16 Weeks Pregnant: Pregnant Turkish Get-ups and Information Overload

Sorry about being an extra week behind with these. We got a little busy with Neil’s race last week and blogging kind of hit the skids after it started really well for the week. In addition, in week 16, I finally found a good place to dig in and really start reading/preparing so I’ve been kind of off on my own doing that.

It’s really hard to know where to begin, and what information is the stuff you actually want. The Internet makes information about pregnancy and parenting feel like a moving target. Every where I turn, someone is saying something, and it usually is in contrast to something else I’ve just read. How do you not get overwhelmed?

Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t been avoiding it to this point. I’ve worked to identify sources and blogs of like-minded people and kind of start identifying the more social resources, as well as really cementing my directive for the course of my pregnancy (beyond eating really well, taking care of myself and maintaining CrossFit), and what I want birth, postpartum, and hopefully breastfeeding to look like. But week 16 was the week I finally hit the library and bought resources to start the actual planning for the next 1-2 years. While I know that nothing is guaranteed and there is no way to really know what to expect, I feel like I have a lot to learn, not only about the process but myself as part of it now.

Here’s my pile of books:

Okay obviously some of these are in no way baby/parenting-related, but I felt they were necessary to balance the information overload and keep things fun.

My pile of reading so far includes:

The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (as opposed to manly?)
Ina May’s Guide to Breastfeeding
The Happiest Baby on the Block
Bébé Gourmet: 100 French-Inspired Baby Food Recipes For Raising an Adventurous Eater
Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth

Yeah I know, it’s a little all over the place, but you have to start somewhere right? I’ve been a complete sponge lately. I can’t believe how excited I am about introducing solids and forming my kid’s food preferences.

Feelings

Everything else is going well this week. I’m still not all that big, which I try not to stress over. I’m eating often and really well, but I haven’t put all that much weight on, if any (I lost in first and have gained a few pounds back, but am still below pre-pregnancy weight). For now I’m focusing on increasing snacking with good foods like nuts, avocado and more protein, and monitoring my progress. Anyone else have this issue?

Food

Still on my fresh fruit kick. It tastes so good, especially pineapple. I think I could literally put away a whole pineapple and gallon of unsweetened tea in a day. My nutritionist is really trying to ramp up my protein and while it was uncomfortable at first, I’ve noticed that as my body adjusts to the increase, my cravings for junk have disappeared. I’m NEVER hungry either.

I am really trying to focus in on “single ingredient” meals that pretty much consist of a simply prepared meat and veggie during the week, with a few fun things toward the weekend that are still really healthy are just more fun to cook.

CrossFit: Pregnant Turkish Get-Ups

In CrossFit news, I have a little tutorial for you today — a good Pregnant Turkish Get-Up scale! Turkish Get-ups are one of my favorite movements because they promote midline strength and stability, hip extension, and body awareness and proprioception. I was sad when I thought I had lost them until postpartum, but I discovered this scale on BirthFit and was excited to try it in a workout. Still just as taxing, just not involving the movements that I can no longer do for the time being.

Oh and if you haven’t — check out my review of Heidi Klum’s #HKNB line for New Balance.

Start in a seated position with the kettlebell within hands reach at your side.

Raise the kettlebell into the “clean position” which will sit nicely in the pocket created by your bent arm.

From here, raise the kettlebell over your head into a locked overhead position, keeping your shoulder and arm tucked closely to your head. When I cue people on the lockout, I typically tell them to raise their arm as high as they can, then raise it one more inch. Throughout this movement, it is important to maintain the weight directly over your shoulder on the center of gravity so that it is easier to stabilize and not as prone to shifts, which will cause you to lose balance and dump the weight.

Leading with your t-spine or chest, slowly shift your weight to the opposite side of the kettlebell, balancing your body with your opposing hand behind you. You don’t want your chest to cave and your back to round, so it’s important to keep the chest up and out (good thoracic spine extension).

From the “on the hand” position, you’re going to actively drive through your right heel into a bridge position (Sorry – I didn’t catch a good image of this). Keeping your chest up and out, you will lift yourself off the ground, squeezing your butt (you might feel it more on one side vs the other) and raising your hips off the ground. The key here is getting hip extension.

Now it’s time to sweet the leg! From the bridge position and maintaining your eyesight on the kettlebell, sweep your left leg back to the point to where your left knee is now on the ground under your body. Keep that chest up and good lumbar positioning by thinking about lengthening your spine.

Rotate your left lower leg so it’s straight and in-line with your body, and straighten your torso. Check your position (chest up, long spine, shoulder packed, arm locked), and keeping your eyes on your kettlebell, go from this half-kneeling position to the top by performing what amounts to a split squat (everyone seems to have a different means to getting to the top from here). Remember to drive through your heels, and finish standing with your feet next to one another.

Congratulations! You’ve done 1/2 of a rep! I know, but now you have to essentially reverse these steps into a seated position. Because every stage of pregnancy takes every women some place different, scale this as necessary with weight or movement. For me, several of the later reps weren’t reversed with form, and I literally put the KB down and reset position completely starting over.