Pregnancy + CrossFit – Take 2

Happy Monday everyone!

In this post, I’ll give an update of my pregnancy, talk about some of my CrossFit workouts, and briefly discuss some great resources that I’m grateful to have.

23 Weeks Pregnant

In the last couple weeks since posting, I have definitely gotten bigger.  I have about 1 more month in my 2nd trimester.  I have a belly that cannot be contained or hidden anymore!  I’m finding fewer and fewer shirts that are long enough for me to (appropriately) wear.  I also only have a couple pair of my workout spandex that I can rotate through because their waistbands are nice and loose or stretchy enough.  Luckily, my neighbor, who just had her baby about 2 months ago, gave me 2 giant bags of maternity clothes to go through and pick from.  I grabbed a couple of dresses, long shirts, and 2 pair of leggings that I can also work out in.  Even though I don’t have much variety in my wardrobe right now, I have a hard time justifying spending any money on clothes that I’ll only wear for a few more months.

We had our 2nd group prenatal class today at our birth center in Berkeley.  This is the group we meet with once a month (which will go to 2x/month and then every week leading up to the birth).  I had a chance to weigh myself which I was very curious about since my feet have been so sore.  I have gained about 11 pounds total so far.  Very soon I’ll be going over 150 lbs. which I’ve never seen before on a scale.  Slightly scary!  Today’s discussion was pretty deep as we discussed preterm labor, preeclampsia, and gestational diabetes. All things I hope to avoid.   I’ll be getting tested in about another month for gestational diabetes.

I still don’t have any of the major pains/issues I’ve heard so much about during pregnancy,but it definitely is getting more uncomfortable.  My stomach aches a lot more, especially when I get out of bed in the morning.  Switching positions while laying down is sometimes slightly painful, and forget it if I drop something off the bed!  Unless my husband holds onto a hand while i lean over to grab it, it’s staying put.  Way too much work.  I’ve also had a slightly stuffy nose for awhile now, sneeze about 50x a day (I don’t normally have allergies), and have had about 3 nosebleeds.  Nothing serious, but it’s irritating.  These are all normal during pregnancy as the nasal cavities can become swollen and have more blood volume in them as well.

CrossFit

Workouts have been going pretty well.  I am still using a barbell for lifting as my belly isn’t so big that I can’t work around it.  I posted a video to my instagram (becky.hines) and facebook page of a class workout I did a little over a week ago.  It involved power cleans, push jerks, front squats, and burpees.  For modifications I went about 20# under the Rx (prescribed) weight for the workout and put 2 abmats under my hips and thighs so that I was still able to do burpees but didn’t have my belly slamming into the ground.  The other coaches do a good job of checking me during workouts by yelling “conversational!” at me.  This is them reminding me to hold back, rest more, and make sure I could talk at all times during my workout.  I appreciate this.  I definitely get competitive and caught up in the moment the second the clock says go.  My cardio is self-limiting though at this point so that keeps me in line.  I am breathing hard after the first effort instead of several rounds into a workout.  I still finished with a pretty good time, and once again, felt great afterwards- Link. I find that the more taxing my workouts, the better my stomach feels in general.  It is far less achey, crampy, bloated, tight, etc. feeling after a good, hard workout. Plus, I think that suffering through workout pain is probably when I feel most like my old self since all my recent discomforts are foreign to me.

My other challenges are being able to properly demo movements for the classes I coach.  It’s especially important because right now I have a lot of brand new people in my classes and I need to be able to teach them what something should look like.  For things such as toes to bar, which is really outside my capacity right now, I’ll usually call on someone in the class that I know can do them well, and they will demo for me as I discuss the components of the movement.  Recently I’ve still demo’d box jumps, handstand drills, hollow rock and hold, pull-ups, and the Olympic lifts (Snatch and Clean & Jerk).  After coaching some of these things 3 hours in a row, which is what my Wednesdays currently look like, I’m spent.  My feet kill and my abdomen is a little tight from showing explosive movements over and over.  I will probably now start to cut out box jumps and again depend on someone else for the demos.  I’m getting less confident about getting myself off the ground to land on the heights that used to be comfortable for me.

Books

I’ve also been flying through a couple pregnancy related books that I consider “must reads” if you are pregnant.  The first one is called, “Expecting Better” by Emily Oster.  This author is an economics professor and she studies the nuts and bolts of different scientific studies and challenges doctors conclusions from them.  She discusses topics such as “why the conventional pregnancy wisdom is wrong and what you really need to know, “why sushi and cheese aren’t so bad-but gardening could be”, “why bed rest is a terrible idea”, “drinking safely during pregnancy”, and “why gaining too much weight might be safer than gaining too little”.  As regular non-M.D.’s we grow up thinking doctors know best and to listen and trust them.  Over the years I have definitely done a lot of my own research and challenged common beliefs held by doctors. Not to say all doctors are bad at all.  I just think people should spend a little more time doing their own research and getting the facts so they’re more educated, especially when it comes to your own body.  Not all doctors are created equal.  The second book is sometimes considered the “pregnancy bible”.  It is “Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth”.  If you don’t know who Ina May Gaskin is and you’re pregnant or planning on becoming pregnant, do yourself a favor and read her book.  The first half of the book is filled with birth stories so you get an idea of how birth happens (naturally, with midwives), and how different it can be for each person.

As usual, please feel free to respond with stories, questions, and comments! Thanks guys!