14.2 days:

In my first three months of being pregnant, I have gained a greater sense of awareness, trust, respect, and awe for my body.  The journey thus far has been fascinating, challenging and beyond worth it.  While pregnancy is a huge change both physically and emotionally, so is everyday life.  Life is about adapting and adjusting to change, the greater amount of tools and compassion that we have for ourselves and others, the better we can be as humans, friends and partners.

Below are the biggest lessons I’ve learned thus far in my pregnancy. Enjoy!

1) Do what feels good to you. Period. Don’t over think it.

You, and only you know your body.  And you are the only one that can give it what it needs. I knew with in the first three weeks that I was pregnant. I have always been pretty intuitive, but this was a whole new level.  All of a sudden I could tell something else was going on inside me, both emotionally and physically. For a minute I forgot about this heightened awareness when after we shared the news, it seemed like everyone had an opinion, advice, story or comment about pregnancy. I ate everything up, and then took what they said and researched it further.  I started second guessing and doubting myself.  One morning I woke up and had an anxiety attack about going on a pack rafting trip. “Am I being responsible?” “Should I be doing this?” These were the questions running through my head. It was exhausting worrying about if I should go or not. I ended up going, and had an amazing time. It was on that trip that I regained my trust and confidence in listening to myself.  It was a very primal feeling.  Running rivers, navigating rapids is something that is so natural for me. Even after years of not guiding, I can get on a river and read the water. I trust myself instantly, with out doubt or question. It’s a beautiful feeling, and one that I am now feeling in my pregnancy journey.

2) You are not ill, and you do not have an injury

While I do joke about pulling the pregnancy card, it is not something I believe in, yet.   Being pregnant is not about being fearful and stopping what you love to do.  Riding hard on amazing single track, going on long runs in the mountains, paddling, learning how to open water swim, and do handstands makes my heart purr.  My first 11 weeks were a blur of constant nausea. The only thing that helped was getting outside and moving.  While I probably was raising eyebrows and  maybe over-training, I didn’t care one bit. Me feeling better trumped everything else. Now, as I enter the anticipated second trimester, I am fully enjoying and taking advantage of eating full meals, taking rest days and training harder.

3) Embrace the weight vest:

As I begin to bulge out in front, both in the boobs and the belly I am making a point to embrace and USE the extra weight to my advantage. In a few months, I may not have to squat with extra weight, and as long as I keep on my pull up regime, my arms and back will get stronger and stronger with having to pull up with the twins in tow.

4) Have patience with yourself and learn to adapt

I have never really been one to take time to warm up before my workouts. I have always seen it as a waste of time. However, now it is a must. These days, my body is like a diesel engine on a cold winters day, taking it’s sweet time to warm up.  But once I am warmed up, everything is awesome and I feel like I can go forever. If I don’t give myself this time, then it is bad news, I start weezing and getting down on myself for even being out. I have learned that my body and mind needs more time these days to warm up to the idea and to the actual act of training. Once I realized this and started embracing it, my routine changed to better accommodate my changing body and emotions.

5) Get your yin on

I know for a fact that I have plenty of yang. My motivation, determination and competitive drive doesn’t need any more stoking at the moment. What I do need however is more yin. More patience, more self care, more pampering, and more time to do nothing. I teach balance in the physical sense.  How to balance on someone else and how to balance on a one inch piece of webbing, but yet I don’t have as much internal balance as I would like. So now that I am finally able to sit still with out getting nauseas, I am happy to report that I am able to meditate, and do yoga again! How do you bring in more yin?

6) Take the support

At first the advice and the excitement from other people was a bit overwhelming (see number 1). Believe it or not I am an introvert when it comes to my personal life and relationships.  It takes me a while to open up to people, and feel truly comfortable. While I love traveling, meeting and teaching to big groups of people,  I love coming home to my “family” where I know I can fully let go.  However, I am finding that this experience of becoming a mother and embracing my changing body is also allowing me to connect more with others. I am finding myself sharing and being more open than usual. Part of this has also been taking help when it is offered and not being afraid to ask for support.

What I am loving/craving/disliking:

Loving:

Sleep! I have been sleeping more than ever, and for the first time in years I have been sleeping in longer than Jason.

Loose clothing, particularly PrAna sweatpants and KAVU tanks.

Connecting with a whole new body of people

Craving: 

Meat and eggs.

Mexican food

Disliking:

I am still not so into sweet things

I am having a hard time adjusting to the fact that I get tired easily! It’s a hard practice of not judging myself.