18 Weeks Pregnant: The Big Reveal…or Not

18 weeks pregnant! If you follow me around social media, you might have seen me mention that this was the big week we were supposed to find out what we are having. It’s not critical information, but I was excited to find out. Having to call the baby “it” or “they” gets old rather quickly, and it’d be nice to start referring to them by their name, or at least allow myself to get attached to some specific thoughts about life with them after birth.

Unfortunately, our little baby takes after us and was stubbornly evasive of the spotlight. He/she was sitting low in my uterus, and refused to move around other than to turn away from the wand and curl even tighter into a ball, even going to far as to put his/her arm over their face. So, we get to wait three more weeks. They were 85% sure it’s a girl, so I’ve taken to using “she” around the house and among close friends.

I definitely had a moment over not finding out. My mother-in-law and best friend came up, my family was there as well, and Rachel even got a cake. It was that feeling that I’d somehow let them down. But after a good cheat meal and a day at work, I felt a lot better about it. I’m really happy that MK (my mom’s nickname for the baby) is safe, healthy, and growing and that I’m in good health and able to do so much. And luckily cake freezes, so it’s all good.

Here are a couple of pics of little MK. She was sitting low and curled up pretty tight. She waved her arm a bit, which I think was most likely trying to swat us away.

My dad was so excited because she has a clear gap between her big toe and the rest of her toes, which is from our side of the family. Our parents definitely got a kick out of the ultrasound, as they were much more rare when they were pregnant with us and our siblings. My mom had just one ultrasound of me, can you imagine!? Here I am, melting down about having to wait another 3 weeks to see her again, and my mom only saw me ONCE before I was born.

Thoughts

I can not believe I’m almost halfway through pregnancy. Those first few weeks in first were so slow, but everything after 14 weeks has just flown by. Some days I feel ready, but then I’ll look at my life and our house and realize we are soooo not ready yet, and have a lot of work to do. These weekends are becoming more and more valuable as the list becomes longer and longer.

Food

Well I looked forward to the gender reveal cake all week, but wisely wrapped it up and froze it for our follow-up appointment. I’d been looking forward to that cake all week and was planning to tell you about it (completely custom by my favorite cake lady in Springfield), but instead I’ll tell you some of the random foods I’ve thought about since first trimester. I have this habit where I text them to Neil whenever they pop in my head. They are pretty random, so it usually gets a good laugh out of him. I don’t really seem to crave them so much as they are things I’d normally probably treat myself to that I haven’t. They have an interesting theme…

• Grilled cheese sandwich
• Root beer float
• Pop tarts
• Banana bread
• Teddy Grahams
• Tator tots
• My grandma’s apple bars
• My mom’s monster cookies

All foods that I had frequently in my childhood, is that not crazy!? They are not so much cravings as like a recurring cycle of food that I think about. It’s so weird!

Really though, my diet is still consistently protein, veggies, a few carbs and high fat dairy. They say that your baby’s tastes are developed in utero — so hopefully they won’t have a sweet tooth like mine and they’ll be more like Neil, who isn’t big on sweets.

So tell me, did the random things you want to eat ever follow a theme? Am I just completely weird?

CrossFit

Ahh, got my four days in this week and life feels great. I’ve started talking to Nate (my coach) about what “after” is going to look like. Obviously there is no way to know, but seeing as how I want to compete again, I feel like I need transition program to take me through recovery and back in line with where my other training partners are. It’s funny that I care little how fast I get my “body” back but want so badly to get my strength back quickly. That’s the beauty of CrossFit, one typically follows the other, and I have complete confidence in it.

Monday

Strength:
Snatch 7×2 (55# and 65#)
Back Squat 3-3-3-3-3 (135#)

I love that I can still snatch pretty well, even with light weight. Just such a gratifying movement.

Tuesday

WOD: “Helen”

3 Rounds For Time:
400m Run
21 KB Swings
12 Pull-Ups

This was rough, especially the running, I’m just so slow. Still I was proud that pull-ups are definitely not an issue at and I knocked them out in groups of 5.

Wednesday

1 mile walk with the pups

Thursday

Rest day – cursed weather

Friday

Coached Friday Night Lights at my gym, didn’t get to work out.

Saturday

A little OPT work with Erica to start her HOA6 prep!

A. Back Squat @20X1; 3,2,2,1; rest 2-3 min ( 3 at 70-75%, 2s at 75-80%, 1s at 80-85%)
B. Emom (“Ever Minute on the Minute) 6 min – Chest-to-bar pull-ups x 4
+
4 min AMRAP @open pace:
5 front squat (65#)
10 should-to-overhead
15 burpees

rest 5 min

3 min AMRAP at Open pace:
Airdyne 40 calories
AMRAP Double-Unders in remaining time

rest as needed

1 set at 100%:
Row 1k

Sunday

Capital City Throwdown prep with the girls during our Open Gym

Scaled Division

For time:
20 DL 185/135 (did 125#)
30 hand release push ups (hips must rise from floor)
20 power cleans 115/75 (did 75#)
30 hand release push ups