23 Weeks Pregnant: What is “Doable”?

23 weeks pregnant! Definitely getting bigger and Kaitlan is definitely making her presence more known. I meant to write this before the end of last week, but ended up so busy between Thursday-Friday that it just didn’t end up happening. I’ve been trying to make my weekends “social media light” so I didn’t get back to my computer again until Sunday evening.

I spend a bulk of that media-free time reading and trying to get life ready around here. A quick recap of the books I’ve covered so far:

Ina May’s Guide to Breastfeeding by Ina May Gaskin

• What I love: This breastfeeding guide is concise and well-written. It also offers a lot of great background on preparations for breastfeeding leading up to birth, as well as great troubleshooting for common issues.
• What I don’t love: It’s not really organized in a way that makes it a useful quick reference. I much preferred the Womanly Art of Breastfeeding in this regard.

The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by Diane Wiessinger/La Leche League

• What I love: It is really well-organized to be a quick reference. It organizes information on a weekly timeline that begins before birth. It also offers a lot of troubleshooting, and covers introducing solids, etc.
• What I don’t love: It’s a little preachy and …smug? It advocates breastfeeding on demand for at least the first year, even if it means moving to part-time/shared employment or even quitting altogether. Because if we really love our kids, this is apparently an all or nothing commitment.

Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture by Peggy Orenstein

• What I love: As a woman and soon-to-be mother of a future woman, I constantly wonder how on earth I am going to raise a confident, considerate and well-adjusted girl. Things are so much different for them when I was growing up and while I know when my awareness kicked in, I feel like that scale is sliding back all the time. This was a great eye opener into some areas of concern I hadn’t even thought about as well as developmentally how important identity is for little girls.
• What I don’t love: It felt half-baked. It didn’t dive as deeply as I would have liked, and it ended rather abruptly. So I found some other books centering around the same area of interest and plan on reading them if I can get a hold of them.

Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care by Jennifer Block

• What I love: Although biased, it presents an immense about of published studies and data about maternity care. If you’ve seen The Business of Being Born, then this is the expanded research.
• What I don’t love: It definitely is biased, but it’s nothing I feel is false.

Organized Life with Baby by Regina Leeds

• What I love: It does break the seemingly endless tasks that appear the moment you become pregnant into doable weeks.
• What I don’t love: It seems a little light. Maybe other people’s pregnancies/birth plans are less complicated, but I feel like “going to the spa” didn’t need to be on the list.

Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering by Sarah J. Buckley
I’m still in the process of reading this, and am thinking of stopping because it’s just a little too crunchy and out there. Ina May Gaskin is up my alley, this is a little out there.

Hypnobirthing by Marie F. Mongan
Since I signed up for Hypnobabies, I’ve opted to forgo this book and focus on the class material.

I’m trying to center in on the childbirth and breastfeeding books, as well anything to do with the first few months. Never a shortage of reading, just time. I’d like to get Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth, Natural Hospital Birth and Mindful Birthing knocked out next.

It’s so hard to know what “doable” is. What is over-ambitious? Are my expectations too high? Can I breastfeed and cloth diaper? Can I make my own baby food? Can I supplement her education? The decisions to be made require time, preparation and money, and it feels impossible to know what combination of things will be doable and what may be overshooting in order to make a call. Thankfully I’ve got some really encouraging and experienced people in my corner, and so I’m slowly weaving my way but it’s a daily mental battle to prioritize and know what we truly might be capable of.

Thoughts

So. Much. To. Do. I’m a maze of lists and Evernote and Pinterest clippings. But even amidst all the crazy, I can’t help but get distracted by thoughts of her, and what she’ll be like. What life will be like, good and bad. I watch all the little girls around the neighborhood and in the gym and try to picture what I think she will look like at those ages. I guess that’s pretty natural right?

Feeling

Kicks! So many kicks. Now that they are visible from the outside, I almost feel like I can play with her. I’ll poke sections of my belly and she’ll throw a leg or arm around. One day her feet seem to be on one side of my abdomen, and then on the next, they seem to be on the other.

I’m definitely noticing that I poop out a little easier this week. My bedtimes are pretty consistently 10pm, and by the end of the week, I needed a nap beforehand in order to actually enjoy my Friday evening. I consistently take naps every Saturday, and relax on the couch Sunday night. I’m just rolling with it. I feel great otherwise, so if I’m a little tired, I am happy to nap to feel better.

Food

I didn’t. But I wanted to. So bad. When I get on the other side, that s’mores donut (top-right) from Hurts Donut is MINE.

CrossFit

Monday

WOD
For Calories and Time
3 Min ME Row (Cal)

Rest 3 Minutes

Then, 10 Rounds For Time
5 Burpee
5 Kettlebell Swing (70/55)

Tuesday

Strength: Back Squat
Note: Slowly worked up to 135 lbs, a comfortable weight, but probably not a true 60%.
5 at 40%
5 at 50%
5 at 60%

WOD: Athlete’s Choice!
Grace: 30 Clean and Jerk’s for Time (135/95)
Isabel: 30 Snatches for Time (135/95)

Note: I opted to do Grace, and did it at 85 lbs.

Wednesday

Rest Day

Thursday

Strength: Push Press
5 at 40%
5 at 50%
5 at 60%
Note: Worked to 85 lbs, felt solid!

WOD: Ladder Up and Down
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 Bench Press 135/95
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 Hand-Release Push-Ups
4 Minutes Rest, Then…

4 Min Plank Accumulation (Each Break = 1 Burpee)

Note: Because I can no longer lay on my back and complete the bench press, I opted to do push press at 75 lbs and complete the HR push-ups on the parallel PVC bars we have. It worked great, and I was able to complete the workout! I only had to do 4 burpees, my planks are getting awesome with practice!

Friday

Rest Day

Saturday

I worked on some pause squats, Sots press and snatching. Nothing really structured.

Sunday

Rest Day

Now how about a belly pic? Definitely rounding out I think? Love my new workout tank from Women’s Health. Learn more about RUN 10 FEED 10 here.