When I don’t feel like a lot has happened, I’m less inclined to post a pregnancy update. I just realized however that I haven’t posted an update since week 31! Surely a lot has happened, right??? Let’s find out. Also, check out my Cyber Monday blog post for deals you can find on my favorite sites here. Also, we are offering 50% off all packages at SFitGym membership until 11:59 PM PST tonight. Sign up using promo code 50PERCENT. We will be gearing up for a big January 1st challenge complete with full workout calendar for multi-levels (ie Challengers, Beginners, etc.)
Baby Update
Technically I am 34 weeks and 5 days this Monday. That means, I’ve got a little over 5 weeks to go until my due date. The average 34 week old baby in utero is about the size of a butternut squash or 5-6lbs and 17-19 inches long. Since he weighed 3lbs around week 28, I’m going to assume he is at least 6lbs at this point. Allegedly they gain about a half a pound a week in the third trimester. He can “recognize” and react to simple songs. We like to think he likes “Hello” by Adele. Last night when Nick got home however he decided to wake up and move around which made me think he recognizes his voice!
Weight Gain
To date I have gained officially 25lbs. It felt cathartic to write this blog post last week about how much weight you should gain and I still stand by it. I only gained .8 lbs over Thanksgiving which I think is a victory considering I had some epic eating days and minimal exercise. More on those below…
Pregnancy Eats
Last week, we made a lasagna on Sunday night and had leftovers on Monday and Tuesday before leaving for Portland, ME for Thanksgiving. Nick made it since i was super tired. I just requested veggies and chicken sausage to be in the filling. The recipe is pretty basic but it tasted delicious!
On Wednesday when we arrived in Portland, we visited DuckFat. It is probably one of the most well known places to eat in Portland but we rarely go because we had a terrible experience during the early days. They made up for it this time around. We ordered the fried Brussels Sprouts with bacon and breadcrumbs, french fries with truffle ketchup, the duck confit sandwich and a vanilla milkshake to go.
The truffle ketchup was my favorite with the fries but everything tasted amazing. I would not have ordered the duck sandwich on my own but it was a great decision. We also went out to dinner at an Asian restaurant Wednesday night but I was still full from lunch that I only ordered a cooked spicy salmon roll in addition to sharing some apps.
Fast forward to Thanksgiving morning, I bought these at Flour Bakery along with their duck fat stuffing to bring to Maine. The famous Flour sticky bun was worth every calorie. Nick didn’t eat breakfast because he was still full from all the food we ate Wednesday, hah.
Thanksgiving dinner was amazing and I tried a little bit of everything plus a lot of the duck-fat country bread stuffing that I brought from Boston. This stuff should be on the menu at Flour always as it is that good! I highly recommend trying it next Thanksgiving or if the sell it around Christmas, then as well! It is made with smoked bacon, currants and winter greens.
In addition to the turkey and stuffing, I had roasted Brussels Sprouts, broccoli, roasted parsnips, butternut squash and an amazing sweet potato dish with pine nuts and pomegranate seeds. Dessert not pictured includes a little bit of apple, pecan and pumpkin pie of course.
I didn’t need to eat for the next 3 days after all this… kidding. But I did take a break from photographing my meals. Ezekiel english muffins for breakfast with peanut butter, soup or smoothie for lunch and Sweetgreen and a stir fry for dinner were the “healthy” alternatives my body needed.
Workouts
On Monday I took class at BTone like I have been doing since before getting pregnant. I noticed that my hips were really sore after a few visits over the past couple weeks. After Monday’s class, I think I’m officially done with SPX Pilates 🙁 This makes me so sad but I think the dragging on the carriage is too much for my widening hips. With my due date just around the corner, my hips are stretching to make room for baby to pass through the birth canal and as a result it is very painful to put pressure on a single foot after and even during class after an exercise.
After leaving a not so complimentary Instagram about an experience I had at SoulCycle Back Bay a few weeks ago, the PR team gave me 5 classes to try more instructors. I took my third teacher on Tuesday and will have a full report once I’ve tried two more. I took Wednesday off as a rest day and Thursday Nick and I walked around the Peaks Island in Maine which took us about an hour. It’s a 3.5 mile loop. Friday again was a rest day.
On Saturday, I took an hour long yoga class and used the arch trainer for 20 minutes. My hips felt great afterwards proving that I think the reformer was causing my hip pain. Sunday I took class with Anni at Recycle Studio. This reaffirmed that it indoor cycling has become one of my favorite workouts for pregnancy and that I had a lot of carbo-loading energy to burn. If you haven’t tried Anni’s class yet, I highly recommend you do! It’s challenging and fun but not defeating like some can be in my opinion.
Symptoms
Achey hips after workouts! After my strength and even yoga classes, my hips often are really painful later in the day. When I go from sitting to standing I feel like I need a walker to take the pressure off of my hips. I definitely think the reformer was not helping. I enjoyed taking Pilates up until week 34 but I think I’m going to stop and stick with some back body weight exercises for the last 5 weeks. Spinning doesn’t seem to bother my hips which is good.
I still have heart burn but a single peppermint TUM before bed has been helping. I also bought papaya enzymes from Trader Joe’s but you need to take those with meals in order for them to work. I keep forgetting. I haven’t had a ton of cravings but I do love red sauce food items which doesn’t help heart burn with the acidity from the tomatoes. I’ve also been LOVING clementines which again with their citrus nature are not the best choice for someone with acid reflux.
PREGNANCY BRAIN IS REAL. I feel like a moron. I introduce myself to people I’ve met, I forget when I’ve last seen friends, congratulating them on the same news each time, I misplace everything and forget the rest.
Now that my bump is out in full force and getting larger each day, my stomach is so itchy! The skin is stretching and despite lotion, I still find myself scratching my belly all the time.
Frequent trips to the bathroom to pee are also still happening. It’s embarrassing at this point. I have to pee pretty much 24-7.
Lastly, my vision is still kind of bad. I feel like I need a prescription upgrade. My sister said the same thing happened to her so I’m just going to wait until baby comes to do anything.
Movements
Baby is such a squirrel. He doesn’t stop moving most days and then the following day, he will be pretty mellow. I like to joke that he “tuckers himself out” and needs a recovery. He is starting to get up in my rib cage which isn’t comfortable for obvious reasons but he hasn’t hurt me yet with any kicks. When he kicks me, his foot or knee starts near the center of my rib cage and then drags across my body to my right side. I didn’t know my uterus took up that much real estate! It is pretty cool to watch him move under my skin.
I’ve been lucky that I do not have much back pain but I do enjoy resting. If I had to be upright at a desk all day or standing, I may say something different. I get to sit like this if I need to whenever I want…
Feeling…
Less anxious. We took two classes last week, a breast feeding and a newborn essentials class at Mama + Me in JP. The breastfeeding was great and the essentials was repetitive for me but helpful for Nick so I’m glad we took both.
In the beginning of my pregnancy, I really wanted a natural birth. Due to my schedule leading up to these last few weeks, I didn’t have time to schedule taking a natural labor class. As a result, I don’t think I’m prepared to do so. My new birth plan is to just go in with an open mind. Use my yogi breathing techniques and my midwife/nurse for support and see what happens. If I move fast through the stages, I may try to have a natural birth but if the pain is too much, I’m not going to feel guilty getting an epidural. Labor scares the shit out of me to be honest. I asked my Facebook “fans” for advice and since the majority of women who have given birth both ways recommend getting the epidural, I am feeling better. No offense to you guys but do I really have to prove myself by opting out of drugs? I ran a half marathon at 29 weeks pregnant, I think I already proved I can take a challenge. The safety of my baby is #1.
My mom went 3 weeks early with my oder brother so if I want to get anxious, I think about him coming in 2 weeks… We are not ready for that!
