Pregnancy Update: 26 Weeks

I finally feel good! Like, for real good, not just better than before. I think Dave is relieved, although he won’t admit it and is supportive no matter how much of a slug I am. I can focus, and think clearly, and stay up a little bit later without crashing the next day… I guess 25 weeks was the magic number for me. We’re moving on Saturday, and I’ve been busy getting ready for that—but I’m SO glad I don’t actually have to move anything, just pack and unpack boxes. I’ve been walking at the beach because it’s much more enjoyable than being on the treadmill, so when we live next to the beach it will be easier and better. Five miles a day seems like the perfect amount for me–I’m not walking super fast, I would guess around 3.5 miles per hour. I’ve also been doing some TRX workouts and focusing on squats and things like that.

I’m not weighing myself, and I don’t want to think about what I weigh. I’m eating the right foods 98% of the time (I had sour gummy worms a couple days after impulse buying them at Whole Foods on my way home from the gym, and a couple other small splurges that I don’t feel bad about). My kitchen is all packed up, so for the next 48 hours, we’ll probably be compromising a bit on our normal food habits (but I’m sure I’ll go more for Whole Foods rather than In n Out)I know that several years ago, when I began studying pregnancy lifestyle, I read a few studies that talked about pregnancy weight gain. I’m really starting to understand what they meant–that a large part of what determines your pregnancy weight gain is genetics. Of course, if you eat fast food and junk, you’ll gain more weight, but if you eat a balanced diet, your weight gain is not really up to you. You can be active to nudge it a little bit, and you can eat extra healthy to nudge it a little bit, but overall, your genetics determine what you weigh. I think that’s true for me, and I’d rather just focus on nutrition than weight. I look forward to dumping the excess estrogen after pregnancy and feeling lean again, but for now I’ll just be happy about my chubby thighs and not focus on that part.

Baby E weighs a couple pounds by now, and he’s definitely got his dad’s fidget-gene. He seems to especially enjoy (or hate?) spicy foods, and he loves to rev up and dance when I go to bed at night. We have four Bradley Method classes left, and we’re both enjoying them (although, we have to sit on the floor for 2.5 hours and class doesn’t end till 9:30, which is a bit late for me these days). I’m also doing a home study course in hypnobirthing. It’s called Hypnobabies, and I’m not so much into the book as I am into the meditation/hypnosis sessions. I just started week 2 of that, and I like that it gives me a plan for what meditations to do everyday. I can’t say for sure that it’s helping, but since I started the daily practice of hypnobabies, my back muscles have unknotted, and I’m sleeping great and feeling really good overall. I love the idea that childbirth is not about pain–that’s sort of an American take on it, but it doesn’t have to be all about pain. I read Ina May Gaskin’s Guide to Childbirth and I have a couple more books in the queue. It feels good to have a reason to get immersed in a topic and be really into it.

I am scheduled to do the glucose tolerance test in a couple weeks, but I might not do it. I’ll talk more about that later (and why I’m considering not doing it).

Here’s a pic of me from Sunday after I had walked at the beach (no, my shirt isn’t short… I pulled it up for the pic!). I stopped at my cousin’s to pick up her mail for her, and got a look at myself in her big mirror… I didn’t realize how I big I was before I caught that glimpse!

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That’s it in a nutshell—I’m more than halfway, and things are going great. I still hate zucchini and chicken, but feel mostly normal about food besides that.

Fill me in on your experience with 26 weeks!

 

4 thoughts on “Pregnancy Update: 26 Weeks”

  1. looking beautiful dear friend! glad things are going so well for you and your baby 🙂 so happy for you!

  2. Lauren George

    You look fabululous! I am right behind you at 23 weeks pregnant. I so wish I had a beautiful beach to walk on. It’s around the neighborhood or the treadmill for me.

  3. Mandy Lee @ FosteringNutrition

    You look gorgeous! What a healthy mommy. Thanks for all your wonderful tips.

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