Dreaming of my next triathlon

One thing that's amazing about this pregnancy is how much I've increased my activity level. I used to run 5x a week but over the years that has drastically been reduced. When we first got pregnant I was running, but by about 8 weeks it hurt. I've still been walking and riding and yoga and I've re-added swimming.

By adding swimming to my workout routine I'm craving a triathlon. I realize that I'm not going to do a triathlon this summer, but I'm starting to think about one for next summer or the summer afterwards. I realize that I have no control over how this pregnancy and birth is going to go, I'm just doing my best to stay healthy throughout it and hope to be able to return to working out soon after the baby is born. It would be so awesome to do a sprint tri next summer. Baby W might be too little though so I might have to wait until the following summer, but I am going to do another sprint, and hopefully do a full length tri in the next 5 years. I always thought I would train for one more marathon too and run it with my husband, but we run and train so differently that I don't think that will actually happen. Perhaps one more marathon is in me, but a tri seems more realistic :)

Of course who knows what will really happen, I just love swimming and yesterday an old man told me that I'm an excellent swimmer :) that made me happy. While swimming yesterday, I felt like the baby and I were synchronized swimming together, it was funny. Today is going to end up being a rest day and tomorrow and Saturday I hope to go for long walks in the woods! We'll see what each day brings though.

Things I didn't know would happen to me during pregnancy

There are so many things that you read about and hear about that happen during pregnancy. I was fortunate enough to have one of my close friends just have her baby 7 weeks ago so she remembers things vividly and shares things with me (and shared during her pregnancy too).

I thought I would make a list of some of the things that I've been surprised about so far, and I'm sure that this list will grow since I'm just past the halfway point (21 weeks today).

1. Hips ache  - while sleeping (which you have to sleep on your sides), while sitting, while standing...they just start to ache. And there's nothing you can take for it. I just started doing more yoga and sleeping with a body pillow between my knees...it helps a bit that's for sure, but there are still aches there.
2. Waking up all the time - not just due to hip aches. The slightest sound wakes me up, I suppose it's to prepare me for when the kiddo makes a sound and needs me, but then people keep saying "sleep now" I can't!
3. Tired all the time but can't sleep - I'm so tired all the time. I want to sleep, but I can't. When I get ready for bed, I become wide awake...so I read and then fall asleep about an hour later...those first 3 hours of sleep are fantastic, and then the tossing and turning begins.
4. It's not always kicking, there's a lot of just pressure and aches - this little one likes to stand on me. It's like he's standing right above my hip bone, which adds to the hip aches I'm sure. It makes it difficult to sit but standing for long hurts. It's just preparing me to never be still I suppose.
5. There are just aches - I realize that I am growing a life inside of me, and that's really cool, I just didn't realize how achy I would be.
6. Bruising happens easily and doesn't go away - last Sunday I hit my leg with the corner of the car door. I got a cut and a huge bruise. The bruise has not gone down at all, it's just there and looks terrible. It doesn't really hurt, but many does it look ugly.
7. Random rashes - they come and go...sometimes they itch, sometimes they are just there and are annoying and do nothing.
8. Allergic reactions are intense and don't go away quickly - this one annoys me a bunch. I love to work in my garden, but I don't like wearing long sleeves. I wear my gloves and I'm careful, but stuff still touches my arms (and legs). Cue allergic reaction (I'm allergic to every type of grass that exists and I'm sure most of the weeds I'm pulling up). I itch and itch and itch and it doesn't go away.
9. Gold bond powder and cortisol 10 are your friends - thankfully, gold bond helps with random rashes and cortisol 10 helps with allergic reactions. Thank you!!!
10. Emotions run wild and there is no controlling them - for example, after a long day I get home and open my water bottle for a sip. It's the type of water bottle that has a straw in it and a flip top. I open it up and water shoots out all over me. I cry. That's right, I cried over spilled WATER! Not only that, but I cried because I was crying. It was so stupid yet I couldn't stop and it became a feedback loop. My husband teased me and then he opened the water bottle and he got sprayed. That made me feel better :)
11. Boredom - I get bored really easily. Things that I used to enjoy to relax (like watching TV) I really have little interest in. Luckily I still enjoy knitting so I'm working on a baby blanket (in the middle of summer).
12. I miss beer - really just beer, sometimes wine, and sometimes I really want a sandwich...but mostly it's beer. 
13. Comments and touching - it's real. People touch my belly all the time, and it's not a big belly yet! I also get lots of comments, some good, some not as good, but they exist.

Please don't get me wrong, I am very fortunate to be pregnant and am enjoying it. Feeling him kick and move around inside is a really cool thing to experience. I just couldn't believe some of these "side effects". I knew I'd be tired, but didn't think I would be the entire pregnancy. I knew that my body would change but I didn't think it would be to some of the extremes that it is. I know it'll all be worth it, just wanted to went I suppose.

Can't do what I used to

I'm feeling frustrated. I can't do all the things in a day that I used to. For example I used to be able to weed the entire garden in one day, now I need 2-3 days to get it all done. Of course I don't think I was this diligent last year since I didn't know what I was doing.

Another example, after cleaning the house, I need to lay down. I feel frustrated because we are just at the halfway point of this pregnancy and if I'm already needing to slow down, what am I going to be like at the end?

I suppose it's a good thing that I can listen to my body and know, but it also makes me really wonder how some women don't know that they're pregnant.

Other than that frustration everything is good as gravy :)