THE “BUMP” (OR LACK THEREOF)

15 Week Belly

Today marks the end of 15 weeks — we’re 37.5% of the way there . The belly shot is for my mother, so that she can stop thinking I’m making shit up when I tell her there’s really not that much to see yet.

Well actually, I posted the belly shot for another reason as well. A few weeks ago, I got curious about when I was going to start “showing,” and I started surfing the internet for information (maybe you can see where this is going). Between a bunch of my girlfriends’ pregnancy pictures on Facebook and the awesome power of Google, I came to the conclusion that everyone shows by week 12; some people even earlier. Everyone, apparently, except me.  Aside from occasionally looking like I may have eaten a few too many bonbons, I still have a pretty flat tummy, and believe me, it was even flatter three weeks ago. On the other hand, some of those Google Images chicks looked like they were going to need maternity clothes at week 9! So of course the wheels started turning and I had a mild freak-out about whether the baby was okay, whether s/he was growing normally, etcetera, etcetera.

But here’s the deal: I did a bit more research, and it turns out that there are several factors that influence how early a woman shows, one of which is the ability of her abdominal muscles to relax and let the uterus “pop.” Translation: if you have strong abs and have never been pregnant before, you will show later. So apparently, instead of feeling paranoid I should feel smug, but truthfully, I was just happy to hear that little heartbeat on Monday and to know that everything is okay and proceeding normally.

Workout:

FRIDAY

100 kettlebell swings
90 sit-ups
80 squats
70 mountain climbers (total)
60 lunges (total)
50 V-ups
40 box jumps
30 burpees
20 pull-ups
10 thrusters (65 lbs barbell)

Not sure yet how I’m going to tackle this one (I have another hour and a half in which to fret about this — class starts at 6:00). A few weeks ago I started to find that my recovery time is somewhat slower than it used to be, and I’m worried about ending up with glutes, hams and quads so sore that I can’t walk tomorrow. I’m also a little bit worried about how my abs and lower back will respond to 90 sit-ups plus 50 V-ups. A couple of possible courses of action:

A. Do the whole workout, as prescribed, but ratchet down the intensity and don’t compete with the rest of the class (in fact, don’t time it at all); or

B. Do half of the number of reps of each exercise.

I’m sort of inclined towards Option B right now, and then I can spend the remaining time stretching and working on my double-unders.

UPDATE: What I really felt like doing by about 5:00 PM was Option C — have a nap and forget about going to the gym — but I managed to drag my butt into class and do half of the prescribed reps in 13 min 47 sec. To be completely honest, I felt good afterwards and probably could have managed the whole workout. On the other hand, at least I won’t be ridiculously sore all weekend and can hopefully get up to the mountains for some snowshoeing.