My Pregnancy: Week 36

 

Week 36 and I'm finally feeling pretty uncomfortable!  My ankles are swollen, my pelvis is aching, and rolling over in bed is super painful.  My one hip has been doing this weird popping thing that is new this week.  And my back aches when I walk.  I know I can't complain because my pregnancy has been relatively easy, but I think it's finally time to slow things down a bit... which is really hard for me as a person!

Thursday was my birthday and I was supposed to get up for CrossFit, but I stayed up kind of late Wednesday, my pelvis was feeling achy, and to be honest I didn't really want to ruin my cute hair from my photo shoot on Wednesday lol.  No regrets.  When I woke up Dave gave me some really cute gifts and a card from the baby.

Thursday night we drove down the shore for our last prebaby weekend away.  Friday we worked a few hours in the morning and then headed to the beach for a few cool cloudy hours.  Dave went out Friday night but I fell asleep on the couch right after dinner and then opted for some ice cream and Modern Family in bed.  Saturday it poured all day, which was perfect for hitting the bar and watching Penn State crush Akron in their season opener.  We had a ton of delicious seafood for dinner and then headed over to Dave's aunt and uncle's place for a rainy night in.  Sunday we got some decent beach weather and Sunday night I finally made it out.  We went to 3 of our favorite bars.  I sipped on iced coffee and a mocktail, stayed out till 1:30 am, and survived the mile walk home.  I sure felt like a trooper!  On Monday we had a perfect day at the beach.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we got there nice and early to meet up with Karisa and Frank, their kids, and a few of their other friends with their children.  We got a nice sneak preview at our future at the beach with toddlers running around and had a lot of fun with everybody.  We stayed at the beach for over 5 hours and said a sad goodbye to the beach for this season!  All weekend I kept thinking I should be taking pictures, but it was sort of nice not to worry about it and just enjoy being in the moment versus capturing it on my camera.  These were the only pics from the weekend.

On Wednesday I made it back to the gym!  The strength was 20 squats and I'm pretty sure weighted squats are what left my pelvis aching last week, so I decided to do something else.  My coach suggested I do some push presses, which was the strength from the day before, but I really wanted to snatch!  I did them in sets of 2 and just worked up to a heavy weight that still felt super easy.  I honestly can't believe I put up 85# so easily.

The WOD was every 3 mins x 5 of 40 double unders (I did 30 air squats), 10 calorie row, and 6 handstand push ups (I did incline push ups on a low racked barbell).  I finished every round with about 30 seconds to rest.  I got a great workout and woke up super sore the next day... nothing in my pelvis or belly, just regular CF muscle soreness in my chest from the push ups and my inner thighs from all those squats, which means I'm still getting stronger!  But it did make me realize that I probably don't want to be sore AT ALL for my birthing time... I need to go in feeling my best!

This week was pretty uneventful pregnancy wise:

• I slept like crap at the beach and I was thinking that this might be it for any good sleep, but once I got home to my own bed I slept a lot better.  I generally only get up once to pee, so that's not too bad at all.
• I finally started packing my hospital bag.  I've had my list done for a while but I actually started getting everything together.  I'll be finishing this over the weekend, so we're ready to go!
• My feet are sausages, it's not cute.

And finally what you've all been waiting for!  I really had no plans to do maternity photos, I think if I had intended to do them all along, we would've done them like a month ago... when my face wasn't so fat LOL.  But my friend Megan offered and I said what the heck, why not.  Valley Forge was an obvious choice for the location, we had perfect weather for the shoot, and we got some gorgeous photos!

My Pregnancy: Week 32

Friday night we had a Lift Off at CrossFit, where everyone tested their 1 rep max snatch and then clean and jerk.  When we got there I was totally surprised to find a row of diaper cakes for all the pregnant couples at the gym!  We were very generously showered with diapers, an adorable onesie, and a Babies R Us gift card.  And our friends Eric & Megan made us a really neat growth chart ruler!  Our gym is full of such awesome people, I love CFVF!

I was always planning on going at night to cheer Dave and everyone else on, but I was thinking maybe I'd lift in the morning since that's when I usually workout.  I blew it off because I wanted to sleep in, but I was having some regret thinking my body would've felt better if I had just gotten it over with.  I decided that it didn't really matter since I'm so pregnant and that I would just stop whenever anything felt uncomfortable.  But I secretly really wanted to PR my snatch.  I hit 100# pretty easily in week 29 and I was thinking 7-10# more seemed really doable.  I easily put up 100# and then 105# was still pretty easy aside from feeling a little something in my back.  Side note: I miss my lifting belt!  I wanted to put 2 little 1 pounders on for a PR at 107#, but they were all in use so I said what the heck and put 2.5# on each side figuring I could always just bail on it if it wasn't right.  But I did it!  A snatch PR at 110# at 32 weeks pregnant (only 105# in the video, didn't want my final attempt taped it was too much pressure).  I honestly still can't believe it.  Dave PRed his snatch too!

I got up to 135# on my clean and jerk, which is only 10# under my max and I honestly probably would've gone higher if I hadn't felt some pain in my left wrist between the clean and jerk.  I was really proud of my lifts and it was an awesome night!

Saturday my mom and sister were supposed to come over to do some baby prep and crafting, see the nursery, and just hang out... which turned into my entire family coming over for the day!  My parents brought over 4 lbs of bacon and a brand new toaster and we all stuffed our faces with delicious BLTs and then got to work.  The guys fixed a bed frame that had been broken for 2 years and hung all the nursery art while the ladies did some crafting and closet organizing.

I bought this beautiful decal on Etsy that I was super excited about (the quote is from Alice in Wonderland), but apparently putting it on the wall was a giant pain in the ass.  There was a lot of curse words muttered and frustration and it got to the point where I was just steering clear of the nursery.  Apparently my dad's patience was the only reason it didn't end up crumpled up in the front yard because Dave told me if I ever buy another one, he will divorce me.  On the bright side, it looks amazing!  And the felt flowers Michelle made compliment it perfectly.

So without further ado, the nursery:

I am so in love!  The gorgeous blankets were both gifts, the one on the chair is from my cousin Janet and the one on the crib was made by our friend Jenn.  And I'm pretty sure we have two more blankets on the way!  Baby Midgley is already so spoiled aka we are spoiled by having the best friends and family :)

The very last thing that needs to be done for the nursery is to craft an initial to hang over the changing table.  I searched Etsy and really liked this, but it's only 8" tall and I wanted something bigger.  So I decided to make one.  I have a big wooden letter and the fake flowers to put on it, but Dave needs to paint it!  Hopefully this weekend.  And no, her name doesn't start with a C :P  I actually slipped and said the baby's name out loud to Michelle, but she totally missed it!  Dave and I have been using the name in conversation a lot more and so it's getting a lot harder to hide it.  Later I accidentally said the letter, which she caught... so she's the only one that knows the first initial (unless she blabbed to Alex).

Otherwise the nursery is done!  I am so happy!  The last big baby task is installing the car seat bases and there's a few things left on my registry that I still want to purchase, but we are feeling super prepared.  This weekend we'll be cooking a few batches of freezer meals, continuing to organize the basement, and now that the bed frame is fixed, we can make the spare bedroom look nice again.

I've been debating doing maternity photos and sort of settled on skipping it (do I really want professional photos of myself + 50 extra pounds hanging in my living room?), but this week I put out a call for newborn photographer recommendations on facebook and my friend Megan offered to snap maternity and newborn photos for us just to build her portfolio.  She's not a professional photographer, but has a high quality camera and some really nice shots of her son and niece.  The 30 different comments on my facebook post became extremely overwhelming and most of the packages I've seen so far start at $300... which makes my head spin!  I'm still undecided, but thinking of taking Megan up on her offer!

On Tuesday I took the dog for a short walk, about 3/4 of a mile and it didn't exactly feel great.  I thought it was cool enough at 80 degrees, but by the time the walk was over I felt like a wilted flower and I was experiencing some discomfort in the bottom of my belly.  I thought I might feel crappy when I got up for the gym this morning, but I felt fine.  The workout was DT: 5 rounds of 12 deadlifts, 9 hang power cleans, and 6 push jerks.  The women's weight was 105#, so doing it at 65# felt really light.  Deadlifts are starting to get awkward with my tummy, but I made it work.  I finished in 9:21 and was just glad to get a workout out in and that everything felt good.

I had my 32 week OB appointment today as well.  It was uneventful, my stomach measured perfectly, my blood pressure was normal, and I saw my favorite doctor in the practice.  I'm officially up 50 lbs and I think my face is finally getting fat LOL.  After my appointment we went to a pediatrician meet and greet and we both liked the doctor and the practice, so that's another thing to cross off our list.

Last but not least... I was planning on missing this year's Folk Fest since the festival last year.  I figured I'd be massively pregnant or with a brand new baby, and I was right.  The festival is next weekend and it does not seem like an enjoyable place for someone that's 8 months pregnant.  I'd be hot and not able to make the slightly treacherous hike down to the creek, the hills would leave me breathless, the port-a-potty trips would be endless, sleeping on an air mattress would be garbage, and the festival would be just a little different completely sober.  But after 8 consecutive years, I am devastated to be missing it!  Our entire group opted to take the year off and we're planning a little Faux Fest gathering to fill the void, but I think if everyone had purchased their tickets and had a plan in place, I'd probably be buying a ticket and making it work.  I just have to keep reminding myself that we are saving money, saving ourselves a lot of prep and clean up work, and there's always next year!  My parents live 10 minutes down the road, so I'm picturing a little "sun chip" crawling around during the day and then Didi picking her up for the night.  But in the meantime, mild depression...

My Pregnancy: Week 30

I really should start carrying my actual camera... oh well. These pics were too cute to pass up, but they were taken in the dark and the rain and on a phone.

On Wednesday (technically the last day of week 29) I snatched 100 lbs at the gym!  Power snatching has been my favorite lift during pregnancy and I had been hitting 95 without any issues, so I decided to load it up and go for it.  It felt great.  I honestly feel like my belly gives me some extra power through my hip drive.  My pre-pregnancy PR is 105# so I cannot wait to see what I am capable of when I am not growing a person!  The WOD was "death by burpees and rowing" so 15 minutes of that, not particularly enjoyable but I took my time and didn't completely hate it.

Friday was pretty typical, except that I thought the workout would take me 30 minutes and instead I finished in 19:42.  I subbed 5 calories on the bike for the 200m runs and I did 65# for all three lifts.  The snatches were good, the clean and jerks I probably should've gone heavier for because they felt super easy, but the thrusters did not feel great.  I wasn't squatting to depth, but I was still feeling a little something in my left knee and for some reason switching from the front rack position to an overhead grip wasn't feeling great either.  I'm thinking I'll probably just switch to dumbbells for any future thrusters since they felt fine last week.  Still have my pull ups!

Saturday morning started nice and early because this preggo was craving donuts!  We took a trip to the newly opened Duck Donuts in King of Prussia and it was awesome. You can customize your donuts any way you like and they make them fresh right then and there.  They were delicious!

Then we took Mela to Valley Forge and did about 1.75 miles in the shade.  I had to take a ton of breaks, but I feel like I haven't been doing enough walking lately (since it's been so unbelievably hot and humid).  It was nice to get out and get some exercise in before it got unbearable.

On Sunday Shayna came over and we did a ton of work in the nursery.  We opened up the last of the random gifts that hadn't been touched, organized the diaper changing supplies, tried out my Boba wrap, did lots of laundry, and she set up the rock & play.  We have so much adorable clothing, it's legit overwhelming!  I'll be changing baby girl into new outfits just to try and actually get her into everything.  Mela isn't quite sure what to make of all the new stuff in the house, but she didn't hesitate to get cozy in the middle of all the laundry.

Monday I had my 30 week appointment where I met the last OB in my practice... and I did not enjoy her demeanor.  It was little things throughout my appointment that turned me off but the specific incident that really drove things home was when I asked her about Red Raspberry Leaf Tea, which keeps being brought up in my natural birth facebook groups and is supposed to help strengthen the uterus and shorten labor.  First she acted like she had never heard of it, which I'm definitely calling bullshit on, and then she told me "do not drink anything like that because you will go into premature labor, have the baby at 30 weeks, and she will go into the NICU and you'll be going home without her."  Ummmmm what?!  How about "I do not recommend this product" or even "this type of product may cause premature labor"?  Either of those would've been professional answers to my inquiry.  But instead she went with intense fear mongering and left me hoping she'll be on vacation when I give birth.  I'll be using my Hypnobabies bubble of peace when I see her again at the beginning of September.

Tuesday we went for another hike in the park.  We headed to Midgley Lane and hit the trail that used to be right outside our door.  I still really miss having the park right in our backyard!  We did about a mile including a large hill at the end, but I felt really good and didn't need to take many breaks at all since the temps were only in the low 70s.  It's crazy what a difference the temp makes for me.  We let Carmela off the leash (for only the second time ever) for some creek stompin'!

Wednesday morning I hit CF.  We started class with a clean & jerk complex, an 8 minute EMOM of a clean liftoff, power clean, and split jerk.  I worked up to 100# and it felt great.  My coach joked with me about straightening out my bar path, but I really do think I'm going to have to break some bad habits when I'm not pulling the bar around a huge belly.  The workout was dubs, handstand push ups and clean and jerks, so I ended up doing the assault bike, some dumbbell strict press, and clean and jerks at 80 lbs.  It was a shorter workout and I guess I took it pretty easy because I recovered very easily compared to what I've been used to.

Wednesday we had another baby class at the hospital called "Welcoming Baby, a Family Affair."  It went over what to expect immediately after delivery, at the hospital, and after we get home plus the basics of newborn care.  The classes through Paoli Hospital have been great so far and I'm looking forward to our breastfeeding class in two weeks.

Other updates this week:

• Sleep has been hit or miss.  Sometimes I roll around throughout the night and have to get up to pee, other times I sleep wonderfully and don't have to get up at all.  Dave's still loving my pregnancy induced snoring.
• I haven't experienced anything like the heartburn I had the weekend before.  I've had a touch here and there, but nothing that has kept me up all night.  I'm trying to avoid eating super late dinners and laying down after eating, but I haven't been perfect with it.
• My feet ache horribly when I get out of bed.  The first few steps to the bathroom are super painful.  And I woke up to a charlie horse in the middle of the night Friday.  The worst!!!!
• I've been having a bit of pressure/pain down in my pelvis.  The OB said it's because the baby is head down (yay!) and totally normal.
• I'm up 45 lbs which officially puts me over 200 and I don't give a shit!  I feel good and my doc doesn't seem to be concerned, so it is what it is.
• The baby's movements are now visible from the outside!  So cool.

My guess date is 2 months from today... OMG!