Week 8: Ups and Downs

On each Pregtastic episode, the podcasters start the show with two ups and two downs, and I thought it would be a good way to summarize how each week has been going.

Ups:

1. Everyone asks how I'm doing and has been very concerned about morning sickness. The good news is that I haven't really had any morning sickness. I've heard that the simple things in life - adequate sleep, food and exercise - help, so whether that's what's working for me, I'm not sure.

2. It's been fun witnessing how excited Chris is about the pregnancy and his support has been comforting. I have my indecisive moments, but when I know what I want or what I need to do, I go after it. Since I'm the one actually carrying the baby, I started out looking as pregnancy as something that I had to do, but when I slowed down for a second, I realized that Chris is continuously by side.

Downs:

1. Although morning sickness has thankfully been a negligible issue for me, I have been dealing with what I'll refer to as mild food issues. I seem to be a constant state of mild unease (not quite nausea), intermixed with either having an appetite, feeling full or not feeling satisfied no matter what I eat. Often I have a combination of conflicting signals from my stomach. I can be nauseous and feel full even though I haven't eaten in hours, and be uninterested in food, even though, as I stated in one of my ups for the week, I think it makes me actually feel better. So I find myself eating just to keep my stomach settled, and worry every time I feel any sense of hunger come on that I'll start to feel nauseous again.

2. After talking about my issues with food and the abandonment of my typical eating patterns, it shouldn't be a surprise that I'm gaining weight. I know it's not a new complaint and is rather ironic that a pregnant woman would complain about weight gain since it is inevitable, but it's not the baby weight I'm anxious about. It's the weight I'm gaining because my eating patterns have drastically changed (for the worse) and the fear that I won't take it off afterwards. I've learned that it's a myth that pregnant women can eat whatever they want, and in reality, it's very easy to gain too much weight. After losing 15% of my body weight a few years ago through lifestyle changes, it's an adjustment for me to abandon a lot of the good habits I had worked so hard to make a natural part of my everyday life.

Excessive weight gain is also a concern for me since I'm not as active anymore. Soccer ceased as soon as I found out I was pregnant and a nagging knee injury has dampened my enthusiasm for running. I get my money's worth out of my gym membership, but yesterday's post-workday workout was the first one I had to quit early because I was growing too exhausted and too hungry to continue. That may lead me to join Chris's gym in Stillwater, just so I can come home to eat and relax and regain my energy for more physical activity. His gym also has a pool and when I'm eight months pregnant and desperate for exercise, you may find me engaged in one sport I never though I'd willingly participate in - swimming. To try to end a drawn-out "down" on a positive note, I guess it's just going to be a matter of me finding a new rhythm for a healthy lifestyle.