other real symptom is that my running is getting slower by the week. I run aerobically, so I just base it on feel and today's run of 3 miles was one of my slowest yet! I brought Stella with me because I figured she wouldn't get tired because it was cloudy and we were going so slow and not far, but she had to stop 3 times on the way home. However, I wasn't complaining!

Again, for those of you that think I shouldn't be working out, I verify with each new doctor that I see, that I am still doing good with what I am doing. This doctor was so excited that I workout and run. She said that as long as I am gaining weight (obviously) and not measuring small (and we are big) that I must be doing good. There must be a lot of sedentary people because each time someone asks if I workout they are so excited and surprised that I workout while pregnant. Then you have the group that thinks that I shouldn't be doing anything. This week I actually had a couple days that didn't feel great while working out. Not feeling great means that I was more tired than normal. My legs were more fatigued and my level of perceived effort (which I keep easy to slightly moderate), was much higher than other days. I made adjustments to the workouts and came home and took a nap :) I assume there will be more and more days like that and I will just go with it. It's probably all of the extra weight I have put on! It's like carrying around a weight (baby) vest! I have needed a few more naps this week as I have been pretty tired.

The exciting part of the doctors appointment was I scheduled my 20 week ultrasound! It is next Weds (5 days from today!). We are still HIGHLY considering finding out the sex....we will see very soon!

19 weeks, looking bigger than last week I think:


Not sure why this is blurry, it's not your eyes it is the picture :)

Interesting facts:
Days left till due date: 147
Days since pregnant: 133
Size of baby: Large Mango, 6-8 inches and 1/2 lb or slightly more
Kicks felt: None?
Random info: Arms and legs are now in proportion
Days till ultrasound: 5
Days till next doctors appt: 25 days
Days till our VACATION: 6!! (Florida for a few days)

18 weeks....

4.5 months. If you were actually pregnant for 9 months, this would be the halfway point. However, since you are actually pregnant for 10 months, 2 more weeks will be our halfway point.

Week to week there hasn't been many changes physically. I feel good, my SI pain has been good (knock on wood) and everything has been going fine. If my stomach wasn't growing, I really wouldn't believe I am pregnant. Sometimes, when I am at the gym and I look in the mirror, I am surprised by my stomach. I know I think it is big now, I can't even imagine it being bigger! I already have a hard time trying to grab something on the floor of the car when I am in the passenger seat, bending over like that is just weird, it is like there is a big roll stopping me from doing it. However, I can still do it, I know at some point I probably won't be able to do things like this.

I must be looking pregnant (vs. looking fat) now because at the gym, I have people come up to me and say "Oh it is so good to see you working out while you are pregnant!!" What?? Am I suppose to just sit at home and eat? I don't know what people think being pregnant is...I think a lot of people must want to use it as a reason to not be healthy. Even though the studies show that working out makes for a healthier pregnancy and baby. No, I am not overdoing it. In my first trimester, during the big developmental time period, where the baby goes from the size of a pin head to an actual baby (albeit small), I was very careful not to overdo it. I did not workout in the heat. My runs and cardio were all 30 minutes long and all at a low aerobic intensity. Now that I am in the second trimester, the doctor gave me the go ahead to do whatever I am comfortable with, that is aerobic and doesn't leave me exhausted. My stairmaster time is about 40-50 minutes, but instead of a pre-pregnancy level of 9/10, I now do level 4 (which is probably just as hard to me now!). Or I do 15 or 20 minutes of a stairmaster or elliptical and then lift and then go back and do another set of cardio. I don't lift heavy weights, but I do lift more times than I did before I was pregnant, mainly because now my cardio time is less. I took a spin class this week, just to change things up a bit.

I also ran track again this week. The one thing about running is that I can go to the bathroom right before I start running, but about 1-2 miles in, or about 20 minutes, I have to go again! This makes for a lot of stops! This week I ran an 800, 400,800,400,800,400, and a 400 (3x800,4x 400). The 400's were good breaks from the 800's.

Another funny thing is how when you are pregnant people think that this is like a sickness. Even my mother, that claims when she was pregnant she was hauling a ton of rock around the yard (or some story like that), worries that I am working out. Or when I say that we might be going on a short trip, she is worried about "my condition". Totally cracks me up. What is "my condition"???? She always said that I hope when you are pregnant you don't complain and be all wimpy about it, but now that I am pregnant she thinks I am a little too un-wimpy? As long as the pregnancy is going well, according to the doctor, then I will continue on until I feel uncomfortable to do something, or it is not good for the baby. Obviously, I am aware that I am renting out space for a short amount of time and that the decisions I make, I am making for someone else. And of course the other person takes priority. I am not thinking that working out or doing whatever I do, is making me in better shape, or trying to make me look good. There is absolutely no vanity in pregnancy. I can workout and still be getting a bigger stomach by the day!

The weird things I have been experiencing with pregnancy are the vivid dreams. Apparently, this is something that happens a lot when you are pregnant. I am traditionally a person that remembers my dreams on a lot of nights, but now it is crazy! The dreams are so real and last nights I think I was even crying in my sleep! I had dreamt that Roscoe (the dog) was with me in an elevator and wouldn't come with me out of the elevator and he jumped through the grates before I could grab him and fell SMACK on the concrete floor. I didn't even want to look! I have had other dreams about Pedro and other one's about me, that I would swear were real (although, thankfully for the most part they are not!) I also had a dream that I had a 7lb 3 oz girl...so if that happens it will be crazy! I have also been having a hard time sleeping. Not falling asleep, but I wake up very early and I am wide awake. I lay there and eventually fall back asleep, but it makes me tired for the rest of the day, because we don't usually go to bed until pretty late. I have been needing a nap in the afternoon. The last thing is that the last week or so, I have not been very hungry. I have had to make sure that I am eating, because I am just not as hungry as I was. My scale at home has not changed in the past two weeks, but I am pretty sure I could put on a 1-2 pounds in a short period of time and since I don't weigh myself too frequently, the next time I get on it could be up. They say during the second trimester you should gain about 1lb a week. Maybe I am making up for my earlier gain?!?

Our ultrasound is coming up (I will schedule it at my next appt). I am now CONSIDERING finding out if it is a boy or a girl. One of the reasons is that I am so convinced it is a girl, that we don't really have a boys name or any real ideas. I think I would be shocked and it would take some "accepting" time for me if it was a boy, only because I would SWEAR it is a girl. I don't mean accepting, as in that I don't want a boy. I just mean that when you think it is one thing and then it is another, I think that might be a bit shocking?? It would also help with some of the stuff we are looking at buying. There is not a lot of gender neutral stuff, so the shopping makes you want to know, just so you can buy something! I am not sure we will, I still have some time to decide. But I went from not wanting to know, to possibly wanting to know.

This is also our 1st anniversary weekend, so we might have some pictures of us from this weekend too.

18 weeks pregnant pictures (not sure I am any bigger this week than last):




Random info:
Day's into pregnancy: 126
Day's left until due date:154 days
Size of baby: Sweet Potato, 5-6 inches and 6.5-7.5oz
Purchases this week: 1 (a dresser that was on sale for 50% off!)
Cravings: none
Food aversions: none
Desserts eaten: snickerdoodles (I made batter, minus the egg, ate some of it, added the egg then made the cookies)
Baby fact this week: Baby now has fingerprints
Movements felt: still none
Days till next doctors appt: 6

17 weeks...

Not a lot of changes from week to week the last few weeks. I haven't been as hungry and most times when I eat, I get full a little quicker. I am not sleeping great, not sure why that is since I no longer have to get up and go pee 10x a night.

This week after my "long run" I was quite tired the next day. I realized that I had actually done even more than I thought that day. I had lifted and done 25 minutes on the elliptical earlier in the day because I was thinking it was going to be too hot to run outside for run club. So the next day I took a 3 hour nap after we had practice in the morning. My body was kind of tired, which is so weird. So, I just biked for 40 minutes instead of going to the gym. The next day I ran 2 miles during the track workout by doing 8x400 each in about 2:05 min. Yesterday, I lifted and did 30 minutes on the stairmaster.

Nothing else is really new or exciting this week. I did not feel any kicks or anything this week, so I am not sure if what I felt before was really anything.

Alright here is the picture for the week:
17 weeks pregnant


Here I was at 12 weeks:


Random facts:
Size of baby: Onion, a little more than 5 inches
Weight of baby: 5-6oz
Days left till due date: 161
Days till next appt: 12
Baby purchases/gifts this week: one for the room, a few items of clothing
Items assembled for baby: NONE

Fastest and longest...

Ok, so I haven't been running very fast. Saturday I ran with run club for my usual 4 mile run and ran about a 10:10 pace. Then I followed that with 5 games (or maybe it was 6) with the last game starting at 9:45pm. Then a shorter, but early, day on Sunday for my games and so I got in lifting and about 40 minutes of stairmaster.

But today, I went to run club with the intent on running 4-5 miles, because it was cloudy out I thought I could do a bit longer than usual run. Then I got there and for the first time since I have been the run club coach (almost 3 years), my boss decided that she was going to run with us. UGH! This meant that I had to run the full run today and not at a slow leisure pace. Yes, she knows that I am pregnant (either that or I have just eaten too much the past few months). Anyway, we start our 6 mile run and BAM! the sun comes out. Of course. So, now I am running a whopping, get this...are you ready...a 9:00 minute pace (overall average was 9:15)! I reminded her I was pregnant and that I was running a bit slower now. I could carry a conversation the whole time, so I know I was still aerobic, but probably right at the edge with the heat. The first three miles were all sun, hot and uphill. Horrible. Then the last three were not so bad. Debbie, told me that she had powerade back at the gym, so I could have that when we got back. I was quite thirsty. When we got back after my fastest and longest run in quite some time, I downed 1 bottle of powerade and then filled it up and drank 2 bottles of water. Just to make sure I was rehydrated.

I felt fine after and for the most part during. But I am hoping that I don't have to do that again!

This week I purchased my first few packs of diapers. Yes, we bought diapers already. I guess you can never have enough for something that can require 10+ diaper changes a day!?! We also picked up our glider that we got, which is so amazing we would like 5 of them downstairs for everyday use as our sitting area. Definitely couldn't afford it, but it would be great!

No pregnancy symptoms other than I have now started getting nosebleeds. I have an app on my phone that gives me "tips" each day and the day I had my first nosebleed, I got a tip saying that you may be getting nosebleeds now because of increased blood flow, and dialated veins in your nose because of hormones or something. We were eating mexican food on Saturday and I thought my nose was just running because it was spicy, then it started gushing! I think, maybe the increase in my blood pressure while coaching, maybe helped make that one a good one. Who knows...but I never knew there was such a pregnancy symptom!

165 days left in the pregnancy!

16 weeks..

Or 4 months as Pedro likes to call it. He prefers that I use months and not weeks. I still continue to feel good. My SI pain has even been a little better. However, some of that MIGHT be because I have gotten to run less because of the stupid heat here. Saturday I ran 4 miles, but I didn't get to run Monday night because of the heat. I got to do a great track workout tonight, I think that might be my favorite! I ran with Debbie at a 9:00 minute pace for our intervals. We ran 4x800's and then 4x400's. I liked them because I could run pretty comfortably for that pace for such a short distance. Then I walked a little, got a drink and we started a new interval. That is only 3 miles but it probably took us about 40 minutes, but it was a pretty good run. Yesterday, I wasn't really feeling the usual stairmaster so I did the elliptical for 20 minutes and then lifted, then finished with 20 more minutes of elliptical.

I have still been pretty hungry, but again, I don't eat all that much, but I apparently pack on the pounds no matter what! I was actually thinking, that from one doctors appointment to the next I had gained something like 5 lbs or so, that would mean that I ate 17,500 EXTRA calories in that time frame (4 weeks). I definitely know that, that is NOT the case. With the working out and normal eating, minus the fact that I don't want dessert, which is completely ABNORMAL for me! I would think just not eating the usual dessert probably has cut about that many calories from the day! I'm not worried about it, if that is what it sounds like. I just find it kind of interesting how my body gains weight while pregnant! Now, yes it is fine if I say that my belly looks like a whale by the end of the day, but I am pretty sure, that I wouldn't find it too appropriate if someone else said it! However, my mother told the home health care nurse the other day that I "wasn't fat, just pregnant". I didn't think about it until later, and I thought, do I still look FAT? and not PREGNANT? Probably so!

Since regular foods all sound pretty equal right now, I am trying to make sure I eat more fruits and vegetables than I have been. Early on I ate a lot of both, but then they were not sounding as good. Now they don't sound good or bad, so I am trying to make sure I have more each day. Today I had oatmeal for a late breakfast with juice, then a salad for lunch (snack), then for dinner I had a fake burger with some chips and an amazing limeaide, blackberry, blueberry, raspberry smoothie. I am also trying to drink more milk, since the baby is making it's bones more solid, I figure I need a lot of extra calcium throughout the whole pregnancy.

I am now officially in maternity pants. I wore my first pair of capris yesterday to a restaurant review. I found a pair of capris at kohls for $18.00 with discounts and coupons and then a nice pair of shorts for $4.95 at JC Penny's! I figured I would only buy maternity clothing if it is less than $20.00. Not sure how I will continue this, since the only maternity clothes I have are Karen's, which I wore one of her shirts last night, but I do not have many clothes, including shirts that fit. Apparently slim fitting clothing when you are normal does NOT work when you are pregnant, who knew??!!

The one exciting thing, or might be exciting, is that I THINK, I have felt the baby kick 3 times now. A few days ago I was laying on the sofa watching tv and I swear I felt a little kick. The next night I was bending over to read my book on the table and I felt two little kicks. Then yesterday I was just sitting there and I swear I felt a one jab. I might be completely wrong, but they were felt in the area where my baby could be, but I am not for sure. We will see, if that is what it feels like when it starts happening more regularly...whenever that is.


On a work note, this weekend is going to be a LONG weekend for me. I have three teams playing in a local tournament and for this tournament the games do not conflict, so I will be coaching about 20 games over a 3 day time period. One day my last game is at 9:45pm and I start the day at 9:15...ugh! that is the most horrible scheduling EVER!



Alright are you ready for some pictures?? I wasn't sure I looked all that much bigger but with these full body picture comparisons it appears that I am.

Here I am at 12 weeks (I think you can still see my abs line):


And now at 16 weeks (don't mind the hair, I just got out of bed):

And here is the front view, which I think is bigger looking. And no, we were not trying to have Polar in the picture, he is just very photogenic and choose to sit right in front of me:



Random facts:
Size of baby: Avocado, 4-5 inches long and about 3.5 oz.
Days till next doctors appointment: 21 days
Cravings: spicy food and a hamburger (the reason for the fake burger today plus I need more protein)
Movements felt: 3??
Total miles run this week: 7
Total minutes done on stairmaster: 225
Days/distance swam: 1 day, 1 mile and a sunburned back
Days lifting weights: 4
Baby items purchased: 5 pretty big purchases total, a few smaller gifts from people
Baby is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day

15 weeks...

I thought I was getting a bit faster (not really faster, just pregnant faster) because of last Saturday's run. I ran something like an 8:50 pace for most of the run, however it was very flat. I want to explain that I am not trying to get faster. I am only keeping track of my pace on one run a week, for entertainment factors. Today I ran for 4 miles, with two of them being nearly all up hill (yes, this is really the case) with 2 getting to be downhill. It was about 80 degrees out, so I was making sure to keep feeling normal, but today's pace was about a 10:05 mile!

The benefits of being in the second trimester have been that I don't wake up 10 times to go to the bathroom at night. Ok, 10 might be a bit of an exaggeration, but for those of you that know me, you know I go a lot even when I am not pregnant! I know this will be a short term benefit and will most likely come back again later, but I will take what I can get.

I officially no longer fit in to ANY of my pre-pregnancy shorts....besides the obvious workout shorts and skirts. I wanted to find just one pair of shorts and all the shorts I have found are either ugly, or expensive. I am not sure why someone would want to spend a lot of money of shorts that I will only wear for, at this point, 2 or 3 months if I am lucky, because then it will be winter. UGH!

The other day I was on the stairmaster and my cousin asked me how I was feeling. I was a little confused why someone would ask me how I am feeling while I am on the stairmaster, was I looking tired?? Then I realized he was asking because I am pregnant! LOL. Yes, I still do not feel really pregnant, so I frequently forget! It seems to be a question asked of pregnant people quite a bit, it seems almost like they are surprised when I tell them that I am feeling completely fine. I guess I shouldn't complain about that, because at some point I will probably "feel" pregnant.

I still get the looks at the gym, is she pregnant? or has she spent too much time eating? If you see me in the afternoon, my stomach is so bloated it is pretty clear I couldn't have packed on that much in the short time, but in the morning, it is still pretty questionable. I laugh because people say, oh you don't need to eat that many extra calories, you shouldn't put on too much weight. The funny thing is I don't eat anymore than I usually do, maybe even a little less. Except that now when I am hungry I will eat, instead of not eating because it is too close to dinner or something, now I just push dinner back. My weight gain is not on purpose and besides the fact that prior to being pregnant my weight could change quite drastically in a two day time period. So, I probably retain a lot of water and besides my food belly, which I have always gotten (doctors think I am allergic to something, but say as long as it doesn't bother me to not worry) now that doesn't go away until the next morning. As of now my total weight gain has been 9 lbs (on doctors scale in afternoon), I think it is a little less in the morning. Karen, if you are reading this, I am halfway to your total gain already!!!

Anyway, here is the comparison from week 14 to week 15 picture. Not sure if it is bigger than week 14, or if Pedro just took it closer.
14 weeks:

15 weeks:

Almost 15 weeks...

I will be 15 weeks pregnant tomorrow. I had my first regular measuring prenatal appointment today. The appointment took less time than the drive! I am measuring right on and the heart beat today was 163 bpm. I was told that at my next appointment I will schedule my ultrasound. It will be nice to have one because at that point it will be about 12 weeks or so since my last one. We did not do any of the testing, so we did not get an ultrasound in the 12-14 week area.

Everything has been going good, besides the horrible SI pain, with the shooting pain in my butt! I would still have no idea that I am pregnant other than my stomach is bigger than it would be normally and sadly my abs have pretty much disappeared :(

I am back to being pretty hungry again. I might be so hungry because I don't eat a lot of meat/protein so I am feeling less full without it. I am going to try and eat more protein and see if it helps.

Working out has been going good. I am trying to get at least an hour in a day of some form of cardio. Since it has been so hot outside I don't get the option to run outside too much.

Here are some interesting facts for the week:
Baby size: Naval Orange, 4.5 inches long
Cravings: Chile with cornbread (weird since it is so hot out!)
Doctors appts: 4
Movements felt: none so far
Days till due date: 177
Days till next doctors appt: 28 days (then I can schedule my ultrasound).
Favorite dessert: still not really wanting sweets :(
Current complaint: SI Pain