Posts Tagged ‘prenatal yoga’

OB Appointment – Week 14

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

I had my second OB appointment this week with Dr. W. I had planned this one specifically leading in to the lunch hour so that Shelton would finally be able to tag along and meet the doctor. Unfortunately, a last-minute lunch appointment kept him away. I was oddly bummed about it. I think I got so used to him being by my side at every single IVF appointment. I assured him it was OK, and it was, but I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed he wasn’t there.

I wasn’t sure what to expect at this appointment. I thought I’d go in, undress and slide into the gown for my exam. But alas, I got to stay fully clothed this time. The nurse quickly found the heartbeat, a raging 146 bpm!! There was a lot of extra noise that she called “punches,” as if the baby were knocking on my stomach. It basically indicated there’s a lot of movement going on inside. It’s still kind of strange to me that there’s A PERSON inside my belly, a very active person, and yet I feel nothing. If I eat too many enchiladas I feel a lot of movement, you know?! But a whole baby and I’ve got nothing. Both the nurse and the doctor asked if I could feel anything yet and I said no. They explained it’s still too early, but maybe four weeks away from those first flutters. How exciting!

This appointment was the first time I’ve been able to answer “NO!” to the question “Do you have any bleeding?”. What a friggin’ relief. I’ve had some very mild spotting sporadically, but the scary six weeks of bleeding is OVER!!!

I got my H1N1 shot. Having had the “regular” flu shot about a month ago, this one was super easy. I felt no pain the following days. The other shot was just painful!

I also got clearance to start pre-natal yoga, which I did on Monday and LOVED!!!

Dr. W told me that we can likely find out the gender in early December, around my 20th week. That could be my next appointment. I think we’re still riding the fence a bit. The compulsive planner in both of us will likely take over and we’ll give in and find out, provided the little monster cooperates. There’s also something really special about saving it until the end. I mean, you don’t buy a book and immediately read the last paragraph. You don’t fast-forward a movie to the last five minutes. You anxiously ride it out. But while I’m watching a movie I don’t have a room to paint and clothes to buy. So alas, we’ll probably cave.

Not likely to be the last time this set of parents caves!

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Finding my Mantra in Pre-Natal Yoga

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

I have been waiting so long for last night!! I went to the doctor yesterday for my four-week check-up (and all went well), and since I’m in my 14th week now, asked if I could start yoga. And he gave a resounding yes, and praised the fitness benefits.

I didn’t do yoga before. In fact, I’ve only been to maybe three yoga classes ever, and that was during college. And I was too immature for it because I’d snicker every time bodily noises escaped into the room.

But being that I’m more in tune with my overall health and wellness than I ever have been before, I couldn’t help but pay attention the pregnancy benefits of yoga. It facilitates a deeper connection with yourself and your body, cultivates a sense of calmness, learn how to properly breathe and channel attention away from pain, and it’s a low-impact method of exercise that can tone, relieve aches and pains, and strengthen muscles. Name a pregnant woman who couldn’t benefit from all of that!

I enlisted a well-versed yogi friend to research the yoga studios in Wichita and landed on one that she highly recommended.

So in preparation this week, I bought my yoga mat and read-up on what I needed to know as a yoga beginner. The no eating rule beforehand was proving to be a challenge and I finally had to give in to a cheese stick and apple. I was so hungry and I knew I wouldn’t make it through otherwise.

I loved the class! And I’m looking forward to many more over the next five or six months. The instructor is fun and enjoyable, keeping the class lighthearted. There were four other women and they made this newbie feel very comfortable. There was even a fellow Sooner in the bunch! We had a sort of open forum for pregnancy questions – everything from gas and heartburn to charlie horses and cravings. I was definitely the least far along, but it was kind of fun to see where I was headed. We had to come up with a mantra to repeat to ourselves as we inhaled and exhaled. Mine was “This is all worth it,” I think an appropriate reminder that the shots, puking, headaches, constipation, giant porn-star boobs and the like will all be a faint memory, and worth it, when we finally bring our little baby home.

I left feeling refreshed and excited. I can definitely see how this is going to help me get through the rest of this pregnancy, but also the labor and delivery.

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Pregnancy Week 12

Monday, October 19th, 2009

Week 12 started on a low note, but ended high. My morning sickness returned. I had several people say they’d never heard of that before, but I had no other explanation. I spent the first half of the week just feeling classically pregnant sick. This entire pregnancy so far, as soon as I wake in the morning, I have about a five-minute countdown to get food in my system or I’m miserable the rest of the day. So each morning last week I jumped out of bed to fix a bowl of cereal or eggs and toast. Within an hour, I’d lose it. By mid-week I started taking my nausea pill before I’d eat anything and managed to get through the end of the week without getting sick.

Everyone asked/argued if it was the flu. And it was not. Definitely morning sickness and I’m sticking to it. There were no other symptoms at all.

My fatigue continues. I’m easily getting ten hours of sleep a night, with 12 on the weekends. My mid-afternoon, I’d give someone $5 and a candy bar to let me take a nap. A simple trip to the grocery store leaves me worthless the rest of the evening. Shelton’s schedule has been so insane lately that having him tag along hasn’t really been an option. So either save errands for when he is around, or just write them off as not that important.

This has left me fairly “homebound” lately and it’s making me mental. I work at home, so my 8-5 is in the same place my 5-10 and Zss are. I’ve been trying to make a point of getting out at least once a day – a walk to the mailbox, a lunch with a friend, working the afternoon from a wifi coffee shop. Just something that changes my environment a bit.

Which brings me to exercise. No, I have not partaken (partook) in any exercise since the start of my pregnancy. With the blood clot, I just couldn’t bare the thought of doing anything that might put me or the baby in some kind of jeopardy. And while the doctor told me I didn’t need to lie flat on my back staring at the four walls until it passed, I just couldn’t do it. However, I’m so unbelievably excited that next week will start my second trimester, for all intents and purposes the bleeding is gone, and I can start prenatal yoga! A woman I work with is a yoga guru, so I had her shop all the Wichita yoga classes and she found one with an instructor who sound just right. Classes are super cheap, about $60 for a month of once-per-week sessions. Everything I’ve read about the benefits yoga lends to pregnant women makes me want to run not walk to my first class.

I’ve only taken yoga once in my life, years ago. And I got the giggles when people tooted and what not, because hidden inside me is a 14-year-old boy that I can’t shake at times. Plus my mother-in-law was attending the class with me and was ultra-bendy and six-packed, and was/am not, so I stopped going. I’m a completely different person now and I’m actually anxious to embrace these prenatal yoga classes, and will of course keep you posted on how I feel about what I’m gaining from them.

In other BIG news this past week, I’m full-on showing. I’ve had a minor bump for a few weeks now, really only noticeable to myself or Shelton (and my sister). But I swear I went to bed one night and woke up the next day and BAM there was a belly. There’s no denying it now. I can’t get over it. I can’t stop rubbing it or holding it. The feeling is so much different than the 12 pounds of chubby tire I lost a couple years ago. It’s solid and round and centered. And that’s the part I can’t get over, is that I keep thinking it’s going to squish or wobble or whatever like love handles. But it’s not. It will continue to get bigger and I cannot wait!

Speaking of “how I’m carrying,” I’ve yet to talk to a single person who thinks this is a boy. Every vote so far has been cast as a girl. Neither Shelton nor I have an inkling of what it could be. Frankly, we don’t care. I’d prefer not the hermaphrodite I dreamt about a few nights ago, but otherwise we’re open to whatever we get. My sister, and the “women’s contingent” in my family have decided that I’m “carrying high” and “all in my belly” and “nothing in my back” and the “wind’s blowing from the east,” and so on – all apparently meaning that I’m having a girl. When and if we decide to find out before this baby arrives, we’ve still got a long way to go.

Other than that, I’m excited that this begins the final week of our first trimester. What a relief it is to get to this point. I’ll spending this week in NYC, currently sitting on a three-and-a-half hour flight. On the downside, my flight was delayed; on the upside, that meant I got to eat! I had to SWEAR and PROMISE Shelton that I would take it easy on myself and try not to push myself; I made him SWEAR and PROMISE not to worry. The only thing I can SWEAR and PROMISE is that neither of us is likely to hold up our end of the deal.

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Feeding the Ravenous Pregnancy Hunger

Monday, September 7th, 2009

I can’t even put into words how much I’m eating. Probably because my mouth is full of food. It’s been like this since the week before the pregnancy test. Shelton’s growing more concerned he can’t afford to feed me. I’m just growing more concerned I’ll keep finding food sources. For the most part, as I’ve said on here several times, I eat a very balanced, nutritious diet. Lately, I’ve given in to a few twinges for things that are rarely on my menu. Like beef tacos. And pizza. Twice. This weekend. Oh wait, make that three times.

Saturday was the kick-off of college football season. I am not a fair weather fan, but let me say that my OU Sooners let me down. Let me down hard. I’ve been anticipating football season since, oh, January! Why can’t football season last as long as lame basketball season or baseball season, both of which seem to go on for-ev-er! As the weather took a quick turn in to fall last week (usually Wichita holds out until at least the day before Thanksgiving), I decided that we needed a pot of chili. My mom came over to watch the game with us and have some of my chili (because I’d be embarrassed if the two of us ate an entire Crock pot worth of chili). After dinner she told me we needed to get some junk food in the house. And I’m not lying, the best thing I could come up with was a can of Orange Crush a friend had brought to me a couple of months ago. Shelton and I laughed and told her this is our junk food – chili and cornbread.

So, I eat, around the clock it feels like. I wake up to my stomach growling. And until last week, I went to bed that way, too. I reached out to the DietsInReview.com dietitian, Rebecca Scritchfield, and explained my ravenous state. I told her that before bed I got another hunger surge, but I was afraid to eat right before bed. However, on the nights that I did I slept better and on the nights I didn’t, well, I didn’t sleep well. This is her advice, copied verbatim from an email, and I was so grateful to read this.

BK: My question is – is there something I can/should eat as a little snack to quench that hunger, should I just let it go? What’s a smart move here?

RS: Definitely eat a bedtime snack. My recommendation is to eat something that is high calories to satisfy you without a large volume of food. Second suggestion is bland BRAT (banana, rice, applesauce and toast) because they are easy on the GI. Start with banana and peanut butter (300 calories) or peanut butter and toast (also about 300 calories). It should not have you feeling too full.

This does not mean to have half a tub of peanut butter. It means a regular serving (a tablespooon I think) on a piece of whole grain toast. This is what I’ve been doing, with a small cup of skim milk. It fills me, satisfies me, and I sleep well. I still wake up hungry, but not ready to eat the down comforter.

Another conundrum I keep finding myself in is that I’m out and about and hunger strikes. Right now. This second. Feed me now or I will DIE! If you’ve ever had your blood sugar crash, it’s that exact feeling. Shaky, empty, feed me now anything! This weekend I made my own trail mix and got an air-tight reusable container to store it in. It fits in my purse, along with some Kashi granola bars. This way I’ve got a healthy, filling snack that I can take anywhere with me and I can munch on that to satiate for a little while. I made my own because 1) I don’t need the M&Ms, 2) I don’t need all that sodium, and 3) I don’t need the extra sugar. So here’s what I used in my homemade trail mix:

1 cup raw almonds
1 cup raw walnuts
1 cup raisins
1 cup Craisins
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Feel free to use this and modify as you like. For the next batch I’ll probably add pistachios.

Basically, I eat when I’m hungry. I don’t gorge myself. I eat a normal meal at meal times and have smaller snacks throughout the day:
– Breakfast is a bowl of Raisin Bran or Cheerios or an egg white veggie omelet with a whole grain tortilla
– Lunch is a turkey sandwich with veggies on whole grain bread, leftovers from the night before, or a veggie quesadilla with salsa
– Dinner is ground turkey for pasta or tacos, grilled chicken with veggies, grilled fish with veggies and whole grain rice, veggie paninis

For snacks, I keep it pretty simple, and keep the house well stocked.
– A few pieces of light havarti cheese with multi-grain crackers
– Fresh fruit: apple/orange/banana/grapes
– a 0% fat Chobani Greek yogurt with fresh blueberries and/or almonds
– a handful of whole grain Goldfish
– blue corn chips and salsa

I really don’t want to gain more than the 35 pounds or so of recommended weight. So I’m trying to keep everything balanced and eat in moderation. Right now I feel like that’s an impossible task because I simply just keep eating. I even give myself some time – ask if I’m really hungry right now. I’ll sip on a glass of water for a few minutes and see if that won’t kill the urge. Sometimes it does, and sometimes I can literally hear my stomach bellow FEED ME NOW!

I’m also taking evening walks with Shelton – which is a great time for us to catch-up. It’s a moderate exercise that for my first trimester I’m comfortable with. I’m considering prenatal yoga once my second trimester starts.

Some of you might be giggling going – ahh, welcome to pregnancy. Hopefully some of you also find yourselves pregnant and hungry and this will help you navigate the pantry a little easier.

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