Here are my adventures to a beautiful fit pregnancy…
I found out I was pregnant so early and was feeling really good, I mistakenly thought I was in the clear of all the horrible things I had heard about the first trimester. I found out I was pregnant at about 4 weeks (crazy!) and felt great. No nausea, vomitting, cramping or fatigue. I thought I would be one of those chicks that would cruise through pregnancy. Yeah, not so much…
By week 6 I was knocked on my booty. I couldn’t keep my eyes open. If by chance I was able to keep my eyes from sudden slumber, I was on the verge of projectile vomiting. Very glamorous, I know!
My workouts suffered tremendously. I had zero energy to get myself to the gym, let alone pick up some weights. I had to listen to my body and respect what it was communicating to me. My body was telling me I needed rest. So that’s what I did. I rested.
My diet suffered as well. My normal healthy diet was put on hold because everything I ate made me sick. If it wasn’t extreme nausea it was heartburn or acid reflux. The only thing I could eat was Honey Nut Cheerios, without milk of course! When I was able to eat, I craved sugar! Everything I hadn’t eaten in years was all that I desired!
I had a lot of cramping as well. Round ligament pain is caused by your uterus expanding. Before I realized what it was I was experiencing, I immediately became nervous and panicked there was something wrong. That’s another thing about being pregnant. It’s an extremely beautiful time it a women’s life, but it’s also extremely stressful. There are so many things going on in your body that you’ve never experienced, you start to worry on what’s normal and fear for the health and safety of your baby. It’s not about you anymore. You’re already a mom before you realize it! Being a Neonatal Intensive Care Nurse like myself can make you a real cuckoo bird when you’re preggers too!
I was able to get some of my workouts in. By about 10 weeks or so, ThatPrettyFitChick.com rolled out the PFC March Madness Fitness Challenge with LIVE video workouts every Friday. Each Friday I led a workout with one of my great friends, Ashley. Still not really showing, I was able to hide the pregnancy. It was still too early for the big reveal. I did the workouts, but was unable to do a lot of the cardio from restricting my heart rate to less than 140 and the new gigantic knockers I had that couldn’t take the vigorous bouncing. That’s where Ashley stepped in. I stood beside Ashley and she performed the cardio exercises and instructed her on proper form. Phew! We got away with it. By the last week of the challenge, if I turned to my side, you were kinda able to tell I had been putting on some weight in my midsection. I only noticed a few comments in the google search terms for google analytics.
After my workouts, I would sleep for 3 hours. I knew working out was good for me, but it totally knocked me on my arse! Morning sickness is such a false advertisement. For me, it was more like “all the time, you get no break” sickness. Everyone was so willing to let me know what worked for them along with their horror stories that scared the crap out of me. My husband and I began to notice a trend in the symptom relief aids. From Saltines, lemon with salt (which to me felt like it needed it’s partner tequila, but not until September!) and salt water to name a few. Was salt the answer? My remedy was popcorn with salt! Worked like a charm!
Not much helped for the acid reflux and heartburn. Especially when I went home to New York and all I wanted 24/7 was pizza and Mama’s homemade sauce. I didn’t care. I took the torture for the temporary euphoria I got from consuming my favorite cuisines! Baby needed a taste of home…
The first trimester of pregancy, working out was on my mind and often my plan, but it was very hard to bring it to fruition. It’s important to listen to your body during this special time in your life. My body needed a rest so that my beautiful baby could grow strong. I listened. I have no regrets.