How much is too much?

The second I found out I was pregnant and began telling people, the advice lines opened up and everyone had a suggestion or information they wanted to pass on to me. Clueless, having never been pregnant, I accepted all unsolicited advice with open arms. With regards to fitness, most people said just keep doing everything you did before you were pregnant and several others said to take it easy and enjoy this time, you can run and cycle after the baby is born. I have definitely struggled with which course of action to take. For those that said keep doing everything you did before, did they realize that this means a 25 mile bike ride, followed by an 8 mile run? Or a 3 mile run with an hour of Crossfit (which includes things like 28" box jumps and 25' rope climb to the top of a gym ceiling)? Do I sign up for another marathon since I successfully completed one at 9 weeks pregnant? Or how about competitive racing and cycling with a team at a speed of 25 miles an hour. I ask myself...what does keep doing everything you did before, really mean? My thought, pretty much stop doing what I am used to doing but just keep being active.

I sort of found out this weekend what it means to do too much, when I decided to reorganize and purge Ricky's and my walk-in closet. The inspiration occurred after my friend Marian came down for the weekend and painted the nursery for me. I wanted to begin setting up his room which included cleaning out his closet to make room for his clothes and gear. I needed a place for all of the items in the closet to go-and what better option than our closet. I began by taking everything off of the shelves and refolding every article of clothing and organizing the items by color. I also took every wire hangar off of the shirts and replaced them with a smooth plastic one. All of my shoes went back in their shoe boxes and the ones without boxes went on a wire shelf categorized by the type of foot ware.

The end result=a beautifully organized closet and for bonus points.....Jill with a sprained back. How does this happen exactly? My doctor said that tasks like this are a no brainer and easy on your body when you're not pregnant but while you are pregnant...its a completely different story. I am almost at 26 weeks and this is about the time your body starts to change. All the good stuff they tell you about, birthing hips elongating, hips widening, pelvis tilting, and your body adjusting to make room for the growing baby is all occurring simultaneously. My doctor says that I strained or tweaked it while on my 6 hour binge session and due to the other complications my body is going through, additional pressure caused my back to be sprained instead of a minor strain or pulled muscle. Awesome.

I have spent the last 48 hours in intense pain, so much so that it takes my breath away when I lean forward or backward slightly or try to stand up after sitting down. I am on Tylenol 3 and I don't know how effective it has been since my pain level is still sitting around a 9 out of 10. My friend Amanda, brought me a heating pad last night and my back felt a bit more comfortable while it was on but the pain remained steady upon adjusting the temperature or taking it off. I think time is a necessity but I need to remember to rest-something that doesn't come natural to me.

I think this was a wake up call from God telling me to take it easy and that I can't continue to do everything I did before. Running races, attending kick boxing classes, pull ups and doing burpees and jumping jacks should probably come to a halt. Don't misunderstand, I will continue to go for walks and complete a daily workout at the gym, but the elliptical machine and 5 lb dumbbells may become my best friends-I can't imagine they would cause a sprained back or other such injuries. So how much is really too much? Is there a way to tell BEFORE you hurt yourself?

Still racing...

I always wondered how ladies who are pregnant, I mean more than a few months pregnant, are able to train, compete and enjoy running up until the hour before they give birth. It seems like a lot of extra weight to carry around and a total adjustment for their bodies. You always hear that you can continue to doing whatever you did prior to being pregnant but you just can't start if your body isn't used to it. This is true, to a certain degree. There is also an element of stretching, extra weight, biological changes, muscle changes etc that make "doing what you did before" just a little challenging, despite being allowed to do it.

A couple of weeks ago I discovered just how fantastic belly support bands can be! They truly support your back and extra weight and the band is actually pretty comfortable. I tested it out on a 5K race in Greenville in which I was 6 months pregnant. It was a fantastic day and I had a blast getting back to the race atmosphere.

My friend Amanda ran the race with me-it was great to have a partner to run with.

This picture was taken after the race to show my prego belly under my number. I am so looking forward to running races with my three main men and the jogging stroller. :)

A GREAT way to start the day

Tuesday, February 7th started out to be a very exciting morning for me. I felt our little boy for the FIRST time. I was starting to be very concerned as everything I have read says that typically moms start to feel the baby around 18 weeks but as late as 24 weeks. I was 23 w 5days and hadn't felt bubbles, plucking, tapping, or a flopping fish...these are all descriptions my friends have used. I have been asking the "Big Guy Upstairs" for his assurance that everything would be okay and that our son was continuing to grow healthily. No one warned me how amazingly stressful pregnancy can be and how many unknowns will face me in the future. I know this is just the beginning of many years of being a worried mom. Much to my surprise, I had a wake up call at 6am on February 7th and my stomach was MOVING! Craziest thing I have ever felt/seen/heard about. It was a GREAT way to start my day. Thanks God, for answering my prayers!

In the afternoon, I had the pleasure of seeing my little guy during our 2nd ultra sound. When I went to the first ultrasound, the ultra sound tech had a little bit of difficulty obtaining all of the photos that doctors need to see, for instance, 2 kidneys, and 4 working chambers of the heart. The doctor assured me that everything was in great working order and there weren't any concerns but they just needed them for record purposes.

The tech tried many times throughout our last visit to get the necessary photos and he was just hanging out and relaxing and despite her efforts she couldn't get him to move. She asked my mom and me, who the "chill" one was in our relationship? Without hesitation we both said RICKY. I am keeping my fingers crossed that he has Ricky's calm personality and not mine. :)

Cathy (Ricky's Sister) drove a few hours to accompany me to the visit- THANK YOU! I think she enjoyed seeing her nephew up close and personal, but I am not sure how much she enjoyed the time in the waiting room seeing miserable, ready-to-pop moms, biding their time until the big day.

The doctor could not have been more pleased with the little guy's growth, movement, vitals and mine as well. Our little guy is in the 41% for height and weight and its currently 1lb-6oz. Shew-prayers answered again. God is good!

I am anxious for another opportunity in the future for me to see him. We are planning to do the 3-D ultrasound when Ricky returns from deployment which is always pretty amazing to me. This pregnancy (aside from my worries) has been extremely easy for me and I feel wonderful. Aside from my beer belly, I don't think I look differently than I did pre-pregnancy (but please don't tell me if you disagree) and I don't feel very pregnant. I have no doubts that this handsome little guy is going to steal my heart forever and I may be asking myself 6 months from now... Ricky who? :) Just kidding.