belly pics

Hey everyone!  I sure am glad that there were only 12 days of gazellemas to come up with. I am, however, sad that gazellemas is over. Back to work for Amy! 

I am officially in my 3rd trimester now – and can’t believe there is only +/- 13 weeks to go before I get to meet Alvie Bean in person! Although I’m not quite ready for him to come out yet (I need diapers! And a carseat! And socks!), I will be glad when I no longer have to try to convince him that under my rib cage is the coziest spot to nestle if I sit for too long.

Things are still progressing just as they should (I’m assuming). I did have to face up to the fact that I am just not one of those women who will be running throughout my entire pregnancy. It was a hard, hard realization (there were tears), but necessary. There is just too much strain on my abdominal muscles (which I keep straining anyways, by doing things like “lifting bags” and “walking about”). I am fortunate that I can still bike (even if only in 10-15 minute intervals), swim (yay!), walk, and yoga (this has become my go-to exercise). In fact, I am rocking a weekly Hatha 2 class that is awesomely challenging AND attending a weekly prenatal class that is much better than anticipated. I was envisioning a bunch of preggos sitting in a circle meditating on their babies and doing light stretches, but instead got a lot of hip and pelvic strengthening, plus challenges like “standing splits up the wall.” Awesome.

Alvie is a lot more active on days that I’m not, and it’s weird adjusting to his activity levels. I am still feeling pretty good, although I do have a few minor things that aren’t really complaints, per se, but rather “things I wish weren’t part of pregnancy.”

1. I get really out of breath walking up a flight of stairs. I can do a 5-mile hike or a 75 mile Hatha class and be fine, but one flight of stairs requires sitting down for 5 minutes to recover.
2. I am very short-waisted, and Alvie is already starting to run out of room vertically. I’m assuming the horizontal part will continue to expand for awhile to help with that, but in the meantime, when he feels crowded, he tries to go up, which unfortunately is where I keep my lungs. I am a big fan of breathing, so that does get a bit odd.
3. Sleeping. Or not, as the case may be. I wake up every 1.5 – 2 hours, not necessarily to pee (I get up 2-3 times/night to do that), but to roll over. My hips & shoulders get really sore with all the side sleeping, and I can’t figure out how to alleviate that. There just aren’t any comfortable sleeping positions. At least I can go right back to sleep (most of the time).
4. Lower abdominal weakness. My lower abs are so weak, that it doesn’t take much to strain those muscles. This means that running is wicked painful, and I have to be careful about lifting anything heavier than 15 lbs. I should’ve done more core strengthening work ahead of time, I guess.
5. Bending over. I am starting to have a little trouble doing that without putting together a plan first. Putting on socks, tying shoes, picking up that thing I just dropped…all require a little more time/work than before.
6. Still with the sciatica – I get numb spots on my quads if I stand in the same position for too long (or sometimes just because) which has always happened to me when I’ve had sciatic pain. Doing cat/cow definitely helps, and I’m trying to remember to do that every day.
7. I am definitely starting to have some memory lapses. Nothing serious, or anything, but just oddness. I honestly thought this wouldn’t happen to me, but apparently I was…wait a minute. What was I talking about again?

However, even with a few complaints, things are overall pretty good. I’m sure I could feel better, but I’m not sure how much. I think I’ll take this and not think about it, though.

And, because I am a giver, I have a new picture taken last night after work.  Me at 27 weeks & 1 day: