Pregnancy Update: 23 weeks

Here are some random pictures to show my pregnant self :)


This last one was the starting line of a 10K race I did just last Saturday. Notice I started at the back with all the overweight walkers. Ha ha!!! I didn't even notice. I thought I would be last but I passed lots of people. Anyway It went really great!! It's such a high to accomplish something I am so unsure about. I don't know why pregnancy has hit my confidence but one reason I never feel prepared is because of this: when you're NOT pregnant, your fitness level goes higher and higher; if you have done the work in training, you know with a sureity you'll be ready. But when you are pregnant, your fitness level is going down, and you never know when the next big drop-off will be... so I guess I always feel nervous if I haven't done a certain distance within the previous week. I was really nervous about the triathlon and this, but both were just spectacular.

I was nervous about this 10K because it was later in the day, so I didn't know how the heat would affect me; and because it was an outdoor race with limited water and potty stops!! I am spoiled running at the gym, drinking and snacking to my heart's content, and stopping for a pee every half hour! But it went really great. No discomfort at all! I jogged the vast majority of it and finished much faster than I anticipated :) (my time was 1 hr 12 mins... my fastest non-pregnant 10K time is about 58 minutes)

Anyway, I got myself some toys today. A fetoscope for my personal use, since I am not having any prenatals done; and a maternity support belt to keep me running when things start to get heavy :) I like using the fetoscope, I consider myself pretty skilled with it. Today I located the placenta which gives me peace of mind that I won't be having placenta previa.

I have been feeling most of the kicks very low, so baby hasn't turned yet. I think it could happen anytime, but isn't fixed in a position til the eighth month anyway, so that is fine. I have put on about 13 pounds so far, would like to limit that to 25 lbs. It's funny how it comes in spurts - I put on 4 pounds in my second month with my cracker snacking, and then when I was out of town last month, I put on the rest all within a few weeks! I think you can see from that last picture how chunky I am getting but *oh well* I am limiting it, and feeling great, doing well, confident that it is not permanent.

I am eating fruit-til-dinner and focusing on green leafy veggies; Low-fat dinner to prevent yeast outbreaks; supplementing with alfalfa and kelp pills and well as sprouts and carrot juices now. I eat well 95% of the time but if I feel like cheating, I cheat. Funny how I used to be such a Natzi about sugar, etc. but now it's a nice indulgence when I am at a social function or something, and I handle it well. I am glad I've reached that point in my health where its about maintanence, not necessarily being on such a strict regimen for fear of all my goals collapsing! Nice, flexible...

Anyway sorry I am not a huge blogger lately.. I am not really feeling it but I feel obliged to keep you updated. You aren't really getting all my introspections the way I shared last time. If you are new to this blog, I encourage you to look through the archives. There is much more juicy stuff during my last pregnancy, when the blog began!