Today, I am 26 weeks pregnant.  That means little Levi Bryan (yes, our baby boy’s name has officially been decided) has been in there cookin’ for 24 weeks! 

My lovely husband took these belly pictures of me today and cracked me up with his “photographer” lingo.  I don’t know what kind of photo-shoot he thought this was, but let’s just say that the language was more risque than I expect to hear from our actual photographer during our maternity shoot in March…

The second trimester is nearly over and I must say, I loved every minute of it!  During this trimester, my acne symptoms disappeared, and I returned to a normal energy level.  I did have a few nights around the 23/24 week mark where I thought heartburn was going to be my new plight, but thankfully that quickly subsided and I’ve breezed through the remainder of the trimester with no complaints.

Around 23 weeks, my midwife recommended that I cool it on the classes at the gym, specifically Zumba and Kickboxing.  I was really bummed because these had become my FAVORITE classes and I looked forward to them.  I had explained to her in my appointment that I had some round ligament pain (the ligaments that strain to support that ever-growing uterus) after my kickboxing class so I had to duck out of class early a couple times.  She said it was good that I was listening to my body, but that I should probably cut out any classes that involved excessive pelvic movements.  No more rump-shakin’ and rump-kickin’??  NOOOOooooOOOooo!  She suggested walking, spinning or swimming as suitable replacements.  I am not a fan of walking.  As a runner, I tend to get bored with just walking.  Spinning has always been a difficult work-out for me.  It makes me feel like an uber-wimp and reminds me of the days when I worked out with a trainer and he consistently MURDERED my legs on the bike.  Swimming, sadly, is not an option since I do not have access to a pool and my tub is merely average size (lame.) 

After pouting and not doing ANY exercise for the week following that appointment, I finally sucked it up and decided to check out the spin class at my gym.  I had been to the class once before with my husband and really couldn’t remember what all the fuss was about or why I never went back.  I simply remembered that I didn’t particularly enjoy it.  I was quickly reminded about ten minutes into class.  My tush can’t handle it!  My “sit-bones” (as my friend and work-out buddy, Amanda, calls them) were bruised for DAYS after that first spin class!  It is a great work-out.  There is no denying that.  My legs burn, I get a good sweat going, but nothing compares to the abuse on my derrière!  After the second class with mind-numbing “sit” pain, I went to Academy and bought a gel-padded seat in hopes that it would make the class more comfortable.  Some kind gentleman in my last class recommended it.  While I found it disgusting that he kept insisting I “feel” his gel-padded seat that he’d just ass-sweated on for an hour… I appreciated that there may be a solution to this problem!  If I can’t overcome the tush-abuse issue, I may be walking daily while listening to books on tape.  *Snore*

I have also been doing THIS prenatal workout video by Lindsay Brin a couple times a week.  I had never heard of Lindsay Brin before I found her pregnancy fitness DVD set at Target early in my pregnancy.  I read up on her and once I found out she had three kids and 6-pack abs, I figured I could benefit from using her video.  While the cardio segment is light and can get become monotonous after repeating the same video for weeks, the toning has been great and you can always increase the weight to get more results.  She tends to focus on a full body toning and functional work-outs that will benefit you during pregnancy, child-birth, and post-baby.  I feel like it’s helped a lot to keep my weight gain strictly in my front belly region.  I’m happy with the DVD set and it’s been nice to have when I can’t or don’t feel like making it to the gym.

At this point, I have gained about 13 pounds since the day I found out I was pregnant.  I think that puts me on pace to gain a total of 30, as long as I don’t go hog wild with my diet.  In the past two weeks, I have become extremely motivated to eat better.  I suppose I finally had the realization that I need to be a better example for my child, in regards to my diet.

Levi’s movements have become much more obvious and consistent.  In the past week, I’ve started seeing his movements externally and this is by far my favorite pregnancy development!  I get the biggest kick out of seeing him moving through my belly.  It’s such a bizarre feeling.  It’s like there’s a little alien in there trying to escape his flesh prison.  It makes me laugh and wonder what, exactly, he is doing in there moving around like that!  He is incredibly active now, mostly in the mornings when I’m trying to get those delicious last 10 minutes of sleep before starting my day, or at night when I’m reading in bed and trying to wind down.  Soon, I will need to start tracking his movements with a kick-counter.

The only real pregnancy downer I’ve had this trimester was not getting to ride the Zipper, YET AGAIN.  The Zipper is my favorite carnival ride.  I LOVE carnivals.  What I love MOST about carnivals are the Zipper, and candied apples.  Candied apples have been a challenge lately since I have had braces, but I found a solution to that problem.  The situation with the Zipper is more complicated.  Before I got pregnant, it seemed that every carnival or fair I went to had replaced the Zipper with some other sub-par (in my opinion) yet similar ride.  I tried the bad replacement rides, but nothing will ever replace the Zipper in my heart!  Since I have been pregnant, I have seen the Zipper at least 3 times.  THREE TIMES.  That’s more than I had seen the Zipper in an entire YEAR pre-pregnancy and in the past six months, when it’s forbidden, it haunts me constantly.  Ohhhhh, Zipper.  We will meet again!  

As soon as I’m fully recovered from child-birth, I am going to plan an entire day of pregnancy-taboo activities.  I’ll start by having my favorite over-caffeinated beverage, the triple-grande-non-fat-no-whip-marble-mocha from Starbucks.  Maybe I’ll have two.  I’ll then enjoy a big breakfast of nothing but runny eggs. For lunch, I’ll have all the raw sushi & sashimi I can stomach.  I’ll eat sushi until my chopstick wielding hand cramps!  I’ll then drink copious amounts of every alcoholic beverage I’ve craved over my 9 months of baby-growing.  Dark, seasonal ales, mimosas, champagne toasts, a nice Cabernet Sauvignon, shots of tequila… (wait… who is going to take care of the baby while I do this?)  I’ll enjoy all these drinks while devouring a buffet of unpasteurized, soft cheeses.  Bring on the BRIE!  Then I’m going to a carnival and riding the Zipper.  I’m going to ride it until I puke (which likely won’t be much after the alcohol binge and cheese combo.)  If I can find it of course.  I’m sure the moment I am no longer pregnant and not at risk of scrambling my baby, the Zipper will become elusive once again.  Darn you, universe!  It will be a glorious day of reckoning… or I will just make myself ABSOLUTELY miserable and sick.  🙂  We shall see.

Here is a quick VIDEO of Levi moving in my belly while I was laying in bed.