Haley
Compared to my first trimesters with the boys, this first trimester has definitely been a doozy. I’ve had rough, consistent headaches and felt more nauseous, exhausted and dizzy, sporting these stylish sea bands round the clock and sucking on sour jolly ranchers as needed. When the boys were newborns, I rarely napped, but this first trimester, I had to lay down every day when the boys took their afternoon naps. Feeling drugged is not a fun way to function.
I think much of my increased symptoms this time were from taking the supplemental progesterone. But regardless of how I felt, I am so thankful that it helped get Baby #3 through the first trimester and I know many women feel sick their entire pregnancy. I kept looking forward to the 12-week mark, assuming that’s when my symptoms would fade. Unfortunately, that was not the case this time. Even though I still get random bouts of nausea, for the most part, the classic first trimester symptoms did not go away until 14 weeks (aka the beginning of this week).
But as moms of little ones know, the show must go on; children must be fed, entertained and taken care of. I spent many afternoons on a pillow on the playroom floor, attempting to eat something every couple hours so the nausea didn’t get any worse than it already was. I took the boys on stroller walks, because often times a change of scenery and moving around a bit helped subdue the nausea and distract me from the exhaustion.
The past couple months, I’ve lifted and done WODs every Tuesday and Thursday morning while James watches the boys. This is the little bit of me time I get each week to focus on myself, and definitely needed since James isn’t around at night. Thank goodness Crossfit can be scaled to any fitness level, because there have been very few WODs I’ve performed Rx. Regardless, I’ve done my best to continue working out, even if it’s a short and simple WOD and I take a ton of breaks. I’ve even made a couple PRs. Well, they are only postpartum PRs since Beau’s birth, but I’ll take them. I don’t have any plans of increasing the weight on my lifts each week. Instead, I want to get to a weight and stay there as long as I can before I need to start lowering it.
James has also brought more weights home, so now that I’m feeling better, I plan to do more garage gym WODs. You’d think I’d try to do them when the boys’ naps overlap, but I’ve actually had success with late afternoon WODS with Beau in an exersaucer and JM riding about the driveway on one of his toys.
Besides scaling the weight in many WODs, I’ve cut out GHDs in favor of Ab mat situps. I’m also taking a break from running, box jumps and anything else that has impact in order to relieve some of the strain put on my jammed right hip (recommended by my chiropractor). I’m also trying to be very mindful of any movements that focus on my posterior chain, and make sure I go light on those so that I avoid the sciatic nerve pain I had last pregnancy.
One thing I can say for certain is I’m definitely bigger with Baby #3 at this point (14 weeks below) than I was with either of the boys (bump at 14 weeks with Beau). I think I may ask my OB to remeasure me at my next appointment just to make sure he’s got it right 🙂 But honestly, I think at this point, my body just knows what’s going on and is speeding up the bump process. I’ll find out in a few weeks whether I’ve gained more weight than with the boys at this point. If the bump is any indication, then I definitely have! Despite the expanding belly, I’m still fitting into my shorts for now. I doubt that will last much longer and I’ll resort to the belly band, but with the summer heat I’m avoiding adding one more layer of fabric.
It was a tough first trimester and I’m glad I’m finally coming out on the other side. I’ll do a four month bump update in a couple weeks after my next appointment.
