The real reason I wanted to blog...I'M HAVING A BABY! :D

Here is the real reason I have started blogging!!--- I want to share my experiences as a pregnant lady and a mom to be while trying to stay fit. Yes, I know, there are TONS of these out there. However, I have had trouble finding something that I could personally relate to. I am hoping someone out there can relate to the things I go through and maybe even get some help from others along the way too :)

Matt and I found out we were having a baby shortly after I crossed the finish line at Steelhead 70.3. We had a feeling, but I wanted to wait until after the race to know for sure.

So here is the first installment of my pregnancy journey while trying to continue some kind of fitness level to prepare for some (hopeful) mid to late summer races.

1st 8 Weeks!

There hasn’t been much to tell. I have been fortunate not to have any major signs of actually being pregnant. Throughout the day I get very hungry and feel like I need to be snacking frequently. I think by listening to my body and snacking, I have been able to keep away any kind of morning sickness. So to answer everyone's first question they ask me- No, I did not have any kind of morning sickness.

I have, however, been very very tired. This could be simply because of life. I have to get up much earlier than I am used to in order to drive my commute to work in the mornings from my parents house along with transitioning back into the workday. I have a feeling that has a big impact, but I have been going to bed about 7:30 each night. The one really irritating side effect I have had is my gosh darn heart rate. So I wrote a blog about what I have learned in triathlon- one of which was that I need to slow down. Learning to slow down has been difficult not pregnant, and adding growing a human to the mix means I am supposed to slow down more.... I have been struggling with this concept. One day I went for a jog and was doing great. I was going slower than I have been, but still not upset about the slow pace and my heart rate was just fine. All of a sudden my heart rate jumped into zone 5! I was told to keep the heart rate below zone 4 as to not over stress the body more. I started to walk and the heart rate barely came down. This run was the most frustrated I have been in a long time. I felt fine and the run felt easy but my heart rate was going nuts. I haven't had this bad of experience since, but I have had to slow down even more due to my heart rate. I am hoping this is a good thing and will continue to build my base and strengthen my aerobic capacity. My bike the next day was also a bit of a struggle. My watts seemed low, but the work I was putting in to it seemed rough. I am hoping that as my body continues to change and adapt things will become better. I have an app that I monitor my week to week progress and it mentioned that once the placenta starts to take more of the work than my hormones, I won't feel as much of the side effects. I felt like once this kid has developed its own heart rate it took some of the pressure off of my own. Could be totally wrong, but I have been feeling much better and running with a better heart rate. I am the kind of person that has tons of questions and wants answers. I have looked to learn more about this crazy adventure we are about to embark on and listening to podcasts.

So for now, it’s been learning, sleeping, and trying to control the high heart rate.

9-15 weeks

We told our parents and families the weekend we moved into our new house. We got balloons that spelled out baby and I made a banner that said arriving in April. We placed the balloons and the banner in the bedroom that will be the baby's room. Matt's parents arrived first and Matt's mom was a bit too excited. Thankfully my parents were just behind them so it forced Matt's mom to put it together. My mom thought it was a joke and that Terri had put them in there to hint we should get on it. I've got to give my mom some credit- We had been living at her house for the past 10 weeks and haven't spilled the beans. So she had no idea. There were many nights at dinner I almost just shouted out, "I'M GOING TO HAVE A BABY!" But instead, kept my cool, and she had no idea whatsoever. Having our families know was exciting as we had been keeping this secret for 10 weeks. It made it feel a little more real. I didn't want to tell the world for awhile because the only symptom I was feeling was weight gain and it still hasn't felt real.

I told my coworkers at 14 weeks when I was in the 2nd trimester and then the world of Facebook that same weekend. I felt like it was still a little early, but it was also exciting and hard to hold it in any longer. I brought in Dunkin Donuts. The Donuts said: Eat Up, People! I don't want to be the only one growing a belly. And the Munchkins said: I am going to have a munchkin, so you should too. (I stole this from Pinterest, I'm not that creative :) [if !supportLineBreakNewLine] [endif]

It still didn't feel real. There was so much anticipation and excitement preparing to tell everyone and now that people know, I feel like things are moving even more slowly again now that I want to know the gender.

Workout wise- I have been feeling pretty good since week 9. I never had morning sickness just a lot of hunger that I was constantly snacking. I have felt tired and unmotivated more often than usual so I have skipped days of working out almost one a week at least. This last week I have been struggling with a cold/virus that I don't want to overdo so I have been taking it easy. I keep thinking I need to take advantage of my mobility as much as I can in these stages but the fatigue can be a struggle. I was driving in the car thinking if I am this tired now without this person what the heck am I going to feel like when they get here?!?

15-22 weeks

The pool is amazing. Running feels very heavy in my lower abdomen afterward. I still can do it, but it is slow. At 15 and 17 weeks I did 5ks. I was very excited to feel a little more like myself getting involved in a more “competitive” atmosphere. At the 15 week 5K I was just going to see if I could maintain an 8:30ish average. I was happy to average 8:27. I probably went harder than I should have, but I left the heart rate monitor at home and felt awesome.

At the 2nd 5K, I felt the urge to push a little more. I was able to average 7:48 which I was super happy about. It’s definitely no world record, but for the slow paces I have been running, it felt good to let lose a bit. Lately, I have been feeling somewhat “useless” in the training aspect. My times are irrelevant to keep my heart rate in the right zones and everything is just naturally slowing down as it is. When I lift, it doesn’t feel the same. I get tired more quickly and my abdomen feels weird.

The USAT and Ironman Age Group rankings came out in November and seeing my place made me feel like the “pre pregnant” self.

IM 70.3 AG

US= 11 (Gold)- top 10 would have been nice... Syracuse is really biting me in the butt right now...

World= 34 (Gold)

USAT AG

Illinois- 7th (missed All American by 1 place and 1.94 points)

Mideast- 11th (missed All American by 1 place and 1.497 points)

I have no idea what being an "All American" really does but it still makes me mad I was close and just missed it. So it put that fire back in me to want to compete and get better. I got a tiny bit bummed realizing this next summer is my last summer as a 25-29 age grouper and aging up is going to be a lot more challenging (especially while attempting to raise a tiny human). I have to wait and see how the pregnancy/birth/recovery all turns out before I can really set goals for this upcoming summer. I want to be realistic and I don't want to push anything. I want to come back strong and ready to compete.

Once I started to get more excited about what I am working for and realized that doing something each day is better than nothing, I have started to embrace what is going on a little bit more. Growing a tiny human is no easy task. I underestimated how tired it would make me. I am starting to learn to listen to my body and respect the changes while doing what I can. It is also important to celebrate my teeny-tiny successes on the bike, on the jog, or in the pool.

I am so fortunate to have my coach local that she was able to help me refocus my swim form. I am looking forward to taking this time to get the form efficient and strong. I will worry about pace after the baby arrives.

Around the 21 week mark I have started to be more uncomfortable in aero. Some days I do feel better than others, but the aero position with my growing belly is becoming “icky”. I am hoping that by raising the handlebars, I will have a little more space between my knees and my belly to make it feel more comfortable.

Some things I have learned/what I have been doing up to this point.

-Pregnancy test- Any faint mark on a pregnancy test means something. Also, read the directions before you use it. I thought it was a simple process of peeing on a stick, but after the first time, it seemed unclear, I was wrong. I would recommend spending the little bit extra money on the digital that actually spells it out for you.

-I bought a snoogle. It's a pregnancy body pillow that I will probably always use (even without being pregnant). I LOVE it.

-I use the app OVIA to track what is going on with the development of the baby each week as well as helpful tips and other really neat features. One of the things I love about the app is that is gives you options for the size comparison of the baby each week. I have picked the category "fun and games". To me it is fun and much more relate-able than the fruit/veggies people usually use. (I also used the regular OVIA app to track my period and cycle)

-I use "Baby Story" to track my belly changes. It has stickers and such, does the job, but I am looking for a better app with more variety.

-I take my prenatal vitamins at night instead of the morning (some people say their vitamins make them nauseous in the morning)

-I listen to podcasts: The Birthful podcast, Preggie Pals, The Boob Group are among my favorites.

-If you have generous friends like mine- borrow their maternity clothes. My girl Spaude is a life savor who offered to lend me her basics. I will offer mine back to her and so on and so forth.

-Prior to coming to terms I needed to start getting maternity pants, I used Pinterest Hacks: (2 small hair ties to hold your pants together without having them tightly buttoned)

-There is this feeling in your belly when you can start feeling the baby move. Everyone refers to it as "flutters" or "butterflies", don't let them fool you- it feels like worms squirming around in there.

-When you get your first ultrasound, it's like the technician is playing video games. It's kind of weird.

-The baby's heart beat is the coolest thing to hear while seeing the fluttering on the monitor.

-The body change is a hard thing to grasp. I have had 2 legit meltdowns about it up until this point. It was probably also the crazy hormones, but I'd like to think it is a normal part of it all. I am starting to embrace the belly, the weight gain, and everything else that is changing, but it is hard.