Tuesday, 23 November 2010
14+3 : Back to Normality... sort of
I've made a pledge to myself to take baby steps back to my former self. Its started today with food & getting back to the gym.
Food for today is as follows:
* Cocopops & milk - breakfast #1
* 2 slices wholemeal toast - breakfast #2
* Banana - mid morning pre-gym snack
* Penguin biscuit bar - half pre-gym, half post-gym (yes, I actually got hungry in between my pre-gym snack and actually going to the gym)
* Ham Sandwich with side salad (well iceberg lettuce & cherry tomatoes) - lunch
* Carrot Sticks & Reduced Fat Houmous - mid-afternoon, pre-meeting snack
* dinner is still an unknown!
I'm quite pleased with that :) I'm off to Tesco tonight and I'm going to stock up on all the healthy foods I'm currently enjoying.
The gym went ok, I didn't push myself, my body wouldn't let me! I did 15 minutes on the cross trainer, followed by 30 body weight squats (30 regular & 30 ballet), 30 single legged butt raises (on each leg), then some hammer press w/ 3kg weights, shoulder press with 2kg weights and front/side raises at 1kg (30 of each). It only took me 31 minutes and I burnt a respectable 406 calories. The best bit is that I feel great for it! Lots of people at the gym asked where I had been, I explained that for the last 2 months I've been sleeping in my car at lunch :P
I'm not really looking forward to any possible muscle aches tomorrow, but I'm determined to get in at least one more gym session this week.
Monday, 15 November 2010
13+2
I *think* the nausea is on its way out. I'm certainly managing it much better these days with regular food and knowing when my body has had enough and needs some rest.
I also think my energy levels are starting to increase! On Friday I went for the worlds shortest run and did a few squats/push ups when I got home and it felt good. It was really tough though. I've effectively had about 6-7 weeks of nothing but dog walking and just running up the hill to the pub and back was shattering. However, to put things into context its exactly half a mile up hill then half a mile back down hill to my house. I did it in 8 minutes flat. So for someone who's not done anything in forever an 8 minute mile is pretty darn good! When I got home I did 30 calf raises, 30 ballet squats, 30 regular squats and 30 push ups.
On Saturday we went to Bluewater to meet some friends so I did ALOT of walking around. It probably saved me from some of the muscle aches, but by the end of the day my legs were starting to feel a little stiff. Sunday was much the same with walking around more shops, but I think keeping active helped my aches and pains disappear quite quickly. I hope that I can do my short run + extras when I get home every day until it becomes easier again and then I'll start increasing things (perhaps up/down the hill twice, etc). The important thing for me is not controlling my weight, but to stop losing definition in my muscles. After nearly 2 months out of the game I'm flabby all over and it's not doing me the world of good mentally (I keep having crazy dreams about getting really fat!).
Last night I had a pretty terrible nights sleep. I was tossing and turning all night, I just couldn't get comfortable. I've definately got a bump at night and weirdly, this morning I still have a bump. I wonder if last night it was 'popping' for good. To people who don't know that I'm pregnant though I 100% just look like I've got a belly. But at least I know its a mini bump.
Friday, 5 November 2010
Scan Update
My appointment was at 9.10am and we eventually got called in at about 9.20am. I've obviously never had an ultrasound before, and it was quite strange to be led into this darkened curtained room with a bed and a tv screen. They wasted no time in getting my clothes into the right position, applying gel and getting the wand thing in action across my tummy.
Within seconds there was this little thing wriggling up on the monitor... and I mean wriggling. I never expected arms and legs to be moving around, nor did I expect it to be doing summersaults and rolls in there. I wasn't sure whether it was due to the sugary breakfast or whether its just got used to getting out of the way of dog paws and has already developed a technique for getting out of the way of incoming objects.
By this point, even me the ultimate ice queen had a few tears rolling down the side of my face. It really was a beautiful sight.
The baby is about 51mm long at the moment, so tiny! and is living about 2cm underneath my skin. I was quite suprised at how close to the surface it is, but I guess it being so close puts some things into context about how uncomfortable I feel sometimes when my jeans are digging in or I'm wearing tights pulled up.
Measurements were taken of the Nuchal fold (the test for downs syndrome) and they came back perfect, she was struggling to get the measurement more than about 1.6mm and the measurement at which they worry is 3.5mm.
She talked us through what she was doing and what we could see, but this baby really was wriggling. She wrote on our notes 'scan restricted by fetal movement' whoops!
Whilst she was poking around she found a cyst that was nearly as big as the baby, she said it probably wasn't anything to worry about and was probably a result of ovulation on the cycle that the baby was conceived. Apparently they will just monitor it in the other scans. I'm not that worried so I've not leapt on google right away to find out more, I'll just see what happens :)
Turns out I was correct with my EDD and they put me back two days. So I'll officially be 12 weeks tomorrow and baby is due on Saturday 21st May 2011. Mr H reckons she was a bit sarcastic when she confirmed I was correct, but I didn't really think so. We were shipped back into the waiting room to wait for my notes and pictures.
After about 5 minutes we got the pics and the notes to stick into my book when I got home. The pics are hilarious, I got two face shots, one odd shot of I'm not sure what and a profile pic.
Introducing el guapo! (because it looks like theres a mexican wrestling mask)

Though this face shot looks a little 'Roswell' to us...
Finally, a good stereotypical profile :)
After I'd got my notes back I had a wait of another 30-40 minutes until I was called through for the triple test (blood test, another downs checker). I'm such a wuss when it comes to giving blood. Something about that creepy inner arm fold that turns my stomach. Not helped by the fact I was starving by the time we were called through. It was over in seconds but I held my breath and was totally fighting back the tears. Before they took blood, I was weighed. The number on the scales scared me, it was in kg. I do not understand kg. I weighed myself at home this morning and I've gained 4lbs. I'm fine with that. The kg figure just looked really scary!
After that we had to make my appointment for my 20 week scan. I'll be 20 weeks on New Years day, so clearly have some weekend/bank holidays in the way of me getting to see el guapo again. We're booked in for the 4th January at 11.45am. I can't wait!
Wednesday, 3 November 2010
12 weeks today!
Apparently the baby is now the size of a lime. Hello lime baby!
Will do a better update tomorrow :)
Monday, 1 November 2010
11+5 : White Rabbits
As today is the start of a new month, I'm going to make an effort to get back to the gym at lunchtimes. Now this could back fire in a major way! But I figure that even if I only managed 30 minutes of something its better than doing nothing which is where I'm at at the moment. I'm not sure what I'm going to do at the gym, but thinking something along the lines of 10 minutes cardio and 20 minutes weights. Obviously if I think I can take things further, I'll up the limits of both. To begin with I'm going to go slowly and see how I feel as the week progresses.
I've not actually got a great week to be starting back with the gym as I'm only in the office twice this week! However, this is my plan...
Monday: Gym at lunchtime
Tuesday: Going to London, so won't need the gym with all the walking I'll be doing
Wednesday: Working from Home, will try and get out for a run after the electrician has been
Thursday: Day off (scan day), 30 day shred in the evening
Friday: Gym at lunchtime
Saturday: Off to Damnation in Leeds, no time for anything!
Sunday: Pug meet in the morning (on the beach at Southsea) then lunch at MIL's.... so more beach walking :)
4/7 days wouldn't be a bad start if I can manage it!
Friday, 29 October 2010
11+2 : Coming to terms with a changing body
I just haven't had the energy to keep up with regular exercise, lunchtimes are spent cat napping and I'm usually passed out on the sofa by 9pm most evenings. October has basically just been about surviving, something which I've not really enjoyed.
As a result, I've lost muscle tone, I've lost strength, I've lost motivation and I feel terrible for it.
In the last 3 months, I've put on somewhere in the region of 2-5lbs. I know it doesn't seem like a lot, I can't accurately say what I've put on as I'm trying my hardest to stay off the scales. I've weighed in at 9st 4lbs and 9st 7lbs on the odd mornings I've weighed in. So chances are I haven't really gained that much at all, but I feel like I have.
My whole middle section is losing shape, I know its to be expected after all... I am pregnant. But after spending more than a year in tight fitting figure hugging clothing I'm struggling to find things in my wardrobe that I'm comfortable wearing. I've had really bad ab ache for the last few days, I presume as everythings stretching to make way for the baby which is just about to start its crazy growth (I think its supposed to start doubling in size every fortnight or something). I'm just not sure how I'm going to get on when it happens. Perhaps when I have an obvious bump it won't be so bad, right now I just look like I've eaten all the pies.
Its now less than a week until our scan date, just a measly 6 days. I wonder if when 'it' becomes a baby I'll feel better about the changes going on with me. I guess the excessive amount of hormones don't help, nor do my enormous boobs which seem to have taken on a life of their own. If I'm not feeling sick, my eyes are welling up at at anything and everything. I wonder if I am finding a certain amount of comfort in food right now. As I'm sitting here at 9.24am slowly making my way through a packet of Wotsits to take away the need to puke I feel quite content.
I really hope that the next few weeks see me return to a more normal version of me. I'd love to be eating a little better, I'd love to have enough energy to even just do a 30 minute session of exercise at lunchtime (I really miss the gym at lunch!). I'd love to be able to make the most of the crisp air outside and get out for weekend runs.
Wednesday, 27 October 2010
11 Weeks
Still, here I am at 11 weeks stopping by for another update. I've not managed to shred every day since I started. I ached like heck for about 3 days after the first shred, but aside from the odd shred I've managed to fit in, we've done some nice long walks with the dogs over the weekend which I'm sure have gone some way to keep me in I shape... and have contributed to some epic long naps on the sofa too.
Observations on tiredness are that I'm absolutely whacked. I mean seriously whacked! I had a good nights sleep last night and a sleep in the car to work this morning and I'm still feeling exhausted. Its not like 'over sleep exhaustion' either, its mentally destroyed exhaustation. I can't even think about doing things without feeling tired. Not good!
Aside from the tiredness, the nausea is probably getting a little better. First thing in the morning (on a working day) I'm needing to eat something as soon as I get up. Otherwise I go through this horrible dry wretching thing. My gag reflex seems to have become quite weak over the last week. Last night is was the thought of the smell of Chargrilled Steak McCoys that sent me over the edge. *shudders*
Food intake is easing off a bit. I've tried to be clever by reducing calorie intake of the things I've been eating, for example todays food:
* Lemon & Raisin Pancake - 90 cals (before I left for work)
* Bowl of Coco pops with semi skimmed milk (when I got to work)
* Banana (mid morning)
* Wholemeal Roll w/ Gouda, Ham and Cucumber (lunch)
* Bag of Wotsits - 95 calories (much less than the >250 calories of some other bags I've eaten recently)
* Penguin Bar - 120 calories ish (again much less than a wispa or a mars bar)
* Grapes
* Dinner (which tonight will be steak, field mushrooms, brocolli + sweet potato)
So still not great in terms of the sort of things I'm eating, but at least I'm eating less and making more sensible choices in the realm of the food I fancy. Gotta love pay day and the ability to get to Tesco!
In other news, a new bra arrived yesterday evening. AMAZING! I tell you what, having boobs that now fit in a bra other than my sports bra is fabulous. I've gone up 2 cup sizes so far. Hopefully I'll stay the same size for a little longer before I have to buy any more. Bras are definately one of the hidden costs of pregnancy.
Finally, to continue my fruit themed baby development according to the tracker on my iphone its now the size of a fig.