A few words about my goals for this pregnancy

You would think that, having been through two pregnancies and all of the stretch marks, extra pounds, and postpartum lumpiness, I would have lost all vanity.  Having been to the doctor for so many prenatal appointments, you might assume that I would be over any fear and dread of the scale by now.  Well... the truth is, even though a beautiful baby makes the toll on my body well worth it, it's still hard for a girl not to feel a tad insecure about her physical appearance.

When I'm carrying a baby, the focus of gaining weight shifts from me and my body, and suddenly it's all about whatever is best for the growing baby inside me.  So for me, one of the challenges of being pregnant is finding the balance between eating right (eating enough to nourish the baby, but not too much), exercising (being regular and consistent about workouts, but not pushing myself too hard), and gaining the right amount of weight.

As far as weight gain goes, I'm happy to report that right now I'm on a better track than I was in either of my previous two pregnancies.  Recommended weight gain for the first trimester (12 weeks) of pregnancy is 1-5 pounds, and I gained 3.  Now, any of you who have been pregnant know that being "on track" with weight gain can change very quickly (what?!?  I gained 9 pounds in two weeks?!?)... but so far, so good.  In the first 12 weeks of both previous pregnancies, I gained 10 pounds.  So I have to give myself a little pat on the back, come what may in my future encounters with the scale.

I'm trying to be really consistent with exercise, and since I found out I was pregnant, I've been averaging 5-6 workouts per week... running or pilates, usually (all within the guidelines of doctor's recommendations for exercise during pregnancy).  I've never been able to run past 20 weeks of pregnancy, due mostly to back pain.  I'm hoping that I'll be able to continue with running a little longer this time around, since those core-strengthening exercises have eliminated all back pain so far.  Running, especially running outside, keeps my energy up and my mood good... with the added benefit of keeping that weight gain in check.  I'd like these benefits to continue as long as possible... but we'll see.  I'll just keep paying attention to my body's signals and baby's signals (not to mention my doctor's advice), and hope that they give me the go ahead for lots of running!

And finally, I've been trying not to over-indulge in the food department, but anyone who knows me knows that I'm generally bad at that, and it's even worse when I'm pregnant and hungry all the time.  I'm at least trying to eat lots of the right kinds of foods, and with an abundance of fresh fruits and veggies in the house from our CSA it's been pretty easy to stay motivated there.

In summary... I know that some of the changes in my body during pregnancy are beyond my control, but I'm doing my best to stay healthy and active, and do what makes me and baby feel good.  I know it may be tougher to keep up with workouts as M goes back to school and I get bigger, and making good food choices might not be easy as we get close to the holidays.  But for now, I'm happy with the way things are progressing.  And I guess I'm writing this as a public pledge to keep up with a healthy pregnancy, as much as it is within my control.

Thanks for letting me ramble about myself for a while!  Now, back to my kids...