Tuesday, January 31, 2017

13 Weeks: Pregnancy Update

Happy Tuesday friends!  I was trying to decide if I should do weekly (or every other week) pregnancy updates on here or not. I know not everyone wants to read about it but I decided to do it, if nothing else, for me. I think it will be nice to be able to look back after all this is over and remember these moments. So without further ado...

Let me preface this "13 week pregnancy photo" with this... I'm really not liking this photo. I know it's because I've gained weight and I know the weight gain is partially because I'm cooking Baby Taylor so I'm trying to be ok with it but still... ugh. lol. I'll get over it when I get more of a "baby bump" and less of a "eat all the cookies/I'm bloated bump."
 
13 weeks
How far along/size of baby: 13 weeks 2 days . Baby is the size of a peach or lemon (depending if you like it sweet or sour! lol). At my 12 week scan, baby was around 2.5 inches and should now be close to 3 inches long! This baby is growing fast!

Total weight gain: Weight gained since my first doctor visit mid December is about 5 pounds. I also never got morning sickness (I know I'm lucky) so I was still able to eat just fine.

Maternity clothes: Definitely not yet. But I will admit I did pull out my one size larger work pants to feel more comfortable this week. I am still working my old ones too though. I figured, it's the second trimester now. Time to embrace the pregnancy.

Sleep: I do get up more to use the bathroom. I always did get up at least once. Now I generally get up 2-3 times on average. Sleeping is ok and if I have problems, it's more with "other issues" than being pregnant.

Best moment of this week: Getting my 12 week ultrasound last week and subsequently getting the call from the doctor saying the genetic screening tests came back "low probability" so that means things are looking good. Also making my 20 week appointment was exciting!

Miss anything: Not much. Maybe eating cold lunch meat type sandwiches. Every once in a while, I miss drinking a glass of wine.

Movement: None yet. Still too early.

Symptoms: There was a good stretch where I was SO TIRED by mid-afternoon that I wanted to put my head down at work by 4:00 p.m. Luckily it's getting a little better. Still tired but not as bad. Also headaches were a pretty constant thing recently.

Food cravings: I had a pretty good craving for Chinese food (with fried food like orange chicken). I tried to limit it to once a week. Also carbs. But I love carbs anyway.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really. Sometimes the thought of ground beef turns my stomach a bit but I'm fine with cooking and eating it. So just the thought.

Have you started to show yet: Again... is it too many cookies or is it baby? You decide! lol

Gender: Not sure yet. Will find out at 20 weeks. My guess would be a boy.
 
Belly button in or out: In.

Wedding rings on or off: On.

Happy or moody most of the time: I think I'm happy most of the time but definitely have my moody moments. Ask my husband.

Exercise: Still doing most things like before just with slightly less intensity or speed. Ran the F^3 Half Marathon last weekend. Swimming, barre classes, spin classes and indoor bike trainer.

Looking forward to: Listening to the baby's heartbeat at my next doctor appointment on February 6th. I haven't heard it yet. I just know it was 155 bpm at my 12 week ultrasound.

Hope you enjoyed my 13 week update! F^3 Half Marathon recap to come.

Monday, January 23, 2017

Running Plans

Thank you for all the wonderful comments on my last post! I was really excited to share the news with all of you!

A question I get often is ...

Q: Are you going to keep running?

A: I'm going to try but will listen to my body.

Of course, I've read a lot about running while pregnant. And some of my run friends have become pregnant in recent years. What I do know is this (in a nutshell)... it's ok to keep running while pregnant.

Here's the slightly more in depth answer. Yes, I can run while I'm pregnant. In fact, it can be good for me and the baby to keep up my physical fitness. My doctor and chiropractor both confirmed this with me when I asked them. Here's the general rules of thumb for me...

1. Watch my heart rate. I will not be able to go as fast as I once did (nor should I). I need to slow down now that I'm pregnant. As far as what the right HR is when pregnant? A lot of articles say not to exceed 140. My Doctor told me not to exceed 160 for more than 20 minutes at a time. And many other articles I read said that 140 was an older standard and that it depends on your level of fitness going into the pregnancy. I will follow what my doctor says. And basically, I will run at a pace that feels comfortable to me. I can tell when I'm pushing my pace too much.

2. Stop running if something doesn't feel right.  I've been running a long time. I'm not a new runner and I'm aware of what my body is trying to tell me while running (pregnant or not).  So if something doesn't feel right, stop. The most important thing is the baby. Not my miles or my pace.

3.  Things might change when my "bump" gets bigger. I've read a lot about how your weight shifts when you start getting a larger belly and that may make a difference on how I feel while running.

4. If I ever feel like running is not comfortable for me or that maybe I shouldn't be doing it, I am going to stop. Yes, I'd like to keep running throughout my pregnancy (at least through month 6-7 or something. In fact, I have a half on April 1st that I'm signed up for). BUT...I'm perfectly fine if I need to stop and not run anymore. I'll simply do more walking. And yes, I will probably be doing a run/walk combo when I'm getting a little larger. Whatever feels most comfortable. But I know people that were able to run throughout their pregnancy and I know people that really couldn't or just didn't feel right. I will take it week by week and run by run and keep seeing how I'm feeling.


So...how am I feeling so far??  Pretty good actually! Yay me! I didn't have any morning sickness or nausea to contend with in my first trimester (more about the first trimester later when it's officially over), so my energy levels were pretty decent. I was tired, but otherwise I'm fine. So besides slowing down a little, I've been able to keep training for the F^3 Half Marathon that's coming up this Saturday.

I'm actually not sure what my plans for the F^3 are. Obviously, I'm not going for a PR. Obviously, I'll be happy to just be able to complete it. I've been running with a walk/water break every 1.5-2 miles on my long runs right now. So maybe I'll just keep doing that based on how I feel? I thought about doing a run/walk interval of 9:1 or 7:1 but I'm not sure if that's even necessary. So we will just see how things go this Saturday. This will be baby's first half marathon, after all! Go baby go!

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Big News!

So I eluded to BIG NEWS on my last post. And since it's been shared with family and it's been shared on facebook (it's not official until it's facebook official, amiright?), now it's time to share with my blogging family!

My husband and I are expecting a little runner in the beginning of August! Everyone keeps telling my husband "good work," like he really had a hard job with this one! lol.

I'm about 11.5 weeks pregnant now. My ultrasound last week put me at 10 weeks. I have a half marathon on January 28th (F^3 Half Marathon), which I'm still planning on doing. I've gotten in two 10 mile training runs. I'm just planning on taking it easy and walking when necessary.  More on this half and another half soon. But baby is happily running with me in the womb! Go baby go!

I was just excited to share my news with you all. As much as I know not everyone wants this to turn into a baby blog, it's part of my life right now so it will be there. Hoping to have a good balance of baby, running, and life in the blog.

Baby is upside down - 10 week ultrasound

Our facebook announcement was triathlon themed. "New triathlon relay team member makes its debut August 2017!" Let's just say, some didn't get it or scrolled right past it. Oh well, we tried to be creative! In this photo, I'm the swimmer, Derek is the cyclist, and baby is the runner (we got baby shoes on clearance. Score!)

The below picture was taken before the one above and is considered the cutest "outtake" ever! I probably like it better than the original. Our dog, Camo, came and sat down like this with the baby shoes between her paws, ALL ON HER OWN! This was not a posed photo. I think it looks like she's protecting the baby. Awwww!!!! So much cuteness!