It’s been almost 9 months since my last blog post.  I could have had a baby in that time, instead I’ve been knocked up twice.  The bad news is the first one didn’t work out.  The good news is the second one did.  As I write this I am almost at the half way point and feeling like a human again, a human with a bigger belly and an unusual penchant for papaya but a human nonetheless.  I have been spending way to much time googling all things pregnancy and while reading about the myriad of problems I could potentially face hasn’t been all that helpful I’ve found that reading pregnancy stories written by other women has.  I am especially interested in the seemingly elusive but hopefully attainable “fit pregnancy”.  What exactly does it look like or feel like? What can I do to keep me and my baby happy and healthy?

I am hoping to find some answers and maybe help some other haplessly googling pregnant ladies find some too.

I’ll go into more depth in my latter posts (which hopefully won’t take another 9 months to write) but for now a word on the first trimester:

The first trimester sucks, especially when you have two in a row.  Things that helped without fail for me:

Exercise: Since my job requires me to teach fitness classes and demonstrate exercises the majority of the day I found this one out by default.   When I would sit down after teaching a class I would feel as if I could never get up again, when I had to get up for my next personal training client I felt better.  When I would get home after work and fall onto the couch I would feel like I could never get up again.  When I finally got up and went for a walk I felt better.

Exercise seemed to help ease the nausea and give me more energy.  I usually start my day with exercise as I find it prepares me for the day ahead and have found this especially true during pregnancy.  I practice yoga and walk or run every day and let my schedule and body dictate aside from that.  As I have become more confident in this pregnancy I’ve been able to bring my cardio and strength training back to almost pre-pregnancy levels.  My mantra has been if it feels good keep doing it, a happy mama makes a happy baby.  (This only holds true for exercise, although I wish it worked with other things, like wine tasting…..)

Sleep: Work hard, sleep hard has been my pregnancy motto.  During the first trimester I remained very active but fell asleep during Jeopardy most nights (and sometimes during Wheel of Fortune).  One blessing of the first trimester is that falling asleep comes easy.  I felt less symptomatic on the days I slept more.

Eat: Eating was definitely tougher during the first trimester.  I had strong aversions to most of what my diet had previously consisted of.  I had the stereotypical  cravings for bland food and comforting carbs.  One day after work I went to Whole Foods to pick up the healthiest version of whatever sounded good at the time.  I came home with sprouted grain bagels, whole grain cereal, nut butter, and lots of fresh fruit.  Whole wheat pasta with butter and cheese was another favorite.  Basically I ate like a picky 4-year-old for a while.  I had a theory that having a baby in your body makes you revert back to your childhood tastes, thankfully the second trimester has proved this to be false.

If you are pregnant you can take this with a grain of salt.  Every pregnancy is different and what works for one person may not work so well for another. Maybe this post will inspire you to try going for a walk next time you are in the throes of pregnancy induced nausea.  Maybe you will end up feeling better.  Maybe you will end up puking in the bushes, if so, listen to your body and get back to the couch, ain’t nobody got time for that.