Baby Legs

You'd think I was 35 weeks along. I am already feeling stuffed when I eat anything comparable to the volume of an apple. And if I am drinking water with it, forget it. It took me 2 hours to eat my dinner tonight, which was about 3 oz baby spinach, tofu, and some mushrooms.

I can't remember if this started this early with my last pregnancy. I do remember when she dropped though, and I could eat again in normal amounts.

Another thing that is just blowing my mind is the size of my rear. It's giant! I look in the mirror and it doesn't look as big as it must be in real life. But my clothes are telling me something completely different. And don't they always say clothes don't lie? Well, I sure wish they could. I guess I should just stick to stretchy skirts and yoga pants rather than put on jeans or anything with an actual size. I fear how big my rear and upper thighs will get in the next 14 weeks.

Frances the French Toast

I have to admit it. I really do enjoy not having to go running first thing in order to get in my hour or two in. Being pregnant gives me so much time. Now my workout takes a maximum of 75 minutes, and mostly, since it's excessively hot, is inside at the gym. I don't even have to worry about a sitter, or Barry being home to watch Camille. I can bring her with me and put her in the Children's Activity Center.

This morning Camille wanted a change from her usual milk and cereal. Which is odd to me since milk and cereal is one of my favorite things to eat lately. But alas, she wanted french toast. So being the awesome fun mom I am, I made her french toast and then some. For protein, I added cottage cheese for hair. And added fresh blueberries as a smile, and grapes for eyes. I even added a little bow made of strawberry slices.

In my normal running like a mad woman state, this gourmet breakfast could have only been created on a lazy Sunday morning. Now, most mornings are lazy. So Wednesday it is! Frances!

Today with the rain again, we passed on our plans to go to Brookfield Zoo and went to go see Up! instead. It was so great! Camille was scared at the end, but I couldn't tell if it was too get attention or if she was really scared. The movie was loud and the baby flipped and kicked through at least half of it.

I'm feeling quite large these days. Twenty-four weeks! It all just happened. Just about over night, Tuesday night in fact, I just got very large. After I eat I have a shelf right under my boobs. And if I haven't eaten in a while I have a soccer ball in my belly. I won't talk about my thighs. Not pretty. I prefer avoiding the mirror if I'm wearing shorts or my running skirt. Which, by the way, is the only thing I can still wear to the gym.

I went to the gym 3 times this week and worked too hard. So today I took a much needed day off. Totally eating today, and feel ok about it. Instead of cookies tonight, I have 2 cups of cereal. Yum. Don't know what tastes better - the milk or the cereal.

Clunking Along

I know I'm not very good at posting on a regular basis. It's difficult for me to think of something to say, and when I do have a good subject, I don't seem to find enough quiet time to actually compose a blog. I think that if I did it on a schedule, I would post more often. Let's see if I can start doing this. 

So enough excuses. Here's the latest: 

• I'm 23 weeks along (17 to go!)
• We're having a GIRL
• I'm still running...a little
  
• I'm feeling GREAT!

This whole pregnancy, I've tried to remember what I was like when I was pregnant with Camille. How big I was, how much weight I'd gained, what I was doing for activity. At first, I think I was way ahead in all of these. But now, passing the half-way point, I've pretty much evened out. In fact, I might have even gained less than I did with Camille at this point. I don't remember precisely, but at the rate I'm going, I might not make it to the whole 32 pounds I gained with Camille. Knock on wood! That's just less I need to loose later. Belly bigness, I think I'm about the same as well. I feel monsterous, but my doctor says I'm right on track. Exercise wise, I'm mostly on the elliptical or gravitron, but a couple days a week I run a few miles on the treadmill. Somedays, she sits lower in my belly and puts too much pressure down there. Other days she's just fine and I barely notice I'm even pregnant. Expect for having to go to the bathroom about once every mile. 

I found some great core work I can still do with my big belly, using the Fit Ball. One exercise I'm simply rolling into a knee plank position and back. It gets the whole mid-section and is really quite comfortable. The other one is going into push-up position with the ball - my ankles are resting on the ball and my arms are holding me up. I slowly roll the ball towards my torso and back. I'm hoping these simple, comfortable exercises keep my core strong so that I don't have as much work to do once the baby is born. 

I've also started swimming. I never knew how hard this was. Currently, I can swim one full length of the pool without stopping. I have a lot of practicing to do. But as it seems, I will have plenty of opportunity since my foot has been acting up quite a bit lately. I can't take any anti-inflammatory, so this is making the neuroma louder than normal. Add that to the fact that all my ligaments are loosening, my feet are taking the brunt of the changes. 

Last week I saw a podiatrist to see if there was anything I could do to relieve the pain. He reported there's not. Physical therapy, massage, ultrasound is about all I can do. And as I've learned, these modalities don't help all that much with the pain. So until the little pumpkin is born, I have to put up with it all and keep hobbling along with a very angry nerve in my foot.