Exercise Blahs

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I had to stop running.  Since then, I have done about 10 yoga poses and 40 crunches.  That's it.  I'm feeling completely un motivated to lace up my sneaks and go for a walk.  I want to run.  But I can't.

So, I need a plan.  A new, non running plan.  First, I am going to swim.  I must swim.  I will do that by going to the pool and swimming.  (There, that's a plan, right?)

Secondly, I will do at least 10 minutes of yoga every day.  I will do that by following a couple of different pre-natal podcasts.

Third, I will do a very modified version of the FitBlog AB challenge, 3000 in 35.  By no means am I going to have rock hard abs and a flat stomach, but stronger abs will help me deliver, and make me a little stronger for post baby, so I'm on board.  I'll listen well to my body and just push myself a little.  I checked it out and I know it's ok for me to do whilst knocked up.  We'll see how it goes!  Also, I just like to do whatever my big sister does.  That's what annoying little sisters are for!

So that's what I'm doing.  And I will try my best.  Help.



*I was totally going to put in a picture of a big ole belly beside that nice abs one, but after google image searching "pregnant belly", I am way too scarred so you can just imagine it.  Man there are some nasty bellies out there.  I really hope mine doesn't turn into one!

Finally

I have FINALLY found a dress to wear to an upcoming wedding.  I have probably tried on 30 dresses.  I'm not even kidding.  Today, at my second store of the day, I put this on, it wasn't too long/short/unflattering/revealing/hot/casual/dressy, so I bought it.  It happens to make my boobs look enormous, but otherwise it's the best I've found.  Thank god I can stop looking.  Now if only I could find a swimsuit.

Almost 6 months gone

That is insane.  I can NOT believe how the time has flown by.  I just can't believe it.

We saw our midwife this past week, and a few things have developed.

First, Matt has positive blood, while I have negative blood.  This means I have to get some kind of shot in order to not have my body attack any future babies to be.  I'm not really so knowledgable on the subject but I'll roll with it.

Second, my belly measured exactly the size it should be for how far along I am.  That's good, I guess? Not sure if it really matters.  I've also gained about 12 pounds so far.  I think that's alright.

Third, no more running.  I've had some pressure and pain in the under side of my belly when I've run, and she said "just stop".  I asked about the support belts, and she said "nope, stop."  Considering for most other issues, she has said "whatever feels good" or "you can try this or that" and has never been super firm on anything, I decided she meant business on this subject.  It's a bit of a bummer, but I can still walk vigorously and work out in the gym, just no high impact stuff.  I'll just have to figure it out.  The day after this verdict my cool new interactive road ID came in the mail (courtesy of my sis)!  I can't wait to use it... in months!  I'll wear it while I'm walking just for fun.

This past week was the first time I have felt any real negative pregnancy symptoms.  Sunday night I had the worst heartburn I've ever had.  I was up all night, sweating, and with acid reflux to the extreme.  I stayed home from work that day to recover and catch up on sleep, and felt fine that evening.  After I went in to work the following day, I started to feel really nauseous and funky in the stomach.  I went home (since I actually thought I was going to be sick, for the first time my whole pregnancy), and had a 3 hour nap, something I pretty much never do.  After the nap, I felt a lot better.  Over weeks 22-24, apparently the uterus moves around a bunch and it's common to have weird internal issues since all the organs have to shuffle.  I still have a lot of heartburn, but I've been taking a spoonful of apple cider vinegar every night before bed and I carry gaviscon with me in case I get anything in the day.  On Friday, I woke up with a wicked cramp.  I felt like it was my time of the month, but then I remembered that pregnant women don't have a time of the month, so I got a little worried.  I was quite uncomfortable during the drive to work, I just wanted to stop sitting.  Driving doesn't work so well in any position other than sitting, so it was a bit of an issue.  Luckily I had an event going on so I didn't have to spend my day at my desk.  When the cramp was still there after lunch, I decided to contact the midwives on their emergency pager, something that I hadn't done and was a little nervous about.  Was my issue and issue? Was it normal? I just didn't know.  After her asking me all sorts of questions and making me twist and turn and press here and there, she decided it wasn't an issue.  Because it wasn't coming and going, it wasn't a contraction. Because I could still feel the baby move, it wasn't a big sign of distress.  She gave me a few instructions and made sure I knew to call her back if it went away and came back, if it got a lot worse, or if my water broke (!!).  I'm glad I called her, since it really reassured me that it was most likely a normal pain.  She also stressed that I was right to call and that I shouldn't hesitate at all to call again.  It hurt for most of the next day as well, but it got better.

I think I'm getting to the part of pregnancy where I really FEEL it.  My back is sore, I feel pressure in my lower belly a lot, and the baby is moving around like crazy.  Sometimes I can see my belly move when it kicks.  I'm walking a little differently too.  So strange.  I'm getting a little closer to being able to picture myself with a baby, but not quite.  It still doesn't exactly seem real.  I know I've had such a great pregnancy up until now, and I can only hope things will stay the same.  I had a few blips this week, but still nothing major.

I've decided I need to start preparing myself for labour a little by reading some books.  I'm hoping to have a natural childbirth, but I know I need to learn some coping skills to get me through it.  I also think I might plan to wear my 70.3 shirt for the delivery (or the part of it when I can wear my own clothes... I don't know how long that is).  Since it's an enormous oversized cotton t-shirt that I wear to bed, it should work great for when I'm huge.  When I'm having a tough moment during labour, I can remember how much I suffered and overcame during my race and maybe I'll find some strength to overcome the pain.  Who knows.  I've borrowed a couple of books from the library and so far the first one is a whole lot of cheese and a few great tips.  It involves a lot of drawing, and I'm just not into it.  I'm glad I didn't take the class it was based on.  I think I would roll my eyes a lot.  I normally can jump in to hippy dippy things and embrace the cheese, but this one is a little much.  Hopefully the next will be a little more down to earth but still enough hippy dippy for me.

I took another iPhone picture... I don't think I'll ever get good at them.  In it you'll see my new iPhone 4 with my fancy dancy case.  I was so paranoid that I would drop it so I'm relieve to have a little more protection.  It also looks like I'm not wearing pants, but I am.

Almost 24 weeks!  6 months!

That's about it! For now anyway!

A little bit of bad luck

There has been a little bit of drama in the Brillington household these days.

First, a week ago on Sunday Matt dropped his iPhone on the sidewalk and shattered the screen.  After learning that both of us had to wait until October to get an upgrade, he decided that packing tape would do until then.  Surprisingly, despite the crazy shattering, the screen still works perfectly, so he was willing to suffer until the rumoured iPhone 5 comes out.

Matt's sad iPhone

The following Friday, I was at work working and event for work purposes and my iPhone got stolen.  It was in my pocket for 9 hours straight, and I took it out to use the washroom (so that I didn't shatter the screen like Matt did) and it got stolen.  Barf.  So I had to get a new phone.  I looked into buying a crappy phone, but I would have had to pay around $200.  Knowing that a) I would be livid every time I looked at it and b) I would just go spend the money and get an iPhone 5 when I was eligible in a few months, I decided to bite the bullet, pay to get an early upgrade and get an iPhone 4.  (I still saved significantly over buying it outright, but spent more than I wanted to.)  (Come to think of it, I didn't want to pay anything because I DIDN'T WANT TO BUY A NEW PHONE).

My new iPhone that I feel guilty for owning

So Matt has a crappy old thing that he can barely see and I have a shiny new iPhone that I have mixed emotions about.  I am happy I have a new phone, but I wish I didn't have to have it, and I wish Matt had a new phone too.  I'm also mad that someone else has my phone.  (And in case anyone was wondering, I have gone through ALL the steps I can to recover/find it, including calling it, believe it or not*)  My work is looking into it much deeper than I expected, so that's nice.  There's a chance we will be able to figure out who took it, in which case Matt can use it in the interim.  

Another little piece of drama?  Our roof is leaking.  Oh bother.  Luckily it's the condo building's fault, not ours, so we won't have to pay for any repairs.  We will have to get repairs, but at least our insurance premiums won't go up.

In other news, I'm feeling almost fit as a fiddle and I can feel the baby moving around like crazy these days!  

Taken two and a half weeks ago.  RIP old iPhone.

*This comment is in reference to a suggestion I got a day after it was stolen.  Why yes, believe it or not, I DID call it.

*And I'm saying it out of a place of love.