A weighty issue

I've never been one to know how much I weigh.  I can normally guess, give or take 5 pounds, but normally my indicators are how my clothes fit.  I've always had a little extra around the gut area, sometimes a little, sometimes a little more than a little, but I normally have a handle on what to do to get rid of it and it's never been awful.  (The exception being before I knew I had celiac... that was awful because I was working super hard to get rid of it and it just wouldn't go.)

But now, I have to weight myself all the time.  During my first and second trimesters, it was once a month, with the goal of seeing numbers rise, and if they didn't, I got scolded and asked to gain a little more weight.  At the start of my third trimester, I weighed myself every two weeks, and for the last month it's been every week.  I can honestly say I have never weighed myself every week before now.  The concept is just foreign to me, because I can honestly tell you I have never cared what the number on the scale was.  I know I'm getting bigger.  It's pretty freaking obvious.  Now, to be fair, it is a little startling to see numbers I never dreamed I would see on a scale, but I know that it's for a good cause, so I don't really mind.

Throughout my pregnancy, I have noticed a few things.  Let us look at a point form list, shall we?

• People call me tiny.  It's odd, since I weigh a lot more than I ever have and I have a huge belly.   I think the skinny jeans and the fact that I still continue to have no ass are contributing factors to that optical illusion. Tiny has never been a word people have used to describe me, except for that unfortunate time in high school when I had tonsillitis multiple times in two months and lost all sorts of weight. I really WANTED to eat, I just couldn't.
• My weight really differs from morning to afternoon.  When my appointments are in the morning, I will have gained a pound or stayed the same since the previous week's appointment.  When they are later in the day, I'll be up two or three pounds.  Can we tell I may be retaining a bit of water throughout the day?
• People flat out ask me "how much have you gained?"  I find that crazy.  In what situation would someone ask that question other than pregnancy??  Crazier?  I'll tell them. I won't tell them the names we have picked out for our baby, but I'll easily spill the number of pounds I'm up.
• Other people tell me about their or their wife's weight gain.  I really don't want or need to know how your wife has ballooned like a blimp, and I'm pretty sure she doesn't want you to share that with me either.  If your wife had gained 60 pounds and she wasn't pregnant, would you tell me then?  I doubt it.  Granted, I have asked people about their weight gain during pregnancy, so I am equally guilty of this odd behaviour.

I think the main reason for my reasonable weight gain is that I haven't given myself a free pass to eat whatever I want.  I know a lot of women do that during pregnancy, and that's fine, but I didn't want to be left with this enormous task of losing it all post baby.  By no means am I dieting, and I am giving myself many more liberties than I normally would, but I am still conscious of what I eat and when I eat it.  That being said, today might not be the best example of my healthy diet, since I've had three chocolate chip cookies (someone made them just for me; I HAD to eat them), two little brownies (I made those... no excuse) and some ice cream.  I'll just give today a pass and work on tomorrow. 

I also think genetics have had something to do with my weight gain.  My mum didn't gain much when she was pregnant with both my sister and me.  She also wasn't sick during her pregnancies, which is especially lucky, since she has an abnormal aversion to being sick, and she point blank said to me "good thing I wasn't sick when I was pregnant with your sister, because you probably wouldn't be here!"  I am thankful for her lack of nausea which in turn has allowed me to experience the same.  The fact alone that I haven't thrown up once made me a little nervous at first that I WOULD gain lots of weight, since I had a fine appetite and could eat until the cows came home, but luckily that wasn't the case.

All in all, this obligatory emphasis on weight has been a new experience for me, and I hope to go back to my old non-weighing no-number-knowing self after the baby is born.  I'm in the "safe zone" for pregnancy weight gain as it stands (and maybe today's treats gave me an extra pound or two for my weigh-in on Thursday) so I don't need to worry, and hopefully the baby will be healthy, and I can go back to not stepping on a scale aside from my annual physical soon.

Do you find pregnancy makes people a lot more open about their weight? 

Race envy

I'll be honest - I have some major race envy right now.

My sis ran a race last week and is running another tomorrow.

Caitlin raced a tri today and I think a tri tomorrow!

Meghann and company are racing a 70.3 tomorrow.

Kirst is running the harvest half tomorrow too.

I just want to race!  I know I have great reasons to not race, and I don't want to come off like a complainer, but man o man I can't wait to lace up my sneaks and get training!

I figured in order to keep my envy under control, I'd take a peek at a few races that I might like to do in the future.  I don't want to sign up or commit to anything at this point since I really have no idea what my body and life will be like after this little baby comes, but I figured it couldn't hurt to look.

On February 11, there's the hypothermic half.  That's an option.

In April, the Glencoe Icebreaker 10 km happens and then the Police Half comes about a week later, both of which I did this year, so those are both possibilities too.

I don't think I want to look at anything in 2011, though maybe a late 5 km could be an option.  Since I had to stop running what feels like years ago, I don't want to have any thoughts of grandeur thinking I can bust out a nice 10 km a month after delivery, but I could do something like the santa shuffle which I believe is a 5 km, if my body cooperates.

I hope everyone racing this weekend has a great time and does their best!  I know weather poses issues for lots, but remember that you just can't control it, so don't waste your time worrying about it!

Anyone else racing this weekend?  Anyone else feeling a little green with envy?

Well hello blogger traffic!

Today Meals and Miles linked to me and my page views went up by over 300%!  She referred to my 70.3 post and called it "inspiring"!  How nice!  I still can't read that race report without my eyes welling up a little... I just remember how freaking hard that day was, and how much I wanted to stop but couldn't because I am too stubborn.  Hopefully that theory will cross over to childbirth, though I don't really have the choice to give up!  It's crazy to think that last year I raced a 70.3 and this year I am a big ole pregnant lady!

So hi! to any new readers.  My name is Heather, I'm 27 years old, married almost one year, two weeks away from my first baby's due date, a celiac, a runner, triathlete, flight attendant turned temporary office worker and a healthy blog reader!  Welcome!

BUT, I actually have a race report to share today!

Last weekend, we (Matt, Kaitlin, Jordan and I) went out to Canmore for our third annual trip to the Canmore Rocky Mountain race.  My mum and I set out to walk our little hearts out for 5 km!  I will admit I haven't walked very far or very quickly in a while, so I wasn't 100% sure how I would feel (and I haven't run in what seems like forever since I got work from my midwife that I am not allowed to run).  My belly was tight and a little uncomfy by the end, but it was great to participate in the event and be in the mountains.

So this baby has officially run a 10 km, a half marathon, and walked a 5 km all before birth!  I wonder if it will be a runner or hate running. We will have to wait and see!  (Side note, both my sister and I HATED running until we participated in our first race together in 2007, so even if it hates running as a child, it might develop a liking to it someday!)  (Is that right? 2007?)

10 km!  Can't REALLY tell I'm pregnant.

I think this (the police half marathon) was the last time I could squeeze into my CW-X tights!

Here I am laughing that they announced our names as we were about to cross the finish line of the 5km

So there you have it!  My final pregnant race report, and now I can focus on having this baby, recovering, and getting back into running!

Wednesday tid bits

• I cleaned the dreadful mirror.
• I am making breakfast for supper, which is one of my favourite suppers.
• The baby's limbs are distinctly poking out of my belly a lot and often and it kind of hurts.
• I really am totally done with working; too bad I still have 13 days left.
• I'm going to Canmore this weekend to walk a 5 km race.  This will be the third year in a row that Matt, Kaitlin, Jordan and I have participated in the event.  This also means that I will have done every distance for this race; kind of cool.
• I can't believe that I only have four weeks left until this baby is due!

Do you have any Wednesday tid bits?

I'll leave you with a little photo from the west coast!