Fine Fit Pregnancy – Reaching Term

“I never want to hear the phrase, ‘I loved being pregnant!‘ from your mouth ever again.” Strong words from my main man – but truer words have never been spoken.

I am very conscious of not complaining about what is such a gift – to be pregnant with no complications, waiting out the last days (?) weeks (?) before giving birth. There are so many women who struggle with infertility issues or pregnancy complications and given that Fran and I tried for nearly two years before getting pregnant with Roman, I know I am one lucky mama.

What Fran is referring to is that apart from first trimester morning sickness, my first pregnancy was a breeze. I didn’t have any of the usual suspects of pregnancy woes – no heartburn, no swelling, no real back pain, no crazy hormones, not even Braxton Hicks or round ligament pain. This pregnancy has been different, let’s just leave it at that. I am SO ready for this baby to arrive – I am even hoping by pre-scheduling this post I am tempting fate and there could be a chance I’m in labor as you read this. (Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram and Facebook, where I promise I will share some of the first photos of the little one!)

Just as I gave you updates as I entered my second trimester and then again for the third trimester, here’s what’s been going on for the last third of this pregnancy, now I’m considered early term.

Fine Fit Pregnancy

The Workouts.

Oh prenatal yoga, you’re so deceptive. I remember when I first started going to prenatal classes, I switched from an hour class to the 90 minute class, because it just seemed like so little movement and effort to me. I loved the teacher from the beginning and really enjoyed the camaraderie between all the preggo women in one room, but a workout? Not so much.

Late second/early third trimester, it became more of a way for me to get blood flowing after harder workouts during the week. I definitely could tell my body was working a little more.

Last week, the class was relatively empty since winter decided to have one last gasp and snow all day long and it was during this class that I realized, this is hard! We used the extra wall space for practicing some balancing poses I haven’t done since the first trimester and even the regular flow we moved through just seemed tougher, more athletic. I went home and spent Roman’s nap time…napping. Out of necessity.

I’ve still been running, although it’s definitely dropped off as I’ve gotten further along. I’ve had some great outdoor runs when the weather has been cooperative (nothing longer than 3 miles) and a few good treadmill runs doing a run/walk break technique. At this point, though, the most I really do is a 1 mile warm up on the treadmill before strength training. And I’m totally okay with that.

Strength training and walking are my two biggest workouts right now. Since I’m still training clients, I’m still averaging about 17 miles a week of walking just to commute, plus all the walking and running around I do with Roman all week and weekend long. I was training more clients and working more hours during my first pregnancy, but all my clients were in the same gym, one that had an elevator. I’m doing strength training twice a week and cardio (spinning, treadmill or elliptical) once a week and I was also getting a couple of short at-home strength training sessions done for a while there, but at this point I am just out of energy for anything above and beyond.

The Food. 

I am still cooking a lot, but relying more on old favorite recipes, as well as a few new recipes that have become staples. This weekend I’m planning on utilizing Kelly’s recipes and incredible organization skills to prep a LOT of freezer meals, for when this little one arrives. (If you haven’t checked out Kelly’s blog New Leaf Wellness, do it for her freezer meal planning posts alone. They’re amazing!).

I’ve also been prepping freezer bags of smoothie starters – berries, bananas, kale, chia seeds; or bananas, peanut butter powder, chia and kale or spinach. Then I just dump it in the blender with some yogurt, milk and a little honey. It’s so easy – Roman and I have a small glass each for breakfast and an afternoon snack from the same starter bag. And he has NO idea he’s eating kale or spinach.

My chocolate intake has definitely decreased since my husband has been busy changing his habits and losing weight, but really I’ve been craving savory snacks this pregnancy anyway. My go-to snack that I need to have in the fridge at all times is so cliche, but very real – I must have ALL the pickles. Specifically cornichons. The other day I was snacking on them while making Roman lunch and there were only a few left when he asked me if he could have some with his meal. It’s a testament to my maternal instinct that I gave them to him, because every other ounce of me was silently screaming, “Nooooo!!! Those are my last pickles, child!!”

The Energy.

This baby is way up high (at least head down, thankfully) and has been squishing my lungs and diaphragm for a couple of months now. It makes it a little tricky to sleep. Add to that the fact that it never seems to stop moving and I am resigned to cat napping when I can and hoping it all adds up to enough rest.

The Parenting.

Remember when I wrote that post about what I’ve learned as a parent and one of the things I’d learned was how much patience I had? Well, has anyone seen my patience? It’s a little thin on the ground these days. There was a point not so long ago when I had a post in my draft folder tentatively titled, “Those Days When You Feel Like the Worst Parent on Earth,” and then I read this post by Sarah of Run Far Girl. She’s pregnant with her third child and I felt bad about complaining about one toddler, so you were all spared my angst. 🙂 Luckily, after a tough stretch when I really thought that having a three-year-old would totally undo me as a human, Roman has turned a corner and the tantrums and brattiness have definitely subsided.

The Emotion.

The hormones have kicked in. I was watching the NYC Half Marathon coverage on TV as I was getting ready for the gym a couple of weeks ago and actually began sobbing as Molly Huddle crossed the finish line. An ad for the NHL network that features hockey players giving pucks, sticks and selfies to little kids whose faces light up just about writes me off every time I see it. Looking at Roman asleep in bed when I sneak past him to go to sleep at night makes me well up with how much I love him. I read a post by Allie about crying in running that had me in tears. I’m a mess, people!!

All in all, I am ready when baby is. We have the new crib assembled, I have a hospital bag packed and this week I’ve gotten most of baby’s first clothes and diapers washed and purchased and put away neatly. So I thought I’d leave you with a little guessing game – use the comments to leave your guesses and I’ll come back after the big day and see which of my readers is a baby psychic. Here are the questions you can guess:

Is Baby a boy or a girl?

What date and what time of day will Baby be born? (My due date is April 10)

What weight and length will Baby be born?

How many hours will I be in labor?

Even though this pregnancy is totally different, here are the answers from my first pregnancy: We didn’t find out the sex and had a boy. Roman was born at 39 weeks, at 8:09 am. He was 7 lbs, 5 oz and 19.5 inches long. I was in labor for 26 hours. Have at it, guys!!

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Want to catch up on the pregnancy posts?

I’ve Been Lying to You (pregnancy announcement)

Fine Fit Pregnancy – Halfway There

Fine Fit Pregnancy – Third Trimester

Running Tips: Running Through Pregnancy

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