And we're back! Baby #2 due mid-September 2023!
To everyone that followed the 2020 journey, welcome back! To everyone that's new this time around, welcome! I'll briefly explain the aim of this blog: In 2020 I shared my pregnancy journey as a first time mum, this time I'll be sharing the journey as a second time mum. The blog will cover training, nutrition, and life in general. The aim of this blog is to be as brutally honest as possible about the highs, lows, pains, joys, and general experience of pregnancy.
Last time the bump was called Fudge thanks to an aunt who thought I was holding up a tray of fudge when I held up the sonogram image to announce pregnancy via a very socially distanced Zoom call. This time the bump is named....Baby Jesus....(Thanks Noah). I'll explain. Over Christmas we decided it was maybe time for number 2, we were discussing this over dinner so we turned to Noah to ask her if she'd like to be a big sister. She very enthusiastically said yes. When we asked her what we should call the baby she said, without missing a beat, "Baby Jesus". I guess she'd heard this name thrown around a lot over the yuletide season. Since then we haven't been able to shake it, she does somewhat frequently ask about the baby (she likes to rub my belly and "say hi") and whenever we ask her for a name it's Baby Jesus. Spoiler alert: that won't be his/her name.
With that, let's get started.
First Trimesters compared
As all people who are pregnant for a second/third/fourth/etc time will tell you, the most common question we get is "how is it this time around?" This is probably best summarised in a table (I don't have much time for typing anymore before the computer gets hijacked with requests for Sound of Music clips - so I have to be efficient).
The next big question is, given the huge difference in first trimester experiences is Baby Jesus going to be a girl or a boy? We'll find out next week and I'll be sure to keep you posted.
Life in General
Moving swiftly along (I can already feel the beady eyes burning a whole in my computer and can practically hear requests for Do Re Mi), this week was SUPER fun. A few weeks Hand Foot Mouth ripped through Happy Valley, we thought we'd escaped it but alas we were not so lucky. Last week Noah got a mild case of it and on Wednesday this week I discovered a blister. Luckily it didn't progress much beyond that. 3 blisters in total and a bit of a rash on my wrist and top of my foot and that was it. Apparently it can be absolutely brutal in adults so I'm lucky! At the time of writing (5:30pm on Sunday) I just have one blister left but it did mean I didn't work on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. It made for a quiet end to the week and it also very much threw off my training plan. I swapped gym sessions for long walks which is why my average step count jumped from 11,700 last week to 15,700 this week! More on this later.
HFM aside, the energy levels which have been practically non-existent and very much COMPLETELY unpredictable seem to have somewhat come back this week. Instead of periods of absolute exhaustion we maintained a dull "average". Something I can very much live with.
I still ate 4 full meals + 1-2 snacks a day every day. My OB told me to consider eating more fibre as a snack so it keeps me more full for longer. I think if I ate any more fibre I would become fibre...
On Tuesday we had our second look at Baby Jesus who seems to be cooking nicely. 6.5cm, all fingers, toes, and limbs accounted for. Blood and oxygen flow looking good. Heart beating along steadily. I did have what felt like a pint of blood removed for all the various genetic tests, the results of which we'll get some time next week.
The biggest surprise of the visit was only being up 0.9kg despite eating my bodyweight in food every day this time compared to almost no appetite with Noah and gaining 1.7kg. HashtagPregnancyScience / I guess chasing a toddler around is much more of exercise than I gave it credit for. I know you shouldn't compare pregnancies because each one is different, each baby is unique, the stage of life is different, the hormones will be different, general life situation is different...etc. But let's be realistic, we compare them. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't and my mama didn't raise no liar.
Training
So, getting HFM in the middle of the week meant my training plan was thrown off. I'd originally planned to do a slight skew towards full body on Monday, lower on Wednesday, and upper on Friday but then Friday didn't happen, so it was a bit lower body heavy this week. Then I did lots of walking to make up for not being able to be in the gym. So my upper body needs some attention next week.
For full training programs I'm going to direct you all to my instagram this time (@cait_calibrate), I post training programs every Sunday. If you have any questions about it - you know where to find me! As always, my training programs are not the gold standard. They are tailored to my specific needs, my injury history, my rehab experience from last pregnancy. They might work for you but you might need TLC in other areas, if you have questions - fire away!
My first trimester training can best be summarised as: do what you can, when you can, and don't sweat it if you can't do it.
As we switch into the second trimester I'm hoping for an energy boost so I can go back to slightly heavier weights, increase intensity slightly, and add some more cardio. However, as always, let's see what this pregnancy throws at us!
With that, I should get back to entertaining the small human who is being very patient. I'm excited to have you back on board with me! We'll speak next week. Same time, same place, just a week wiser, bigger, and stronger.
Comments