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Pregnancy and Weight Gain

16 Oct

 

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Hey friends. I’m back from elk camp, which I’ll recap when Travis gets back with the camera. I also forgot to take a bump picture this morning so I’ll do my 15 Week update tomorrow.

Today I wanted to share my thoughts on weight gain during pregnancy, two aspects in particular: food and body image.

Food

For an average-sized person like me, the recommended amount of weight gain is 25-35 pounds. And despite the familiar idea of eating for two, the extra calories required daily to grow a human being are pretty much 0 in the first trimester, 300 in the second trimester, and 450 in the third trimester (again, for an average-sized person like me).

It’s funny, though, how prevalent the mindset is of eating whatever you want now that you’re pregnant. All of a sudden, eating an entire chocolate cake by myself is not only acceptable, it’s encouraged. “The baby needs chocolate!” I can’t lie and say that I haven’t already often said “Hey, I’m growing a baby” as an excuse to eat more than I would normally (mostly to avoid being hungry an hour later), but I haven’t been demolishing everything in sight either. I may be pregnant, but I still can’t stand the feeling of being too full.

All that said, my approach to gaining weight during pregnancy is going to be the same as my approach was to maintaining weight before pregnancy: Intuitive Eating. The main two principles of Intuitive Eating are 1) Eat when you’re hungry and 2) Stop when you’re full. Sub-principles are 3) No food is off-limits and 4) You feel better when you eat healthy foods.

Now that I’m in the second trimester, the amount and quality of food I eat is especially important to The Biscuit. I’ve been pretty consistent in eating at least one serving of vegetables a day – last Thursday and Friday I had enormous salads for lunch (which cost me $7.50 each at the work cafeteria, no big deal). Tonight, I’m going to buy and prep the ingredients to keep that salad streak going. I’d also like to start cooking dinner more often – even if that only means making our own mini pizzas instead of throwing in a frozen pizza. I’ve also been putting strawberries on my cereal for breakfast and eating an orange and grapes or canned fruit for snacks during the day. {Side note: I love canned mandarin oranges.}

That’s about where my healthy eating ends. The rest of my diet has been a mashup of fruit snacks, licorice, potato chips, ice cream, pickles, sushi and white dinner rolls. And the love for meat I had during Weeks 5-7? Pretty much gone. Even chicken tastes kind of weird now.

To sum it up, my eating habits since becoming pregnant haven’t been the greatest and I’m aiming to improve them for the sake of my baby. But I’m not going to be a Nazi and count calories, or use a checklist to make sure that I’m eating everything I’m supposed to be (like the one that What to Expect When You’re Expecting has). Even in pregnancy, healthy eating is about making good choices, one at a time.

Body Image

Before getting pregnant, I’d heard pregnant women whose bellies were growing lament the loss of their former shape. I always thought it was kind of silly – I mean, what do you expect when you get pregnant? Having your belly grow is inevitable. But now I have a different perspective/understanding of that lament.

Don’t get me wrong – I love that my belly is growing because it makes pregnancy so much more real. But I wasn’t expecting to feel the same apprehensions as the other women I judged. There are days when I wonder if I’ll ever be able to run a 10 minute mile again, or ever have a stomach that’s even remotely flat. There are days when I feel like my belly is just fat, not baby, and compare myself to other women who have barely-there bumps even at 19 weeks. I wonder if my boobs are still growing, and if they’ll ever return to the sufficient size they once were.

Probably the biggest struggle I have in regards to my body image is my fear of getting out of shape. For the past 8 or 9 years, I’ve been consistently active. Over the past 3-4 years, I’ve done sprint and Olympic triathlons, half marathons and a full marathon. Now, I count cleaning my house or walking the dogs as a workout – because honestly, I don’t have much energy for more. I went on 3 hikes this weekend with my mother-in-law, each lasting between 60 and 90 minutes, and that was my limit. I get tired a lot faster and easier than I used to, and I’ve already noticed that my fitness level has dropped significantly. I keep waiting for the “second trimester energy” to kick in but so far, I feel just as tired as I have the past 3 months.

So just like with eating healthy, I am just going to take it a day at a time and try to do as much as I can. If that’s only 2 workouts one week, that’s what it is.

How did/do you feel about gaining weight or losing fitness during pregnancy?

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Pregnancy Update: 14 weeks

8 Oct

I’m officially in the second trimester! The baby has grown to be the size of a lemon. I celebrated yesterday morning by throwing up for the first time during pregnancy. I think it was caused by drinking tea on an empty stomach? It was kinda weird – I have a lot of energy in the morning so I was tidying up the house and all of a sudden, I felt sick. It lasted for about 5 minutes, I puked and then I was fine – but I made sure to eat something so that it didn’t return.

On Thursday, I ran almost a full 3 miles. Even though I’m still ridiculously slow and have to stop and walk every once in a while to keep my heart rate under 150, it felt great to get out there. It reminded me of why I love running – I love getting outside and I love how even a slow jog feels like a good workout.

I bought two pairs of maternity pants at the used maternity store on Saturday. They cost half of what I would pay for new pants so it was definitely worth going there. The lady said they get new stuff in all the time so I plan to go back.

The rest of the weekend was spent car shopping and room organizing. We bought a bunch of totes and filled them with all the stuff that was in the dresser that we’re putting in storage. Progress towards the nursery!

Side note on cravings: I used to prefer sweet things over salty any day of the week but now, my tastebuds are completely reversed. I would gladly pass up chocolate to eat potato chips. It’s so very strange.

Also, if I hadn’t discovered that I can still eat cooked or vegetarian sushi, I would be very sad. We have eaten it more often during the past 3 months than we did before. Probably another result of the salty tastebuds.

………………….

My week of workouts:

Su: 1.55 mile walk

Th: 3 mile jog

Sa: 20 min Pilates

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Symptoms: 1 episode of morning sickness, face acne (though it’s improving)

Cravings: cucumbers with French dressing, egg sandwiches, sushi, licorice, POTATO CHIPS, nachos

Weight Gained: same as last week (5 lbs)

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13 Week Appt – Heard the heartbeat!

28 Sep

I had my 13 week appointment this morning. It started with the usual – pee in a cup, stand on the scale, get your blood pressure taken. Today, I also got a flu shot.

Then I met with the midwife. The clinic I go to has about 6-8 midwives and you can either see them all, or request a specific one. I’ve had a different midwife for each appointment, which works just fine for me.

The one I met with today was very friendly and informative. She told me I could drink herbal tea as long as I watched my caffeine intake and that I can sleep on my back until 20 weeks since I’m at an average weight (sleeping on my side is more comfortable, but I get tired of my legs being bent all night).

And I got to hear our baby’s heartbeat! The midwife found it fairly quickly but then the baby moved and it took a while to find it again. She said the baby must be a pretty active little one because we kept hearing loud noises on the doppler. She finally did find it again and hearing that little heartbeat makes it so real that there’s a baby inside me.

All I can say about these experiences are that they are amazing. I never fully appreciated other women’s ultrasounds or stories but having it happen to me personally is a totally different story. I get all choked up and teary whenever I even think about it!

Because of that, I totally plan to put a frame like this in our baby’s nursery:

 

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That couldn’t be more true. I’m amazed at how much I already love this little one. How someone could deem this not a human life, is beyond me.

Anyway, everything is as it should be. I go back for my next appointment in 4 weeks. Praise the Lord for a healthy baby!

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A genetically mutated potato.

27 Sep

This morning, nothing we had at home sounded good for lunch so I planned to make a repeat trip to Jason’s Deli for the Best Lunch Ever. I was planning to order a whole bowl of the broccoli cheddar soup, instead of just a cup like I had last time, but as I was looking at the menu, the Spud Au Broc stood out to me.

 

The combination of my two current loves – the best broccoli cheddar soup in the world and a potato. Naturally, I got the full size potato because I’m pregnant and was starving.

Well, the potato was so monstrous that I’m convinced it was genetically mutated:

No worries though. I took it down.

I’ve been paying for it a bit since lunchtime with a very uncomfortable stomach (whether from eating too much or eating cheese, I’m not sure) but it was worth it.

My only complaint? That I burnt my tongue since I couldn’t wait for it to cool off before digging in.

And bonus points: there’s my veggies for the day. 😉 Never mind the calorie count of that bad boy. Ahem, 1,510.

 

 

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My Latest Workouts

25 Sep

I’ve already lamented my laziness/exhaustion several times so that’s not what this post is about. Rather, I thought I’d talk about what working out looks like (when I actually do it) now that I’m pregnant.

Running these days looks pretty different from a few months ago. I do 3 miles max (though that’s more owing to my decreased energy than anything else), actually do a warm up and cool down for 5 minutes each (walking), and do jog/walk intervals – usually about 5 min/2 min. My Garmin has won big points in this area, with its programmable intervals.

The reason for all of this is that my doctor said I could still run but needed to keep my heart rate below 140. That’s definitely easier said than done. During Weeks 7-8, I did a little online research and decided that it wasn’t the end of the world if my heart rate was higher than 140, but stayed below 150. That way, I could jog the whole thing, instead of walking some (since my jogging heart rate is around 145).

But these days, I actually enjoy running more if I build in some walking. Maybe it’s because I’m losing my running fitness. Maybe it’s because I’m tired to begin with. But regardless, one benefit of wogging (walking/jogging) is that I’m barely sweaty when I get home. Fewer showers!

Another benefit of wogging is that my pace is so slow, I can’t compare it to anything I used to run. Now, it ranges from a “speedy” 13:30/mile to a moderate 16:00/mile. I just remind myself that this isn’t the time for an ego trip – I need to focus on being healthy and protecting my baby.

I’ve also had to adjust my expectations for exercise. Whereas before, I never would’ve considered a walk a workout, it is now. It’s weird to go from marathoner to near-couch potato but I’m trying to strike a balance between giving my body the rest it needs and just being lazy.

As much as I like the thought of being one of those pregnant ladies who runs all through pregnancy, I don’t know if I’ll be able or want to. So I plan on getting back into swimming and getting some prenatal DVDs I can do from home. I’m often a lot more motivated to work out in my own living room than drive the 5 minutes to the Rec.

Here’s what the past couple of weeks have looked like:

 

September 9 – 15

M: Jog/walk 2.58 miles, 15 minutes arms + legs

Sa: Jog/walk 3 miles, 10 minutes back + core

 

September 16 – 22

Su: 1.15 mile walk with pooches

M: 30 min elliptical + 10 min arms

F: 10 min Pilates

 

I’d still like to increase my activity level to at least taking the dogs on a walk every day but I’m not beating myself up for it. I’ll get there.

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Pregnancy Update: Weeks 11-12 (Bump pics!)

24 Sep

Week 11

The secret’s out! This week, we told our extended family, church friends, Facebook friends and my blog friends. I also told the people at work I’m closest to. Every time I planned to tell someone, I got all nervous and excited beforehand. It’s big news!

In addition to my workout goal of 3x a week, this week I started trying to be more intentional with eating at least one serving of vegetables a day – whether a salad, lettuce in my smoothie, or cooked veggies with dinner. Most days, I meet that goal. I still love fruit, especially citrus, so I’ve been eating a lot of that too.

Week 11, I got a cold and my head felt congested and throbby for many days. Not fun. I also started to feel some lower back pain (possibly posterior pelvic pain). It’s the worst when I try to sit/stand up from being bent over at the waist. I plan to talk to my doctor about anything I could do to keep this from getting worse.

Travis and I started talking about names and have it narrowed down to, oh, about 15 for each gender. No big deal.

Symptoms: Sneezing, lower back pain

Cravings: Sushi (cooked), potato chips, French dressing

 

Week 12

On Monday of this week, I finally broke down and bought new bras, a whole cup and band size bigger. This is probably the part about pregnancy that I’m least excited about, besides the whole giving birth thing. My boobs are big enough, TYVM.

My stomach is also rounding out – no more flat days for me!

 

Even though I feel like it’s “too early” for me to show, I can’t really argue with reality. It is what it is.

To avoid the dreaded constipation, I’ve taken to consuming lots of apple juice and Fiber One bars (since I still can’t stand my beloved coffee). I also avoid eating cheese. That seems to make it worse.

I’ve been determined to sleep on my stomach and back for my entire first trimester but sadly, those positions are no longer comfortable for longer than 5 minutes or so (and I’d really only have a week left anyway). Side sleeping isn’t too bad when I use 2 pillows for my head (otherwise my collarbone hurts when I wake up) but it’s still not my favorite. And so it begins…

Symptoms: Crazy sense of smell!

Cravings: Chinese, waffles with peanut butter and cool whip, licorice, potatoes of all kinds (French fries, baked potatoes, potato chips, scalloped potatoes)

Weight gained: 3-4 pounds

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And finally, I’m all caught up! As of yesterday, I am 12 weeks along. One more week and I’ll be in the second trimester!

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Pregnancy Update: Weeks 8-10

22 Sep

Weeks 8 & 9

We told my family about my pregnancy when we went back to MN for Labor Day. I had made my parents a scrapbook for their anniversary and the last page said SURPRISE with our announcement picture. We flew in Thursday night and didn’t celebrate their anniversary until Sunday, Sept 2 so I had to keep it a secret for 2.5 days! My sister-in-law was very observant though and she suspected something was up before we announced it.

Anyway, we were finishing our breakfast when I gave my parents the scrapbook. When they came to the last page, they looked at it for several seconds and then looked up at me with a look that said “Are you serious?!?” I said, “Yep, we are expecting a baby.” Everyone was excited. My parents both teared up a bit. It was so fun to be able to tell them in person!

With Travis’ family, we weren’t so lucky. We tried calling his parents on the Wednesday after our first ultrasound but both of his parents were out of town. Travis ended up telling his mom over the phone one day while I was at work. But we’ll celebrate when they come out in October for elk hunting!

Our first ultrasound went well. They tried to do it on my belly first but our biscuit was too small to see so they ended up doing a vaginal ultrasound. It was a little unpleasant but so worth it to see our little bean squirming around in there! The baby’s Crown to Rump measurement put me at 9 weeks 3 days – about 4 days farther along than I had thought, making my new estimated due date April 7. We also saw the heartbeat and it was somewhere around 180 beats per minute. As we watched our baby do a happy dance, I cried from a mix of joy and relief. Our baby was healthy. It had a heartbeat. Everything was perfect. What a blessing from God!

Cravings: Fruit

Aversions: Vegetables still but I put them in pasta or smoothies to make them more appealing

Weight Gained: Two pounds

 

Week 10

This week continued the trend of feeling the worst at work but pretty good on the weekends — which was both a blessing and a challenge. It made work days even longer and harder, but I was able to enjoy and be productive on my weekends. I guess I would choose it this way, rather than the reverse.

There had been several nights when I woke up around 3 or 4 to use the bathroom and was absolutely starving. So to avoid having to eat in the middle of the night every night (because it makes it harder to get back to sleep), I started eating a snack before going to bed, even if I wasn’t really hungry. That helped.

On Friday, I was craving sushi after work and had recently learned that cooked sushi like California rolls is okay for pregnant women to eat. So I got a Cali and veggie roll from our favorite sushi place and they were amazing.

My nesting urge started on Saturday. I started researching baby stuff and created a spreadsheet of everything we need to get, including a ranking of how much we need it, where we’d find it and if we should register for it. The spreadsheet actually made the whole baby gear “How much stuff do we need?!?” feel much more manageable.

While Travis was hunting on Saturday, I went to a store that sells used baby stuff and bought a Baby Bjorn for $25 and a rearview car seat mirror for $5. I found a couple newborn hats for $0.25 at a thrift store too. And I walked around Target and Kmart to get an idea of how much stuff costs so I’d know a good deal when I find one.

On Sunday, I picked up a crib sheet (yellow ones are surprisingly hard to find!) and some paint samples. Then I started to organize our office closet and threw away a bunch of old files and papers that despite good intentions, I’ll never read again. Travis and I have filled our office and guest room to the max with stuff so there is a lot of organizing and storing things in the attic that needs to happen before we can even think about setting up the nursery!

We also need to store our guest room furniture and (I think) move Travis’ office to the guest room. We’re trying to think of how it’s going to be for him to work from home while I’m there all day with a baby, in a small house that only has one level. The guest room is back in the corner, instead of right next to the kitchen like the current office, so that’d probably be best for him. The guest room is bigger too so we’d be able to put a futon or hide-a-bed in there for guests.

Symptoms: Bloating and constipation disappeared!

Cravings: French fries, sushi, pasta, Magnum ice cream bars (saw them on a commercial and had to have them), oranges, potato chips

Aversions: Still coffee 😦

Weight Gained: Three pounds (total)

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Pregnancy Update: Weeks 5-7

21 Sep

Compared to many women, my pregnancy has been very easy so far.  I’ve had the typical first trimester exhaustion and some nausea and feelings of ickiness (like I have an upset stomach all day) but no morning sickness. That is a huge blessing because it has allowed me to keep working like usual.

Week 5

I went to my first prenatal appointment the week after I found out. My pregnancy was confirmed and the nurse practitioner said I was measuring correctly, around 5-7 weeks (they couldn’t know for sure until an ultrasound, since my cycle isn’t the typical 28 day kind). I also got pricked with a needle 3 times trying to give blood – it didn’t want to come out!

Symptoms: Bloating!  and exhaustion.

 

Week 6

During Week 6, I bought my first maternity clothes. No, I didn’t need them BUT I did find some good deals (like a shirt for $5 at Target!) and they are items that I can wear during the awkward stages and post-pregnancy, as well as when I’m early in pregnancy but clearly showing (they may not fit when I’m 8 months along but I’m ok with that). I realized that I don’t own many loose-fitting tops and with all the bloating, I definitely needed them!

Symptoms: Moodiness. Exhaustion. Sore boobs.

Cravings: Anything unhealthy (hello Taco Bell, Chinese and McDonalds). Ice water. Burgers.

Aversions: Coffee. Anything sweet. (I’d much rather eat a burger than a bowl of ice cream).

Weight Gained: Zero.

 

Week 7

During Week 7, I ate my favorite pregnancy meal so far. I was craving soup like crazy so I went to Jason’s Deli during lunch all by my lonesome and had a cup of broccoli cheddar with half of a tuna melt. The soup was to die for. Seriously. I must go back soon. That lunch started my soup craving. What I’ve discovered since then: Progresso makes a pretty delicious Chicken Wild Rice. But anything cheddar/broccoli/potato that comes from a can is disgusting. Don’t waste your money – go to Jason’s Deli.

One night during Week 7, I was awake for hours with horrible cramps and nausea. The next day, I realized it was probably because I was completely backed up (if you know what I mean). Seriously, you don’t realize how wonderful it is to be consistent until you aren’t.

I also discovered this week that I had more energy at night if I took a short nap after work, rather than trying to power through until bedtime.

Symptoms: Bloating, constipation, waves of nausea/upset stomach all day, exhaustion, acne breakouts

Cravings: Sleeping on my stomach; fruit and fruit-flavored things, like oranges, fruit snacks, lemonade and yogurt; deli sandwiches (toasted or tuna); soup and Spaghetti-O’s

Aversions: Vegetables of all kinds (except potato chips!), Mexican food

Weight Gained: Zero.

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How I found out I was pregnant

18 Sep

 

{not my test – pics are at home – but it looked exactly like that}

I am currently 11 weeks 2 days. If you count back from today, that means I technically got pregnant just a few weeks after we got back from Alaska. As in a few weeks after we started trying to get pregnant.

You may remember this post from soon after our Alaska trip, where I said that getting pregnant could happen anytime, or it could take a while.

I was prepared for it to take a while. 3 months, 6 months, 1 year — I was ready to wait on God in faith. Besides, I didn’t think the odds were in my favor. I had been on birth control for over five years. My cycles were “irregular” (45 days long instead of 28) so I had only had 2 full cycles since going off birth control. And I had just trained for and run a full marathon – who knew if that would affect things?

During the ‘two week window’ of waiting to take a home pregnancy test, I started to feel cramping in my lower abdomen, different than any period cramping I’d had before.

‘Maybe?’ I thought but didn’t want to get my hopes up. I mean, who gets pregnant on the first try? I started researching pregnancy symptoms at work but God convicted me during a morning quiet time that I wasn’t trusting Him but trying to figure things out on my own. So I stopped researching and told the Lord that I would be content in not knowing.

Those two weeks ticked off day by (slowly moving) day and finally it was the day I was supposed to get my period. By the time I got home from work, it still hadn’t appeared and I had the thought that I could take a pregnancy test and just find out right then. But my plan had been to take it the next morning so I told God that I was trusting Him and would wait.

I slept horribly that night, not just because I was excited and nervous but also because I felt awful. I let the dogs out in the middle of the night because Charlie was whining and felt like I was going to puke. I was leaning more and more toward the idea of me being pregnant.

Morning dawned and I immediately got up and went into the bathroom, where I had set out everything the night before: the pregnancy test, a plastic cup (I was nervous that I wouldn’t pee on the stick right so I opted to do the dip method, which the test instructions said was fine), my phone (for the timer), and the camera. I did my thing, dipped the test, laid it flat, turned on the timer, and walked out of the bathroom. I didn’t want to sit there agonizing over the test.

When the 3 minutes were up, I announced to the dogs, “Moment of truth,” and walked back into the bathroom. The lines could not have been more clear.

I was pregnant.

Having dreamt of that moment for so many months (since I’ve had baby fever for a while), I have to say that it was rather anticlimactic compared to what I expected*. I had expected to scream and jump up and down in delight but my reaction was more of a subdued joy. I realized that I had been more certain of being pregnant than I had wanted to admit to myself before that moment. Seeing that result on the test was more of a validation of what I already knew, rather than a surprise – more like, “I knew it!” than “OMG! I can’t believe I’m pregnant!!!!!”

And Travis was out of town on a work trip. Since I wanted to tell him in person, I was the only one who knew for over a day. Those 24 hours felt very surreal.

Travis had known that I was going to take a pregnancy test while he was gone and when he got home, I gave him a little pair of hockey skate baby booties (the ones in our announcement picture). He didn’t realize what they were at first but when I pulled out the positive pregnancy test and showed him that, he deciphered the code (they print it right on the stick), then realized what the booties were and got really excited. We’re having a baby!

More to come…

*I don’t mean to minimize the specialness of the moment, and of course I was very excited and happy. This was just my personal reaction to the situation.

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Exciting News! (and why I’ve been MIA)

17 Sep

This is why I’ve been MIA for the past month and a half – because if I posted about anything I’ve been thinking since finding out I’m expecting, it would’ve been a dead giveaway.

But the secret’s out now! So be prepared for lots of posts about “the biscuit” as Travis and I have lovingly termed our growing baby. We’re very excited!

 

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