third trimester!

so it's been three months since i updated this thing. we'll just blame that on the holidays...
a lot has happened since then, i suppose, but i guess it's mostly just the same old, same old. he's growin, i'm growin, he's kickin, i'm gettin kicked. everything's still going very well. i had some pretty gnarly indigestion for a few days in december, but then it was gone. the gym, however, is getting much more difficult. since my resting heart rate keeps climbing with his growth, there is less and less i can do at the gym that keeps me below 140 bpm, and there are some days when it gets me really down. i couldn't figure out why it was upsetting me so much at first; i knew all along a day would come when i'd have to tone it way down and probably change my entire routine. at first i thought i was just bothered by how much sooner it had come than i had expected. then i realized that it was bringing on a sort of mini identity crisis. working out at the gym, lifting weights more specifically, which i've been doing for 8 years now, is a very large part of how i identify myself. it's a large piece of the sarah puzzle and to suddenly have to throw it out, not knowing when i'd be able to get it back, was crushing for me. and realizing how alone i was, that i had no one with a similar routine to get advice from, caused a little breakdown. but after talking to jason about it, looking at some bodybuilding websites, and thinking it through, i realized that the best thing for me to do is not to stop it completely. i may have to keep modifying and modifying until there's hardly anything recognizable left from before, but as long as i'm doing what feels familiar to me, and what's safe, i think we'll both be better off. so, i bought a pregnancy workout dvd made by a very fit, very pregnant lady, (who used to be in cirque du soleil) and i'm really looking forward to trying it out. it hasn't come yet, but today i went back to the gym and did a lot of the exercises i'm used to, just modified so i could sit or take it slower somehow. and it was great! my heart rate monitor rarely beeped, and i even did a complete lower body workout, (which i have been neglecting for months now), without it beeping once. i think the closer i stick to my old routine (safely, of course), the happier and healthier we both will be before, during, and after labor.

so enough of that. onto the the fun stuff. :) the holidays really got me mixed up, and once they were over, i realized we only had THREE MONTHS LEFT!! crazy! what a shock that was. so now i'm in full-blown baby mode, trying to get things done before we run out of time. we haven't finished painting his furniture, haven't even started painting the nursery, haven't finished the gift registry, haven't solidified a date for the baby shower, or made invitations or plans of any sort for it, and *gasp* still have not even signed up for or even settled on a birthing class. not good. i feel very prepared knowledge-wise, thanks to ina may gaskin's "guide to childbirth" (best book EVER!!), but i definitely would like some practice with relaxation techniques. so i have some reading to do on which class to take, and then hopefully we can start those soon. the 18th is our last monthly checkup, then it's every 2 weeks. wow. the last 2 checkups we had, everything was awesome. no ultrasound pictures, but i don't feel as much anymore like i need those, since he moves around so much every day. i feel like that's his way of telling me he's doing fine. for almost a week now, i have noticed a new development--he loves to be on my right side, all bunched up. he still kicks me all over the place, but whenever i feel a big hard mass, it's always on the right. and last night he just stayed there for a good hour while i just rubbed his back...or butt, or whatever that was. i can't wait till he's finally here, when i can really get to know him. it will be so amazing to see his personality develop day by day, week by week. i'll learn what he loves and what makes him cranky, and we'll come to know each other so well. i'm really looking forward to this new world, where everything i do has a greater purpose. there will be so many challenges, and so many rewards, and everything will have a meaning that wasn't there before. for someone who thinks of going to the park as an adventure, i feel like i've just bought a one-way ticket to another galaxy.

sleeeeeeep

well, i think i have discovered the too-tired-to-do-anything part of the first trimester. for the past three days now i have felt pretty sluggish at work, and when i come home, all i want to do is eat and go to bed, which has not been good for my exercise routine, or my social life. it used to be dinner, gym, then something fun, like going to the movies. but now by 9 pm i'm falling asleep on the couch. yesterday i managed to make myself get up and do a ton of dishes and even go do a full-body exercise routine in my room, and fold a load of towels, before going to sleep. but i really need to get back to the gym; it's been a few days now. the plus side, i guess, though, is that i have been sleeping better, only waking up once or twice during the night, and falling back to sleep pretty quickly. (i am a notoriously terrible sleeper.)
that's it for now. for the most part i'm just feeling lucky that i have no morning sickness, since literally every woman i talk to says she had it all three trimesters.
i'll write that homebirth blog when i have the energy....

the gym...dun dun dun

so i just had my first workout with this little raisin-sized blastocyst/former zygote, and it was pretty interesting. i have been reading a LOT about what kind of exercise is ok to do when you're pregnant, and it looks like during the first trimester i can stick relatively close to what i used to do, even though that was a lot by most womens' standards i suppose. the main points to follow were to keep my heart rate under 140, and don't exert myself past 7 on a scale of 1-10. since i haven't bought a heart rate monitor yet, i took it really easy today, and that was difficult. it all felt very foreign and strange, stopping at 8 reps instead of 10, and lifting much lighter. it was also hard to force myself to rest for longer periods in between. but whatever keeps him happy. :) i just consider myself lucky that i don't have any nausea or fatigue to keep me from working out. i do still feel really bloated and firm in my belly, so doing the ab exercises was weird. my stomach feels the same way it does when i eat WAY too much, even when i haven't eaten anything. it's just really tight, and sitting in some positions is uncomfortable. anyway, they say you can do ab exercises until you feel discomfort, but i think i might just leave them out. what's the point in having a six pack now anyway? :) i am worried about the next two trimesters, though. i'll have to chill out even more with the amount of weight, and i won't be able to do any exercises on my back. that means that all the work i put into being able to bench 100 lbs will have to be done all over again.
also, i have to pee a lot (!) already (which is apparently due to a 50% (!) increase in my blood volume). this is weird for someone who used to go like twice a day.
i want to make it clear, though, that these are NOT complaints, merely observations. i will do anything and everything this baby requires, and i will do it with a smile, because he's not even born yet, and he's already done so much for me.

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had some fun today researching how old the little bean probably is now, and what he's doing in there. i've come to the conclusion he is probably about 1 week old, and only implanted his tiny little self into my *hopefully* stellar uterus 3 days ago. what a journey he has already had! it started 5 weeks ago, when my belly made a modest little bungalow inside itself, hoping to entice a nice little couple by the name of mr. sperm and mrs. egg (who had just gotten married, but the mrs. had not yet legally changed her name...you know what a legal rigamarole that is...). my belly has apparently been doing this every month for many years to no avail, but it was not until last month that it would finally fulfill it's destiny. what patience! so the newlyweds settled in, after having honeymooned in my fallopian tubes, (i hear it's really nice there this time of year). and there, in their new home, made just for them, the two became one, and made a baby. :)

p.s.
although by all visual accounts this is obviously an it, i'm going to stick with calling it a he until proven otherwise. i'm sure he would appreciate it.