NOTE: This blog hasn’t been touched in years. That being said ignore the Banner image, color theme, About Me, The links to Facebook, and any other peculiarities you may stumble upon as none of those are current. These will maybe be updated if I can actually commit to writing in this blog more than once every few years.
Anyways, if you have looked at my About Me, you can see a lot has changed. I am married, I now have two dogs (Lola and Winston), I have graduated undergrad and graduate school, have made a consistent return to running (finally), have a “big girl” job in a field I didn’t expect, and have a baby on the way.
With that, here are some first trimester reflections now that I am well on my way into the second trimester. I have reached the 17-week milestone and am still in disbelief that I nearing the halfway mark in this pregnancy.
Our first (my second) look at Little Bit! He/She was just 9 weeks 1 day at this point!
Despite icy weather and a trip to the ER at 7 weeks after a fall down a flight of stairs (baby was okay – I lucked out and just suffered some bone bruising) I was able to run throughout the entire first trimester. Until we were met with icy weather I was outside running 5 days a week. My mileage before pregnancy had just gotten to about 25-30 miles a week. I probably barely scratch 20 miles most weeks now, but I take a walk every day on top of running so I feel like I am getting more than enough activity.
The longest run of my first trimester was a 9 miler…the day before I found out I was pregnant. That night I remember vividly how tired I was and how crampy my stomach felt. I ended up having a few glasses of wine that night (because I had a negative pregnancy test that morning and figured I was in the clear). I have scaled back a little just because I felt like the 9 miler was really taxing on me. My longest first-trimester run was 5.5 miles. I am hoping to get a few 6-7 milers in during the second trimester. We will see!
The morning after my 9 miler, I took my last cheapo test expecting another negative. My heart about sunk out of my body in excitement when I began to see the faint positive appear. I ran downstairs to grab my slightly less cheap test and took it totally ignoring the question my husband had just asked me as I passed by. Took the test, sure enough, another faint positive. Shakily I told Rafa the news. He immediately embraced me but wanted to be cautiously excited until we could confirm it with a more pricy test. We proceeded to purchase five different brands of tests. We just couldn’t believe it, we were finally going to be parents. It had to be too good to be true.
Thankfully the nearly a dozen tests didn’t lie, we were, in fact, expecting a baby.
I couldn’t wait to share the news with my parents, I gave them a gift on Christmas Eve with quite the surprise in it.
I still think it didn’t quite feel real until my accident at work. Texting my husband from the back of an ambulance definitely was a first for both of us. While in the ER I got to see my first sneak peek of the baby and that’s when it hit me that this was real. It took my husband until about a week and a half later at our first appointment when he got to see an ultrasound himself. Happy tears filled our eyes and we began dreaming about what this next chapter meant to us.
Back to running, so the biggest change I noticed during the first trimester was the post-run exhaustion I faced at night after running as well as the near-insatiable post-run hunger and thirst. I would finish running, stretch, eat, and fall asleep on the couch. It became a tradition for a couple of weeks.
Around when we began trying, I had finally gotten into a good routine in my running after returning to it consistently in August so my pace on regular runs hasn’t suffered terribly. I would hate to see what my tempo pace was right now, but I am not too worried about it. Starting running over from zero in 2018 has taught me that I will be able to do it again post-baby…with a new running partner (he/she will just be joining me in their stroller).
I was one of the lucky few who didn’t experience nausea or morning sickness in any form. My gag reflex; however, was quite sensitive. Pretty much every day as I left work I would end up gagging due to the cold air. Not the most fun, but I survived.
On days I wasn’t running, I was doing cross training. I have been focusing on keeping my core and hips strong as well as on stretching. I didn’t change my workouts too much. I have just focused on my breathing and making sure my heart rate wasn’t too high. Also, I’ve stopped all situps and other crunch type exercises.
The bump has grown quite a bit since then!
The first trimester flew by and before I knew it, the second trimester was here. Thankfully the weather has warmed up, the days are longer, and my motivation is renewed after a cold snap of winter.
Since the end of the first trimester, I made a lofty goal to get 30 minutes of sustained exercise every day. I also made the goal of getting 16,500 steps 5 days a week and at least 10,000 the other two. I have been able to make these goals for the past month and have been feeling great. My appetite these days isn’t very big…which is a huge change for me. I basically schedule my eating. If I don’t eat every 2 hours I began to feel like crap.
In the first few weeks of pregnancy, I lost about 11lbs even though I felt like I was eating ALL. DAY. LONG. At my 16 week appointment, I had put 4 of those pounds back on so I am still down 7lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight, but I have noticed an uptick in the weight gain lately so I am sure that weight will return in no time.
I have an amazing doctor who really encourages me to trust my body when I exercise and to still experience life as much as possible through this transition. I honestly have never appreciated my body more than I do now. It’s incredible that my body is able to grow a baby. I still have not felt Little Bit kick or flutter, but I did get to hear a STRONG and loud heartbeat at my 16-week appointment.
I still cannot believe I am going to be a mom. I cannot wait to welcome Little Bit into our lives.
16 Weeks – Bump Update
Michelle Runs MO 