Painless Childbirth

Just read this cool article and thought I would share since I know there are some preggos that read this  :)

So one of the biggest things in preparing me for my natural, unmedicated birth has been reading, reading, reading. Positive birth stories, watching positive birth videos, and just educating the crap out of myself about the stages of labor and what exactly will be happening inside my body so the sensations don't scare me, but instead, make sense to me so I can work with them. This article talks about how to have a painless birth, and also some of the things that contribute to that... like exercise!

 my 36 week belly

"According to Dr. Clapp author of Exercising Through Your Pregnancy, women who exercised during their pregnancy had a 35 percent decrease in the need of pain medication and a 75 percent decrease in maternal exhaustion.  Exercising not only increases your mind body relationship, it creates natural pain relief, called endorphins, and it is a scientific fact the more you exercise the more endorphins you release, and it becomes easier for your body to release these natural pain-killers, which by the way are 200 times stronger than any synthetic pain reliever.  These endorphins are released in labor, so would you want more endorphins or less?"

Read more here, this blog is really cool!
They totally promote their products but there's a lot of good info there....

Also, another blog that has just been awesome during these last 9 months has been Birth Without Fear. So many positive, empowering stories on here!!

row, wall ball, good morning

Had another bad case of restless legs last night so I decided to do a workout today to get some blood flowing into them!

Metcon: 

4x 500m Row  w/ 2 Min rest in between (2:30 average pace)

50 Wall Balls

Time - 16:36 (not including rest)  which was slow but still felt good

Rest 5 Min then 

3x10 Good Mornings (55lbs)

I have no idea what I feel like eating today for lunch!! This morning I had these AWESOME chicken sausages that I bought at Target that are super clean and tasted great. They're from Archer Farms, just chicken, garlic, spinach, salt and pepper in them. Paired that with a almond milk/blueberry smoothie.

Eeek!

Ok so I worked out today... I couldn't take it! Not cause I just got bored sitting at home but also cause my restless legs and just my body in general needed to move. Went to the Dr yesterday and he basically said I just need to hydrate A LOT more than I have been and should be fine continuing to stay active. Not gonna lie, walking is major uncomfortable right now. I feel all these pinches and pulls and just weird sensations pretty much all day long. BUT when I am working out I feel none of that! Not even after... to me that means that the blood flow is a good thing and I should keep it up, as long as I listen to my body like I have been.

Anyway so today I just did something really light, not for time. Yes, it was so not for time that I could still wear my flip flops  (I actually just didn't think to bring sneakers with me today)...

500m Row
then 4 rounds of
10 Kettlebell Swings (26lbs)
10 Step ups (20")
then finish with a 500m Row

It felt good to move again. I have basically stayed in bed for a week which felt ok at first but felt like shit by the end of the week. Welcome to my life of back and forth!

Who knows how often I will keep this up... I'm gonna try a yoga class on Friday and see how that goes. Hopefully baby comes soon and all this guesswork will be over. So until next time....

Taking it Down a Notch...

So I am officially 5 weeks till my due date!! This past week, I have been experiencing what I think is prodromal labor (irregular contractions/period-like cramps, swollen feet, indigestion, back pain) so it's time to slow down. I am now working from the couch only, haha!

Since I am only 35 weeks my doula suggested I go on a modified kind of bed rest in order to "keep baby in" for at least 2 more weeks! Once I get to 37wks I am in the clear, although he could come at any time now. YAY!!!

SO no more CrossFit! I am gonna spend the rest of my days walking, swimming, and doing yoga stretches. This has been such a crazy journey the last 9 months... I'm glad I was able to have a completely normal pregnancy and share it with other people as I progressed along. I was so surprised at how much I could still do (and even what I couldn't do) as I got bigger and bigger. Hopefully, I helped someone else out who is also pregnant and very active.

I will definitely continue this blog after the baby and log my post-baby workouts and progress too.  Can't wait to share my labor story and pictures with everyone! Wish me luck...

Saturday Yoga!

Haven't done yoga in a while just cause I've been so busy on the weekends... today was nice. We went to the park and had a nice relaxing class by the water. Much needed, my back was super tight.

Baby Fran

Good day today... trained two clients in the morning, got some good lunch then worked out with the 4pm class. Tomorrow I'm getting my 3rd day of workouts in with a little recovery yoga. Been feeling crampy so I'm taking it easy. Some days I feel fine though when it comes time to work out so I just go with it. Today was one of those days... felt super crampy this morning but after eating felt good, so I just jumped into the class!

Weightlifting: 3x10 Romanian Deadlift  (110lbs)

Metcon - "Fran"

21-15-9 Reps of

Thrusters (45lbs)

Pull ups (I did Ring Rows)

Time - 7:34

Food: Mango/Coconut juice, Avocado, Tomato Salsa & Bacon Salad w/ Asian Dressing.

Baaack!

Yea I took a crapload of days off... I had my baby shower over the weekend so I was super busy planning all that. Then I was just TIRED! So today it was back to work :)  I just did something small during open gym today, since we have a long night of BBQ and hang time planned...

Weightlifting:  Strict Shoulder Press
2x5 (45lbs), 3x5 (65lbs)

Metcon - 3 Rounds for Time (kinda):
9 Wall Balls  (10lbs)
15 Kettlebell Swings (35lbs)

21 Calorie Row

I don't do too much "for time" anymore, I just go through the reps at a slow pace so I can keep my breathing in check... I still time it though!!  This took me 12:38

Food: Paleo Pancakes for breakfast, Ceviche and Sweet Potato for lunch, and BBQ for dinner tonight!