On being "active" during pregnancy...

So, all the books and websites and friends and doctors and everyone who has not even conceived a baby (but had a friend who had one once) say that having an "active" pregnancy and remaining "active" during pregnancy makes life/labor/recovery so much easier and all golden flowers in a field of loveliness.

To them I say, "Blah."

Don't get me wrong, I know that it will make everything that much easier. But, the fatigue of first trimester has not quite yet abated my system. After two and a half months of wanting nothing more than to come home and lay down on the couch (ignoring the chosen dinner of my cohabitors whilst trying not to puke) and then rouse enough energy to climb the stairs to go to bed...this whole new "active" thing hasn't quite kicked in yet either.

My mind is certainly active. I have running to-do lists of a bajillion things going through my mind - nursery schemes (not themes, important to distinguish), all the things I want to get rid of, things we need to buy, calculating cloth diapers (how many do we need????), grown up stuff to take care of (insurance, etc). Aaaand, the list goes on. so, yeah, my mind is active.

But the universe seems to be working against me for physical activity.

a. I cannot find a prenatal yoga class in all of Hampton Roads that starts after 5 pm. 
Hello local yogis! Some of us mommas-to-be are working mommas-to-be. And, as nice as my bosses are about me leaving to go to doctors appointments every month, and then every week as we get close to the end...I don't think they will be cool with me jetting out a half hour early every Monday to make it to my yoga class. Damn.

b. It is cold outside.
I don't like the cold. I don't like being outside in the cold. And it keeps snowing and being icy. Gross. I already don't have the best luck walking out neighborhood while knocked up. The last time, I fell. Nothing freaks a pregnant woman out more than falling, at least not me. Plus, I feel guilty going for a walk without the dog. The poor thing lives for walks. Le sigh. This one just sounds whiny. But true.

c. A and I are both working late
I am not the type of person to go to the gym alone (and the gym is where it is warm). I need a gym buddy. I need the accountability, which is why a class would be ideal...but see reason a. above. Historically, my best gym buddy is my husband. We work out in completely different ways and he runs himself ragged, so we aren't trying to have conversations while gasping for breath on the elliptical.

Going to the gym in the morning is a no go for me too. I am not a morning person, and I already can't have my coffee in the morning, so hitting the gym is not on my priority list. I am trying to bank some sleep while I can fools.


All this is to say, "these are my excuses for being a bump on a log." They aren't going to last very long, I promise. Don't worry, I am no longer lounging on my couch all night - instead I am hustling A through cleaning, organizing and preparing the house (he loves it). I am starting to get that itch. I want to be active and need to be active, so I will get there soon.

But, in the meantime...

if you managed to stay incredibly active throughout your pregnancy, and hit up the gym at 5 every morning and all of that...just don't talk to me for a few weeks, k?


15 weeks along

...and I can't wait for spring to come so that I can enjoy being outside again (so long as I am one of the 1/3 of pregnant women whose seasonal allergies go away while with child).