Pregnancy: Week 29

Welcome to Nashville

We spent most of week 29 in Nashville visiting family and friends and enjoying some of the finest southern cooking and honky tonk music.

29 weeks – celebrating at The Stage

Honky Tonkin with CeeCee & Stache

Prior to our departure, we attended a baby care bootcamp at the hospital. Super informative and useful, the class taught us what to expect with Baby L the first three months. From play to cues to sleep, to growth and general resources, the few hours we spent with other expectant parents was valuable. Our next major step is picking a pediatrician. Luckily, our OBGYN provided us a great list.

Chad practicing

In Nashville, I was able to meet with a Lipscomb University student, Hannah, who is doing her Master’s thesis on CrossFit and pregnancy. Her focus is primarily post-delivery, and has received almost 200 responses to her survey “The Lived Experiences of Women Doing CrossFit During Pregnancy” from women around the world. So awesome and re-emphasizes the importance of women talking about their experiences since so much research is lacking. While I’m clearly not in the post-delivery stage, Hannah and I spent time chatting about my experiences – including my support group, how I regulate intensity and food. We also worked out together at CrossFit Talon – awesome group of people in Coolsprings; highly recommend!

With the women of CrossFit Talon

Our Nashville stay ended with a shower celebration. My parents hosted a great evening of fun, games and food with friends. Baby L certainly is spoiled with all the great loot!

Baby L’s cradle and presents

Advice jar

Kobe protects the presents

Classic: grown men chugging beer from a baby bottle

29 weeks

Week 29 WODs:

Feb. 10 –

Warm Up – 300m row, stretching

Strength – Split squat 5×10 with 100m sprint between sets. I worked up to using a 1.5 POOD kettlebell; heart rate was at 160

Metcon:17:07; heart rate 175

50 wall balls (8#)
50 KB swings (1 POOD)
50 air squats
50 toes to bar
50 sit ups (I did on bench)
Every minute on mint do 5 push ups

Feb. 14 (CrossFit Talon) –

Warm up – 600m run, stretching, calesthenics

Strength – Power snatch + Snatch: 5 at 65%, 4 at 75%, 3 at 85%, focus on OHS position. This was was difficult for me with the belly. I was pulling the bar out too far to make it around and messing with form. The coaches had me work on floor to hip progression instead.

Then every minute on the minute (EMOM) for six minutes two power snatch and one snatch at 70%. I used 45# bar and did one clean and two overhead squats.

Metcon: 5 rounds – 7:47, 170 heart rate

10 chest to bar pull ups (ring rows)
30 double unders (90 singles)

Food: Glorious southern cooking! Sweet tea, cornbread, pancakes, fried chicken, bar-b-que, we sampled some of the finest the south has to offer. No regrets despite the high sodium intake and over-indulgence we enjoyed. Definitely not a paleo-focused trip!

Favorite meat n’ three: Swetts

Fact: Preggers love froyo

Pecan pancakes from Pancake Pantry

Pregnancy: Week 28

It was a great week focused on yoga and long walks with pooch. My body is craving the yoga. The stretching and quiet time feels amazing on my expanding body. During shavasana, the baby gives me happy flutters. That makes up for the many poses I can’t do because of the babe’s positioning.

We had our monthly check up this week and met with one of the female doctors in the practice, whom we adore. She’s a realist and clearly loves her job. She walked through what I should expect in these final weeks and we also discussed my weight gain.

I’m up 26# and with the exception of my face rounding more, I’m primarily carrying all that weight on my front. The tatas are a heavy burden! We talked about how much I’ve grown in cup size; she was shocked at the dramatic jump and rationalized that as I was implying, majority of my weight is in my chest. Glad she agreed after the scolding I received last month from another (male) doctor in the practice.

While I haven’t really restricted myself of what I’m eating, I am conscientious to make sure I am consuming enough veggies, fruit, protein and calcium. I have definitely veered far off the paleo track, but our nightly meals are centered around our traditional paleo cooking. I’m having lots of yogurt, cheese, ice cream, and grain; more than I have in a year. It’s obviously going to take a toll on my weight, regardless of growing another human. The reassuring thing is that I know with strict paleo and heavy doses of CrossFit and hot yoga, the extra gain will slide off once Baby arrives.

My paleo sous chef

This appointment was also the time for my whooping cough vaccination, Rh factor shot and my glucose blood work. I was poked and prodded from head to toe!

To ease the eczema on my face, I found my trusty bottle of Bio Oil. This stuff is magic! After using it morning and night for a week, the dryness has subsided and the dullness/patchiness isn’t as extreme. Bio Oil is also known for working wonders on stretch marks. I’m going to start using on my belly and chest to help.

We ended our week with a date night at our church. It was a great opportunity to spend some quality, spiritual time together and meet other couples in our parish. It was much needed time for us individually and together.

Saturday was full of “nesting.” We bought some awesome furniture from a new boutique – Twigs and Twine. Then it was on to tackling the garage, which was in much need of organization and sorting. We felt very accomplished by the end of the day!

Baby L’s dresser

Awesome new chair

Week 28 WODs:

Feb. 3 – Flow Yoga with our favorite instructor. She provides lavender soaked wash cloths during shavasana. It adds such a nice touch to relaxation! I’m going to make sure we have some of her water soluble lavender oil on hand during labor since it has such a calming effect on me.

Feb. 5 – Centered Yoga, filled with hip and pelvic openers. Many of the poses will come in handy in April!

Feb. 6 – 2.5 mile walk with pooch, enjoying the gorgeous day, and deep cleaning the house. I mean deep; I worked up a good sweat!

Feb. 7 – 3 mile walk with pooch

Yoga with these gorgeous ladies!

Feb. 9 – Yoga with my lovely ladies, outside in the gorgeous sun. Can’t think of a better way to start the day!

Pregnancy: Week 27

It was another nutty week for us, but I managed to squeeze in some good workouts. Since the baby seems to love yoga and it feels amazing to stretch my expanding body, I’ve been more drawn to yoga classes lately.

I have definitely expanded through my belly, but am super thankful my backside isn’t widening. I’m also not swollen/showing signs of water retention. All great things.

Saturday morning, I treated myself to some much needed spa time. I enjoyed a body scrub, massage, and facial. Pure bliss! The baby was extremely active throughout the treatments; I wasn’t surprised since it loves everything else in my life that calms me (pooch, yoga, church).

Hospital Tour at 27 Weeks

Saturday evening, we went for a hospital tour. Since I’m new to the Valley and pretty unaware of the hospitals, I was thankful to learn that our hospital has a NICU and is Level 3 trauma. We also know some of the nurses in labor and delivery, which makes our lives so much easier!

Week 27 WODs:

Daily walks with pooch.

Family hike

Jan. 26 – Hike with the hubs and pooch. Went 2.25 miles on one of our favorite trails. Definitely worked up a good sweat since it was a warm day.

Jan. 28 – Good Morning Yoga class focused on deep stretching

Jan. 29 – warm up

Deadlift 145#

strength/skill: deadlift 5×10 Took our time and worked up to 145#. Probably should have worked in another 20#s.

Food: With the stress I’ve endured, my appetite isn’t as strong (which definitely isn’t keeping me from gaining weight – I promise!). I love eating greek yogurt with granola and still find the greatest satisfaction from comfort foods. I always attempt to make a casserole paleo, if I can figure it out. Drinking lots of water, but still love coffee in the morning. My face is definitely showing signs of dullness and eczema so I’m hoping my increased water consumption will help.

Pregnancy: Weeks 19-26

Phew. I am worn out. Hence my dramatic, lengthy absence from the blogging-sphere.

It all started with work. I’ve been working two jobs and try to work in a third whenever I can find time (which hasn’t been often lately). Some days, I work both jobs. Week 19 was a mess of hours, which left no time for WODs, yoga or blogging. All I managed to squeeze in was walking the pooch. At least I have pooch to get my heart rate up a bit!

All that rolled right into the hectic holidays. This was the first time we didn’t travel, but that didn’t mean we weren’t running around town seeing family, friends, and holiday spectacles. It was a great time. Pooch was completely into unwrapping gifts; that will be fun next year when we also have an eight-month-old!

Since then, my window for WOD opportunity has been narrow, and typically sleeps wins over working out. I’m definitely not proud of this. In fact, I’m extremely disappointed in myself. I’m trying to self correct by attempting for at least one yoga session, two CrossFit WODs, and a very long walk or hike with pooch a week (in addition to our daily 20-30 minute neighborhood walks). It’s improving with time. It also helps that I have another CrossFit preggy friend meeting me in the box – all about accountability!

I do miss having the bar in my hands and the power of lifting. It’s definitely not lost on me that I need to maximize my time while I have it.

Highlights:

Leslie gave birth to a healthy baby boy during my 19th week. They are adjusting well and Les is working her way back into the box. She’s definitely an inspiration!
Baby L started moving Dec. 22 and hasn’t really stopped. It’s one active kid!
Baby L is most active when we go to church, do yoga, or pooch is snuggled next to me. I think I’m growing a world peace advocate!
All the ultrasounds have been reassuring – we counted 10 toes, 10 fingers, saw the inside of the cranium, saw multiple organs and watched it move.
Food has balanced out. And now, during week 26, I am much more focused on paleo again. Still definitely need carbs, but haven’t had as many cravings.
Now that I’ve truly popped, the best clothes were acquired at H&M. Fashionable and cost-effective; what’s not to love?! I also found some great dresses from Gap and Nordstrom; J.Crew also launched its maternity pant line, which helps for work-wear. Still trying to work in as much of my regular wardrobe as possible.
We set up our registries at Target and on Amazon. Thanks to valuable input from a number of my mommy-friends, this task was still daunting, but we had awesome direction. We’re using the KISS methodology and trying to focus on the absolute necessities.
As I mentioned above, I got back into yoga and it feels amazing. I’m sticking with gentle yoga or centered yoga. As much as I love power yoga classes, the rooms tend to get too hot and at this point, I couldn’t keep up.
I’ve had to scale back my make heart rate during the metcon. Instead of pushing 165-170, I’m keeping more in the 150-160 range.
When I do get to the box, I’m still able to lift quite a bit of weight. Yay!
The chiropractor has kept my overall health and wellness stable. As I’ve grown, it’s been nice to have bi-weekly and now weekly adjustments to reduce tension and ease my joints. Highly recommend!

Progress pictures:

Ring dips with Baby L; 19 weeks

The awesome Coach Melissa

20 Weeks

21 Weeks

22 Weeks

23 Weeks

24 Weeks

25 Weeks, with Poppa after he finished the Phoenix Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon

Pregnancy: Week 18

What a crazy, fun week of thanks! We are thankful for this journey and the opportunity to share our experiences. Thank you for joining in on the fun!

Early in the week, we drove to San Diego to spend Thanksgiving with family and friends. We manged to get some great workouts in along the way.

Coronado Dog Beach with the Darrells, who sent us my awesome belly stickers

I’m definitely getting bigger and the bump is even more obvious. Everyone thought that I grew during our time in San Diego (perhaps it was from all the yummy food we consumed!).

Team Leatherman on Thanksgiving

Highlights from our trip: CrossFitting at my old box, CrossFit Elyisum, running Fr. Joe’s Turkey Trot 5K, and spending time at Coronado dog beach.

Week 18 WODs:

Nov. 25 warm up 500m row (152 heart rate) + pull up progression

Strength/skill: deadlift 5×5 at 80%; 175# (went beyond 80% because it felt good!)

Metcon: Ran 1.25mi with Frankie (165 heart rate)

CrossFit Elysium’s Coach Paul

Nov. 27 (CrossFit Elysium) warm up CFx1 + hip/ankle mobility

Strength/skill: Back squat 6×2 at 80%; 130# (went beyond 80% because it felt good!)

Metcon: “Karen” – 150 wall balls for time; 12:30 with 10# ball (heart rate 168)

Team Leatherman prior to Fr. Joe’s Turkey Trot in Balboa Park

Nov. 28 Fr. Joe’s Turkey Trot (5K). Felt great to run with my boys! We opted not to do it timed, but managed to finish in 38:54 (which included a potty break!). Heart rate to 165.

Took an afternoon walk (~1.25 miles) with the family after dinner, taking in a lot of hills.

Nov. 29 Walked Coronado Dog Beach

Nov. 30 Walked 5 miles around Miramar Lake in 75 minutes. My quads were shot from the first part of the week, so felt great to just walk on a flat surface for a long distance.

18 weeks

Pregnancy: Week 17

17 weeks!

What a nutty week! Chad was out of town at the start of it and my schedule was packed morning to night. I had a small window to make it to the box … and never did. While I missed having to grip the bar, I made up for it with a few runs and plenty of walks with the pooch. I’ve ended this insane week with a weekend of pampering – haircut, massage, mani/pedi. Doesn’t get much better!

Frankie hugging his baby bump. Melted my heart!

I did have a tearful morning on Friday, when the outfit I wanted to wear clearly wasn’t going to work. Pants are the most difficult, but my button up shirts aren’t going to last me much longer unless I have a sweater on top. As a result, I broke down and placed an order with Pea in the Pod. There was a great selection of colorful, fun pants on sale; hopefully something I ordered works! And last night, while working at J.Crew, I found a few tops on sale that will transition me into the next phase of pregnancy. Many friends have recommended Gap, Old Navy and Target, but every time I look online, I’m not thrilled with what I see; assume this means these stores are in between their seasons and hope in the next month or two new product is rolled out. I’m still on the hunt for dresses, so if you see any out there, let me know!

Other than that, I feel like we’re moving right along.

Week 17 WODs:

Frankie takes the lead in running along the canal

Nov. 18 – 2.15 mile run. Heart rate averaged around 160

Nov. 19 – 2.5 mile run. Heart rate averaged around 160

Plenty of walks!

Food: I wasn’t really hungry this week. Normally, I am famished when I wake up. This week, if I ate a hearty lunch, I didn’t need much more. If I didn’t get to lunch (yes, it was that kind of week where lunch wasn’t always a priority!), I ate a decent dinner and was fine.

Athlete Profile: Leslie Spector

Leslie, Meghan and their bumps

When I first started writing this blog, one of the first women I reached to was my friend Leslie. We met at our current affiliate and she was more than willing to share her experience. I’m so impressed by her dedication to CrossFit, while balancing being a wife, mommy to a toddler, full-time educator, and preparing for baby #2. And you guys, she looks A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I hope I look this fit when I’m 30+ weeks into pregnancy.

Leslie: 30+ weeks and lifting strong, while looking amazing!

Leslie’s story:

Leslie pre-pregnancies

Phoenix, Ariz., native Leslie Spector began her CrossFit journey September 2010 in an effort to train for Ragnar 2011, a 200-mile team relay race and to medicate her recent diagnosis of bipolar disorder, naturally (i.e. sans drugs). CrossFit, in combination with paleo eating, did the trick, shaving more than two minutes off her mile time and balancing her moods like never before.

“Unfortunately, I suffered a hip flexor injury during the race, earning me three months of physical therapy and rehab,” said Leslie. “Shortly after this I became pregnant, exercising very moderately. Despite being healthy and active, my body decided it needed a reset and after only a few weeks, I miscarried.”

Following the devastating loss, Leslie suffered some depression (understandably!) and self-medicated with “laziness in combination with deliciously gross food.” She became pregnant again almost immediately and was terrified of everything this time. The result? A sedentary pregnancy and a total of 70 lbs gained.

Leslie & Sophie

After an emotional roller coaster of a pregnancy (she chose to go without medication for her bipolar disorder) and the somewhat traumatic birth of her daughter, she was determined to get healthy again. And Leslie wasn’t merely focused on her physical health; she wanted the full mind, body, spirit health. After walking, then running, then a round of Insanity, she craved more and found Back Alley CrossFit, a Central Phoenix Box, in October 2012. She was able to shed those 70 pounds with CrossFitting Rx, until pregnancy #2 happened.

Now, at the end of her second pregnancy, Leslie has maintained her CrossFit and paleo lifestyle, feeling better than ever and more relaxed for baby Spector #2 to arrive.

30+ weeks pregnant

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CrossFit & Pregnant

Here's to the next nine months!

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