Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Milestones

The baby's reportedly growing by leaps and bounds these days, but there's no outward evidence, which is why I haven't blogged lately. Week 12 (plum) starts tomorrow so that's a good milestone -- the end of the first trimester. I think. I've heard conflicting things about that -- some say the first trimester is 14 weeks long. Whatever, it doesn't really matter.

The other baby news from this week is that I've started to notice the tiniest of baby bumps. No one else would be able to tell it's there -- even Matt can't see it when I try to show him -- but I can. No matter how I suck in, there's a bump below my belly button that won't go away.

I know it's just bloating, and my pants still fit perfectly fine, but I decided to be proactive and order a set of three belly bands (not the brand-name Bella Bands) off of eBay. These allow you to keep wearing your regular pants, just unzipped and unbuttoned. I don't know how long they'll work, but Amanda's almost three months ahead of me and they're still doing the trick for her.

In the past couple of weeks I've gotten less strict about caffeine and in fact have begun having sweet tea with lunch almost every day. Just today I had my first cherry Coke, but only because I think I'm permanently sick of Sprite, and that was the only caffeine-free option (except for water, but I'd paid for the combo). Although tea has its share of sugar and caffeine, it feels a lot healthier than soda, and I don't feel guilty having a glass or two once a day.

Oh, this was cool too -- a girl at CrossFit who I barely even know gave me a like-new infant car seat/carrier yesterday. It's gender-neutral and looks like it's never been used. I thought that was so nice!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

The lime has a heartbeat!

Technically the baby won't be the size of a lime until tomorrow, but I'm so opposed to prunes (this week's fruit) that I'm going to promote it a day early.

We had another doctor's appointment today and got to hear the heartbeat! Hooray! That was so exciting!

I think I'll really be able to relax now. I'd been a little nervous the past couple of weeks because my only two symptoms (exhaustion and slight breast tenderness) had pretty much disappeared. But the doctor said everything looks great, the heartbeat is at 176 (he said it probably will be a little slower at my next appointment) and I can consider myself very lucky to be feeling so good.

Other than hearing the heartbeat, the only purpose of the visit was for him to do a general exam and pap smear because I hadn't had one since last August. At my next appointment, Jan. 13, I think he's just going to listen for the heartbeat again -- and at the NEXT one we'll get the all-important boy-or-girl ultrasound!

I asked the doctor about workout limits or precautions as the second trimester approaches and he repeated what he said at the last visit -- just to listen to my body and keep doing what I've been doing unless it gets uncomfortable. He said the only potential harm would be if I somehow got hit in the stomach, but there's not much chance of that. I love how relaxed he is about everything. For now my plan is to do CrossFit (modified if necessary) through the second trimester, then probably just run in the third trimester.

I also asked him if I need to be careful about lying on my back, as some people have told me, and he said not to really worry about it. He said if you did sleep eight straight hours on your back that wouldn't be ideal, but most people move around in their sleep all night long, so it's not a concern. And seriously, I wake up to pee like two or three times a night now, so there's no danger of me sleeping eight straight hours in any position.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Workout tweaks

With just a couple of weeks left in my first trimester I'm starting to research if and how I need to adjust my workouts, particularly CrossFit, for the remainder of the pregnancy. Of course the main priority is to not inadvertently harm the baby -- that's a given -- but I want to know how hard it's OK to push myself in the coming months.

CrossFit is definitely intense, but by the time I found out I was pregnant my body was already well-adjusted to doing it several times a week, plus running two or three times a week. I wrote earlier that my doctor told me it was fine to keep doing what I've been doing, but I know I'll have to tweak some things as the baby and my stomach grow.

I should probably stop doing crunches sometime soon, for example. I think you're supposed to stay off your back in the second and third trimesters. And I know you're not supposed to lift a lot of weights, but I already skip the CrossFit days (Tuesday and Thursday) that focus on weightlifting, just because I don't want to build bulk and don't care about increasing my maxes. Also, eventually I might need to modify the workouts that involve jumping -- do step-ups instead of tire jumps, etc.

Carrie's doctor told her to stop doing ab workouts pretty early on in her pregnancy -- around week 12, I think. Not only for the baby's health but because Carrie's ab muscles would be distorted if they kept growing while the baby bump grew. Carrie, I need you to refresh me on all that.

I want to keep doing as much as I can, and just to be clear, my weight isn't the issue. I'm definitely not trying to be a psycho workout pregnant girl, and I have no problem gaining however much weight my body needs to. I just want to stay as healthy as possible. Exercise is good for me and for the baby, and working out gives me more energy every day.

I keep coming across references to this site, but I don't think it says much that isn't common sense. I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday and I'm going to talk to him about all this, but CrossFit is pretty obscure so I don't know how helpful he'll be.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Let's hear it for the boy

One of the best things about being married to a guy with the mind of an engineer and an obsession with Consumer Reports is this: He has agreed to take charge of all the baby-product research and purchase decisions. There's an overwhelming amount of information and advertising out there and I'm just happy he's willing to wade through it. What a man.

Also, good news: The doctor just called and said my "prenatal panel" came back completely normal. I'm still not sure what all was tested, but normal is good.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

The secret's out, mostly

Apparently I'm not so great about blogging when I know I don't have an audience! Or it may be that there just isn't much to say about being pregnant right now. In the last week or so we've told a bunch of our friends and family, and as of today we're telling those who already know that it's fine to spread the word. Such good secret-keepers our friends and family have proved to be -- for the most part! I'm also planning to post it on my "real" blog and on Facebook today. You know, nothing's official until it hits Facebook.

There's a lot going on with the baby -- he or she is the size of a green olive right now -- but I still can't tell much. My tiredness seems a little better, which actually makes me a little nervous since it's my only indisputable pregnancy symptom. I've also noticed in the past week or so a tendency toward queasiness when I'm really hungry, especially at night. It's not nausea -- I never feel like I'm going to throw up -- it's more like my blood sugar's way off. It goes away as soon as I eat so I'm just learning to not postpone dinner (or to eat a snack if I have to wait on Matt).

I had another doctor's appointment on Monday, but it was uneventful. I didn't see the doctor, have an ultrasound or even get weighed, which made me happy, the appointment coming as it did on the heels of Thanksgiving. The entire point of the visit was to gather my medical history and take blood for a basic prenatal workup -- I'm not sure what that tests for. I also got a flu shot, which I wasn't sure about -- I usually don't get one -- but the nurse promised that there's no potential harm to the baby, that I wouldn't get the flu from it and that I do not want to be pregnant with the flu (as she was). So I got the shot.

The best thing to come from the appointment was a boatload of free prenatal vitamins. The ones my doctor prescribed had no generic and were pricey -- like $45 for a 30-day supply. I asked the nurse for something comparable with a generic, but she said the one I was using was really the best because it has DHA (?) which I guess is very important for the baby but not all prenatals have. But then she gave me a 50-day supply of samples of the good stuff! So that'll do me for awhile.

My next appointment is on the 16th and I'll get to see the doctor but not have another ultrasound. I think we might get to hear the heartbeat, but it might be a little early -- I've heard you can definitely hear it by week 12. I actually don't think I get another ultrasound until the one where we find out the sex, unless a problem arises. But as long as we can hear the heartbeat I'm OK with waiting on the ultrasound.