They say that when you are pregnant there is a reason you don’t sleep, it’s the “baby” getting you ready for what’s to come. I don’t know if it’s that or the fact that I just can’t find a comfortable position to get in with this huge belly in my way! I feel the most comfort lying on my back, and guess what? That is the one position your doctor and all the baby books tell you is forbidden.
Apparently the pressure of your uterus can press on some important nerves and you can end up hurting yourself or the baby. So onto my side I go. I would never have made it this far without my snoogle. I like to call it anaconda. It’s a long body pillow shaped like a candy cane on both ends. You would think my husband would despise it, since it is putting a barrier between the two of us. But no, there are times when I wake up trying to readjust my position and there he is, all snuggled up to my snoogle.
I can’t help but smile, and then rip it out of his arms and go back to my side! Whatever the reason pregnant women can’t sleep, it just plain sucks. This is why I decided to write this article at 4 a.m. I’m up anyway. Oh, and I had to pee for the fourth time tonight.
The ceiling fan
Strange things happen to you the moment you become pregnant. Hormones start raging and you are sometimes not yourself, and if you are lucky you can see it coming and give others around you a warning. I am usually always cold; my husband is the opposite. At our old apartment he would blast the little air conditioner in the window and I would sleep with socks, a hoodie and extra blankets. Now I am always hot. Thank you, hormones!
So when I go to bed I need the ceiling fan to be on. I already sacrificed the blanket and my pants, so this was a given. One night I headed up to bed with my husband shortly behind me. I got the blanket off the bed, brushed my teeth and turned the ceiling fan on. As I was getting my snoogle into position Derek comes upstairs and pushes the button. He turned the ceiling fan OFF.
Now we had a discussion the night before about how he was a little “chilly” and did we really need the fan on. I snapped back YES, leave it alone. So after he pressed the button and I saw the fan slowly come to a stop, I saw RED. I heard nothing else he was saying, I don’t even remember much after that. I took my phone, charger and snoogle under my arm and stormed out of the room into the guest room.
Before I knew it tears were streaming down my face, Derek was yelling something from the bedroom, but I didn’t comprehend anything. All I knew was that my fan was turned off, so I needed to relocate. Long story short I ended up in the basement (it’s really cool in there, by the way) and Derek and I ended up texting each other two floors apart. I know it seems lame that we were texting and not speaking like mature adults face to face, but when hormones come to play and you can’t think like a regular person, texting is actually a great way of communication. It’s hard to interrupt someone’s text.
I finally was able to understand what he was trying to tell me, which was that he was not turning the fan off only reversing it so the hot air was being sucked up not pushed down. Ohhh. Well after a few minutes of playing stubborn, I walked the two flights of stairs back to the bedroom and into bed with my snoogle… oh, and my hubby.
Training hamstrings
So, most of my pregnancy I have been continuing to lift weights. I took six weeks off in my first trimester because all I wanted to 
do was throw up or sleep. As my belly got bigger I found it harder to work my hamstrings. The minute I found out I was pregnant I never laid on my stomach. Heck, I was afraid to lift the laundry basket at first. So at the gym I steered clear of the hamstring curl machine. I resorted to DB stiff leg deadlifts.
This worked nicely for a while until my belly got bigger and bigger. The last time I did that exercise was about a month and a half ago and I felt like I was squishing my poor daughter, so now I resort to cable work. I put the cable attachment on my ankle wraps and pull the cable down to the last spot. You start with both feet together and bring the leg up with the cable attached to it almost like doing a butt kick.
You can feel the hamstring work a little bit, but it’s not the same. I could make the weight heavier, but now I am starting to hold my breath and that is a big NO NO when you are pregnant. So I have to suck it up and know that I will not get a good hamstring workout until after the baby is born. One of the MANY sacrifices you make when pregnant and working out. My workouts overall have been great and I am proud of myself for not giving up. Going from balls to the wall, sweating all over the gym to “taking it easy” is a hard pill to swallow, but it’s not about me anymore!
Can I have my oxygen back please?
One thing that is really hard to get used to is being out of breath. I’m not talking about getting out of breath after going on a light job. I’m talking after a flight of stairs! I am not gaining too much weight; I am actually right where I “should” be. But like many other things, the baby uses lots of your oxygen. I remember jogging up the stairs like it was no big deal. Now I look at them like a mini workout. After I climb what seems like Mount Everest, people look at me and ask me if I need to sit down or need a drink. No, I just need about three minutes for my resting heart rate to get back to normal. Now I know what it’s like for overweight people. Damn, it sucks!
Nesting
I have 11 more weeks to go and I am getting ready. I am a planner and have a touch of OCD. So when I got my letter from the hospital asking me to fill out some pre-registration forms, I FREAKED. Let’s just say that night I got a lot done, including packing my hospital bag. It’s way early for that and I know many women who have had kids would be laughing saying “she has no idea what she’s in for,” but that is how I coped with my little anxiety attack and I will continue to get things ready because it makes me feel better. I know once my daughter gets here all my little “plans” and perfect schedule might all go to crap. But for now I would like to enjoy my OCD.
If your pregnant or plan to be,
listen up. Your friends, mom, relatives and strangers will give you advice. Some if it is VERY helpful and some of it is their opinion or experience. Everyone’s pregnancy is different, everyone’s birth experience is different, and everyone’s child is different. The BEST thing you can do is listen to your body. You are the master and the one in control, so don’t be afraid!
That is all for now and if you ever have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me!
PS…I graduated to a beach towel!
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