Meet Maxwell Arthur Morchat!

Baby Max is here! He arrived June 29th at 4:10am. He weighed 7 pounds 9 ounces and measured 20.25 inches long. And he is absolutely precious and we love him so dearly!

Many people have suggested that I write out Max’s birth story. It is true that you begin to forget the labor/delivery part of being pregnant. It’s only been a few weeks and there are a few things that I’m even starting to get a little fuzzy on. I guess it’s the Lord’s way of ensuring procriation. Because if you didn’t know, labor is a little painful guys… (you know I hate to say that, because I know some people claim that it doesn’t have to be. And I believe them, really I do… But in my experience this time around, there was ummm… some pain 😉 )

So I think I should start with Wednesday evening. Danny and I ate a great dinner, went for a nice walk, and ended the night by sitting on the couch listening to a record of Bon Iver. I just remember taking in the moment and getting a little teary eyed. I told him how special he was to me and how blessed I am to have him by my side. I realized that this could be one of the last nights that we have, just the two of us.

So, on Thursday morning, Danny and I woke up as usual. We both had the morning off so it was such a sweet time. We both were in a cleaning mode, I should have known something was on the horizon… We cleaned, organized… nested, if you will, all morning long. I got out of the house around 2 to run some errands. Danny was up at the gym training, so I decided to bring him a Jimmy John’s Unwich (a sandwich  wrapped in lettuce). I also decided to get myself one too. As we were just hanging out a the gym, I was nibbling on my unwich. I only ate about 1/3 of it and gave the rest to Danny. It just tasted a little funny. Around 3:30pm I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen. Because I have never had a contraction. I thought to myself, “oh geez I think this is it!”. The only thing about this particular pain, is that it didn’t subside. I left the gym, trying to time whatever it was, but it wasn’t going away. It lasted a good 15 minutes. I called my friend Kirby to see what she thought it was and of course I called my mid-wife. My mid-wife said that this pain was not a constructive part of labor. Contractions aim to get the baby down and something lasting this long was not apart of labor. So, needless to say I claimed it a gas bubble (attractive, right?). With telling you this, it turns out that it may have been the “start” of my labor. I’ll explain later.

The pain stopped after a while and Kirby came over to bring me some dinner. She said she had been thinking about me all day and was pretty certain we would see Max soon. I didn’t want to get my hopes up, so I tried not to think too much about it. So, I did what all my training in Bradley classes told me to do: I ate some good food and laid down to rest. Danny went out to eat with some friends and came home around 9… My contractions started around 9:15. Or at least that’s when I remember telling Danny to start timing them.

Now I don’t know how detailed I should go here, but I’ll just say what I remember the most. I moved from the bed to the bathroom quite a few times. The contractions were most bearable on my side or when I was on all fours, the worst was when I was in the squatting position (those were pretty awful). Between contractions I would try to sleep/rest, there was a point around midnight when I asked Danny “What’s the point in us trying to sleep, I mean the goal is to get this baby out right? Danny I need you to tell me what our goal is here!”. At that point I should have known I was progressing… I think my contractions were about 5 minutes apart and lasting for about 45 seconds to a minute each time.

Around 1 am I threw up EVERYTHING I had (throwing up, is sometimes a sign of transition). Danny texted our midwife and she said she would be there in an hour. Her assitant Andrea arrived around 1:45am and began to set up the bed (she took off our sheets, added a shower curtain to the bed and put some sterial ones on). Toni, our midwife, arrived around 2 am. Danny likes to call them our little fairies, because as soon as they came they were off to work.

Toni checked me for the first time (sorry I don’t remember the time) and I was at 9cm. She looked at me and said “Okay, honey, if you start to feel the overwhelming sense to push, you can start pushing”.  I looked at her, a little in disbelief “so I can just push?”… Once she said this, I think it took me a while to wrap my head around the idea of pushing a baby out of my body (maybe I should have been meditating on this part of labor before hand… who knows). There was a big part of me that, honestly, didn’t think it could happen. I just didn’t believe it could be possible that I could get baby Max out of me by pushing really hard. I remember, vividly, thinking “Okay, how else can we get this baby out of here?”.

Meanwhile, Toni and Andrea would take my heart rate and the baby’s intermittently, just to check to make sure everything was going well. There was one part during the night, when my blood pressure got a little high so they gave me some magnesium. But I ended up throwing that up pretty quickly. Also, one things I didn’t mention earlier is that I tested positive for strep B at 38 weeks gestation. This just means that if my water broke, I would have to take oral antibiotics during labor. I was a little worried about how the antibiotics would affect Max, but my water never broke. When I started pushing Andrea and Toni asked if they could break my water to help aid in the pushing. Apparently, when I would push the water bag was preventing Max from descending. So, I said yes. Anyway, with that said, I didn’t have to take any antibiotics (and me and baby are doing just fine!)

It’s interesting, most people have told me that the pushing part is easiest, that it’s even relieving. But man oh man… that ring of fire was awful. The pushing was probably the hardest part of labor, just, because of that. As Max was beginning to come out that, I could feel every stretching pain down in the business area. That, folks, is/was the hardest part of labor for me. It lasted, I think, only 30 minutes, but it was the most gnarly 30 minutes that I’ve ever experienced. On the last push I could have sworn I blacked out a bit (but maybe I was just in the zone) that I didn’t realize Max was out! Danny says that once Max’s head was out the rest just slipped on out too! It happened so fast that Toni was loudly verbalizing to Danny, “Catch your baby, catch your baby, catch your baby!” HA! I think we were all in a little state of shock.

He came out at 4:10am. I nursed him a little and we loved on him and then once Max was calm the ladies weighed, measured, and did new born assessments on him. They let me take a shower, they stripped off the bed and put on new sheets. They went to work cleaning up. Toni stayed until around 8am. She monitored Max and me, completed some paper work and then went home. Once it was just our little family, Danny and looked at each other and laughed. And then went to sleep. Or at least we tried too.

Danny ended up throwing up around 9am. He got food poisoning from the Jimmy John’s unwhich that I let him eat the rest of.

So, there are a few things to say about that here. 1. My sweet husband was sick the day our son was born… Like throw up everything sick all day long. He was so sad about it too. All he wanted to do was help with the baby, but his sweet body was not having it. And 2. after talking with Toni about what happened with Danny, she suggested that the Jimmy John’s unwhich may have been the cause of my labor. She was saying that when your colon is irritated it can trigger labor to begin (very similar to taking caster oil to start labor). Anyway, we think it was the unwhich, which started the labor… hence the gas pain contraction thing that lasted 15 min.

I hate to leave it on that note, but I think that’s it really. I mean there is always more I could talk about, but I think that’s probably enough info… maybe even TMI.

With all that said, Max is here and we love him so much!

I think next time I’ll write about how the healing process has been. Anyway, thanks for listening!!

38 weeks! And my pregnancy athletic attire.

So, one thing about pregnancy that “they” don’t really tell you… The clothing is pretty lame. I’ll be honest, I’m a bit of a slave to fashion. Yes, my vanity will probably be all over this post, I apologize in advance. One thing about being pregnant is that if you wear something loose and flowy, you look 10x larger than you actually are. Or at least, I just feel like a huge whale in the non-fitted outfits. So with that said, I’ve opted for the stretchy, fitted, and long options.

I’ve realized how minimally I can live off of (as far as clothes are concerned). My mom, from the beginning, advised me to get a nice pair of maternity jeans. And to be honest, I wish I would have done this, but it got so hot so quickly that I chose to just do leggings when I wanted to wear “pants”. I can’t wait to get my legs into some denim after Max gets out.

My profession is in the fitness/health arena, so I have a little bit of freedom to wear what feels comfortable. With the weather being a little toasty, I have 3 items that I wear almost EVERYDAY.  The first being my little shorty short, stretchy, shorts. I love them. Yes they maybe a bit leg exposing, but I’m cool with it… These Lululemon Hot’N Sweaty Shorts are great, because the waist line is super flexible and they don’t leave a seam line at my waist (I’m a little particular about lines/seams and such..). I think I bought them around  5 or 6 months, because my run speed shorts were getting a little tight. These shorts have been fantastic! The strings on the legs are a bit weird, but I just tuck them in and we are good to go.

My second necessity has been these sweet racerback tanks. I didn’t purchase any new tanks, because I already had quite a few of them (Lululemon Racerback Tanks). All of them have been long and stretchy enough to fit over the belly. I talked with some women who worked at Lulu and they said that the stretchy material they use is elastic enough to not ruin the tank. The word is, that it will stretch out with the belly and will retain normal shape/size for postpartum. Sounds, pretty fantastic…. I’ll let you know how they fit post-belly time.

My last big purchase during this pregnancy was a good sports bra. I noticed that at about 6 months a few of my good Lulu bras were getting stretched out. I don’t know how big these knockers will get or what they will end up like, so initially, I tried to look  at the cheaper places for bras like wal-mart, target, dillards… but I maybe a bit spoiled by the quality of my Lulu bras.  The others were just non supportive and they seemed to come all the way up to my neck. Gross.. SO, I did splurge on a larger Lulu bra. AND I am so glad, I wear it almost EVERYDAY! I like the more minimal, lower cut ones (because the tanks are also a little lower cut), so I chose the Lulu Daily Bra.

Anyway, these are the few athletic clothing items that I’ve been so glad to have during this pregnancy.  On a side note, I’m sure ready for Maxwell to come out. This waiting game is a crazy one. I am still doing everything like before. Most days I’m pretty comfortable. So, it leads me to think that he may delay us with his presence. I was working out with the Saturday class and asked “how many deadlifts do you think it would take to induce labor?”. Completely joking, of course… but I think it made a few of the men in the class a little nervous.

This is a little candid shot of me in my daily attire.. Check out those sexy cankles…

Exercises: I surprisingly really love wallballs right now. They used to be my nemesis, but I’ve grown to love them very much. Probably because they are the last few exercises left in my suitcase. KB swings, airdyne, swimming, rowing, squatting, deadlifts, push press, pull ups, step ups… These are a few of the last things I’ve been doing… I did do a few clean/jerks the other day, not much weight, they were just fun to do.

Food: I love me some coconut/nut butter balls of goodness (I usually only use about 1 tbsp of honey, instead of the 1/3 cup it calls for), frozen blueberries, meat of any kind, pineapples, papaya, eggs, coconut butter…

The thing I am looking forward to the most: Holding Max, of course! Besides having a sweet little boy, I am ready to move normally. Just movement without the reminding restrictions of tight round ligaments, funny hip tweaks, or big belly stuff. I really just want to do a burpee. Am I weird?

OH! AND.. my mom is planning on staying with us for  a week after Maxwell’s born. I’m really excited about that too. My family just lives so far away, so it will be nice to have them closer when the baby comes.

Anyway, thanks for listening… I know a lot of this is just random thoughts on what I’ve enjoyed or that have found to work for me. Sometimes it helps to hear what works for others. If not, I hope you find some humor in my pregnancy rantings.

34-36weeks!

To be honest life has been crazy lately! I started this blog post 2 weeks ago, hence the 34 week title. I am now at 36 weeks!!! I can’t believe it is already June! We have about 4 more weeks to go before we get to see sweet Maxwell. EEK! We met with our midwife yesterday. She was telling us, if we go into labor, we are in the “safe zone”. 36 weeks in the state’s eyes is term and we can have the baby safely at home. CRAZY!  I think it freaked us out just a bit… It was as if we hadn’t learned anything from our Bradley classes or books or meetings. We were asking questions like “How can you tell you are in labor?”, “Does your water break before labor?”… After leaving her office yesterday I was pretty sure she was thinking “let’s hope those Morchat’s get their sh*t together”. HA! I just think we realized that this sweet baby could come at any moment. We a really not guaranteed another 4 weeks to prepare.

So, with that in mind, Danny has been a CRAZY man. He’s torn down our kitchen wall, painted and painted more, dry walled, torn up the kitchen floor, he is about to re-tile… I mean with anyone else I would be a ball of stress, but he has been so sweet to clean up and make sure things “appear” normal.

Last week was the first week that my hips have felt a little out of place. Like the greater trochanter is out in some way. I scheduled an appointment with my chiropractor, who is A-mazing, for tomorrow. So, hopefully he can adjust me and relieve a little of the discomfort.

I’ve still been lifting (squats, lunges, deadlifts, presses, pulls are the main ones). I’ve still be doing some conditioning (wall balls, kb swings, swimming, rowing, airdyne, and such…). I’ve really loved swimming, BUT I’ve got a nasty case of the pregnancy mask. I look like a raccoon and it gets worse with the sun. So, sunscreen it is… This mask thing goes away, right?

Examples of swimming workouts:

• 3 rounds (50m, 100m, 200m laps), rest 1:1 ratio
• 700m swim
• 7x100m laps, rest 1:1
• Sometimes I play a game with some of the older men in the pool (they don’t know about it)… But I give them a 15 second head start and then I see how quickly I can pass them. I know, I know… I think I miss some sort of competition. Sigh..

Okay, on a different note, I wanted to write a little bit about supplements during pregnancy. Before we got pregnant there were a few things that I was doing to, in a sense, prepare myself nutritionally for pregnancy. It’s weird, maybe, but from all of my reading I kept hearing over and over that the health of a mother’s womb affects the health of the baby. So, one place that I dived into was Chris Kresser’s website. At the time, he had just had a little baby of his own so the timing was perfect. He was writing all over his blog about his experience and what he was learning through the process. He even created a program called “The Healthy Baby Code”. It’s pretty baller.

Anyway, I just didn’t want to take a prenatal vitamin and call it a day. Most prenatal vitamins I found had some gnarly forms of calcium and a lot of other byproducts that aren’t always awesome for someone to consume. So, I tried to find out what nutrients I could just get from food and what really may need to be supplemented in to my diet. These were the ones that I found maybe pretty beneficial for pregnancy. So, I chose to take these individually rather than with one big prenatal pill.

Supplements that I am taking/have taken during this pregnancy:

Fermented Cod liver oil/Fish oil: For DHA and EPA and the Vitamins ADK. I feel like this article does a great job on explaining why I take these oils. The good fats and Vitamins are key:

http://www.charlespoliquin.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/691/Be_Healthy_For_You_And_Your_BabyWhat_Beyoncé_Needs.aspx

Magnesium: Most people are deficient in this mineral due to stress and the soil of the plants our foods are grown in. It aids in countering stress hormones, helps to decrease inflammation, aids in the absorption of calcium, helps with sleep and recovery… there are many more reasons why I take this, check out the article below for more information.

http://www.charlespoliquin.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/669/MAGNESIUMThe_Anti-Stress_Mineral.aspx

Folate: This over folic acid is beneficial, because the folic acid tends to cause some oxidative damage to your cells, because it is not absorbed as well. You can get this from foods. The main source is liver… I think many of you know my love/hate/hate relationship with liver. It’s a great food, I know it is, but it is so stink’n hard for me to eat. So, because I know myself well, I knew my liver intake probably wouldn’t be what it should. I opted to supplement with Folate. Chris Kresser wrote a great article for this subject below:

http://chriskresser.com/folate-vs-folic-acid

Vitamin D3: I take this mainly when the weather is gloomy and I’m not out in the sun. My intake of this decreases when I’ve been swimming a lot and during the summer months. This hormone aids in the absorption of calcium, increases immune/neurological function… and a lot more. This article lists out some great things that it also contributes to:

http://www.charlespoliquin.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/230/Vitamin_D3_BestSupplementEver.aspx

Things that I’m not so sure about, but have been using occasionally are Vitamin E & Vitamin C… My midwife recommended these, because lately she has seen more “rips” when mom’s are laboring. It would be awesome not to have a whole lot of trauma down in the business area, so I’m just trusting her on this one. She said that these two supplements will help with skin elasticity.

Foods that I’ve tried to increase since being pregnant:

Bone Broth – This stuff has just great minerals for my own bone health. One thing people have told me throughout this pregnancy is that the baby will get what it needs, even if it leaves the mother lacking. I’ve had a wrist fracture that at certain times during pregnancy I can physically feel it weakening. So, I’ve tried to have enough of this in my diet for those times.

Probiotics – Sauerkraut, pickles (the good stuff, that has just cucumber salt and water), kombucha… For my own gut flora. If you’ve ever taken a general anti-biotic, you should probably take one of these or eat something fermented on a regular basis.  Anti-biotics kill everything, not just the bad stuff, but the good stuff too. So, it’s beneficial to rebuild that gut flora for basic digestive needs.

This was kind of a lot… I tried to write a little bit on each, but each one can be it’s own blog post. So, for the sake of keeping it short and sweet, I just posted a few articles you can read more on.

Is there anything you researched that you chose to increase during pregnancy? Please feel free to post what you did!

33 weeks!

Well it’s now 33 weeks! 7 more to go! Life/things in life are overall pleasant. You know, I’ve really enjoyed this past month of pregnancy. Who would have thought, the bigger I get, I seem to like it more 😉 Maybe it’s just me getting used to the belly. The more I get used to it, the more I  seem to forget that at times I’m not the “tinny girl” who can squeeze through tight spaces as easily as before. This I have tried, it doesn’t work… even when I “suck in”… HA! I’ve also manage, many times, to shut the door on the belly. Nothing to crazy, but I go to close the door and it is most definitely stopped by my stomach. It makes me consider, why I intend on standing so close to the door when it closes. Who knows.

We also had such a sweet shower thrown for baby Maxwell this past weekend by some friends in the BCS. It was mustache themed, so many of the men decided to dress accordingly. The decorations were so sweet, I mean how cute is that little banner, mustache man, and picture frame! It was sooo fantastic and sooo great just to spend time with all of our friends. I cannot say how special it made us feel to be surrounded by so many wonderful people.

These ladies are so stink’n beautiful and so special to me!  I am so blessed by each one of them in my life!

Me, Danny (with his chops), and Maxwell

Some of my sweet ladies from the ladies class! Oh how I love them!

My mom was able to make the trip from Odessa. It was such a treat to have her at the shower!

Exercise: Well workouts are the same as last week. I have been isolating a few muscle groups, because with these current routines, they may get a little left out… Namely, the calve muscles… I know, I know all you CrossFitters are out there rolling those eyes. I just don’t use them as often as I would and the movements typical CFer’s would do for them are pretty ballistic, and I’m avoiding pretty much all of those movements. It seems with a lot of pregnant women I work with or even just take notice of, the posterior chain gets left out. The posterior chain would be the butt, back (all portions), hamstrings, calves… basically your back side.

During pregnancy, boobs get bigger and place more pressure on the front side of the torso, typically creating a rounding of the shoulders and thus making good posture a challenge. The belly also gets bigger and the pelvis usually tilts anterior (giving you that nice ghetto booty). So, instead of stretching the pectorals muscles or the hip muscles, I’ve found it better (for me) to try to strengthen the opposing muscle groups in the posterior chain.

I still notice my posture is not what it once was, but I think that it is pretty natural during pregnancy to have some change and I guess it could be worse taking into account the extra load.

My friend, Jack, sent me this video. I was pretty into Kelly Starrett before this video, but it definitely reaffirms my respect for what he has to share. It is really refreshing to hear someone think outside of the box a little bit when it comes to this pregnancy thing. Just because something maybe labeled pre-natal, doesn’t mean it’s the best thing for you.

http://www.mobilitywod.com/2012/05/mobility-pregnancy-and-the-hypermobile.html

Sleep: Has been great! But, I will be honest, we did not get back from the shower until 12:15am on Saturday! Let’s just say, it wasn’t your atypical shower 😉 … We are still recovering from the lack of sleep that night, so sleeping has been pretty easy. I just need some more of it!

Food: I love it, like always. Okay, my current love is this coconut/nut butter mix. I heat 1/3 cup kerry gold butter (grass fed stuff, it’s awesome), ~ tbs of  unsweetened  cocoa pwd, and ~ tbs of honey in a pot. I let it simmer for about a minute and add ~1/3 cup of nut butter and 1 teas vanilla (mix well). Then add 2 cups of coconut and other nuts if you want to get creative. Spoon the goodness into bite sides pieces onto parchment paper and put in the freezer. YUM! So, easy and so yummy.

Baby Maxwell: He is kicking like crazy, some websites say he is as heavy as a pineapple and is about 17 inches long! I really can’t wait to meet him, although I am glad to have him cook a little longer. There is a lot to be done throughout the house before Mad Max makes his entry into the world 😉

32 weeks!

Well we now have 8 weeks left!! I do apologize for the lack of posts, it always seems there is something else to do before blogging. So, now that we are in the final trimester, not a lot has changed except with each week we seem to have a new realization that Maxwell is coming. Danny and I get really giddy and then freak out a bit and then back to giddy…

There is still a lot to be completed with the nursery and little projects around the house. It’s not that I’m procrastinating, it’s more of a logistics thing (we will just leave it at that). So, until that first week in June there is not a lot that Danny and I can do. I have kept myself busy with work. I am really thankful that I love my job so much or I think the waiting would be torture.

I am still exercising regularly. It’s interesting to notice that when I’m at the gym or if I am continually just moving around, I still have plenty of energy, I don’t feel tightness in my pelvis, and just moving is easier in general. BUT if I have been sitting or laying around for a while, movement is a biatch. When I’ve been sitting for a while and begin to change positions, I feel like I’ve been pregnant for years… I have definitely been paying attention to the amount of work I do, so that I don’t overload myself. But it has been more pleasant for me to keep a little active throughout the day.

Two weeks ago I cut out double unders. A good word of wisdom was given to me by my midwife, “even though you can do something, doesn’t mean that you should”. This was a really good word for me to hear. After reflecting and praying on that advice and some sweet words from family. I took out the double unders. I still squat, lunge, pull up, row, swim, deadlift, push up, kb swing, wallball, slamball, planks, mainly things with my feet on the ground or where it doesn’t seem like I’m “shaking the baby” …

The reason I still do these things is, because I believe 100% that they will help with labor and recovery. Squatting is one of the most important exercises a pregnant woman can do. It is actually a common and comfortable (for some) laboring position. So, I do keep those as a regular part of my workouts and I do keep a little weight loaded on the bar when I squat, right now my weights are about 50-60% of what my max effort was.

My food intake has not changed since pre-pregnancy. I still eat the same as I’ve always eaten (grain free, dairy free, sugar free, soy/legume free). On occasion I’ve had a little dairy, but this stuff brings out my congested nose big time. And I’ve also had a little white right every now and then, just depending on what’s going on. I’ve incorporated more bone broths (for calcium/minerals), a little more kombucha, and other fermented foods (sauerkraut, pickles), for the nice probiotics (and because they are just delicious). Here is my favorite pregnancy food so far, I add a lot of pickles and sauerkraut to this guy and it’s awesome:

http://www.health-bent.com/beef/paleo-chili-cheese-dogs

I think on my next post, I’ll talk about some supplements I’ve been taking. Supplementation has always interested me, not in that I’m craving for a quick fix, but more so, I’m interested in the reasons on why people choose to supplement and at what points in life do we “need” to supplement. One thing I’ve learned is that you can’t out supplement a bad diet. So, no matter how great your pill is, it is crap if you aren’t eating well.

Anyway…. that was a long post, I apologize. My goal is to be more regular in posting. Maybe once a week? I guess we will see…

27 weeks

(Squatting at 27 weeks. I apologize for the up close and personal shot… I’m still figuring out how to use the camera. And mom, don’t freak out about the weights… I promise this is light weight)

We are now at week 27 and things are really great. I feel good and I can move around pretty well. I think my biggest obstacle, so far, has been the mental aspect of growing a baby. I feel like I know myself pretty well and prior to getting pregnant, I knew that I had a lot of selfish/prideful natural instincts to work through. When you consider the things you naturally struggle with in life, it seems that they do tend to come back on occasion, but just in different clothing. It is often time a quite humbling experience, that turns me to trusting in the Lord and his refining love.

So, it is fitting that my biggest obstacle with pregnancy has been more of the mental aspect of getting larger, not fitting in clothing, not being able to do some of the things I normally can do (yes, all very selfish and prideful things…).

I’m reminded by my sweet husband and lovely friends not to take life too seriously. To let go of the things I’m holding onto so tightly and to allow this whole process to happen. I’m also reminded of this whenever Maxwell kicks. Those little punches are crazy and it’s so sweet just to physically feel something move (rather than just have this great expansion occurring everyday).

Exercise has actually been a lot of fun. I’ve only eliminated inversions (so no handstand push ups, ghds), tall box jumps, and the snatch. I’ve cut out the snatch, mainly, because my form was looking horrendous and I didn’t want my coach later on to kill me because I had developed such bad habits (I would swing the bar out way too much in front, due to my lady lump). The clean still looks decent and it feels good, so I still do it. I squat, deadlift, kipping pullups/negatives, lunge, press, row, run, kb swing, wall ball, partial burpee, double under…. Everything really does feels good. My running is way slow (as it was prior to pregnancy, but now multiply it 10x… like super slow land) and, most of the time, afterward I don’t even feel like I did a workout, so often times I’ll sub it for a row (which is sufficient in kicking my butt).

I suspect, once it gets warm, that I will want to be in a pool. I’ve always loved lap swimming, so I look forward to it. One thing that I go back and forth on, is whether or not to pursue some yoga. I’ve enjoyed it on occasion (and we have one of the best yoga instructors I’ve ever worked with coaching at our gym). I am very systemically flexible, so, only on occasion do I do it (even when I’m not preggers). When you’re so systemically flexible (there are really easy ways to measure this, so if you’re curious, just ask), there is really no benefit to stretching muscles for prolonged periods of time.  You end up NOT stretching your muscles, but only your joints and ligaments making you more prone to injury.

The reason I would like to take a class is mainly for the breathing. I think that yoga breathing is one of the greatest things, since most often I forget to take those deep diaphragmatic breaths. BUT since I’m systemically so flexible and I’m preggers (more relaxin hormone = even more flexible, especially in the joints/ligaments), I’m not quite sure if it’s the best. This is all just my logic speaking, not so scientific, but more making an educated guess on how my body may respond to certain stimulus. I may try it out for a class and see how it feels afterward.

Maybe I just need to set aside some time to breath more.

Other Baby Things:

Name – We have a name!!!! Maxwell Arthur Morchat

Weight Gained – 16 # so far, it seems to creep up there everyday though 😉

Food Cravings – Cold things, mainly because of the weather I think. This summer is going to be rough. Oh and I still love me some nut butters/butter. I found a recipe on Pintrest for these coconut, nut butter, and butter mounds. Oh they are A-mazing! I’ve dominated some of those things…

Sleep – Going well, I sleep great throughout the night

Other neat things going on with Max: This week, he weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with his legs extended. We get to see our midwife on Wednesday for another check up. I love getting to hear his little heart beat!

It’s a Boy! (Post from January 2012)

We found out that we are having a sweet baby boy! We have decided on a name and a little theme for the nursery. After seeing the sonogram, it really made this all very real for me. My first thoughts were ones of excitement and crazy joy. Then I began to think, this baby will get bigger and is going to have to exit somehow. EEEK. Labor anxiety set in for about a week after.

On Sunday we went to our first Bradley class. The Bradley Method is a husband coaching method, you can read more about it here. Our teacher, Rachel, is so sweet and has really helped to set my mind as ease about laboring. It’s not that I don’t think I can do it or that in the back of my mind I want the epideral, it’s just thinking about the unexpected that freaks me out a bit. Kind of like your first tattoo, you envision the pain you even pinch yourself to see if you maybe able to handle it, but nothing really prepares you for what you may go through.

I’ve enjoyed the Bradley Class, because I just like knowing things. I like to be informed. I like to be prepared. These classes have been great for that.

On another note, we have decided to use a midwife. We actually decided this a long time before we were pregnant. I even interviewed the midwifes in town (pre-pregnancy) to see what our options were. This was probably the point in my life were I realized I am a bit controlling/type A personality (you know, I just wanted to be prepared 😉 ).

We found a sweet, experienced lady, that we just really click with. She supports the way I eat, our lifestyle, and the way I workout. It’s kind of funny, I say she supports the way I workout, but I’m not quite sure if she understands what I do. She has told our Bradley Class teacher that she works with us and she called Danny and me body builders…. I just let her think what she wants. I actually kind of like being labeled a body builder. It’s fun to think about, me and my lady lump with all my ripalicious muscles. HA!

Anyway, from the beginning, one thing we decided to do when making choices, was to not act out of fear. The more I am exposed to this new world, the more I realize how baby manufacturers, media, and even doctors do a good job of instilling fear into a lot of pregnant women/families (Let me clarify more: while it is good and wise to take advise from a doctor you trust, it is also good to recognize fear when it is fear). Fear is the last thing that we want as a driving force in our life. When we are fearful, our rational mind goes out the window. We end up believing in lies that normally would never be a reality. Fear does a great job of tricking us into thinking that there is no such thing as grace. Fear blinds us from truth.

I guess I say these things, because it can be easy to become fearful with pregnancy or with anything in the area of the unknown. We have been very encouraged by this process of seeking truth for our lives. This is not saying that what is true for us, at this time, is what is true for everyone else.

We are having a BABY!!

Okay guys, I am back from the crazy world called life. I, honestly, was not intending on picking back up with writing on this blog. Mainly, I’ve been spilling out my mind into http://www.blackboxstrength.com, but new news has recently presented itself…. WE ARE HAVING A BABY!!

With this wonderful news, I’ve decided to pick back up with blogging on this site. It’s more for documentary purposes and my mom has requested updates on the baby bump. I’ve also wanted to write about my experience for other moms, who may be in a similar life situation. Once I found out I was prego, I searched all over the web for fitness and nutrition information. I came to a conclusion, there is not a lot of substance to most of what people/organizations recommend for pregnant women.

I’ve also come to realize everyone’s pregnancy is very different and even every pregnancy from the same woman can be different. So, this is just my story. I’ve eaten unweighed/unmeasured Paleo for close to 3 years. I’ve trained pretty hard for the past 3-4 years. During this time, I’ve been on a consistent CrossFit program, Olympic lifting program, or strength development cycles. I’ve competed in a few CF competitions and Olympic Lifting meets (nothing too notable to mention, but I just wanted to give a little info on myself). This is just a little of my recent background.

It is always best to start any fitness program PRIOR to pregnancy. I’ve written a little bit about it here on the BlackBox Blog. I think the main point of my pre-pregnancy blog is: “If you are wanting to become pregnant or if you are even considering that one day you may want to host a fetus, it would be wise to get your shit together TODAY!”.  Once you are pregnant, life is pretty unpredictable. I’ve had it pretty easy compared to most (no sickness), but I was unprepared for the complete exhaustion and slow recovery (from workouts) I experienced in the first trimester.

If I hadn’t had really good eating habits or consistent workouts prior to pregnancy, I do believe life would have been VERY difficult. I believe if you develop good habits now, when life gets tough it’s easier to continue to do the things that are normal (like eating well, sleeping well, and exercising). These things were very easy to do during the first trimester, because they were so engrained in my natural everyday life. This is not the norm, for most women, but they will make that first trimester easier. I’ll explain more in another post. But I really do believe if you eat well, sleep well, and exercise appropriately the all too common symptoms of pregnancy don’t have to be the normal for you!

Okay, enough of my ranting, I really could go on for a long time… So, in this blog, I am in no way saying that my word is greater than a Doctor’s. So, if you are here and you are prego and things that I say also conflict with what your Doc says. My advice would be listen to the Doc. I would also recommend listening to your intuition (this usually doesn’t lie). Get a second or third opinion, do your own research, question the why behind the what…. It’s your body and your baby, so ask questions and make sure your not just doing something, because you’re being told “this is how it’s done”.

10 Weeks

14 weeks

16 weeks

17 Weeks

Workouts:

I still do all of the lifts, although the weight is a lot lighter (maybe at 85/75%). My abdominal muscles don’t seem to want to stabilize as well as they used to. The only movement that I’ve cut out of the equation is box jumps. They just make me a little nervous. I still jump, double unders are actually one of my favorites right now.  I still do handstands/cartwheels, mainly for fun. Also, sit ups (which are recommended to be cut off in the 2nd tri) are still great and feel comfortable (we will touch on a few movements that people say to avoid and a little of the why, a little later).

A good rule of thumb, if it feels weird, funny or uncomfortable, stop it and do something else!

Cravings: Mustard (like on everything, yum!) and Sunflower Seed nut butter on bananas!

Sleep: normal, sleep throughout the night.

Sex: Yes, please… HA! No, just kidding. We find out the sex of the baby on Wednesday (tomorrow!). Pray for the little one to be spread eagle, so we can get a good look!

Websites I love:

www.laybabylay.com

http://chriskresser.com/  (specifically his baby code)

www.onefitmom.com (this is really the only website I’ve found by another pregnant woman who has been consistently active and eating well. It’s very encouraging)

breath.

This present moment is all we have. If we do not live and recognize what is the present, we waste it. Our thoughts of the past or future have the potential to cloud what is now.

Take a breath, create some space between your thoughts and your mind. Within that space be conscious.

Be present.

This too shall pass…

 

Chili!

Here is a fantastic recipe that gets better every time I cook! ENJOY!

Chili!

Photo Credit

Ingredients:

2 # ground meat (preferably grass fed or wild game)

1 onion

4 cloves garlic

2 tbs chili pwd

2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon paprika

1 can diced tomatoes or 1-2 whole tomato diced

1 tbs cocoa pwd

1 12oz jar salsa

2 1/2 cups chopped celery

salt/pepper to taste

Sauté over medium heat the onions, celery and garlic until onions are translucent about 3 or 4 minutes. Then you add the meat, cumin, paprika, oregano and chili powder. Stir while this cooks for about 5 to 6 minutes. Then pour in the salsa and tomatoes.

This recipe is great, because I like to change it depending on what’s in the fridge! Be creative!