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?