Pregnancy Fitness: The Final Countdown

It's the final countdown...well, kinda. I technically have a month left. But, every morning when my alarm goes off and I roll (literally) out of bed, I wonder if this will be my last trip to the gym. I waddle off to brush my teeth, nearly suffocate trying to tie my shoes, and then make my way to the gym where I set the elliptical on level 5 and mosey through 30 minutes of cardio. Then it's off to weights.  As one of my workout partners slams through pull-ups, speed work, bench presses, and who knows what else, I take it easy with seated free weights: bicep curls, lateral raises, lat pull-downs, cable rows...it's all good and it's what I can do right now.  I feel very lucky that I have made it this far.

Then I waddle back to my car, and within 90 minutes I am at my desk, exhausted. Like, completely pooped, ready to take a nap under my desk at 8:30 in the morning. And I wonder, should I stop going to the gym and sleep more? 

I knew there would come a time when I'd have to stop, but I'm so close!  I can handle the workouts, it's the fatigue during the rest of the day that is getting me down.  I'm honestly not sure what I will do, but one thing is for sure: I am so glad I've been active during this pregnancy and feel so incredibly lucky to have gotten to exercise this long.  Here's why:

1. Staying active has made it so much easier for me to maintain proper nutrition. With my first pregnancy, I wasn't able to exercise, which made me depressed, which made me eat sour cream on everything. It wasn't pretty. This time I've been eating well and it has made a huge difference in how I approach everything else.  When you fuel with fresh, everything is better. Even a head-butt in the bladder.

2. I've only gained about 27 lbs and am on track for about 33 lbs by the end of it, which is spot-on for a healthy pregnancy. At first I was worried I wasn't gaining enough, but it turns out that gaining 27 lbs in the first trimester, like I did last time, was actually a little bit frowned upon. Okay, a lot frowned upon.  As a result of my manageable weight gain, I have more mobility and energy than I did last time, which makes me glad that all bad memories of being pregnant, delivering a child, and having a newborn are magically erased from our brains over time because I must have been m-i-s-e-r-a-b-l-e.

3. It will make getting back into shape so much easier. I might not be lifting much weight or running sprints, but at nine months preggo I'm still doing more than the average American does for physical fitness.  That's pretty sad. But, I'm glad I won't be starting from scratch when I go out to reclaim my past self.

Pregnancy is a blessing, and I feel very lucky to have gotten to experience it twice.  If I do take a knee on the remainder of my pregnancy, it will be worth it.  I'll have to repeat that about a million times a day to convince myself that it's true. :)  Get out there and get healthy today! 

And if you hear someone snoring, just keep walking. :)