My Pregnancy Exercise Regimen (and other updates)

First of all, thank you all for your kind words and concern after my last post. They never called me after the 3-hour test, so as far as I know (a week later), I do NOT have gestational diabetes. Hooray! I had an appointment today and totally forgot to even ask, but it wasn't brought up.

However, I did bring up my exercise regimen, which has differed from the last time around. Amazingly, I'm working out MORE this time, even though I'm working full-time and have a kid underfoot. Last time, I had a part-time gig twice a week and could hit the free gym on base pretty much any time outside of that. I happily pay for a 'single parent' Y membership now, and it kinda forces me to use it or I feel guilty about paying.

With Cora's pregnancy, I did the elliptical. That's pretty much it. I would go when I could watch my favorite shows on cable on the gym's machines since we don't subscribe at home. I even did the elliptical on my due date. I still remember that workout vividly. I remember trying to picture what kind of birth I would have and how much my activity in pregnancy would help my delivery, recovery, and weight loss.

I did have a good birth with Cora, and the weight came off pretty easily. I'm hoping for mostly the same this time, but the elliptical kinda bores me now. I also haven't gone running since the Thanksgiving race. This might have more to do with the weather--I hate running in the cold!

Belly pic time: 30 weeks, 1 day

I have maintained a goal of working out at least once a week this time around, with a solid attempt for two times a week. I found that going at 5am before work was just not working for me, so I'm now trying to hit Zumba or Zumba Toning class twice a week because I really do love it! The Zumba we do at my gym is so different from the first time I tried it (way back in 2010--you can read about that here). It's such a party in there! And we do a lot of current songs and not so much the stock Zumba songs. The instructor pulls her routines off YouTube. You can see a similar version of the one we do to "Uptown Funk" in this video.

While I am having a blast, I got word from the nurse practitioner today that I'm probably letting my heart rate get too high since I am actually having some slight contractions during it (just a tightening at the base of my belly, but pretty sure that's a contraction?). Ugh. Darned if you do, darned if you don't, right? I do the low impact moves, but I think I'm just having too much fun in there. I might get a heart rate monitor to see if I can keep it below 140, or I might just march in place or step-touch more often from here on out.

This is what comes up when you search "pregnant Zumba." I chortled.

Aside from exercise and my occasional doomsday vibes, this pregnancy is actually going quite well on paper. I've already gained more weight than I did the entire time with Cora, but I'm within the normal realm. (I still hate thinking about how I'm the heaviest I've been in my entire life and I still will probably add another 10 lbs to that!) I'm sleeping well, the baby is kicking a lot, and she got the hiccups for the first time last night when I went to bed. I had almost totally forgotten that was a thing.

When There Is No Pregnancy Glow

I'm sitting here in the first hour of my fast on the night before my 3-hour glucose test. After failing the 1-hour just as fantastically as I did in my pregnancy with Cora, I also found out that I have pregnancy-induced anemia this time around. In addition, I've basically convinced myself I'm going to fail tomorrow and get the official Gestational Diabetes diagnosis within the next few days.

But I'm definitely welcoming GD if that's the worst of my troubles. See, for most of this pregnancy, I have had a 'sinking ship' kinda feeling. With Cora, all of my worries melted away after we got a heartbeat at the 10-week ultrasound. This time, it took until the 20-week one and some signs of movement before I started to feel at peace. I actually felt movement 'late' for a 2nd pregnancy, so I wasn't sure what was going on before that ultrasound (turns out, anterior placenta). I had about 9 weeks of optimism, and now I'm back to the doomsday vibes.

This snowman didn't even last a day.
This picture is single-handedly keeping my hopes up for a good winter.

Maybe I just hear too much. I'm in a few faith-sharing FB groups, which obviously include prayer intentions. Every other day, I can't help but clicking on the "trigger-warning" posts: infant death, stillborn babies, dads with terminal cancer, anencephaly diagnoses, the list goes on and on and on. I click because I want to send up a prayer for these friends of friends of friends, but I probably need to just lay off the bookface for a month or so. (The rest of my feed is a mostly-happy mixed bag of quotes and pictures of friends' kids, which I do enjoy.) I should probably default to my bloglovin' feed vs. my Facebook, since most blog posts lift my spirits.

I also feel like I've been so distant from my kid in her final days of undivided attention. Some of it is just natural, as B is the one who takes her and picks her up from daycare most days. My husband has been especially wonderful with Cora, even though she has hit the 'threenager' stage big-time (her birthday is next week). She has started waking in the middle of the night for various reasons (last night was "I want my mommmmyyyy!"), and he is the one who deals with it. What a rock star.

I'm not really sure where I was going with this post (do thoughts on a page really need to go anywhere? that's so American, isn't it?). But I'm tired and sorta sick (hello, phlegmy cough that I can't take anything for right now). The baby is kicking, which I know is a good sign and has quelled my fears in the past. Maybe I'll wake up tomorrow and feel amazing again. Lord knows I want to.

5 Faves

I've been squee-ing about a few things lately (except for the fact that I'm pretty sure I've never actually squee-d in my life). Here are some of them.

1.

The Book With No Pictures

by B.J. Novak

If you have a child roundabouts the ages of 3, 4, or 5, get a hold of this book somehow and be ready for adorable belly laughs. Cora is in love with it, and has been asking to read "Booboobutt" every night. (Read it, you'll understand.)

2.

Vests

Where have these been all my life? Or at least the past 2 winters I've lived here in Snowtown, USA? I can't zip them any more, but I throw one of these puppies on immediately when I get home and my arms are happy and my core is happy and momma is happy.

3.

"Wood of the Cradle"

Yeah, yeah, Christmas season is over, I know. But we sang this a few times at church during the season (perfect communion song, no?), and I just loved it. Not sure if I've just never heard it before, or if I've just never paid attention. And now it's stuck in my head.

4.

fruit and veggie muffins for my picky toddler

These Fruity & Veggie Muffins have been a big hit around here, at least with the little one. This is the second time we've made them (and frozen half the batch to use later). Cora even helped me make them, telling me how she doesn't like broccoli during it. (My response: "That's okay, you don't have to like everything.") But of course Little Miss Picky scarfed them down once they became actual muffins.

5.

this photography book

My BIL knew I was getting a DSLR camera for Christmas, so he got me this book as an accompaniment. It's fabulous! (I had been trying to learn some stuff from schmucks on YouTube, which was seriously hit-or-miss. Mostly miss.) I still have a loooong way to go, but now I've at least heard of metering patterns and figured out how to change my white balance. Also, it's a photography book that includes lots of pictures and tells you the settings used to achieve them. Thank God.

Linking up with Jenna's #5Faves

2015 Resolutions/To-Dos

We're now 11 days into January, so I guess I've had enough time to reflect and decide on my goals for the entire year, right? Right. Here goes.

1. Have baby, name the baby!
The second part is seeming harder than the first at this point. I've had a boy name picked out for over 10 years now, but girls' names are hard.

2. Still be pumping at work a year from today.
I'm kinda dreading pumping again (even though I have my own office with an actual door), but I know it's best. And cheaper. That's really the main reason.

3. Decorate Cora's room.
I re-painted it back in August and never got any decorations back on the wall! I think I want to add some curtains, too.

4. Read 12 books.
This is pseudo-ambitious, but I do get lunch breaks at work.

5. Run ONE race.
This sounds lame since I did 6 this past year, but I feel like it took me forever to recover from giving birth last time. I really didn't start running until Cora was almost a year old. So if I can just get out there and do one 5K, I'll call it a success.

6. Host 4 dinners at our house.
One is already scheduled!

7. Learn how to use my fancy camera.
I have the fancy contraption, even an extra lens, the manual, and even a book about photography I got for Christmas. Now I just need to add it all together and stop shooting in Auto.

8. Get that blasted passport already.
This is a leftover resolution from last year. And get one for Cora, because you never know if your weekend may have you driving to Ontario, right? (I just realized right this moment that the new baby will also need a passport for that, and ugh, have you ever seen a tiny baby's passport photo? It's so awkward.)


So there ya have it, my 'big' goal list for 2015. Feel free to leave me some book/dinner/name suggestions in the comments.

12 in 2014

Already did my resolution/to-do list recap, so how about a yearly photo recap to top it off?

So much goodness at House Unseen.

Some older recaps:
13 pics in 2013
12 in 2012 (this and 2011 are more question-based)
11 in 2011

JANUARY

This little munchkin turned the big 0-2!

FEBRUARY

I could cry and whine reminiscing about the winter-to-end-all-winters, but instead here is a picture of me sledding for the first time ever. Cora and I both had a blast with this new experience.

MARCH

We went to Louisville and saw the HOT sign on at Krispy Kreme.

We also decided that jockey fashion is rather becoming on us.

APRIL

Easter, pinkeye, and somebody's first trip to the dentist.

MAY

So much goodness in May--husband's birthday, a 5K PR (and I won a gift card!), and the SOTG cocktail I made that I'm still drooling over.

JUNE

I turned 30!  B left for his 2-week AT in Italy. We hosted some visiting friends during his absence. I drove on my own [plus tot] to Georgia and celebrated the twin nieces' baptism. Cora got up-close-and-personal with Bill the Lion.

JULY

B and I climbed Stone Mountain, then celebrated my long-time friend's wedding in GA. We spent a lot of time at a lake in Michigan, I started weight-lifting, found out I was pregnant, then went to my first NASCAR race.

AUGUST

I got a job! We had lots of 'little moments,' including various types of flying discs. B played Ultimate on a summer league and we had a family disc golf outing.

SEPTEMBER

I officially started work, and Cora took to daycare/preschool like a fish to water. We got good news of a heartbeat at baby #2's first appointment.

OCTOBER

I designed an ad that ran in the local paper, Cora refused to wear her hand-me-down Halloween costume to the point where we ended up at Wal-Mart on the day before to pick a new one (Minnie Mouse). We celebrated 5 years of marriage with a date to a local dinner theatre production.

NOVEMBER

We found out the sex of the baby and had a Thanksgiving gender reveal. My parents came to town, and we got one of the few halfway-decent family pics of the year.

DECEMBER

I passed my licensing exam to become a bona fide real estate broker, Christmas happened, and I got a fancy camera that I'm still learning how to use.

And that was 2014 in a nutshell of a blog post.