Pregnancy Update: Working out and the second trimester

This is a summary of where I am at and what I experienced in my second trimester. I am really noticing a different in my body and energy level going into the third. I am so happy I am so close to the finish. I will try to do a recap on the third before the baby comes so I remember to do it.

My Body - For some reason in the second trimester I had a lot more trouble keeping food down than in the first. I think with me it is the inability of my stomach to make room for food and the baby in my belly causing me to spit up my food. I got put on anti nausea medicine and everything seems to be fine with the exception of maybe one or two incidents a month. My energy level went up and I have not had any crazy mood swings. My pregnancy so far seems to be contained to my belly, which I am very grateful for. My current weight gain is 15 points, so I think I am on track to gain 25 to 30 total. I feel pretty good about that.

Work outs - I stopped running at 20 weeks. It was hard, but I was just too uncomfortable. I still lift twice a week. My cardio is done on the elliptical, in the pool, or walking on an incline on the treadmill. This past sixth month work outs were getting a lot harder so I have dialed it down a notch by just pushing myself a little less. The thought of having to carry a 5 to 10 pound baby all the time plus a heavy car seat all the time keeps me motivated to continue to lift. Just doing a little now is going to make labor and getting back in shape a lot easier.

Food - My intense craving for hard boiled eggs and pickles have subsided, although I still enjoy them :) ... Work has been crazy so my new favorite snack is chocolate milk. It's a quick boost of calcium and protein. It tastes good and I can consume it at my desk while I am helping customers.

Well my daughter is currently kicking me in the side. She is probably trying to tell me it is time for dinner, so I am going to go eat. Happy week end!

Diary of a four mile walk

I decided on Saturday I wanted to check out Kirkland Uncorked, which is my town's small town festival for the summer. Ironically it being a wine festival, you would think I wouldn't want to participate. They have a lot of booths with local artists and good food. I was at least able to check that stuff out. It is amazing how I treated my impending four mile walk almost like I would a ten mile run. I remember when I though an 8 mile run was easy. I can't wait to get back there again.

I packed up my back pack for my walk. I made sure to fill up a bottle of water and grabbed my wallet. I meant to grab some Swedish Fish in case I needed a pick me up but I headed out the door and was a half mile down when I realized I forgot them. At least I had some cash for a snack.

On my trip to downtown I focused on not getting lost. I took a different route than I would drive there and it tours through a bunch of neighborhoods. I have run through there before, but it has been almost a year. About an hour later I managed not to get lost and made my way to Downtown Kirkland.

I looked longingly at the wine garden. All those happy people chatting and getting drunk. That was not to be me. Maybe next year. Other than that, I felt pretty good. I did a quick tour of all the booths and didn't find anything that caught my fancy. I walked over to a small children's store that was downtown, but they have reduced their inventory quite a bit and they only had summer stuff, so that was a bust. I decided to turn back home.

The walk home I did along the main road for a change of scenery. I didn't feel tired until I hit the last mile. At that point my feet started to hurt and I could feel my body swell up. Luckily my sister called me during the last half of that mile to distract me the rest of the way. When I got home I put my throbbing feet up and collapse on the couch. For the first time I couldn't get my wedding ring off my finger. It took three hours for the swelling to go down enough.

I was really happy I made my afternoon trip. It took me almost two hours and I was exhausted, but it felt good. That's what matters.

Swimming work out

For this week swimming I decided to set an actual structured work out for myself. The effect was the time going by way faster and I ended up at the pool for longer than I wanted. I was having fun though, so that is all that matters. I also enjoyed the little boy next to me yelling at his dad saying "no daddy swim like her". He was referring to the fact I had my face in the water and his dad was swimming with his head up. It was pretty cute.

I started out with a 3x 100 yard swim for my warm up. I alternated freestyle and breaststroke, those are my two favorite strokes. It's my work out, I'll do what I want :) ... After my warm up I spent five to ten minutes stretching. On some work outs I will admit I get lazy and don't stretch, but since swimming moves my ligaments in ways they really aren't used to I never skip stretching during swimming. It is a cramp waiting to happen.

After I stretched I went into a 10 x 100 yard swim, alternating breast and free again. I started out on a 1:40 interval, but realized that was too fast for my breaststroke sets. I slowed down the rest to a two minute interval.... For those that don't know what intervals are, you know that big clock next to the pool that just has second markets on it? Watch it when you take off, then when you get back see how long it took you to do your lap. It was taking me a minute 35 to do a free lap and a minute 45 to do a breast lap, so I decided I wanted a least a 15 second rest, so I would leave on the 60 second mark each time. HTH.

The next set I did 10 x 50 yard kicks on a minute interval. This time I alternated free, breast, and back. I like kicking on my back, just not swimming backstroke. Don't ask my why, it's my weird little thing. I started to get really bad heart burn during this set for some reason so I switched to all breaststroke towards the end.

Finally, I did a 200 yard cool down to finish off. I had originally planned to do another 500 yards, but that heart burn was getting to me and I had been at the pool for over an hour at this point.

So to round up:

300 yard warm up, alternating favorite strokes
stretch
10 x 100 yard swim on two minute interval
10 x 50 yard kick on a minute interval
200 yard cool down

Swimming and Shopping

My purchases from Saturday. Can you guys which tank is the real Lululemon tank?

I used to be a swimmer in high school. I love to swim. When I was little my mom would worry about my sister and I because we would refuse to come up for air while playing in the kiddy pools. Every year in the summer I seem to get the itch to swim laps again. Being pregnant, it feels extra good because of the weight the water takes off me. Also, I feel like it is such a good all body work out I can lift less, which really isn't true, but call me in denial.

I set out Saturday after work to find a suit I could lap swim in. My racing suit no longer fits, and my beach bikinis will not stay in place (or on) for that kind of work out. My goal was to find an athletic bikini, so it could grow with me. Maternity suits are ugly and I would probably not wear it again. Swim suit shopping stinks and it is even worse being pregnant. After striking out at Big 5 and Sports Authority I ended up at Silvia's Swimwear. I grabbed a couple bikinis and tried them on. They were terrible! Like most women I am a different size on top than on the bottom. The suits sold as a pair with the same size top and bottom were not going to work. The tops were either too lose or the bottoms were too small. The sales girl recommended I look at the triathlon tops and try to find a fuller coverage bottom in the regular suit section. It was brilliant! I found a top that fits and she brought me a couple plan black bottoms (picture above). Everything was in place and it didn't look hideous. Plus I would have a triathlon top if I ever decided I wanted to do one.

I tried out my new suit in the pool later that afternoon. I did not have any issues. My bottoms didn't shift at all when I pushed off the wall and my top stayed covering my top. I also had freedom of movement. I liked the top so much I actually wore it the rest of the afternoon. I did not keep track of how many yards I swam. I switched between breaststroke and freestyle for about 40 minutes and did ten minutes of kick exercises. My first day back I did not want to push it too hard and my work out also included a two mile round trip walk to the gym and back. I was already feeling tired when I got to the gym.

My other goal of the day was to head to Costco. I had heard they were currently selling a style tank that is almost an exact replica of Lululemon's Cool Razorback Tank (my favorite) for less than half the price. My purchases are pictured above with the real Lulu tank. Can you tell the difference? I can, but it is very subtle. The stitching on it is almost identical and the fabric is exactly the same. Even the long skinny tag on the shirt is the same. The sizes do run a little larger. I am currently wearing one of my Costco purchases and I am really satisfied with it. It even feels exactly like the Lulu tank. Oh and if you were wondering, the Grey tank is the real Lululemon. I think my Costco fax Lulu's will take me to month eight (fingers crossed).