Pregnancy week 38, Body Image Comments, and To-Do List Progress!

Perhaps one of my more random blog posts… maybe random = mildly entertaining/worth your time… or maybe random = complete waste of your time and my corner of the internet. Guess you’ll have to read to decide.

At my 38 week appointment this week the doctor took a look at baby to see if it had flipped. It hadn’t. Bummer.

OH MY

She also looked at it more closely, taking measurements of baby’s head, abdomen, and femur to make sure it’s been growing the way it should. The doctor was a little concerned because I’ve lost a little weight over the last 4 weeks and I’m supposed to be gaining a pound a week at this point (since baby is supposed to be gaining 1/2 pound a week). Turns out nightly vomiting is not an effective weight gain strategy…

The good news is that baby looked great! Per the ultrasound machine, baby is right around 5 pounds, 6 ounces so should be a healthy 6 pounder when it meets the world next week. The other fun thing was to see a ton of HAIR.

Not our picture, but this was pretty representative of what I saw, except that the hair was a little longer and up and down the whole head.  How fun! Obviously, this kid inherited MY hair genes, not Nate’s 🙂

Speaking of weight: so far I’ve gained about 19 pounds. I’d actually love for that number to be higher, but haven’t been able to keep down a lot of evening meals. I’m not as strong or fit either, so perhaps the actual weight gain is more (losing muscle, replaced with fat/fluid/etc).

The #s don’t matter, I explain that only to put context to my first somewhat-odd-weight-related comment at the grocery store yesterday. An old acquaintance came up to me, and the conversation went something like this:
…
Anonymous: I had heard you were pregnant! [Then a belly touch… Anonymous came from really far away and moved so quickly! It was like they couldn’t help themselves but be drawn into my belly’s gravitational pull. So awkward]
Me: Yep! Less than a week to go!
… some other chit-chat
A: How have you been feeling?
Me: Great! I’ve still been able to run, and have been fairly comfortable throughout!
A: That’s good. I had to do a double-take when I first saw you! Since you’re so short, you don’t just gain around the middle, you gain everywhere!
…
Uhh, thanks? I walked away, but the comment stuck with me. I don’t consider myself to be super self-conscious about body image, but with professional running, weight, body composition, and strength ARE important so I’ve always had an eye on myself.

With the pregnancy, I only freaked out once about the changes happening: expanding rib cage and hips, a chest that’s a full cup size bigger, becoming softer all over in general, etc (blog post here). The rest of the pregnancy I’ve embraced the changes.

Perhaps I do look much different than I used to? I notice it sometimes, especially in my face (yay for going back to my old round-face-with-chubby-cheeks). Will I be able to earn my pre-pregnancy body back? If so, will it take a long time? I don’t know why Anonymous’ comment struck me like it did… because when I started to think about getting back in shape, asking myself the questions above, I immediately stopped myself. I could tell that I really DIDN’T care about how I looked now, and am actually proud of how much fitness I’ve been able to maintain. I’m excited for the slow road back to my old self. But, for some STUPID reason, that comment is just stuck in my brain.

There’s really no point to this other than I felt the need to say something (body image is something that just isn’t talked about!). So, thanks for listening 🙂
—

I’m working diligently on my to-do list! So far:

Car work: oil change and replace belt on Subaru, change insurance coverage, warranty claim on Subaru, program second key fob for Prius

Running/Sponsorships/Coaching: Work with Boom! Nutrition on team sponsorship, [Yep, that’s right! The entire TNC crew has Boom!’s support!] Reapply for Nutrilite sponsorship [I should find out next week!], buy a new Garmin, 5 more athletes I need to work ahead on training plans for

Get stuff out of the garage (sell/donate): TV, TV stand, Teak Table, Sewing Machine, Garage Sale stuff crap that didn’t sell
[Anyone need a TV stand or a sewing machine?]

Our old basement TV found a new home with my SIL – enjoy, Jess! Very happy to get it out of our garage, that thing was huge!

Baby stuff: get flu shot, call insurance to check on C-section coverage, submit a zillion receipts to FSA (UGGG), make cloth wipes, pin newborn pictures for my brother to try to take (he’s offered to try to take newborn pictures!), dowel rod for Pack N Play, buy nice camera?

House stuff: Landscaping, Paint door (if time), finish home theater install, put up TV in workout room for when I’ll be USING the workout room again!!!!!, cleaning basement

Flu shot at Walgreens! The Northfield hospital didn’t have the vaccine in yet. How does this happen? Walgreens has been advertising flu shots for weeks (months?), and the Northfield HOSPITAL doesn’t have them in yet?!????

Thanks to Amy and the Scenic Spaces crew, landscaping is done! Our house needed a little “curb appeal” work, and she was able to design and put in exactly that. She and her crew worked super quick, and I could NOT be happier with how things turned out!

Plus, it was just neat to hire one of my athletes for the job. Not only is she a crazy fast marathoner, but is super creative as well!

Before

Nate taking out the half-dead bushes, tree, and rock

After!!

Mesa is proud to show off her new curb-appeal enhanced home

Evergreens near the front of the home. I WISH I had a “before” picture. There were some sad looking plants in between the evergreens, and the entire thing was an overgrown, ugly weed patch. Now it looks so clean and professional! What a difference.

They took out the existing sidewalk and instead installed a curved paver path. The darker colors really help add interest to our otherwise all-beige exterior.

And last, to complete the random-ness of this post: FALL is here! Temps have cooled significantly and it gets really dark by 7:30. NOOOOOO!!!

Nate and Mesa are suited up in reflective gear for their run tonight – it’s that time of year!

I found this Brooks hat for Nate. Not only is it florescent yellow and has a lot of reflectivity all around the hat, but you can have the back of it light up! Very, very cool. I’m all about safety. Clearly, he’s excited about it as well.

Alright, enough rambling from me! Have a great rest of the week!