4 Weeks Postpartum Thoughts

Zelda is four weeks old this week and she's still the cutest, most adorable thing I've ever seen! She blows me away every time I look at her!

She makes these noises that sound like a squeaky toy when she's sleeping, it's so cute and it makes me laugh! Remembering back to the whole birth experience I see it as exciting!  Despite how uncomfortable I was through a lot of it I am now able to remember it as an exciting event and I feel like I did a pretty amazing job dealing with it! Before I felt like I had not handled the pain very well because I was just shocked by the emotional and physical intensity of it, but now when I look back I'm just proud of myself!
In church I am helping go through a series about sex with the middle school girls. We're discussing God's plan for sex and on Sunday the girls got into the discussion and somehow brought up the idea that women have it harder than men with the whole childbirth process. Women have to carry the baby for nine long months and then go through painful labor and birth. I was listening as they discussed this and thinking this is exactly how I felt when I was those girl's age. But after going through it myself I feel completely different. Childbirth isn't a burden it's a blessing! Women don't have to carry the baby for nine long months we GET to. And that's something that men do not get to do.  But don't worry guys, you play a major role in this as well. I'm so thankful to have Michael around.  Not only did I need him during labor and delivery but the recovery has been a lot harder than I imagined, and I couldn't do it without him. 
Those are my thoughts right now and I'm glad I was able to get them out! I want to hold on to this feeling as long as I can. 

The Birth of Zelda Eden

Monday June 4th was my due date, which started out as a normal day. I wasn't expecting much because I had been having irregular contractions for weeks at that point. As you know I was an avid runner throughout my entire pregnancy, although by that week I was mostly walking. We went for a 3 mile walk and everything continued as usual. That evening we went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory with my family. We were seated, ordered our food and waited. Right as the waitress brought out my food and set it in front of me I felt a "pop." My first thought was that the baby kicked me, but it felt really low. Immediately then I felt a GUSH of fluid which was unmistakably my water breaking! I know some people have a small trickle....well my shoes got soaked, this was no trickle. This was at 8:15 pm. We immediately got our food to go and went home. I was not having contractions yet so we sat down and ate our food. Michael called our nurse midwife and told her the situation and that we were going to stay home as long as possible and rest, she approved of this. 

The contractions started around 10:00 pm but weren't hard yet. We went to bed. I lay awake for a while and just as I was relaxing and dozing off, my contractions picked up enough to keep me awake, well that and the endless trips to go to the bathroom. I lay there dealing with them for a while before waking Michael and saying that we should try timing them. They were never consistent, I would have them 3 minutes apart, but the next would be 4 minutes and then 5 and then maybe nothing for 15 to 20 minutes. This continued for hours, however my contractions kept getting stronger and I found them very difficult to deal with. We were having a hard time deciding when we should head to the hospital. At around 3 am we ate some cereal and listened to my relaxing labor mix CD. The music helped me deal with the contractions but after an hour we decided to go lay back in bed to get a little more rest. Around 6 am I felt really sick to my stomach and rushed to the bathroom where I puked my guts out. I felt a lot better after throwing up but my emotional sign posts were much more serious and Michael decided it was time to head to the hospital and fortunately he had already loaded the car with everything we needed, so I didn't have to wait for stuff to be ready. Michael called the nurse midwife to let her know that we were on our way.

We arrived at the hospital a little before 7 am and I was asked to fill out some stupid paperwork even though I had already preregistered. After that they took me into triage, which I could only describe as torture! I waited alone for about 15 minutes before a nurse came in and hooked me up to the fetal heart rate monitor. She made me stay on my back for this, which was incredibly uncomfortable. She began asking me a endless number of questions. When my midwife came in to check me, I was happy to hear that I was dilated to 7 cm and 100% effaced. After 45 minutes they finally let Michael come in. After another round of a billion questions they finally let us go to our L&D room where they continued to mess with me more. The nurse did a horrible job of trying to get my hep-lock in. She had to poke me in both arms to try and get it in. She also came in every hour to strap me up to the monitor and always made sure it was nice and uncomfortable. 

Labor continued for hours. I never found a comfortable position to labor in but we did try quite a few. I started feeling the urge to push, so we had our midwife come and check me and I was only about 8 cm.  I spent a few more hours laying on my side as the need to push continued getting stronger and impossible to fight. The next time my midwife checked me there was a lip of cervix left on one side so she had me change the side I was laying on (apparently I had not switched sides at all). About another hour passed and when she checked me again there was still a small lip of cervix left so she decided to hold it out of the way while I pushed the baby's head past it.  I was excited to finally be able to push! I used the squatting bar for a while but I guess my midwife could tell I was extremely tired so she had me switch to laying on my back to push. Around this time a new nurse came in and she turned out to be very helpful by coaching me through the pushing. They had me feel the baby's head as it started crowning. I got excited thinking that the end was near, however I was very wrong. Her head crowned for about 2 hours (but I didn't tear or need stitches thanks to the patience of my midwife). I felt the "ring of fire" and I kept thinking that it couldn't get worse but with every push it did. Finally her head finished coming out and it was just a few more pushes and her whole body was out! 

Zelda Eden Shaw was born at 3:53 pm weighing 7 lbs 6 oz and 18.5 inches long! 

I look back on the whole experience and I find it amazing! I'm proud of myself for doing it without any drugs, just like I planned from the beginning of my pregnancy! 

39 Weeks

Well we are almost to the due date, but I am not holding my breath on delivering just yet, I'm pretty sure I will at least make it to my due date, which is next Monday (6 days from now), and possibly longer, which is okay I guess. The only thing that makes me a little nervous is that my step Mom took off work this week and next in order to be available around the time of the baby's birth and her parents are coming all the way from Illinois next week also to be around for the birth. It's definitely a great idea and I'm excited that they all want to be around for the birth, but part of me thinks "what if she's not born during that time?" That would kinda stink, but it's out of my control. Mostly I miss running, and I really don't enjoy my feet being swollen and sore all the time, and I'm often very tired but for the most part I don't seem to be getting any more uncomfortable so as long as I stay about like I feel right now it's bearable. 
This past Sunday I had a hard time getting up and I felt kinda sick and crampy, like menstrual cramps kinda. We got up, went to church like always and by then I felt a little better. However during lunch I started having some pretty strong Braxton Hicks contractions and we tried timing them but they were very irregular and like 15 minutes apart so not enough to excited over. Eventually they went away and then tonight I got really hungry before dinner and had a few contractions so I think we've decided that being overly hungry causes me to have contractions, or at least to think that I'm having them. I mean I've been having irregular ones for a while now but hunger is one thing that just seems to set them off.  
I'm still going for walks and doing yoga at Destination Maternity twice a week. Michael and I even went to partner yoga this past Saturday and told the instructor we thought it would be our last partner yoga but then the instructor told us that the next one would actually be this coming Saturday June 2nd soooo we will probably be there since my due date is not until June 4th. 
Several friends and family members actually texted me today to see how I was feeling which I thought was very sweet of them! 
Meanwhile Zelda is always squirming around, I always feel her back on my right side and her feet (or something) poking out on my left side. She gets hiccups A LOT, even has them right now! I still appreciate the feeling of her moving inside me, I wonder if I will miss that after she is born...

38 Weeks and Super Tired

37 week Belly Shot

Today I am 38 weeks and 3 days pregnant. I've stayed super busy and productive most days this week. The days have kinda blurred together, but I spent one day cleaning and organizing like a mad woman, so that hopefully I will not have to do a deep cleaning like that again until sometime after the baby is born. I went to yoga twice this week and went for a walk/run once, I mostly walk now, if I jog it's incredibly slow and only for maybe 30 second increments.  I've got 6 meals in the freezer, 4 of which I made and 2 were from a lady from my church. I bought a closet organizer for the baby's closet and got that set up today. I've been meaning to pack for the hospital but I'm having a hard time doing that, I feel like it would be easier to do it once I'm in labor and I know I'm going to the hospital soon, versus having that bag sitting there for weeks. All that said I went ahead and have started packing today, mostly the baby's things and some clothes for me, I guess that's better than nothing for now. So I feel like I've been pretty productive this weeks, however today I just wanted to stay in bed. I didn't but I felt like I was dragging myself around, to yoga and then a couple errands. It was rough, so I finally gave up and attempted an hour and half nap, which was more of doze but that's okay it definitely helped. 

I've moved on from reading about labor and delivery to doing more reading about breastfeeding. I plan to breast feed exclusively but I've heard it can be a challenge so I want to be prepared for it just as much as I've prepared for labor. I've been to 3 La Leche League meetings, which have been great! There's not as many pregnant women there as there are women who already have babies, but they've all told me that I'm smart for going to the meetings before having my baby. The books I've been reading are "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding," and "Eat Well, Lose Weight While Breastfeeding." Both are great, especially the first one, it offers TONS of great baby care information. 

It's crazy to think that I basically have a whole infant inside of me right now! If she were born right now she'd be completely ready for life outside of my body however, the more time she gets inside the better! Babies practice breathing movements before they are born and at this stage my baby should be taking 40 practice breaths each minute. I never knew that newborn babies can't produce tears! According to www.whattoexpect.com it won't be until sometime after the first month that she will cry real tears, despite the fact that she'll probably be crying upon birth. I'm surprised I never noticed that with my baby brothers. 

37 weeks and 1 Day

Sunday was Mother's Day! Although Zelda is not born yet, I consider this years Mother's Day to be my first Mother's Day. Every decision I make already affects her, and I've worked hard getting things ready for her, so I think that qualifies me as a mother : ) I actually did get a few mother's day wishes in person and via text message, so that totally made my day! 
My belly has definitely grown A LOT since last Monday when we had our maternity photo shoot. The photographer, who is actually a friend of ours, wants to retake a few of the pics so I think we will be doing that this Thursday, and my belly will be nice and big for it! 
My workouts last week went great! I activated a 7 Day pass with Lifetime Fitness, so I've been lifting weights a lot more, my biceps were sore for like 4 days last week from assisted pull ups and dumbbell curls. I ran/walked on the treadmill one day and that felt great because the speed of the treadmill stays constant so it helped to push me to run more. I went swimming one day, however I was a little self conscious  because I'm still just wearing my old bikini....I'm too cheap to buy a maternity swim suit. Saturday, Michael and I went to partner yoga, which was a lot of fun, we hadn't been in several months. On Sunday (Mother's Day) I actually got up before church and went for a nice 3 mile run through the neighborhood, it was nice and cool out so it felt great! But I've crashed again, yesterday and today I've just been tired. I attempted running on the treadmill again today but I was just so tired and mentally not into it, I mostly walked. But that's okay, every day is different. 
The nursery is almost completely decorated, she'll be in a bassinet in our room for the first few weeks so I'm not too concerned if the nursery isn't finished quite yet, it would just be nice if it was finished. We got our tree decal on the wall, and finally bought a crib mattress so today I put the crib skirt on it and put the sheet on the mattress and put the mobile on the crib! Yesterday we also bought our BOB jogging stroller! Michael was super excited, we brought it home and he had it out of the box and set up in no time! 
So the main things on my to do list now are just to keep organizing the baby stuff (I'm sure I'll just reorganize it after she's born) and make some healthy meals to freeze before Zelda is born. 

36 weeks exactly

My Pregnancy Thoughts Tonight

Today I am 36 weeks and 5 days pregnant, and still feeling strong!  Everyone keeps asking how I'm doing and oh I must be so uncomfortable, and I bet you can't wait to be done. But really I'm just trying to enjoy and soak up these last few weeks! Yes I have been more tired recently and I do have days where I'm not completely comfortable but for the most part, it's not a big deal, being pregnant is not that bad! I enjoy feeling my baby move, she's strong and tonight she's made me a little sore from kicking the same spot over and over but that's okay, it's all part of the experience! I am almost 37 weeks, and babies may be considered full-term at 37 weeks, but I know that every extra day she gets to develop inside me will pay off for her in the end. She's still growing and practicing breathing and sucking her thumb and all of those things she needs to do so that she is ready to face the world as strong as possible! I'm a planner and I love being in control of everything happening around me, but pregnancy has taught me how to let go and not be in control, it's really a good time to practice trust. I am trusting my body and God, that when the time is right labor will start and I will be able to handle it. Is it going to be easy? Probably not, but I'm not afraid of a little work and discomfort, especially when the end result is that I get to meet my baby girl!  

Placental Function and Adaptations to Exercise

The Placenta is an organ that develops during pregnancy, it functions to maintain the transport of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the mother and the baby. It basically serves as the baby's lung. It is highly vascularized; small blood vessels carrying the baby's blood run through the placenta which is full of the mother's blood. Nutrients and oxygen from the mother's blood and transferred to the baby's blood, and waste products (including CO2) are transferred from the baby's blood to the mother's blood so that her body can get rid of it. Although not relevant to the discussion of exercise, it is important to note that the mother and the baby's blood never actually mix, the baby has it's own blood separate and individually unique from the mother 

35 weeks and 1 Day

Wow it has been an entire month since I last blogged! Time really does fly by, and this pregnancy has been no exception! I am nearing the end and getting so excited! About 4 weeks ago we met with one of our nurse midwives, Pam and she confirm with a quick ultrasound that our baby's head was in fact down. I had been worried that she was still lying sideways across my belly so getting to see that image of the back of her skull (indicating that she is also Occiput Anterior, meaning facing back) was a relief. I knew she had time to flip but I was of course unnecessarily worried that she wouldn't. We have had several baby showers, 3 more since the first one, all of which have been a lot of fun! This past weekend I had my baby shower in Austin and it was a lot of fun getting to spend time with my parents and little brothers and getting to reconnect with other friends and family that I had not seen in a long time! I'm so thankful I was able to make that trip before the baby was born. 
This week is bittersweet, it is my last week of working at USAA. I have been working there since finishing my internship 2 years and 4 months ago. There is one client that I have been training from the beginning and several others that I have had for a very long time as well, so I am of course going to miss working with them. Today I ran the trails at USAA just for old times sake. I trained for my first half marathon on the USAA trails, because it just felt a lot safer running there at 5:30 AM in the dark rather than in neighborhoods. Yes I am still running, I had a couple weeks where I only ran once and did elliptical and weights the other days. I had actually made a final decision to stop about a week ago because it was just getting so hard, but then we had a few mornings of gorgeous, cool weather and I just had to get back out there! So now I'm back to jogging 3 days a week for 2.5 to 3 miles, taking about 45 minutes. I've been communicating with my nurse midwives about it and they all say "If you're feeling good you can run until the day she's born."
The nursery is finally coming together, about two weeks ago Michael and his brother got the blinds and the curtains up! Our friend Courtney gave us her crib so they built that too! Very exciting, we are so blessed to have been given a crib rather than have to purchase a new one!
I don't know if I mentioned this in a previous blog but the first couple from our Bradley class had their baby (like the following week after the class ended), and she had a very fast, intense labor, also called precipitous labor. But she did it naturally with no pain medication as was her plan! The second family, my friend Carly, just had her baby last week I think, and I do not know much of the details of her labor other than that she pushed for under ten minutes! That's crazy awesome! She attributes that to having aligned hips thanks to going to the chiropractor for the last few weeks of pregnancy. I've been going to the same chiropractor for 3 weeks now, and whether or not it's going to help me in labor, it's definitely helping my back, I have almost no pain now! And finally, last week my friend Valerie, who has been giving me lots of pregnancy and baby advice just had her 3rd baby. Her labor was also pretty fast, as it always is, but she had her first home, water birth this time! I'm so excited for all of the new babies, and I can't wait to have mine!

29 Weeks and 2 Days

My baby's brain is developing more around this time. Up until now the brain should have been pretty smooth but now it's starting to develop the grooves and indentations that give our brains more surface area. Also, her bone marrow should be taking over the job of producing red blood cells now. So lots of development going on for my baby! I don't feel her kicking quite as much as I used to now what I feel is a lot of sliding and maybe pushing, or stretching. I can look down throughout the day and see my belly move, which usually makes me laugh because I wonder if other people are seeing it, of course they're probably not paying attention, but I still wonder. 
Last week I was tested for Gestational Diabetes, it's normally done around 28 weeks so obviously that's what I was last week. I drank this red punch drink that was 50 mg Dextrose (basically a sugar shot), it reminded me of Hawaiian punch! Then we waited for an hour and then had my blood drawn so that my blood sugar level could be measured. I'm assuming the test came back normal because they didn't call me later that week and they had told me that "no news is good news." 
I think I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions, well actually if they are what I think they are then I've been having them for a while, I just didn't realize it. They don't last too long but basically my uterus gets really hard (you can push on it and feel it through my skin and I used to think it was the baby stretching or something), and sometimes they make me feel a little sick to my stomach like a really weak menstrual cramp I guess, and then it just passes. They are becoming more frequent, which is normal I guess, but I usually have most of them in the evenings, however this week is the first week I've had a couple, or at least I think I did, in the morning. 
Allergies have been kicking my butt since last Monday! I was trying so hard not to take any medicine for it and hoping it would just go away but it didn't and yesterday I gave in. I called the nurses and asked what is safe to take while pregnant and finally started taking Benadryl last night and then Zyrtec today. I don't know that's helping yet, I'm still pretty miserable but I know sometimes it can take a few days to work. The Benadryl is definitely helping me sleep though so that's good.  I'm just so tired I feel useless most of the time, I hope this passes soon.

How does Exercise affect the timing of delivery?

Well I have invested in a Maternity support belt and boy does it work wonders! I went to Destination Maternity and tried on like 5 different ones, they had some that were less bulky and were elastic all the way around but finally settled on the bulkiest because it was also the most comfortable (it isn't elastic all the way around so it doesn't dig into my skin as much as the others) and I really felt relief for my back the instant I put it on! The brand is Loving Comfort. I tried it out the first day by wearing it over my clothes while vacuuming the house. Then yesterday I went for a 3 mile run in it and perhaps I was just having a good day, but I finished my run 5 minutes faster than I normally do! Either way my back felt great after that run! Today I went for a very easy 2 mile run without the belt and that was okay too, but at least now I've got the belt because I'm sure I'll start needing it more often. 


Alright time to get down to business with a question that I've been wondering about lately. Does exercise induce preterm labor? Bear with me, this one takes a long path to get to the point but it's necessary to fully understand the point. Again I'm siting this information from James F. Clapp's book "Exercising Through Your Pregnancy." Research in industrial medicine has shown that "several types of on-the-job physical stress increase the incidence of labor starting more than three weeks before the baby is due (premature). The research also shows that these stresses increase the number of infants who weigh less than they should for the time they are born." In addition, it has also been found that when these workplace stresses are reduced these two problems are alleviated. Thus people assumed that physical stress is physical stress no matter where you find it and vigorous recreational activities (such as running) should be avoided in pregnancy. "However, the types of physical stress in the workplace that have had significant effects are much different physiologically from those of recreational exercise." These include:

• quiet standing for four or more hours a shift
• walking for protracted periods
• long work shifts
• frequent heavy lifting

It is understandable how this kind of job would produce feelings of extreme fatigue in a pregnant woman, and we can see how if she is regularly experiencing this stress it could result in an under-grown baby. Let's look at this scenario that Dr. Clapp uses as an example in his book:

1. The woman has been busy or is allowed infrequent breaks so she doesn't drink because she doesn't have time.
2. If she can drink, she doesn't because it will mean many trips to the ladies' room.
3. This dehydration is compounded by her being on her feet for a long time, which causes blood to collect and pool in her relaxed leg veins.
4. Swelling of the lower leg and ankle occurs because the back pressure from distended veins causes fluid to leak out of capillary vessels into the tissues.
5. If she doesn't eat frequently, her blood sugar level falls.
6. Fatigue sets in. 

The reduced blood flow (caused by dehydration) along with low blood sugar, reduces oxygen availability and decreases nutrient supply to the baby, in turn slowing its growth and increasing irritability of the uterine muscle and risk of premature labor. "Once it was recognized that recreational exercise usually does not produce most of these effects - symptoms of severe fatigue, pooling of blood in the legs, or low blood pressure - investigators began to separately quantify physical stress on the job and physical stress from recreational exercise to determine if either is associated with premature labor or smaller than average babies." Clapp goes on to say that all studies show that recreational exercise not only does not increase the incidence of smaller babies or premature labor, but it might actually decrease in the incidence of both.  So all of that was Dr. Clapp looking at the information that was available to him, now we can look at the study that he designed. The two questions he asked:

1. Does continuing a regimen of sustained, weight-bearing exercise (running or aerobics as opposed to biking or swimming) throughout pregnancy increase the risk for premature labor?
2. Do either sudden foot strike shock or bouncing, ballistic motions cause the membranes that surround the baby to burst before they should?

To answer these questions they "established an accurate due date for each woman who enrolled in the study...then monitored exercise performance throughout the pregnancy in the regularly exercising women who continued to perform sustained types of weight-bearing exercise at or above the basic fitness level throughout pregnancy."  The timing of their deliveries were compared to a control group (women with active lifestyles who did not maintain a regular exercise regimen).

 

Exercise group criteria:

1. Maintain exercise regimen at least 50% of prepregnancy level. (Example: if she ran 6 miles before becoming pregnant, she could remain in the exercise group as long she continued running at least 3 miles throughout pregnancy)
2. Her level of exercise also had to remain above that required to maintain basic fitness.

Over 70% continued to meet these criteria and in most cases, performance was above 50% of prepregnancy level. "Over the last three months, their average exercise intensity fell a little bit (from 66 to 59 percent of maximal aerobic capacity), but, in many cases, the time spent each week in exercise increased."

Of the women who stopped or cut back after the 30th week, we ask why did they stop?

1. No longer had enough time once they started preparing for the birth.
2. Pressure from people around them who were concerned that the exercise might hurt the baby or initiate preterm labor.
3. Becoming concerned themselves.

"Physical discomfort was way down on the list."

They followed all of the women on to the timing of delivery and therefore have information on 3 rather than two groups.

1. Over 200 who continued vigorous exercise to within a week of delivery
2. Over 80 who exercised vigorously throughout early and midpregnancy but later cut back or stopped
3. 250 physically active controls who rarely engaged in sustained exercise but occasionally played tennis, walked, gardened, etc. 

The RESULTS!

Running and aerobics did not cause the water to break before the onset of labor at term (the end of the 40th week). "The chance that this would occur before the beginning of the 37th week was low and was the same in all three groups. This was also true at the end of pregnancy. Even after the cervix had begun to dilate, women could continue to run or participate in aerobics without increasing the chance that the membranes surrounding the baby would burst before the onset of labor." More women in the exercise group actually delivered earlier than the control group but were still at term. In other words, exercising women didn't necessarily deliver earlier than 40 weeks, but most of the controls delivered 5 to 7 days later than the exercising mothers. "The timing of women who stopped exercising midpregnancy was no different than the controls."

As always I think this is good information, it gives me hope that I will be able to continue running for the next 13 weeks, but always listen to your Doctor or other healthcare provider as sometimes complications do arise. Listen to your body and rest when you need to, as in any stage in life there needs to be a good balance between rest and exercise. Drinking water to stay hydrated is always important but it is even more so while pregnant. One of my friends recently said it best when she was expressing that as pregnant women we aren't handicapped but we don't have to be super heroes either. 

27 Weeks and 1 Day

Well we had our first baby shower over the weekend it was a lot of fun and I know I need to post pictures but I'm in a hurry right now so I can't just yet. We got lots of cute clothes and blankets plus our infant carrier and car seat! The baby's room is now mostly empty of all the boxes that had been cluttering it since we got married, so it looks like our baby girl will in fact have a bedroom! 
As far as exercise and pregnancy there is still so much information to share that I'm having a hard time organizing it but trust me I am working on it. So things I will soon be talking about are more benefits to the mother and also to the baby. I haven't talked enough about the benefits to the baby, plus there are more concerns that need to addressed such as "will weight bearing aerobic exercise cause pre-term labor or early rupture of membranes?" As a runner I know I've been wondering about that too, speaking of running the reactions I'm getting when I tell people that I'm still running are starting to get really funny!  One person asked me how my feet were and apparently he was referring to the swelling that usually starts around now, and I responded "oh they're a little sore from the race I just ran." and he was like "you're still running? with the baby." I laughed and said "well yes, she's right here," and pointed to my belly! 
Last week I ran Mon/Wed/Fri, 3 miles about 40 to 45 minutes. Friday's run was by far the best, I don't know why but I just felt so good and strong. Again, I am running slower than I used to and I take more walk breaks but that's okay. Now that was last week and I don't know what happened over the weekend but yesterday I ran 3 miles and it didn't feel so good, it was the first time my low back started hurting and I just felt so heavy. So I think I am going to look into a belly support belt to use at least when I run, I've read different opinions on them and I've decided that if it helps me continue running longer it's worth it! So anyway soon I will share some more information about exercise during pregnancy! So stay tuned!

Diploma Dash

Well today I am exactly 26 weeks pregnant! The book I've been going through says that this is the first week of the third trimester however when we asked our midwife last Monday she said that the third trimester starts at 28 weeks so I don't know, if I'm not there yet I'm at least almost there. And I think I am now starting my 6th month, this pregnancy timeline can be confusing! 

Well sometime between last week and this week the baby's eyes should be starting to open!!! That's exciting, she's growing so fast! She can now make coordinated movements with her hands and feet, make a fist and grab hold of her toes! I am now feeling a lot more movement at regular times throughout the day. Whereas before I could mostly feel strong kicks or pushes I'm starting to feel a different movement that I can only describe as the baby rolling around. It's not as forceful as a kick, sometimes I can touch my belly and feel sometime sliding across my hand, sorta tickles. I'm definitely starting to feel "more" pregnant, I have to be careful not to overeat as this makes me very uncomfortable and usually causes stomach ache or heartburn. I feel heavy when I run, speaking of which I ran my first 5k of the year last Saturday Feb. 25th! The UTSA Diploma Dash, I've run it every year for the last 4 years. It was a lot of fun because throughout the race I ran into several people I knew and hadn't seen in a while! It was difficult because for some reason my right leg cramps up now, I'm talking my Quad, Calf and Anterior Tib. all cramp up in unison, it's awful! Left leg is great but the right leg gets tight, not sure what's up with that. I finished the race in 35 minutes and 15 seconds! My Pregnant PR! My actual PR was last March, I ran the Culinaria Wine Run in 23 minutes and 45 seconds, I can't wait to see how running feels after I have my baby! 

Crossing the Finish Line! Woohoo!

The Importance of Your own Understanding

In this 25th week of pregnancy my baby should weigh about a pound and a half and be about nine inches long, but of course how would we know for sure? Even ultrasound scans are not always accurate.  This brings me to another issue that I've been hearing/reading about lately, and that is this idea that the baby's due date should dictate exactly when labor will begin. This isn't an issue that I would consider myself an expert on but I just want to point out some things that I think people need to think about.  I was talking to a friend who's wife is pregnant and she's due early March however the Doctor says the baby is already weighing 7 lbs and because we don't want her to give birth to an 11 lb baby we will probably be inducing her 2 or 3 weeks before her due date.  I asked him if they would induce her with Pitocin, he didn't know how they would induce her but he also had never heard of Pitocin, didn't know what it was or what effects it has on the body. So I explained to him how it worked and then I suggested to him "don't you think if the baby was ready to be born your wife would go into labor on her own?"  What really bugs me about this is that it was obvious that he and I assume his wife also, had not done any research of their own. They have completely given their pregnancy and birth experience over to their Doctor.  I'm not saying we should not listen to our Doctors but when we are educated about a subject then we are able to ask better questions, even a simple question like "well how do you plan to induce me?"  But if you don't already know that there are multiple ways to induce labor then you probably aren't going to think to ask that question.
Another similar story that my Bradley instructor shared last Thursday was about a pregnant woman who was also told that her baby was already weighing something like 8 or 9 lbs therefore the baby was ready to be born therefore we should induce labor now. So they did and long story short, this unnatural labor process led to a C-Section and as it turned out the baby only weighed 6 lbs. The Doctor was wrong? (Sorry if I didn't get that story exactly right but I think I made my point). C-Section for a 6 lb baby in a woman who was not even high-risk, that's UNNECESSARY.  Yes there are some cases where inducing labor is necessary, maybe the placenta has stopped functioning properly or other rare cases like that. C-Section can save lives, it saved my life when I was born, but we have to admit that lots of unnecessary ones are performed in our hospitals. I've also said before that sometimes the use of drugs in labor and delivery can cause a C-Section to become necessary when it otherwise would not have been. 
I think it's important for women and men to know the facts, do the research so that you have some control over what happens during your pregnancy. Yes it's short but it's also an important experience.  

24 weeks Exactly

Already 24 weeks, pregnancy has flown by thus far, we'll see how I feel during that final month! I don't have a lot of updates with the pregnancy itself this time. We have decided to reveal her name soon, not sure when exactly. The original plan was to wait until she was born to tell people her name but I'm just too excited to keep that secret longer, it's just another detail I'd like to share with people! I started decorating the letters of her name that will be hung in the nursery, of course I will not share pictures of them yet. 

I have still been lifting weights and running however this week I am taking a break from running as my right foot is still having some pain. I've had this pain for several months and actually started going to the Doctor for it right before getting pregnant. By the time the specialist was able to see me I was already pregnant and since he couldn't take X-Rays he couldn't diagnose the problem so I will most likely go back after I have the baby. I've had foot and ankle problems for a long time so it was about time I did something about it. For the most part as long as I ice and do constant ankle strengthening I'm good, but the feet are a whole different issue.  Anyway I am taking a short break from running because I am signed up to run the Diploma Dash in two weeks and I'd like to be fresh for it, not that I plan on breaking my PR but I'd still like to be able to jog it.

22 Weeks/Good Machines for Weight Lifting

Around this time my baby should weigh about 1 pound and she should be about 8 inches long. I just read that also around this time she is going to start gaining some serious weight and that it should actually double over the next 4 weeks. I definitely feel the weight difference when I exercise; yesterday during a run around the neighborhood I ended up going back home just to change my shoes because my calves were getting unbearably tight. Changing my shoes made a huge difference, the calf pain was gone immediately and I was able to maintain a more steady pace while running. Basically I just switched from my minimalist shoes back to my thicker ones with more support. Going swimming sounds great but I don't have access to a pool and I don't know that it's worth joining a gym just for that purpose since I currently work at a gym. 

Today I did some weight lifting, although I was lacking motivation for it. I've been focusing a lot on keeping my joints strong. For most exercises I prefer free weights however there are 4 machines that I think are great for helping stabilize the knees and hips. Knee extensions, which I do one leg at a time so that the stronger leg can't cheat for the weaker one, Knee curls, again one leg at a time. Those machines are not very "functional" because they isolate that one muscle group and in life we are never just using one muscle group at a time we use multiple ones. But I'm thinking that as I'm gaining weight and my body is releasing the hormone relaxin it's even more important to make sure that my joints are stable. Relaxin is the hormone that causes the joints in a pregnant woman to become more loose. This is helpful during the birth process however it can make the exercising pregnant woman more prone to injury, for example through overstretching. I also like the Hip Abduction and Adduction machines, great for strengthening not only the hips but again the muscles that stabilize the medial and lateral portion of the knees. I'm also a big fan of the Chin up and Tricep dip assisting machine, for those of us that are not strong enough (yet) to lift our own body weight. So anyway I did those today plus barbell squats and have been pretty consistently doing those machines once a week, although I think 2 to 3 times a week would be best. 

Placental Function and Adaptations to Exercise

The Placenta is an organ that develops during pregnancy, it functions to maintain the transport of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the mother and the baby. It basically serves as the baby's lung. It is highly vascularized; small blood vessels carrying the baby's blood run through the placenta which is full of the mother's blood. Nutrients and oxygen from the mother's blood and transferred to the baby's blood, and waste products (including CO2) are transferred from the baby's blood to the mother's blood so that her body can get rid of it. Although not relevant to the discussion of exercise, it is important to note that the mother and the baby's blood never actually mix, the baby has it's own blood separate and individually unique from the mother's. 
The following information also comes from my book "Exercising Through your Pregnancy." Dr. James F. Clapp found that regular exercise has some positive effects on the growth and function of the placenta that help to protect the fetus from oxygen deprivation. "The placentas of women who exercise regularly throughout early and mid-pregnancy grow faster and function better that those of women who are healthy but don't exercise regularly. This means that at any rate of uterine blood flow, more oxygen and nutrients can get across to the baby of a woman who exercises than to the baby of one who does not. This probably is not important under most circumstances,  because unless there is a problem or a large decrease in flow (as during hemorrhage or strenuous exercise), both placentas will supply the baby adequately." 

20 weeks / Body Temperature Regulation

Today I am about 20 weeks and 3 days pregnant, I am right at the halfway point! Last week she was moving like crazy, I was even able to see the kicks through my skin! Pretty cool! I was a lot more active last week than this week, I was running and even trying to do some speed work, however I think I over did it just a little. Over the weekend I had a lot of aches and pain in my calves and my hip. I think the most logical explanation for this is that my joints just aren't used to the extra body weight. during the first trimester I only put on about 5 pounds, but I'm still early in the second trimester and I've already put on about 10, so that's a lot of weight coming on really fast and so there hasn't been much time for my body to adapt. So this week I decided to take it easier, I haven't done any running, just weight lifting, yoga and elliptical. Today I am planning to take a step class which is high impact but I feel good today so I think it'll be fine. Next week I plan to start easing back into running. I am signed up for a race at the end of February and will probably also do one in March so I need my body to hold itself together! 
While I'm on the topic of exercise I'd like to mention some more adaptations to exercise and pregnancy. Two  adaptations to exercise in a trained person is that they will sweat sooner, and they will sweat more, when I say more I mean more than they did prior to habitual training, or more than an untrained person. So who's going to need to drink more water during exercise, the trained athlete or the person just starting an exercise routine?  The trained athlete would need to replenish water more because they are losing more through sweat. Why is this important? Sweating is our body's way of maintaining a cooler core body temperature, if we sweat sooner and more then our body is more efficient at cooling itself.  (Side note for competitive athletes: Training in a hotter environment furthers this adaptation, although you have to take it easier as your body gets used to the heat you will be better off when you compete in a cooler environment because your body will be more efficient at dissipating heat).  Now let's look at pregnant women. Some people worry about the pregnant woman overheating during exercise and in turn causing damage to the unborn baby.  I'm not arguing that this is not a concern at all, I'm just going to give you some information that should make that concern less prominent.   This information again, comes from the book "Exercising Through your Pregnancy" by James F. Clapp III. M.D. In his studies of pregnant women he found that "Starting very early in pregnancy, these women's resting body temperature fell dramatically and continued to fall progressively throughout the remainder of pregnancy." Therefore getting rid of excess heat, as during exercise, would probably not be a problem for these women. It seemed that "their ability to get rid of heat had improved so much due to adaptations during pregnancy that the women had to increase their heat production to stay warm when they weren't active!" I can say that has definitely been my experience, it surprised me because everyone always talks about being so hot when pregnant but since I've been pregnant during these cold months, unless I'm active, I am just freezing all the time.  So what does all this mean? 

1. Pregnancy lowers the body's set point for sweating, meaning you sweat sooner. Increased skin blood flow creates the pregnancy "glow", the skin is already warm so the sweat evaporates immediately.
2. Pregnant women breathe 40 - 50 percent more air which improves her ventilation but also increases her ability to get rid of heat through the air she exhales.
3. Increase in blood volume and body weight/mass improves a pregnant woman's ability to deal with extra heat. Increased blood volume maintains skin blood flow, and the weight gain "buffers any increase in heat production by progressively increasing the amount of tissue to heat by 5 - 10 percent in early pregnancy and by 20 - 25 percent near term." Meaning that "at term a pregnant woman can generate about 20 percent more heat without raising her body temperature because there is about 20 percent more tissue to keep warm."

So when looking at these adaptations to exercise and pregnancy separately you can see how they are important but I think you can also see why it might be best to already have that adaptation in place prior to pregnancy by developing an exercise habit before you become pregnant and then of course carefully maintaining it during your pregnancy. 

Expecting a Girl!

Well we had the sonogram, and at first the sonographer was saying that the baby wasn't cooperating, she was staying too low or facing the wrong way or something but eventually I guess the sonographer got a good look and decided that our baby was a girl! Needless to say we were very excited!  It was a lot of fun watching the baby move on the ultrasound, she moves a lot, which is crazy because I couldn't feel any of it! The cutest thing was when the sonographer focused on her face (looks like an X-Ray so you see the bony structures) and you could see that her thumb was in her mouth and you could see her tiny jaw move while she was sucking on it, too cute!!! We got to take home a DVD of the ultrasound, although we have yet to play it for anyone else, I'm sure our parents would like to see it. 
Well my belly officially has the pregnant look, everyone told me it would just happen all of a sudden and everyone was right, I practically woke up one morning with a more definite pregnant belly. I guess I need to get some pictures on this blog. 
I'd like to make an amendment to a previous blog, the one titled "Focus on Protein," I believe I wrote that it was good to consume something around 70 or 75 grams of protein per day while pregnant. Well I talked to my nurse midwife about this and she said that was way too much and not to go over 40 or 45 grams. The main reason being that excessive protein could result in a larger baby which would make a natural delivery more difficult. The Bradley Method for labor and delivery suggests a large amount of protein, and apparently "Bradley Babies" are usually larger-than-normal babies. Not that this is bad for the baby necessarily, it's just harder for the mother to push the baby out....I guess. So anyway I just wanted you to be aware of that. It's not as if I started counting my protein intake I was just trying to eat more protein sources, and it did help curb my crazy appetite but maybe it wasn't so much the additional protein that helped me as it was just the additional calories. Who knows? I just know that I'm healthy, I feel good and I'm gaining appropriate amounts of weight for pregnancy, about 9 or 10 lbs so far. 
I was more tired last week, and I don't know that I got as many "good" workouts in, I know I lifted weights at least twice, took yoga twice and ran at least 3 miles twice. When I write them like that it sounds like a lot of good workouts, I just don't think I was as focused and I know on one of those runs I ended up doing a lot of walking because I was just tired and couldn't get a good rhythm.  Maybe I'll have more energy this week, and I plan to blog some more about the interactive effects of exercise and pregnancy on a woman's body.

Is it a Boy or a Girl???

18 weeks and 1 day today! My baby's arms and legs should be more proportional and neurons are now connected between the brain and muscles allowing the baby better control of it's extremities, thus why I have been feeling more kicks lately. Tiny kicks. A protective substance called vernix caseosa (vernix is the Latin word for varnish; caseosa is cheese) is developing over the baby's skin to create a barrier between it and the amniotic fluid. This keeps the skin from wrinkling. Interesting....

I've been doing more running again the past few weeks as my energy seems to have returned. Today I lifted weights and then went to prenatal yoga.

I have officially switched from my OB Doctor over to the Nurse Midwives. My OB/GYN office is unique in that it not only has Doctors but also 4 nurse midwives. These women are nurse practitioners who have also received extra training in obstetrical care and midwifery. The big difference I see between them and the Doctors is that they do not perform surgeries.  These midwives do not do homebirths, they deliver at St. Luke's only, which is good because Michael and I both agreed that Methodist did not seem as natural birth friendly as St. Luke's. 

Tomorrow we go in for the baby's anatomical scan, so we will hopefully find out the gender!!! I'm so excited to find out, I know it's probably great to be surprised but honestly I can't handle the suspense of not knowing! I think knowing the gender will help me get a better understanding of who the baby is before it's born and help me to bond with it. We both think it's a girl but that's probably just because we both really hope for a girl. I've even been referring to it as "her" and "she" so it's gonna take some mental adjusting if She turns out to be a He!