13 Weeks 2 days.

If you didn’t know me, you would probably think that I have been eating a little to many burgers or drinking to much beer. The first guess may very well be true, but I am definitely popping out now.

No longer can I suck it in at all. I am at the stage where I would rather be not showing, or showing.  Instead, I am in the in-between stage. The stage where other people are probably noticing that something is going on, but are way to polite to comment.

As far as the whole non stop nausea feeling, I believe that I am finally over it and feeling normal again!  I have officially reclaimed my morning routine of meditating and yoga, as I can actually sit still with out getting sick! Yeah! And eating wise, I am back to eating full meals, although I hear that this may go away in the next couple of weeks depending on how big I get.

Energy wise, I am also feeling really good. For the first couple of days of feeling good again I over did it in the saying yes to everything department. Run in the early am? YES! Swimming in the afternoon then acro? Of course! Work meeting then dinner? Sounds great! After a couple days of this, I got way to worked and realized that while I am feeling better, my “go, go, go” mode doesn’t quite work right now. I still need my naps and my down time, otherwise bad things happen and I crash big time.

I am learning quickly that the saying “pregnancy gets you ready for motherhood” is very true.  While in the past I may have been able to multi task and get my whole to do list done in one day,  that is just not happening anymore. I am learning to be more flexible, honest and compassionate with myself.  And luckily I have an amazing community around me that understands that I am still in the transition phase for all of this. Communication and honest self assessment has been key in all of my relationships. When I let people know what is going on with me, I find that they give me more space, and then I allow myself to take that space.

Physically, I think I am doing pretty damn awesome. Last week we taught a 5 day acrobatics immersion and I was able to do just about everything. Pressing into things, hand to hand, baby hand to hand , slacker transitions and more are all still feeling really good in the body. The only things I will not do are crocks (where your whole weight is on your elbow which is in your belly), deep back bends and pops where we are landing on my belly.  Endurance wise, I have been out trekking, running, biking and swimming for long periods of time and it all feels amazing. As long as I am drinking lots and have snacks- I am happy. This last week Jason, myself and a friend went out on a 2 day trip to set our upcoming 30 hour race. It consisted of  long days of trekking, running and biking in the sun. At first I was pretty nervous about it, but then once I got going, I realized that THIS is my happy place, and if I am happy and feeling good – so are my babies.

Emotionally, I can’t honestly say that everything is “fine and dandy”. While I am of course over joyed and full of excitement, I am also still scared shitless and have waves of “is my life over!?”  It became especially strong when my team started getting ready to go to a 4 day World Series Adventure Race. Long adventure races hold a big piece of my heart and where much of my passion lies. For the past 9 years I have been training and racing, traveling around the world and seeing some amazing places both externally and internally. It has shaped much of who I am and is a major part of me.  Seeing the team  pack up, and then track them on the computer from afar was hard and very exciting (they did amazing!). I had a big case of FOMO, and fears of not ever being able to race again, but then I talked to Jason, and after telling me that I am crazy (in a loving way), he brought me to my senses.

He reminded me of the other billion plus mama athletes out there, all of which have their own badass stories of coming back stronger, fitter and wiser.  So, I started down the path of researching other amazing women and now I am feeling better and even have some new women to look up too. Also, our PT is helping me with exercises to strengthen my back, keep my pelvis intact  and keep my abs together as I continue to grow larger and larger. I can’t imagine going into this with out the knowledge and support that I am surrounded with. It truly is a fascinating process!

I also am aware of how insanely lucky we are,  as we have some of the best support around.  We have family close by, friends and parents who will fly down or anywhere for that matter to hang out and babysit.  Also while it will take some getting use to, my husband and I have come to terms with the fact that we will probably have to do some races and adventures apart.  This will be the hardest for me to get over I think, as for the past many years he has been my main training and adventure partner.

But then we go in to our Dr. together and see this and all of our fears fade away..

As we are heading into the second trimester we are starting to get excited about all of the family adventures we will be taking, which then got our minds rolling about what gear we need for them!? For those of you who have little ones of your own, or been around babies a lot, we want to know: what is absolutely crucial for the first year???? We are starting to take notes!!!

What I am loving:

This amazing book my friend sent to me (thank you Erin!): “The First 40 Days” it’s all about how to care for the mama for the first 40 days after giving birth. I love the ritual and ceremony aspect of it  and how she really encourages the mama and baby to take this time recoup, get to know each other and savior this time.

Papaya and lime – every morning before meditation I eat a bowl full and it is delicious!

Sleeping- I am sleeping 10 hours a day, and my dreams have been amazing and vivid

My growing belly – I love rubbing it, especially before night and in the morning. I am starting to see and feel where they are in my belly. Sometimes they are stacked on one side, and other times they are side by side. It is so COOL!

Mamas Belly Rub from Angelina’s – (thanks Deven!) this stuff is awesome. Every growing Mama should have some.