I have Aaron take these photos on Saturday or Sunday when we have plenty of daylight, which is before I actually “turn” another week pregnant on Tuesday. So, I think we took this one on a Saturday, and then I hit 17 weeks the following Tuesday, and now I’m writing this the following weekend so I can reflect back on everything that happened this week. Make sense?
Anyway, when we took this photo last weekend, I compared it to the 16-week photo and thought not much had changed in the belly department.
The lighting was different, nearly all the leaves had fallen off that tree, and I was wearing a different color of the same Old Navy shirt (story of my life), but otherwise I didn’t see much difference and I was a little bummed. I’ve definitely had food babies bigger than that bump.
WELL. That was then, and later in the week, I noticed my belly suddenly seemed huge.
It might have been the fitted tank (this one, from A Pea in the Pod), but I finally felt super-obviously pregnant. Even a co-worker very tactfully and politely commented on it — my first comment like that, even though they all know I’m expecting. I think people are scared to say anything, which I totally understand since it’s difficult to know whether or not a pregnant woman is self-conscious about getting bigger, and commenting on someone’s body is generally a no-no at work. (At this point I’m not self-conscious/would not care about getting comments, but I’ll let ya know how I’m feeling in the weeks to come!)
Fun fact: I’ve had that plaid shirt for three+ years, and wore it for our engagement photo shoot back in 2013.
It fit a little differently back then. 🙂
Anyway, enough about me. How’s the baby doing?
Great, according to our doctor! Aaron and I visted her this week for a quick monthly checkup and heard the baby’s heartbeat going strong at 142 beats per minute. Once again, I was anxious to hear the heartbeat because I’ve been feeling so normal and was worried that something was wrong. I’m just paranoid.
I’m now definitely sure that I’m feeling the baby kick/move on a nearly daily basis, though, which is reassuring! It still feels faintly jabby, almost like the start of a cramp, so it always freaks me out a little at first before I realize it’s just super-fun gymnastics time in there.
I was also up on the scale with a three-pound net gain from my first official weigh-in at 9 weeks. I was down two pounds at 13 weeks, and this week I was up five pounds, so I’m finally going in the right direction!
This still sounds low to me, but our doctor wasn’t concerned and the baby is clearly growing, so I won’t worry about it. I feel like I’m eating all day, every day, and I certainly never let myself get very hungry. I’m also indulging in plenty of treats, like Aaron’s homemade cookies and this incredible find from Costco:
Be still my heart. Now a slice of cheesecake is just a quick thaw away. And no crappy flavors in this mix! Usually multipacks have at least one bad flavor, y’know?
That said, I’m still trying to eat vegetables (not super successfully) and work out regularly. I made it to the gym four times this week! I feel like Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday is a good schedule right now. That way I can have a rest day every other day during the work week, and then go back-to-back both weekend days when I have tons of free time and more energy.
Here’s how I exercised this week:
Tuesday: 45 minutes of walking on the treadmill at 4.0 speed (15 min/mile pace) on the random hill setting. Including a five-minute cool-down, I walked 3.1 miles.
Thursday: 20 minutes of weights (mostly 10 lb. weights, with some 15 lb. weights on the exercises where that feels comfortable) and 15 minutes of treadmill walking, 4.0 speed/random hills.
Saturday: 40 minutes of treadmill walking, 4.0 speed/random hills, with a five-minute cool-down.
Sunday: 20 minutes of weights and 15 minutes of treadmill walking, 4.0 speed/random hills, with a five-minute cool-down.
I’m not doing anything very strenuous; just enough to get my heartrate up and get me sweating a little. I listen to the Pitbull station on Pandora while I’m walking to keep me pumped up and feeling badass. I hope the baby can’t hear those jamz, because otherwise that is some shitty parenting on my part.
So, why am I no longer running? A few reasons:
1. I don’t really feel like it.
2. I hate running on the treadmill, and it’s too dark, cold, and (sometimes) rainy for me to get the motivation to run outside if I really don’t have to.
3. I enjoy walking, and I don’t mind doing it on the treadmill.
I think I’ve run a total of five times during my pregnancy. The first few times were in late August, shortly after I found out, and my lower abdomen just felt weird and heavy. Honestly, I got freaked out by any sort of pang or cramp and decided to dial back on exercise for my own peace of mind. Aaron and I took some long walks around our neighborhood instead, which I really enjoyed.
Then I got hit with serious exhaustion and pretty much failed to exercise at all for a whole month. Once I had my energy back, I went for a few runs in late September and they were definitely run/walk situations, heavy on the walking.
My last run was on our first wedding anniversary, October 3, at nearly 11 weeks pregnant. It was an amazingly gorgeous day outside and I did 4 miles of running/walking. I think I ran the first mile without stopping, and then just had to walk more and more after that. I didn’t mean for that to be my last pregnant run; it just kind of was, and I’m cool with that.
I follow many bloggers who continued to run throughout their pregnancies, and I also follow a few who decided to stop at some point. Neither way is right or wrong, of course; every woman does what feels right for her. I fully intend to resume running eventually, after I recover from childbirth and can work my way back up to it, but right now I’m enjoying taking a break from my usual form of exercise and trying something different.
Part of me also thinks I’d get a bit down about the fact that my running would only get slower and slower, and that I’d have to walk more and more anyway. I might keep comparing my pregnant runs to my old, non-pregnant runs. Why put that pressure on myself?
Anyway, that’s all for this week! I’ll see you on the other side of Thanksgiving. I hope you all have a very happy holiday celebrating with friends and/or family!
Dev on Running 