The Beauty of Being Pregnant

This morning I had a smoothie with greens, half of a banana, some almond butter, coconut milk and cocoa powder sweetened with stevia extract. Every other day is smoothie day because it seems to help me poop regularly. If I tried to have a smoothie every single day, my body would refuse to empty. It just wants to do every other day and there seems to be nothing I can do about it. I also had 2 eggs and 2 pieces of bacon. I didn't eat greens this morning except in my smoothie.

The Beauty of Being Pregnant
This isn't the part where I tell you how beautiful I feel and that my skin is radiant and glowing. The title is a bit of a joke. I'm going to tell you how I am beginning to feel a little bit like Shrek.
First of all, something I have noticed but haven't mentioned until now is what is happening with my skin. First it seemed to be some dark patches that looked a little bit like a birthmark. One whole armpit was covered and the other just had a strange spotted pattern. I also see it sometimes on my bikini line which is great for summer when it looks like I have a permanent 5 o'clock shadow around my bathing suit bottoms. It comes and goes in darkness but I always see it because I am looking for it. Then I noticed some light spots on my chest that looked like I got sunscreen dripped in spots and those spots didn't tan like the rest of me. I think those are pretty obvious now that I have a great summer tan but at least they match the ones that have shown up on the inside of my left elbow. Every now and again some of these areas become raised bumps, like little spotted welts. I haven't been to a dermatologist so I can assume that this is a hormonal situation.
This webpage talks a little about what it is and describes one cause as: "Hormone. Melasma is more likely to occur during pregnancy and with the use of oral contraceptives. There is also evidence to suggest that progesterone administered to postmenopausal women may also play a role in the development of melasma. Apart from the female hormones, it appears that thyroid gland disorders may also be a risk factor for melasma."
Sounds like fun! Here's a picture of an example on a woman's face.

The next thing that's going on is hair. I've always been pretty lucky in that the peach fuzz that covers most of my body is blonde. Even my leg hairs are still blonde. For some reason I still have to dye the stuff on my head though. Well, the other night I was looking down at my belly and noticed that the fuzz on it was quite a bit longer and more noticeable than I remembered. It was still light, so I don't mind much. However, when I pointed it out to my husband he grabbed his electric razor and started to go to town on my stomach until I pushed him away. It would serve him right if that bare spot grew back long and dark. Haha.... Actually, I'd rather it didn't. Well, the hair is not just more noticeable on my belly but also on my breasts. I'm not going to go into much more detail than that... except to say it reminded me of this scene from scrubs (no need to go past the 1 min. mark).
When I first noticed the hair on my belly, it kinda reminded me of this picture (below), but by no means is there nearly this much hair. It's just what the hair was doing and the shape that reminded me.

Perhaps one of my husband's favorite ogre-like symptoms I have acquired is the gas. Whether it's burping or farting, he puts up a whole big stink (haha pun). You'd think he'd be much happier with the burping, as it is not so much lethal as it is loud. He acts like he doesn't understand the fact that I can't burp quietly because all the air will not come out if I try to stifle myself and then I just end up in pain. As for the farting, well, it's just the most awful thing in the world. Some people can stand their own farts or even like them, but I have to admit that these are even unbearable for me. Sometimes my husband gags and I will not be surprised if he actually vomits one day. I do what I can in the way of letting it out somewhere else or at least warning him that it's happening, but that doesn't do much to help. I tell him that it is all revenge for when we first started living together and I awoke from a deep sleep to the horrific smell of one of his blasts.... seriously, a deep sleep.

One other thing I've been feeling is a fullness that I was associating with overeating and constipation (a symptom I've already covered quite extensively). It turns out that I was not overeating but the feeling is just another symptom. In the book Exercising Through Your Pregnancy by James F. Clapp M.D. he describes this fullness as a result of additional blood flow during early pregnancy: "the increased flow to the reproductive tissues ensures adequate delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the developing placenta and baby, but it also creates the uncomfortable sensation of pelvic and lower abdominal fullness."

Hopefully the last thing I have to report about (so far) is the death breath I have been walking around with. Of course the hormonal changes a pregnant woman goes through are the culprit of this fabulous affliction too. I honestly am not affected by it one bit, but that is because I am not trapped in an astronaut helmet forced to inhale my own stink breath. My husband is of course constantly reminding me of how awful I smell and I do what I can to cover it up. Hopefully the people I am coaching in beginning CrossFit classes aren't catching a whiff. Sorry.....

Besides all of this magic of pregnancy, I still feel beautiful. My skin does look nice (where it is not blotchy) and my belly is starting to round out a little. I am just beginning my second trimester which is supposed to be the best part and looking forward to it!

Food Aversions, Constipation and Midwives

It's been a couple of days since I've had greens for breakfast. This is not just because I ran out of spinach, but also because I don't feel I can stomach kale lately. We bought some from a farmer's market yesterday and after reading that it is only bitter when it is going bad, I tried the fresh bunch with today's breakfast and it was fine.

Food Aversions
When I think of greens, I don't think of the picture on the left, I think of the wilted slimy hot mess they will become in order for me to eat them. This picture even makes my stomach turn a little. This has been my problem since my first bout with nausea weeks ago. Things that are bitter turn me off and make me lose my appetite altogether. Salad with a little too much vinegar in the dressing, the fridge full of leaves my husband insists I eat and even the thought of the steak-burgers I got in the mail make me want to go upstairs and sleep through dinner time. Last night I knew I had to get some more greens in my body since it had been days without more than a caesar salad to balance out my nutritional needs. I decided that maybe I could eat kale if I made a soup with the canned organic butternut squash we had in the cupboard. My thinking was that the thick and somewhat creamy sweet squash broth would drown out the bitterness. It didn't turn out the way I expected, but it was damn good. I used leftover italian sausage, red onion, homemade beef broth, butternut squash and some leftover pizza sauce to make a very meaty italian soup. It is quite possible that having this soup with greens in it helped me with my latest constipation problem.

Constipation
This article helpfully discusses why it is that pregnant women get constipated. I was using the greens that I added to my smoothies to help me regulate my system, however these are expensive and not always around. They contained psyllium husk, which is the main ingredient in most fiber supplements. This morning I woke up with my back a little sore and have been feeling full and bloated lately. I thought something's got to give today or I will be in worse shape tomorrow. Luckily, I had some relief this morning maybe from the kale I got down last night or the bowl of fruit salad I made for dessert. It really goes to show you how big of a part fruits and veggies play in your diet.
Another thing I discovered is coconut water. One morning I was having the same issue and decided that I would drink a coconut water first thing on an empty stomach. This proved to be a good move. As I researched a little today, I was able to confirm that coconut water has natural laxative effects. My assumption is that when used on an empty stomach, your body is more easily able to absorb it and not only cause quick hydration (needed for regularity) but have a more efficient laxative result.
One other helpful thing during constipation is exercise. This can be a catch 22 as nobody really feels like moving around too much when they feel "full of shit" so to speak.

Midwives
We met with our first midwife on Friday afternoon and a second one on Thursday. We could continue the interview process and meet with many more, but since we had such great experiences with both of them, we can probably just make a decision at this point. One thing we did before meeting was make sure to have a list of questions. Here is our list based on some of the suggestions made in the homebirth forum I was reading in an earlier post:

-What will we need as far as pool rental, birthing stool and birthing kits go?
-Is there a back up plan if the midwife does not arrive in time?
-is there a problem if the pregnancy goes past the due date?
-How often do their clients tear and what they did to prevent tearing?
-What about harvesting cord blood?
-What doctors do they recommend or work with?
-What insurance do they take, if any? How much will this cost us?
-What is their experience and background?

-How often does a client need to transfer to a hospital?

We were told by both that they have specific doctors they like to work with and would have a list of recommended doulas if we decide to get one. We probably will based on the fact that both really seemed to be in favor of it. Both were willing to travel to where we live, which is 45 minutes away. They also had the same reaction to my question of them not arriving in time. I got a laugh and the response that I was a very lucky woman if this were to happen because that would be record breaking labor time. I really felt comfortable with both women and they were completely open to our lifestyle. I was told that my nutrition and overall state of health would play a factor in whether or not I would have tearing and how much. Insurance will cover most of it except for a doula and possibly the pool rental fee. As far as harvesting cord blood (something for a future post), one of the midwives made us feel like it would be no big deal for her to take care of it and the other suggested we have someone else there to handle it. This was pretty much the only difference between the two of them besides age, location, years of experience and one of them being a certified nurse. Despite the fact that she is not currently a certified nurse (but will be by the time we deliver), we decided (or my husband decided) on the midwife who will handle the cord blood. After all, you do want everything to be taken care of by the people you are hiring right? I think I liked her because she told me I was healthy and seemed to be doing everything right. It certainly doesn't hurt to be flattered and have your own thoughts confirmed. It also sounds a little funny, but I liked that she gave me a hug when I left her office. I found this to be a very comforting gesture from someone who will have a major part in our family for this monumental event and who will (pardon me) be seeing an awful lot of my vagina.

Food and A Couple of Things

Breakfast has been pretty much the same as always: 2 eggs, some bacon, some wilted greens, water and vitamins. I did have someone suggest that I take my vitamins later in the day because of the slight nausea I was feeling. I actually ended up taking them at lunch and realized that perhaps dinner would be better. But, of all the vitamins I take, the probiotic seems to be the culprit in upsetting my stomach. We might have to try another brand as my husband is adamant that I take them with every meal.
We've had a couple of fun meals in the last few days.

On Wednesday night we went to Peter Luger Steakhouse to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. We had the most amazing (non-pastured) bacon pictured above, followed by a 36 oz steak for two being polished off in the photo below. I did feel guilty eating grain-fed beef and non-pastured bacon. It tasted amazing as is expected of this famous place. 

This breakfast includes a little salmon patty from the batch of homemade salmon burgers we made on Thursday night.

I made a batch of homemade baba ghanouj by roasting an organic eggplant and blending it in the food processor with some seasoning. This is an easy dip for veggies and should be a constant staple in our fridge.

Saturday afternoon I had a hankering for baking and needed to eat lunch, so I decided to play around with a recipe for pizza dough. I also really just wanted something bready with olive oil on it. I was pretty pleased with the way this turned out, so I will make it again tomorrow for my husband's birthday. In the version below, I did not have any tomato sauce so I blended some basil, spinach, roasted garlic, olive oil, splash of lemon and a little sea salt in the bullet to make a type of pesto sauce. To the top of this I added sliced tomato, red onion and portobello mushroom slices. I did not have any meat handy unfortunately so I followed up the four pieces with a leftover salmon burger. Big mistake. I've been eating too much lately and this was one of those times.

Last night we made orange chicken and wilted bok choy. This was also a whim project and came out pretty tasty but was a big difference from the inspiration dish with it's slimy coated pieces of chicken (gross but yummy). 

I followed this meal up with an amazing fruit salad that had pieces of watermelon, pluot, blueberries and golden raisins, covered with a mixture of homemade peach preserves and a splash of coconut milk. I also added a lite dusting of stevia to make sure it was super sweet. It was pretty damned satisfying. 

A Couple of Things
1. Mosquitos seriously bug. It has been that time of year for a while and I feel like I am walking bait. I don't know if it's because I am growing blood or because I smell different or both. I really feel like mosquitos favor me a hell of alot more than everyone else especially because they never used to be that interested in me. According to this article it is true that pregnant women attract more of these blood-suckers. However, it is not proven and they can only make guesses about why it seems true. While looking for answers I was also coming across articles about west nile virus and malaria. Great. I think I will definitely be purchasing a clip on mosquito repellant or start applying some oils of naturally repelling plants. I do have Dr. Bronner's eucalyptus oil soap. It might not hurt to start using this as a bodywash or just dabbing a tiny bit on the backs of my knees, ankles and inside of the elbow (just figuring these places give off more heat and will cover my legs which get bit the most). We took our dogs to a dog beach the other day and literally walked a 100 yard mosquito gauntlet. My legs look like a braille map of pink constellations.
2. Constipation is a wonderful part of pregnancy. Yes, that is sarcasm and yes, I'm talking about poop... or lack thereof. I have had this problem starting with the grain-fed steak dinner. It is suspect and probably not a huge surprise that changing the quality of my food would cause such trouble. I am not having a meal like this (a kind of quality "cheat") for a while because of how I feel now. It's really been a frustrating last couple of days as I continue to put food in and nothing comes out. I did have my little container of greens that contained psyllium husk and seemed to help with the situation, but we ran out. Not to mention that most of the time if you are not regular to begin with the psyllium tends to add to the problem and just cause bloating. Granted, I did eat at Fette Sau today and had even more amazing bacon than the piece I already showed you. But this is it for low quality meat. No more. Hopefully I will get back on track and be regular again. I apologize for this information, but a person just doesn't feel so hot when they are stuffed up with waste and it really goes to show that what you eat can have a big difference on how your system operates.
3. Symptoms like the faint nausea can possibly be diverted with moving around the time in which I take my vitamins as discussed earlier.
Now, I don't know if this is a pregnancy thing or what, but the other night I had a nose-bleed. Of course my reaction, to be a little dramatic, was to yell "I'm anemic!" I really haven't had a bloody nose in a long time. The last time was at 10,000 ft above sea-level in a super dry climate. It's pretty darn humid where I am now and I remain a little baffled. So, let's just blame it on pregnancy.
Another thing I've got going on is constant burping. My husband yells at me every time I do it, as if I can control it. You know what I say? Tough shit.
This is something that seems to be just recently happening and could certainly be caused by what I'm eating. At first I thought it was happening because of the shredded yam I used in our salmon patties, but I was going again pretty good today and had no salmon at all. It could be the fish oil, although I'm not getting any fishy flavor coming up. It just seems I am full of gas and it's coming out the more controllable end (for now). It's possible my body is just having trouble accommodating the food that continues to go in and not come out.
4. Overeating was bound to happen at some point and having a kitchen stocked with fun stuff to play with doesn't seem to help. The first step is admitting it, right? Checking out my thigh-size in the mirror this morning was checking back into reality for a second. I realize this past week has gotten out of control, but now I know what I have to do to get back on track. I will not overstuff myself. I will be consistent with my workouts again (I worked out on Wednesday, Friday and plan to get in on Sunday).  My usual every-other-day system is back in effect. I will stop eating poor quality foods and cut down on the fruit. Hopefully I can still weigh in at 157 lbs at my Aug. 27th doctors appointment.

Morning Sickness? Working Out and Ice Cream

I am back on the Cholula and trying a different flavor too! The bottom half of the eggs are covered with  the chili garlic flavor. It's good. It's not what I expected and you definitely have to be in the mood for garlic first thing in the morning, otherwise it's probably amazing on tacos. My husband is stoked on it, which makes me happy since I am obsessed with the original. 

Morning Sickness?

Friday morning at about 4 am I woke up to pee and felt nauseous. I tried to ignore it and went back to sleep however, when I woke up later that morning I still felt it. It wasn't an urgent puking feeling but the feeling before that tells you it might get that bad. I started off with a little water before getting up and going downstairs. The first think I did was eat a banana. The sugar/starch base seemed to mellow the queesiness enough for me to make my usual breakfast and even continue with my Cholula covered eggs. The nausea continued throughout the day as a distant warning but never got worse than that. Despite the fact that it made me not want to eat, I did it anyway. Someone once said I love to eat and well, who doesn't? Every time I ate something the feeling went away for a little while. 

Why was I feeling this way? My thought was that it was too late for morning sickness to start as I am already into my 9th week. So, I started thinking that maybe it was food poisoning or that maybe I swallowed too much chlorine during my body-fat test (something we did at the gym involving submerging yourself entirely in a small pool by letting out all of your air... during which I'm pretty sure some of the water went up my nose because I was tasting chlorine for the rest of the night... Ick!). Just thinking about it makes me nauseous. I don't know what was happening here but luckily the next morning it was gone and all I had was a memory of the feeling. By this, I mean that if I thought about it hard enough I could bring the whole nausea back again. Maybe morning sickness is more of a mental thing and if you just try to ignore it and move along your day as you normally would, you could suffer from it less. Wouldn't that be nice...

For lunch I had a salmon burger on some cut organic pea shoots with tomato, big mac sauce, mustard and relish. Today's lunch was my second day having tuna salad, which seems to taste realllllly good to me lately. It all started when I came home on Saturday and while walking up the stairs to my apartment I kept smelling tuna salad on toasted bread. I could actually smell the toasted bread which was really the most enticing part. I ate a ton of tuna salad as a child and at some point decided I was over it. When I got older, I realized I could put more in it than just the mayo and relish I grew up with. So, I got fancy with it and used homemade mayo (equal parts extra light tasting evoo and an egg), onion and garlic powder, fresh organic dill, salt and a splash of white vinegar. To the mixed liquids and tuna I added chopped red onion and some pickle relish. Today I just poured the sauce over the tuna and two small wedges of iceberg lettuce and added some grape tomato slices. It was so good I could make it again right now but I'm waiting for dinner.

Working Out

Friday I did half of Angie instead of the full workout, as this was my first day back after vacation and I was still faintly nauseous.

So, my workout looked like:

50 pullups

50 pushups 

50 situps

50 air squats

my time: 21 minutes and 25 seconds

I went really slow and took my time obviously.

Ice Cream

We bought this coconut ice cream at Whole Foods on Thursday and it was gone by Saturday night. I made it perfectly clear that if there was ever to be a crisis-quencher during the future of this pregnancy, this is the motherlode. This is absolutely without question the best mint and chip ice-cream that a non-dairy, sugar-free eating person could dream of. I dare not say that it wipes out all dairy competition because it has been so long since I have had any. When I am eating this, I don't care about all the other possibilities. Mint chip has been my favorite flavor for a while and we've tried to whip up our own batches with coconut milk and stevia, but I think I can relinquish that trouble to the experts. My husband said I can't eat it all the time because it's ingredient list is not just as simple as coconut milk, stevia, peppermint extract and dark chocolate. Okay, that's fine... but one day I may be moaning my head off for it and I will not be refused. I will save my battle for then.

Holy balls... they make butter-pecan too...... I'm trying that next!

For Dinner we are having chili-fries (my favorite). We made this on Saturday night and had leftovers to eat tonight. How can you not eat these? They are sweet potato fries, but the sweetness is that much better with hot meaty chili on top! My husband made this batch and he must at this point realize that he is supposed to chop the onions a little better (per MY recipe)... I hope.

Working Out and More Questions

Breakfast this morning was made by my husband. It consisted of 2 eggs, the last piece of breakfast sausage, some butternut squash "homefries" and sauteed kale. I had the usual vitamins (fish oil, prenatal, vitamin D) and a ginger tea and lemonade "arnold palmer" to drink.

Working Out
Today's WOD:

Today was a scheduled rest day. In preparation for my crossfit level 1 certification next weekend, I wanted to do Fran.

21 - 15 - 9

Thrusters
Pull-ups

Rx 65 lbs.

I did 45 lbs. and used a band for the pull-ups.
My time was 8:27

More Questions
Q: What is the transition, or transitioning? This is a term I continually saw in the homebirthing forum I've been reading.
A: Amazing! I really like the definition on this site. It is basically the "rock bottom" of labor. When a woman feels like giving up or the loss of control, she has transitioned. It sounds like it is the hardest part of labor. I like this reminder: "At this point, it is the job of her coach or labor partner to assist her into various positions in an attempt to find the one that will keep her most comfortable." This is the point of no return. It's more inspiring to me than scary.


Q: What is the deal with hypnobirth?
A: I read this post on hypnobirthing last night. It is a means of using the subconscious mind to get through labor instead of the conscious in order to lessen the pain. It teaches proper relaxation which is key in letting the body do what it is supposed to more effectively. It sounds like it is quite an involved process of classes and homework but quite possibly worth it. I think I may look into it. My first thought though is- does this make the mother more "out of it" during the process? If so, doesn't that negate the purpose of a homebirth or one of them?
I will have to learn more about it to assess it properly but I feel like I could just practice deep relaxation and not have to bother with paying anyone.


Q: How long do I have until I shouldn't fly anymore?
A: I've always heard that the last trimester is off limits for a pregnant woman to fly. This website says a carrying mother can fly up until week 36. Then I did the math on that one and thought... Whaaaat? Isn't that 9 months? Yes it is. Apparently the due date is calculated at 40 weeks or 10 months. Am I the only one who feels stupid for not knowing these things? This is why I ask questions, especially because my math skills are sub par. So, if you are having a NORMAL pregnancy, you can run the risk of travel as late as 1 month before you are due. If there are other things going on, why risk it? I was a late baby. I was 3 whole weeks late (and 1 oz shy of 11 lbs. might I add...). So, I'm banking on that timing for myself. I still would not travel that close to my due date. Especially when that's got to be major nest prep time.

That's all the questions for today.

Lunch was leftover salmon from last night and salad.
For dinner we ate caesar salad and those steak burgers we got from La Cense beef. They were delicious. I really like the flavor in that blend of meat.

The CrossFit Games are on all weekend and I may not get anywhere near the computer. See you next time.

Sleep and Questions

Who needs to go to a restaurant when you can have this every morning in your own house?
This gourmet masterpiece consists of 2 pieces of Trader Joe's bacon (only the antibiotic/hormone free), 2 organic eggs with basil leaves (from our potted plant) and butternut squash "homefries" with some spinach. This butternut squash recipe is delicious. I made it over a year ago and now my husband has taken over. It's nice to have him do all the work and be able to just warm it in the skillet in the morning. :)

Sleep
Before I was even close to pregnant, I was telling someone that I wasn't going to be doing any waking up at 5 am with any baby. That baby will just have to learn to sleep in, just like we taught our dogs. We got it down to where if we got up early, our dogs would come downstairs and eat breakfast and then go back upstairs to sleep some more. I'm pretty sure I just got laughed at with that idea.
*Just an interruption here- I just ate everything on that plate and had a smoothie with greens in it and my stomach feels empty still.... what the what?
Anyway, I have found strange things happening with my sleep. I always wondered how parents got up so early with their baby every morning and thought that it was just something they got used to over time. Now I feel like the body naturally prepares itself to become the morning person it needs to be for a newborn. That's good. At least I'm preparing without any effort. It also makes me wonder if the tired spells I seem to have a couple hours later will someday coincide with my babies' post breakfast nap time. If so, I'll take it! Waking up earlier each morning is not just the first thing that's going on.
I am sleep-walking. Now this is something that I've done before many times. Despite that it's called "sleep-walking" it doesn't always involve cruising around your house. Sometimes I would just sit up in bed and start looking around the room or do weird things like trying to hold up the wall behind our bed because I thought it was going to come down on me and my sleeping husband. I actually thought that just pulling the blanket over his head would protect him. It seems now that my dreams, even the super-active ones, are all following the theme of children, childbirth, parenting, etc....
Last night I got up out of bed thinking I needed to take the sack of birthing fluid and/or placenta and bloody mess from it's spot on the floor next to my bed and move it somewhere that it would be safe for later. I bent down to pick this stuff up and (it was really my scattered clothes from that day) thought to myself "Oh, the fluid drained out. Well I better move it anyway." So I gathered the pieces of clothing, one of which was dark and seemed to be the "bloody" item, and walked over to the door and placed them gently on the floor next to our laundry basket. This morning, I had some vague recollection of doing this and went over to see what I was actually moving in my sleep. I saw that it was just dirty clothes.
Another night I woke up and looked over at my husband's side of the bed for some reason and watched the figure of a little blonde boy fade into the objects behind as I blinked my eyes into focus. He had been doing something with the things on my husbands night stand. This is another thing I have done quite a bit. I open my eyes in my sleep and things that I was dreaming about slowly come into focus as objects around my room.

For lunch I had 2 hot dogs again and a side salad. This time I wrapped the dogs with bacon. I followed it all up with a piece of the primal banana gingerbread I made. I didn't write the recipe down but it came out AWESOME! I'll work on that recipe for interested parties.
Tomorrow I will be trying out one of these amazing looking burgers I got from a deal on groupon. They are from La Cense Beef, are antibiotic/hormone free and 100% grass-fed beef from Montana. Their steakburger patties are "a premium blend of Sirloin Steak, Round Roast, Chuck Roast and Flank Steak." The price worked out to only $6 per pound with free shipping ($49 for 24 patties). Can't beat that deal. I ordered them on Monday and they arrived today. These are frozen and look how deep the color is!
Yay MEAT!

Questions
Q: What is meconium? This is a term I came across in my homebirth research and it has something to do with newborns pooping I think.
A: Meconium is literally newborn poop. It's slimy and dark greenish to brownish and apparently resembles tar in it's texture. It is pretty much what has been in their digestive system from inside the womb. I'd put up a picture if it wouldn't be so close to my burgers. Feel free to click the link and check out wikipedia's pics. From what I read on the homebirthing forum, it sounds like a pain in baby's ass to get off and can be easier to remove when you apply oil or vaseline to the newborn's bum in between diaper changes.

Q: Do I need different strollers, car seats, etc... for different baby's ages? I'm talking newborn - toddler, not newborn - 5 year old obviously...   I asked this question because my sister-in-law said she has a ton of stuff to give us for the baby. They are so far aunt and uncle #1 because they will probably save us literally thousands of dollars.
A: According to about.com there are 3 different kinds of car seats. The first kind faces the rear of the car and is used for newborns/infants that are 20 lbs. and under. The second seat is forward-facing and is used for infants of more than 20 lbs. The best option seems like the third. A convertible car seat can be rear-facing for newborns and front-facing for when the baby weighs enough.

Q: What foods/nutrients help prevent or minimize morning sickness? This one I ask on behalf of friends. I am lucky to not have any morning sickness yet. In one place I read that it's not supposed to happen until 7 weeks and in another- from 4 weeks.
A: I thought I read in one or both of my books that there was a nutrient in particular foods that could help to prevent or minimize the onset of morning sickness. When I went back and looked, I couldn't find anything except that "vomiting and nausea during the first trimester were correlated with an unsuitable diet and big infrequent meals." This was found in a study by researchers at the University of Athens.
Jonny Bowden of my 100's book, says that protein-deficiency can cause vomiting, fatigue and loss of appetite. So, perhaps protein is the way to go. It is my favorite thing to eat and I get it first thing in the morning. Maybe it is helping me to avoid these symptoms? When searching the internet I found this site that recommends avocados, proteins and nut-butter to help stave off the nausea.My recommendation would be to have a little organic broth (preferably homemade) in the morning before doing anything. It's all protein, among other numerous nutrients, it's mild on the stomach and full of water to re-hydrate you first thing in the morning.

That's all the questions I have for today.

For dinner, I am making a filet of marinated wild salmon we bought from costco and whatever veggies we have to throw on the side. Lately I've been cutting up a bit of everything and roasting it all with the entree. I'm not allowed to have chocolate anymore except a tiny bit every once in a while, so dessert will probably be a piece of fruit.

Homebirth Research

Breakfast was a little weird this morning. Things tasted a little different. I had 2 eggs, breakfast sausage, wilted spinach with avocado, a smoothie and some homemade lemonade. It all tasted just the slightest bit unappealing to me. I got it all down anyway and washed it down with the organic fruit smoothie.

Homebirth Research
My husband and my own personal researcher emailed me a bunch of links with information on homebirth. Several were listings for midwives and a few links for recommended reading, but my favorite is this forum where women tell what they would have done differently the next time they were to have a homebirth. I have read 6 pages and am still going. It's truly fascinating. I even started making a list of these tips and suggestions. Some of the advice sounds like a foreign language to me but I am putting it on the list anyway.
Before I knew I was pregnant, my husband and I watched the Business of Being Born (Netflix has it), a documentary about the differences between labor in a hospital and having a homebirth. It didn't take more than a few minutes of this movie to convince me of which I wanted to do.
After reading through the pages of the forum, it did bring up some realistic concerns:
   1. Our lease is up in January (I am supposedly due in March) and I don't know where we will be living at that time. Hopefully we will move on to something better. This makes it hard for me to start planning the homebirth setup. I really like to plan. I rarely get all or even half of my plans executed, but the process is what I like.
   2. Oh god the perineum- The possibility of tearing sounds way more painful than anything. This is probably now my biggest fear. The aftercare of that whole area gives me a little more of an idea what really goes on. Women are talking about needing to wear frozen tea-soaked maxi-pads post delivery. It doesn't change my mind, but it makes me think about how little I will be able to do in the weeks afterward.
   3. Family time with the new baby- I like the suggestions to have visiting hours. This will be the first grandchild for my parents and I can't help to want to include them as much as possible. My husband says it's just going to be me and him and the midwife. After reading about all the things I will need before, during and after the process, I think that I would want my sister there (if she wants to). She will be becoming an aunt and I think it would be special for her to help with the baby. Plus, she and I have become so much closer over the past couple of years that I can't think of anyone else who will understand what I need or be more helpful (besides my husband). I really want him to be able to be more of the process and not have to worry about running around frantically trying to do everything.
The grandparents and grandparents-to-be may have to keep it short the first day to let the 2 of us rest. I like the sign one midwife made for her patient's door: "At homebirths we mother the mother. Please do something helpful/useful while you are here. Sweep the floor, quietly do the dishes, wash a load of laundry, or take out the trash. But most importantly, limit your stay to 15 minutes."
15 minutes is a little stiff, but I like the idea.

In a search for crossfitters having homebirths I came across a blog with this description in her birthing process: "It was horrible. It was like riding an electrical storm naked and cold and inside out. It was like internal rope burns. It was never ending. I was in that moment for eternity, going through the worst pain I’ve ever felt. Being out of control. Being very inside my body that was being ripped apart. I intoned throughout the whole thing, sucking in air, and intoning again. Riding it out. Higher pitched when it got worse and lower when I felt in control. I was on top of it, beneath it, inside it. Gasping for breath. Knowing what I needed to do and feeling unable to do it. But doing it."
Allllllrighty then. She hadn't even given birth at this point... this was just a contraction.
I haven't found anything about how doing crossfit can prepare you for a better homebirth. I will let my husband, the ultimate researcher, find me some things to read and get back to that.

Taco salad and lemonade is for lunch. I know it just looks like a bowl of meat, but there is diced cabbage and lettuce underneath it all with a drizzle of organic olive oil and ACV. My husband thinks it's funny that I'm on this taco kick, because as he recalls "You hate mexican food." It's a convenience thing on top of being able to eat with my hands like you would a normal taco, or a burger if there were primal buns.

*Symptoms
I really had planned on going to the crossfit gym today, but this wave of exhaustion came over me. At one point my eyes were watering as I struggled to keep them open. I tried to take a nap but I couldn't stop thinking of other things to do. From noon til night, I was just dragging around.
I also feel extra bloated today. I have been bloated this whole time, but today's bloat makes me wonder if I'm further along than I thought, or if there's more than one of these things in there. I did kinda want twins, but decided that if I really enjoy this process, I may want to do it again. That's saying we only really planned on two kids total.

Dinner is wild mahi-mahi and some sort of veggies. Too tired to get into detail.

Watching the Clock

I had wilted organic spinach, breakfast sausage and 2 eggs this morning. I didn't have a smoothie yesterday or this morning but I might have one as a pre-lunch snack. We bought a bunch of bananas that are now super ripe and I am considering making primal banana-nut gingerbread. That just sounds awesome.

*Sidenote: Constipation can be a problem when you are pregnant. Of course, it depends on what you are eating. More fruits and veggies will definitely help with that problem. More greens may also make your (pardon the scientific term) poop look a little more like plant-life. If you choose to supplement your diet with the greens recommended in my other post, be aware that they have a little bit of psyllium  husk in there. This aids in a slight flushing of your system so-to-speak. If you are more likely used to a backed-up system, this may actually just add to the problem. Make sure you are having regular movements before adding this to your diet.

Watching the Clock
Ever since I found out I was pregnant, the time can't go by fast enough. I'm sure it will pick up pretty soon, but I am antsy as hell to get to that first doctor's appointment. I don't know if it's because I don't really know for sure how far along I am, or if it's because I want to be closer to telling more people that I'm having a baby! So, each day my responsibility is to make sure I eat the right things and then what?
I feel like I'm on permanent vacation... passing the time in between meals. I stare at the same picture in my Sprout app hoping that I might see something different than the last time I looked at it. Well, at least it will change again on Wednesday, even though I've already read that page too. I guess I will clean the house.
Only moments later, I read this post. I guess I should be glad I can still do everything I want to except gorge on crazy cheat food.

I ate leftover taco meat in red cabbage shells for lunch. I swear I can eat these all day long. That's an "arnold palmer" in the glass (that's iced tea mixed with lemonade, for those of you who don't know what that is). A couple hours later I was feeling hungry again, so I had a smoothie with a banana, blueberries, coconut milk and half a scoop of greens. I feel like I'm hungry all the time. Even if my stomach feels full, there's still that little nagging hollow feeling just above it. Could be boredom. ;)

Dinner is bar-b-que pork chops and wilted greens and baby broccoli with roasted garlic.

Oh the Heat, Working out and Iced Tea

Today I am foregoing the smoothie. It has fruit in it, which I don't want to have too much of because of the natural sugars. I may save that for my post-workout snack. This breakfast includes 2 eggs, breakfast sausage, wilted kale with red onion, avocado and tomato. I found a peach rooibos herbal tea to satisfy my need for a different flavored water.

The Heat
These temperatures have been keeping me indoors within air-shot of our wonderful air-conditioner. Today it's not so bad, but yesterday we topped out at around 100 degrees. One of the things I remember from science class, whether it was in college or high-school, was that when your body starts reaching temperatures like 104 or higher your DNA starts to unravel. I always picture the double helix starting to break apart at the middle of each ladder rung and the whole thing unzipping. This is really what happens and it causes problems that are as serious as it sounds. This is not only why it is dangerous for anyone to ever have a fever that high, but why you have to pay attention to your body temperature in extreme heat. Can you imagine what could happen to your tiny fetus? No thanks.
Obviously you need to make sure you are not overheating during exercise by drinking plenty of water and being willing to stop if you get too hot.
With thoughts of next summer's heat, I wanted to remember this great post on how to keep your newborn cool.

Working Out
Today's WOD:

1 rep max thruster (I did 125 lbs)

Death by Thrusters

1 Thruster the first minute, 2 the 2nd minute, 3 the third minute etc… Continue until you are unable to complete the set number of thrusters within the minute.

Rx: 135/95

I did 8 rounds + 8 in round 9 (with 65 lbs)

Iced Tea
Since I have to give up all coffee whatsoever, this is a beverage I will be expecting to drink a ton of, in various combinations with ACV or fruit juice or both. The most important thing about the types of teas you select is that they say "herbal" on the box. This means they contain no caffeine. If a box doesn't say anything to indicate the caffeine level, forget it. Ginger tea is always recommended mainly for easing the stomach. I use it to make my ACV zinger drinks. The other one I have now is the peach rooibos, which is a red herbal tea. It also has a little cinnamon, cardamom, clove, ginger and stevia mixed in. As a hot tea, it would be good to make a tea-latte with coconut milk instead of dairy. I've been drinking it iced and it has a mild earthy flavor to it.
Another tea I happen to have in my cupboard is Organic Raspberry Leaf. I bought this months ago to help naturally ease menstrual cramps. Lo and behold, it actually worked! It turns out that it recommended *during pregnancy. It is caffeine free and supposedly helps with irregular menstruation, cramps and pregnancy as well as toning the uterus. That's awesome! I haven't had a cup just yet since I've learned I am expecting. I am still glad to feel the cramps just to know that everything is working properly. I may find out that it helps with the stretching of the uterus and give it a shot one day.
Another thing I would like to try is lavender tea mixed with a little lemonade. Yum.

Lunch was leftover grass-fed roast from some nights back, followed a couple hours later by an organic salad.
Dinner was my new favorite item, which we had only a week ago because it is my new favorite, tacos.
Grass-fed beef tacos with tomato, avocado, red onion in a cabbage shell. You can't see all the toppings because it's easier to put them under the meat. A side salad with homemade caesar dressing and some more peach tea wrapped it all up for this complete dinner. We have plenty of leftovers for the week too.

Working Out (in general)

For breakfast I had an organic smoothie with greens, 2 organic eggs, breakfast sausage, and wilted kale.
It's not a smaller meal, just a bigger plate.

Working Out
Yesterday's workout was tough. It was about 95 degrees out and I was sweating before I even started.
I think most pregnant women are afraid to push themselves to exercise during their pregnancy. You always picture a room full of pregnant women doing yoga or something where they are sitting on the ground. I have nothing against yoga, but if you are sitting, you are probably not really "working out."
The good thing about CrossFit is that you are always glad you did it, even when you are sore the next day or two. For me, I want to be in the best shape possible when I am pregnant. I want excellent core strength so that when it comes to pushing out a baby, it only takes a couple of good pushes. I have also been reading that women who are already in great physical fitness tend to carry their babies high and tight, like a basketball. These are the type of women that don't look pregnant until they turn to the side. Yes please!
There can be risks to doing too much. Obviously you don't want to push yourself until hyperventilation or hypoxia. Your baby needs the oxygen as much as you do. A common rule is that your heart rate shouldn't be above a 140 if you are exercising. There are specific movements you shouldn't do, and the list goes on....
I think the best way to work out is with common sense. This list has a couple things to consider that pretty much fall under common sense.

For myself, I am just going to listen to my body. If there is a specific movement I don't feel comfortable doing because I am worried about it being harmful even during this first trimester (or just because I hate doing it - like kettle-bell swings), I am just not going to do it. I may try to substitute something similar in movement. If I am doing a met-con and I want to stop for a rest, I will. I will not even pay attention to the clock for my wods. I'm not competing. I am just trying to get a good workout. I am not going to let myself breathe too hard or get anywhere near dizzy. I will drink nearly all of my 32 oz bottle of water to keep myself cool and hydrated. I will also take a mid-wod pee-break if I damn well feel like it. That's it. That is all I need to do.

I feel good about exercising and I am already feeling that it is making a difference. If it were that easy to lose a baby from doing exercise - American teens would be in way better shape and the abortion clinics would go out of business.

Lunch today was 2 Applegate Farms hot dogs, some homemade sauerkraut and red onion. I was a little too lazy to make a salad. For dinner we had pastured chicken legs (from our CSA) with sauteed organic leeks, collard greens, spinach and chard with a little salad on the side. For dessert I had a piece of a chocolate bar that is sweetened with stevia. I am cherishing it because my husband says I need to stop eating chocolate. I made him do some research on decaf coffee and he found out how much caffeine is in chocolate. I knew it would come to that. Wah wahhhhh......

Greens, Working out Breaking the News

Today instead of having greens on my plate, I had them in my drink. Two eggs, bacon, breakfast sausage and a smoothie made for the perfect sized meal. The (organic) smoothie had half of a banana, a small handful of blueberries, a splash of orange juice, half of a cup of coconut milk, water and a scoop of greens. 

Greens

This stuff truly is Amazing Grass (the name of the company). I would highly recommend it to anyone who does not like to eat greens, but you gotta put it in a smoothie or you will not like it. If you drink it just stirred into a liquid, it may seem a little gritty. It is sweetened with stevia at least. Just take a look at the nutritional content:

Working Out
Today's CrossFit WOD:

Back Squats
5 - 5 - 5  (I did 115 - 145 - 155 lbs.)
__________

30 meters broad jump
30 meters crab crawl
30 meters overhead (25 lb) plate lunges

*3 rounds
followed by 100 abmat situps

my time: 14+ minutes


Afer the gym we came home and had some leftover roast from the other night and an organic salad with homemade ranch dressing. Okay, I might have overdone it on the amount of salad....

Breaking the News
I was having a little extra faith in the mail system today in hopes that we would get calls from one or both sets of parents about the arrival of their "pee-packages." Well, it happened late in the afternoon and everyone was ecstatic, of course. I also called my grandmother and told her that she would be a GREAT-grandmother. She let out quite a scream out of her own excitement. I'm glad.

For dinner we had grass-fed london broil (from our CSA) and roasted organic veggies. Very good!

Doing the math and Getting crazy

Breakfast is not getting any more exciting, with the exception of adding fruit. Two organic eggs, primal breakfast sausage, organic greens and veggies, an organic banana, vitamins and water. The amount of food might be getting a little bigger than necessary. Although I woke up pretty hungry.

Doing the math
Last night we discovered that I am 5 weeks along. I wasn't happy with just guessing that I was 4 weeks because that was the last time I had a period. So, I decided to look it up online. Turns out that all medical professionals count from the first day of the last period and conception is about two weeks into the "pregnancy." According to the Pregnancy Association, it is counted this way because that is when the body begins to prepare for pregnancy.
I also downloaded the app Sprout to follow along with the process. It's a cool app that shows you where you are weekly and what parts of the fetus are forming as well as allowing you to log doctor's appointments, your weight and other things.

For lunch we (not the fetus and I - my husband and I) had a salad, some leftover roast from the other night (grass-fed with organic greens) and split an organic peach and nectarine. I am so excited to be eating fruit! Stone fruits have always been my favorite and I can't wait for organic apricots!

Getting crazy
Today we drove out of the city to some state parks to take the doggies on a hike and have a beautiful day outdoors. While we were driving, I was talking with my husband and trying to get him to understand something from my perspective. The fact that he was not understanding me properly got me so worked up. In a matter of seconds I was feeling like I had been so betrayed and I could feel my heart starting to beat faster. I was one thread of sanity away from going into a bawling fit. Luckily, I was so surprised by my own reaction that I saw I was having a hormonal freak-out. I quietly talked myself down inside my head. Is this really what I have to look forward to? I feel sorry for my husband.
Thinking back, it makes me laugh when I compare it to a scene in 30rock. Hilarious!

For dinner, my husband and I had wild mahi-mahi and roasted organic veggies with a tahini based asian-type sauce all over it. We had left-over hot and sour soup broth and for dessert, dark chocolate coconut ice-cream with fresh sliced organic strawberries. Heavenly!

Sweets and Snacks

This morning I had breakfast sausage, 2 eggs and a warm kale salad: some sauteed red onions, kale and tomato slices cooked in the grease from the sausage. I thought the kale was going to be bitter, but it actually turned out a little sweet. I'm not sure if it's because the red onions are sweet or if it gets that way when cooked a little longer. It actually tasted good. The vitamins I have there are the same ones I have every morning: 3 fish oil, 1 vitamin D, 1 big prenatal and a little multivitamin. 

Ah yes, and a banana. This is the first banana I've had in possibly over a year. It was good, but not mind-blowing and thankfully I didn't have a sugar crash afterward.

Sweets
We've been making coconut milk ice-cream and ices. They don't last long because my husband likes to plow through the whole container in one sitting. The last batch we made was chocolate cherry. We use coconut milk from the can for ice-cream and coconut milk from the carton for ices. This is all done with the Cuisinart ice-cream maker we paid $30 for at Costco. Great deal and endless hours of fun! Actually it only takes minutes to whip up a batch.

Snacks
I just need crunchy things. It has always been this way since chips fell off the primal food list... not that I ate that many chips to begin with. You do always miss the things you never cared about before, just because you can't have them. So, I eat nuts. We've tried to cut down on the nut intake because it can be overdone. It's a tough one. I was very pleased to see that almonds are on the 100's list for the first trimester and Trader Joe's has organic dry-roasted ones. It's the pistachios that are hard to get away from. TJ's also has a bag of shelled lightly salted pistachios and we never fail to go through the bag in a couple days.
I've bought two huge organic yams so I can make this chip recipe. I do not have a dehydrator, so I will be doing it in the oven. It seems like a bunch of work for something I may devour in 20 minutes... but we shall see.
Still searching for good snacks...

For lunch today I had a frankfurter from our meat CSA with a little organic ketchup, organic mustard and homemade sauerkraut. I wasn't that hungry and ate late in the day. Probably because of the banana I added to breakfast and the tons of ginger/lemon water I was drinking.
For dinner we ate wild salmon with organic baby broccoli and caesar salad with organic kale added in.
I also had a mug of homemade pork broth from pork bones we got from our meat guy. Bone broth is extremely good for you. It is full of amazing nutrients and helps with the immune system. More on this later.

Losing weight and Telling our Parents (Almost)

Today's breakfast was 2 organic eggs, 2 slices of Trader Joe's bacon (anti-biotic/hormone free), and some wilted organic kale and spinach greens. The bitterness of the kale was masked by the bacon grease I cooked it in. I drank ginger and orange-juice infused water and took the usual vitamins.

Losing weight
After the "last supper" of sushi for lunch on Thursday, I became 100% primal to the best of my ability.
For the next 8 or so months of pregnancy and 2 or less years of breast-feeding, I will be eating no dairy, drinking no coffee, or alcohol, and eating only natural sugars from fruits. There will be only organic, grass-fed, pastured, anti-biotic/hormone free and sweetened with stevia or xylitol. It has been 4 days and I am optimistic about getting through it all without a hitch. We shall see what happens when the hormones really take over.
The last time I ate this way was when we first started trying and I thought that if there could be something inside me, I should not take any chances. Flash forward a couple months to me vowing to love cheese and coffee until the pee-stick told me my time had come. During that time, I did see a significant change in my body. The crossfit workouts were twice as effective because I was eating the perfect diet. Every single day I did a workout, the next morning would be like Christmas morning with me running to the bathroom mirror to see what new smaller body I was in. It was glorious!
This was the time that I knew, if I truly wanted to get the body I wished for, I had already found the combination. Primal diet and crossfit.... where were you when I was in high-school?
SO..... I am working the combination. Not to lose weight but to be as close to 100% perfect health for my little zygote. The side-effect seems to be a better body (in both ways).
Now, people may think... this is unhealthy behavior, talking about losing weight when you are trying to grow a life. Well, the fact is, women only gain about 3-5 pounds in the first trimester and if I only lose 5 or 10 pounds of fat I will have enough left to do the job.

Telling our parents
I'd been trying to come up with creative ways to break the news to my parents for a while now (before there was any news). We ended up buying two boxes that looked like books and I made new covers for them. We then included a pee-stick in each box. Yes, it may be a little weird... but trust me I can think of weirder. I was going to make my dad a paperweight pee-stick cast in resin. It was just a little too much work since I'm dying to tell them.
My in-laws already have 2 grandchildren, but for my parents this is a first. I know it's gonna be emotional even though they know we've been trying. I still get elated when I really think about a little life growing inside me. It seems a little unreal. My father-in-laws birthday is on Saturday and he is getting a pee-stick as his present. My dad's birthday was in the beginning of June, so his is a "belated birthday gift." I told my mom to call me when they get the package... hoping to get them on video chat opening the box. We shall see......

Lunch today was leftover hot and sour seafood soup and dinner was grass-fed top-round beef roast (from our CSA) with organic collard greens and chard. We also had sweet potato fries I made from organic sweet potatoes. I ate too much.... but it was so tasty.

*I also take a probiotic with my dinner every night.

Symptoms, Waiting Room and Working out

For breakfast I had more organic spinach, 2 eggs scrambled with various organic veggies and a breakfast sausage patty. The new prenatal vitamin, a multi, vitamin D and fish oil were washed down with ginger infused water.

Symptoms
I'm really trying to make a point of listening to my body. Given that I am pretty much a housewife, I have the luxury of doing whatever my body needs me to do.
    Cramping- This started the day before I found out I was pregnant and has continued ever since. Unable to get into a doctor (because I don't have one here yet) to find out why this was happening, I decided to look online. I found a forum conversation of women who were just finding out about their own pregnancies and experiencing the same thing. It's not a consistent pain. It comes and goes, and if I stand up maybe it will come again or rolling over might set it off. The pain is also not extreme. For the most part, it is a dull feeling like muscle-soreness. Every once in a while it gets strong enough to make me stop moving altogether until it subsides. This, as I found from reading the exchanges in the forum, is completely normal and is explained by the stretching of the uterus.
    Headaches- I have only had a couple of very mild headaches starting in the morning and tapering off throughout the day.
    Fatigue- I find myself having moments where I feel like I need to just lay down and take a nap. It usually happens a couple hours after I have been up and doing things. I don't really take a full-on nap most of the time. It does feel nice just to lay down for a bit and close my eyes. I also find myself pretty wiped out by the end of the day.
    Sleep- There have been changes in my sleep for sure. A couple of weeks ago I decided that I was going to start waking up at 8:30 am every day, just to get more use of my time. I also felt a little guilty about sleeping-in seeing as my husband was waking up to go to work at either 5 am or 7 am. It was pretty hard the first couple days, but then I found myself waking up 30 - 45 minutes before my alarm was to go off. These times I woke up naturally and didn't feel groggy or like I missed out on that extra time. It seems to be getting earlier and earlier that I am waking up without an alarm and feeling ready to start my day. I usually complain about sleep because my husband and I need different things to be super comfortable and I rarely say "I had a really good night of sleep." I tend to get colder and don't like when my side of the bed starts to get too soft. If only I could afford a sleep-number! But now, my sleep feels so much more restful. I am dreaming vividly enough to remember the dreams when I wake up.
I don't know if it's because the author of this book said vivid dreams are common with pregnancy, and I am paying more attention to them, or if she's just right.
    Breasts- Getting larger and annoyingly sore.... need I say more. For women who didn't have much to begin with, this may be a blessing... but for the previously "blessed" this is a curse. As if it wasn't hard enough to find a comfortable bra, now I have to find something to jam these balloons into that will not add to their increasing size. They don't really seem to make bras without padding somewhere in it. Yeah, like it's really possible to "push-up" double D's.
    Urination- This is way more than I expected for a first trimester thing. I totally expected that it was gonna happen when the baby got big and started lounging on my bladder. I really don't pee this often... but maybe I'm just hyper-aware of it? Could be my imagination, but it seems much more frequent.

Waiting Room
So we, my husband and I, sat in a walk-in medical center waiting room for 2 and a half hours this morning. I don't know if he was just protecting his zygote, but my husband just about lost it with the number of morons hacking and coughing all over themselves. One lady came in that most certainly had tuberculosis. I'm pretty sure even the physician's assistants (I'm really being generous with the credentials of the girls in the back) sent her away. Later he kept referring to one guy who was clearly overweight and saying to his likewise overweight daughter that they could go eat at Wendy's. The guy literally sounded like he had so much fat that it was in his throat while he was talking. If that doesn't deter people from fast-food.... I don't know what will.
All in all, we waited and eventually I peed in a cup for someone with some sort of medical degree to tell me I am indeed pregnant. The whole lovely process cost us $95. I had been hoping to get a blood-test to find out how far along I am, but the doc said I could just do it when I see an obstetrician and save myself the money. He said to assume I am 4 weeks along because it was 4 weeks since my last period. I don't know about you... but that math seems weird, especially since ovulation is somewhere in the middle. But hey, I'm a pregnant lady, not a doctor.
The most helpful part of the visit was that we found out how to remedy the whole "no insurance" thing. I have an appointment with an OB at 2:15 pm on July 30th. They make the appointment for after a woman is 8 weeks along (or as I'd like to say - 2 months). Turns out, they will take care of all the insurance paperwork at the time of the appointment and it is done and in full effect. Woohoo! This is how it works in this state- get pregnant = get insured.
I am grateful.

Working Out
Today's CrossFit WOD:

1 K row for time (4 minutes 8 seconds... NICE!)

Bench Press

5 - 5 - 5 (I did 75 - 85 - 95)
__________

5 Muscle-Up (I did 15 pull-ups and 15 ring-dips)

10 Front Squat (I used 85, the Rx was 95)

30 Double-Under (got my personal record of 12 unbroken)

4 rounds for time (I did 3 because I thought it was 3.... oops!)

This felt good and I just wanted to get through it. I didn't really hustle that much and made sure my breath never really got away from me.