What a Week......Remembering What Matters

If you follow me on facebook you will know that I rarely post sad or bad stuff....I really believe in being silly, fun and using facebook to light up others lives or express joy/love. I feel the same about blogging....but less so because I believe it is a great place to share struggles and challenges in a longer format/context. Well, this week was a challenging week for me personally and professionally.

On Monday I got a call from a good friend of ours that their 25 year old daughter had passed away unexpectedly. She was beautiful inside and out and her life ended too soon. I don't know all the details behind her death but I know she died in her sleep and her family is not surprisingly devastated. Jody and I were both taken aback by it and forced to think about how we would deal with something so tragic if it happened to us. I don't know how I would ever get past the pain.

Jody left Monday night for a week long ski trip (thrilled he could go - it was a last minute trip that came together for him with a good friend) and on Wednesday morning I got more bad news. A coworker of mine committed suicide on Tuesday night. It is a tragic story - he had lost his brother a few years ago in a tragic car accident and his mother passed away three months ago. He had been going through a very rough time and his depression had started to severely affected his relationship and his girlfriend broke up with him. It was apparently too much for him to take and he ended his life. He lived with his girlfriend and she also works at our office. Between the two of them, they touched many, many lives. He was absolutely hilarious and was a genuinely good person who worked hard and impressed our clients every step of the way. He will be missed.

As you can imagine, Wednesday was a whirlwind - not only were we all dealing with our own tragedy, I had to communicate the terrible news to our client whom he worked very closely with. It was a very difficult time with people streaming into my office crying and struggling over why someone would take his own life. Because we are such a close knit family, it affected all of us in some way. Thursday and Friday were spent talking and remembering him in the most positive ways possible and today we have a memorial for him. Working at a creative agency means that we will have many unique and creative ways of saying our goodbyes.

Jody normally being out of town for a week would mean a lot of free time for me at night and lots of workouts, etc. I spent most of my nights squeezing in a quick workout and then working because I wasn't getting much done during the day with a lot of people needing to talk. But I did get in some workouts and overall my energy level is ok. I am not sleeping well at night just trying to get comfortable and the baby is obviously getting bigger making moving around not as easy. I am loving the Supreme 90 workouts - despite the crappy music, bad cueing it is a fast paced, fun workout that is more the speed I enjoy.

I will hop on and do a full recap Sunday or Monday but wanted to leave you with this parting thought:

Be grateful. For all that you have and the people in your life. Be thankful every day that you are able to do all the things you can do. That you have food, water, electricity, loved ones and the gift of life. While the tragedies I experienced this week were sad, the people of Japan are dealing with much more significant challenges. They are dealing with it all with grace, respect for each other and humility. Our lives can change in an instant and I want my daughter to always know I love her and will be here for her no matter what she is going through. I won't be a perfect parent but I will do everything I can do let her know she is loved.

Love you guys.
Jess

Are we there yet??? Two Week Recap and Supreme 90 Chest, Shoulders & Tris Review

Hey y'all! Hope you have had a FABU week!

It's been super busy for me and little Frankie got sick toward end of week (again). We have a consult a week from tomorrow to get tubes and by all accounts I think it will be a life changer for us. She is constantly sicky with a runny nose and has had about 8 ear infections. Ugh. Because I am already sleeping poorly with the large apparatus on the front of my stomach, if she is up at night, it is a killer for me because I just don't have the energy to workout. Anyhoo, everyone says tubes are amazing so I would rather get them in now than wait till baby #2. ;)

Below is a summary of workouts over the last two weeks. I have decided to alternate Supreme 90 with P90X speed rounds for my upper body. That means I will work upper three times a week and perhaps even a fourth if I sneak in a total body workout.

Week of February 28th:
Monday PM:
Supreme 90 Shoulders & Arms - 45 min circuit
Tuesday AM:
Spin Intervals - 30 mins
Wednesday:
OFF
Thursday AM:
Spin Intervals - 30 mins
Thursday PM:
Supreme 90 Back/Bi's - 45 min circuit
Friday AM:
Spin Intervals - 30 mins
Saturday:
OFF
Sunday:
Supreme 90 Chest, Shoulders, Tris followed by 35 mins spin intervals
Summary: 4 cardio workouts; 3 strength training


Week of March 7th:
Monday PM:
P90X Back Bi's Speed Round
Tuesday AM:
Spin Intervals - 30 mins
Wednesday:
Off (slept about three hours on Tuesday night and just couldn't muster the energy)
Thursday AM:
Spin Intervals - 30 minutes
Thursday PM:
P90X speed round of Chest, Shoulders and Tris
Friday:
OFF (up Thursday night with baby most the night :))
Saturday:
Spin Intervals AM
Sunday:
Cathe 4-Day Split Upper Body + Boot Camp Workout (90 minutes weights/cardio)
Summary: 4 cardio; 3 strength training 

If you are a Cathe fan, I would recommend you get her 4 Day Split DVD set. While I am not a fan of step (not coordinated enough :)),  there are a TON of premix's on these two DVD's that rock. Here is a link to the DVD with all the premixes. I did the Boot Camp/Upper Body today and loved it!

As for the Supreme 90 Chest, Shoulders, Tri's review.....here's a couple addition thoughts in addition to the review on Supreme 90 I gave before.

• There is such little cueing that when you do an alternating exercise, he doesn't indicate whether 2=1 rep or 1=1 rep. For example on P90X, there are some exercises you do that 2=1 and some where 1=1 even on a unilateral exercise. 
• I do like that Tony shares the weight he is using - I usually do 1/2 of what he does which works well for me. You really have no indication on here what is being used. 
• That said, I love the speed and pace of the workouts. I think it is a great mix/alternative to P90X. I have yet to do any of the cardio workouts because of my pelvic issues ;) but I did purchase a female jock strap that seemed to help during Boot Camp today. Hee hee. 

And I am totally over being pregnant. I keep asking myself, Are we there yet???? We are only 6.5 weeks away from baby #2 and I am having TONS of anxiety but am also so excited to have my body back and have it back permanently. Now, I have to keep reminding myself I really have about 7-8 months since I will be breastfeeding (plan to) for about 6 months BUT at least having my bladder back and not feeling so cumbersome will be nice. :)

Keep rocking it out kids and remember, if I can get off my bohunkus and do this at 7.5 months, so can you! :)

XXOO
Jess

Sassy Saturday Video Review: Supreme 90 Shoulders & Arms and Back & Bi's

Hey chicas (and chicos for those boys stumbling upon this blog)!! Hope everyone had a great week!

Had my two week doc appointment on Tuesday and I am definitely having some pelvic floor issues (let's just leave it at that eh :)) which means I have to take it a little bit easy and not do a lot of high impact exercise but I can still do the bike and all my upper body workouts just fine. Plus I have a few low impact DVD's that still get my heart going crazy - in particular some awesome kettlebell workouts. Love those.

I will give you a weekly review on Sunday or Monday but wanted to start doing some video reviews for you. I am a self admitted workout video addict so why not pass on some of my finds to you!! My hubby is the opposite and likes to do his own stuff. One day he asked me about why I liked them so much and after thinking about it, it occurred to me that I love them because I enjoy having someone else tell me what to do. My job is fairly stressful and I spend my days directing teams and people to deliver for our clients. Having someone plan out and tell me what to do in my workout is very relaxing for me.

Anyhoozle, a couple months ago I caught an infomercial for a program called Supreme 90. I was a little shocked and appalled they would so blatantly hijack the P90X system with their references to 90 days, muscle confusion and shocking the body. I knew there was no way at $19.95 they could put together a program that would be anywhere close to P90X.

Fast forward two months and I see it at Bed Bath and Beyond of all places (JUST where you would expect to find workout videos right?? :)) and picked it up for $19.95 (yes, you heard me correctly. Since I am 32 weeks or 8 months pregnant, I will not be doing the full 90 days program but I think I would really like to do it as a full program post baby. The cardio workouts seem harder and more insanity style which is what I prefer. I have done both Shoulders & Arms and Back & Bi's  and plan to do Chest, Shoulders, Tri's tomorrow and put into a regular part of my pregnancy rotation. It was immediately clear to me these are nothing like P90X. Here's some highlights of why:

Things that might matter if you are a hardcore P90Xer looking for something to mix it up):

1. It's circuit style weight lifting - no rests or breaks. 
2. Workouts are around 40 minutes start to finish.
   
3. There are no countdown timers for either exercises or the full workout. I really like that feature for P90X and most workout DVD's - it's mental for me but because these are fast paced and fairly short, it's ok.
4. You can't fast forward by chapter - meaning, if you hit fast chapter forward or reverse you go to the end or beginning. 
5. Ab/core work is done at the beginning of both of these and much of the exercises incorporate the core.
6. The warm up and cool down was the same on both DVD's. Pretty basic. 
7. I was sweating like crazy when I was done. I do P90X circuit style as well and fast forward through all the breaks so the 59 minute shoulders/arms workout is done in about 30 minutes.

Things that might matter to some but are just details in the grand scheme of things: 

1. I honestly felt like I got a better "pump" but that might be because I have been doing P90X for so long and because of the new exercises. 
2. There isn't a lot of cueing or true weight lifting pointers.
3. The menu is very basic. Very. 
4. People in the videos are super ripped. Way more ripped that P90X.
5. The instructor doesn't do the workouts - just hosts.  
6. The set is very basic - nothing like a P90X set.

So far my assessment/recommendation is this:  for $19.95 - why NOT add it to your workout rotation?? Especially if you have been doing P90X for awhile and want something different. It is totally worth the price although if you want or think you are getting a P90X quality workout, prepare yourself you will not.

You can pick up the set at Bed, Bath & Beyond, Academy Sports or online at https://www.supreme90day.com/

Enjoy and have a great weekend!!
Jess

Hump Day Happiness!

Hey y'all!!

Have some updates....and hopefully will get more into the swing of things with blogging. I am feeling totally back to normal and we haven't had any bad weather so I've had a normal schedule. Frankie had another ear infection weekend before last (we're going in for a consult for tubes in two weeks) but she is feeling 10x better and life is grand as a result.

I am eight weeks away from baby #2. Have gained about 20lbs total so far and anticipate staying at the 25lbs total gain mark. Without sharing too much TMI (or in this case it would be WTMI), I am having some issues with my lower girl parts that are going to slow me down a bit. Basically, I strained some things (not working out - just doing things we all do every day) and I probably won't be jumping around as much as I have been. Let's just leave it at that. :)

Anyhoo, below is a recap of my workouts last week (not bad) - and I track my workouts on the right hand side of my blog so I can keep you updated. 

Week of February 21st:
Monday AM:
Cathe Maximum Intensity Strength - 60 Mins
Spin Bike (steady state) - 30
Tuesday AM:
TurboFire HIIT 25 + 2 rounds (total of 30 minutes)
Wednesday PM:
P90X Chest, Shoulders, Tris
Thursday AM:
HIIT on the Bike - 30 mins
Friday AM:
P90X Back & Bi's
Saturday Noon:
Cathe HIIT - 30 mins
Sunday:
OFF

I gotta tell you guys, I can't WAIT to get my body back. I don't relate to women that love to be pregnant. I am happy for them but it's definitely not something I want to do again. Two is plenty. :) I just keep telling myself eight more weeks, eight more weeks, eight more weeks. I can do anything for eight weeks!

Gonna start doing workout video reviews for you guys. I have a TON of them and my girl Kelly O does them pretty regularly and it is a great way to share with you videos/programs I like that you might like too. :)

Will kick that into action this weekend!!
Love you guys!
Jess

Cabin Fever, Fever Fever and one long week!

If you watched the news at all, you saw that we got 22 inches of snow here in Arkansas week before last.  Now, for people that live in Minnesota or Nebraska or really any place north of Iowa, that's a regular snow dump. For Northwest Arkansas it's the most snow we've had in one single snow since 1918 and the first time in 26 years the post office hasn't delivered the mail. This was the third week since Christmas we had closed schools and closed daycare. So last week (not this week), I worked Monday and Tuesday in the office, woke up to 22 inches of snow and -17 degree temperatures and closed schools/daycare, etc. UGH!!! I showed the pic of snow from our last snow...but check this one out - we got A LOT more.

And we live on a SUPER steep hill and our driveway is pretty much impossible to get up and down. So, we parked the SUV at the bottom of the driveway and got up and down using this mode of transportation. :) 

The biggest challenge for me was that I still had to work and that is tough to do with an 18 month old at home. While daddy was home and a big help, if baby sees mommy around she wants to be with mommy. So I would have to sneak around a bit to get some work done.


I got in some great workouts on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and then Thursday hit and I had a fever, the chills and definitely knew something was wrong. By Friday night, I was really sick. Runny nose, cough, exhausted. The funny thing was on Wednesday when I worked out, I had to really go get the workout. Meaning, I had to really talk myself into the workout. And normally I don't. I should have listened to my body and known that something was coming and I needed to rest.


At 9 weeks out from due date, my body is definitely starting to react differently. I find myself more out of breath and it's more laborious to move around. I asked the hubby to switch sides of the bed with me for sleeping because of my increase in bathroom trips at night. :) But I can't imagine NOT working out while pregnant. I feel so much more powerful and so much healthier. This week, I was still sick Monday, Tuesday and finally felt better Wednesday morning. This was the first full week I worked in about three weeks and it felt SOOOOOO LOOOOOONG. Thank goodness for President's Day tomorrow!! WOO HOO!

I did P90X Shoulders and Arms yesterday and plan on hitting a full body workout with some cardio today. Still not feeling a 100% but definitely want to get back after it.


Hope you are all having a great week! XXOO

Previous Belly Bump and Snow, Snow, Snow!!

Hey y'all!! Hope you are having an awesome week!! It is NUTS here in Northwest Arkansas. We have been pummeled with snow and there's no end in sight. I know there are many other areas across the US experiencing the same thing so I feel for everybody....the only challenge or different with Northwest Arkansas is we literally have like three snow plows.Total. And people here simply don't know how to drive in snow (how would they?? :)) so it's pretty crazy. Schools have all been closed since Tuesday. Yikes! Here's our deck. This wouldn't look out of place in Iowa or Wisconsin but in Arkansas, it is. And still coming down.

So my good pal Kelly O suggested I post the old pics of my belly bump so you can see my progress. And like any typical mom, I haven't done half of the things I did for the first pregnancy - like take weekly pics. :) So I will have Jody take a pic of me in the next week or so to share. I am pretty sure the belly is bigger at this stage but I weigh less overall. You can double click the pic below for a bigger view. Yippee!

Looking at the pics, I think I am showing about a week ahead (so I look like I did at 29 weeks at my current week of 28).

So one thing I LOVE about having a home gym (since my last blog, we moved and have an awesome set up - have a walkout basement that has a huge bonus room we converted to a workout room) is that when the weather is bad, I don't have to stress cause I can't run outside, can't drive to the gym, worry about gym hours, get a baby sitter, etc. LOVE IT.

Here's what I have done so far this week:

• Monday: Off 
• Tuesday AM: Turbo Fire 25 HIIT Workout with three extra rounds - 35 mins total
• Wednesday AM: P90X Shoulders and Arms - all my P90X workouts are done Jessica style (no breaks/rests) 
• Thursday AM: Cathe HIIT Pyramid Workout (30 minutes intervals)
• Thursday PM: P90X Back/Bi's
• Friday AM: Spin Intervals - 5 min warm up, 25 minutes intervals 1 min on, 1 min off, 5 minute cool down 

If you aren't familiar with these workouts, they are high intensity plyometric rounds - lots of jumping and leaping. I usually only work legs once every week or two weeks because of the intensity of these workouts on my legs. I LOVE them!! TurboFire is another Beachbody product and Cathe can be purchased on Cathe.com or Collage Video.

Good week so far....not sure what I will do this weekend - probably P90X Chest/Shoulders/Tris and a full body cardio type workout. Weekends I usually just play by ear but definitely need to get another upper body work out in and another cardio workout. Body is definitely taking longer on recovery - feel muscle soreness for probably a half day longer.

I hope each of you are having a great week! Anyone have any recommended HIIT workouts they love? Tell me about it! :)
Jess

Metamorphosis: Fitness Life After Baby

Yes, I am back to blogging. Officially. (P.S. I actually shut down my blog a while back because some foreign wankers were hijacking comments to give all you good followers a virus. NOT cool.)

My last post was July 26th, 2009 - just four days after our baby girl introduced herself to us. Life has totally and completely changed. More on that shortly (might not be what you think :)).

Why am I back? Well, let me share my top ten list with you starting with #10:

10. I soooo miss this aspect of my pre-baby life.
9. The community of support I receive from blogging is AMAZING.
8. It's a great way to share my thoughts/opinions.
7. It's a great way to share my experiences so that they might help others.
6. I can say the STUPIDEST things and you guys love me anyway.
5. Being a mom is tough - knowing there are others out there with my same challenges - time, patience, weight and balancing makes me feel like I'm part of a team.
4. I need feedback from a larger community - one that gets what I am trying to do and why I am trying to do it (which is ultimately to be healthy, fit and show my kids why health is so critical to life - and yes, I said kids - plural - more on that in a few).
3. Kelly Olexa pretty much double dog dared me. Actually more of a triple dog dare if you ask me but regardless, I will take that challenge!! :)
2. My husband told me one day how proud he was of my blogger commitment and the happiness he saw it bring me.....he was right - blogging is a part of my life!
1. I love each and everyone of my blogger peeps. Without you, this journey wouldn't be as fulfilling.

So, let's get to the nitty gritty. Let me give you the reader's digest version of the last year and a half.

July09 -February '10: Holy crap having a baby is HARD!! I had about 22 stitches (sideways no less - sorry to any guys reading this :)) and walking was very challenging for the first two weeks. Breast milk came in and I had NO idea I could be that hungry. OMG, I was starving all the time breastfeeding. Literally thought I could eat a horse. Total weight gain was about 25 lbs with Frankie. I would say I lost most of the weight (and yes, I wish I had kept better records) in the first 4 weeks and was back in my regular clothes as quickly but still had another 5-7 lbs to go. Frankie had colic so I had a lot of trouble with getting my diet to a place where she could tolerate it - literally ended up eating only green beans, chicken and rice. Ugh. I went back to work at8 8 weeks and started exercising with about 5-7 lbs to go - but when I would do anything more that a light lift, two things happened - first, my milk supply dropped drastically and secondly, she would react negatively to the lactic acid. Ultimately, I decided to not stress or obsess, I enjoyed breastfeeding and put my daughter first. It sucked mentally because I wanted to workout but knew it wasn't what was best for her. And here's why:


February -August '10: I had stopped breastfeeding and had about 3-5lbs of weight to lose but really needed to focus on my body composition more than anything. I had lost a lot of muscle and had some of the typical belly weight to lose.We had a trip to Mexico planned and I was determined to look good for just having had a baby. I was on a mission! But I also had a LOT less time. Balancing a baby, job and trying to squeeze in workouts changed everything. I used to workout an hour + each day - sometimes twice a day. I used to stayed at the office until 6 or 6:30 pm and had plenty of time after to workout at my leisure. With Frankie, I had to leave the office at 5:15 to pick her up from daycare, get her home, feed, bathe and get her in bed around 7:00 pm. After that I would work to try to catch up on not working later and then if I had any energy, I would workout. I finally figured out I had to workout in the mornings. Now that my boobs were back to regular size again, I felt more comfortable working out.

I started out with p90X workouts but did them in a cardio format....I literally fast forwarded to the next exercise after I finished my reps so I would literally finish an hour long workout in 25 minutes and I would be drenched in sweat.

Then I got really crazy and ordered Insanity from Beachbody. OMG!! I thought I was going to die after the warm up much less the workout but I could get in a great workout in about 40 minutes. Insanity is an awesome workout - Shaun T is a great instructor and the workouts were so much fun. The premise is high intensity intervals or HIIT training and I was hooked. The regular Insanity program of 6x a week of that type of workout was too intense for me but I created a hybrid between P90X and Insanity that I LOVED. I did one of the 40 min Insanity workouts, a P90X Plyo or Interval workout every other day and did a P90X weight workout on the alternate days with one day off.

My eating was less regimented as I just didn't have the time to prepare food or plan the way I used to but I would guess I was around 2000 cals a day. But certainly not all whole foods or anything else crazy. I lost all the weight and THEN some. If memory serves me, I was around 129-130 when I got pregnant with Frankie. By the time we left for Mexico I weighed about 122 which is the lowest I had ever been EXCEPT when I was getting ready to compete which was so crazy.

How could it be that I was in better shape than I had ever been (except post contest prep) and I was working out less than I ever had???

No more 90 minute workout sessions or two a day workouts and I was smaller and leaner than ever?? What???

Here's what I learned:

• HIIT workouts WORK. Your body becomes a fat burning furnace during and long after the workout. With Insanity, your whole body is engaged.
• Workouts that are short can be just as effective. My hubby has been doing this for years - he is 43 years old and has the body of a 25 year old.
• Being laid back about my diet and workouts and putting my daughter and husband first made me workout harder and smarter and the results showed.

I don't have any full body shots to share with you but here's a pic of me a little less than a year after I had our daughter that shows my progress.

We went to Mexico at the beginning of August and had an amazing trip. In late August, I found out I was PREGGERS again!! YAY!!! So, it's now January and I am 27 weeks pregnant. So far I have gained about 15-16lbs but am about 4lbs lighter than I was at this same time in my pregnancy which is awesome.

Weekly workouts right now, look a little like this:

• 3-4 HIIT cardio worktouts on the spin bike or TurboFire HIIT workouts (30-40 minutes)
• 3-4 weight workouts - mostly upper body, possibly a total body weight workout - usually P90X or a Cathe upper body circuit (30-40 minutes)

I am due at the end of April and we don't know what we are having (gender wise). We're so excited!!! We knew if we had one we would have two and although I am totally freaked out about two, I can't wait to invite baby two into our lives.

And before I sign off, I want to say how awesome my husband has been.....he is still my best friend, my love, my soul mate. Though our lives have changed and our time is now more divided than ever, I know he sees me for me and gives me all the support I could ever ask for. I love you pumpkin.

I am so glad to be back and look forward to following you all again as well! Miss you guys - thanks for being so awesome!

XXOO
Jess

Introducing Francesca Marie

Family shot - she looks just like Dad.


On Wednesday morning, July 22nd at 3:59am, Jody and I welcomed Francesca Marie into our lives. She weighed in at 7.1lbs and 22 inches long and is in perfect health. We are absolutely in love with her and I am so thrilled to have a little girl.

Labor was interesting as it started with discussion of a possible emergency c section because they were getting a very low heart rate with the external HR monitor. The drama included them sprinting me in an office chair from the clinic to the hospital (they are connected) because they couldn't find a wheel chair, putting a node on her head and breaking my water to make sure she hadn't pooped in the water (a sign of stress for the baby). Once all that happened my labor had officially started. I had gone to the doc at 6 days overdue and I was having contractions in a strange pattern. They broke my water at about 3:30 and I immediately started having regular contractions and went from a tight 2cm to 5cm in about 5 hours.

I was having back labor and made a decision to get an epidural at about 9pm. I know each of you who have had children have made your own choices to have or not to have an epidural - it was the right decision for ME and didn't slow down my labor at all. It made the experience much more enjoyable for me and I was able to enjoy my family and friends leading up to the actual delivery. I never had to get Pitocin and my contractions were literally 1 minute apart lasting for 90 seconds. I was at 10cm by 2am but they were unable to start me pushing until 3:15 because my doctor was in surgery.

I pushed for about 5 push sessions of 3 pushes each - total lasting about 20 minutes and she arrived!! I had let my epidural drip wear off a bit so that I could have control of my legs during but still couldn't feel my you know what. :) It was hard to push without "feeling" things but I had a couple of great coaches. Frankie was born without any manual interventions and outside of a squished nose, she looks great.

Next post will be all about post baby exercise plan! And I will show you the before baby pic!!

Hope you all are doing awesome! The next 8 weeks will be spent enjoying time with my daughter, husband and catching up on you guys!

Love to all!
Jess

40 Weeks + One Day - STILL PREGNANT! :)

Hey everyone,

At last update I was just a month out and feeling great! I am still feeling great however I am now one day past due and this little baby hasn't budged!

Here are my updates:

• Weeks: 40 + 1 day
  
• Weight Gain: 23lbs (average at this point is 35lbs)
  
• Fundus (belly measurement): 37 weeks
• Had an ultra sound three weeks ago and baby was estimated at 7.5lbs (already!!)

My workouts have been great with the exception of last week.....and here's why.

Three weeks ago, my step father passed away peacefully at home after a three month battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his kids, his wife, grandson, brother and dog and went painlessly and peacefully. We are very sad to lose Jack but we also know he is in a better place and lived a full and wonderful life. I will miss him dearly.

Two weeks ago, I started having major pre-labor/false-labor symptoms and had dilated to a 1 and 50% effaced. I was no longer having the "subtle" Braxton Hicks (Jody likes to call them Toni Braxton's) contractions but was having really strong contractions - not full blown but they were strong and got closer and closer up until 5 mins apart lasting for a minute. I laid down that night to sleep and about an hour later the contractions stopped. And I had every other symptom as well. Then last week I went in and was a tight 2 and 60% effaced. My mom drove down from Iowa to bring my aunt half way (she lives in Louisiana) and stayed for a week. We all thought baby was coming. Then a week ago, after my 2/60 appointment everything stopped. No more contractions, nada. And I literally have felt like I did three weeks ago. CRAZY!

And trust me guys, I have done everything to get this baby to come including:

• Spicy food (lots of jalapenos)
• Acupuncture
• Got a massage
• Pedicure
• Castor Oil (yes, tried it and you are just miserable and pregnant)
• Sex (sex and more sex)
• Walking (like an hour in the AM and an hour at night
  

So yesterday I went into the doc and I am still 2/60. The good news is my doc is awesome and isn't wanting to talk induction until next week. I have an appt Thursday and they will do an ultra sound and make sure the baby is doing well.

I have a stubborn baby in my belly! Stubborn. But I am also just a day past the due date so will let baby H come when baby H wants to come.

Here are a couple pics of me post workout inspired by Julie and her baby belly pics! :)




If I have the baby I will post a new blog to let you all know ASAP! Sorry I haven't posted a whole lot - I feel like I don't really have a lot of new news. :)

Love you guys and thanks for all the comments and coming back to check on me!!

Jess

Week 35 and Family Update

Hi everyone!! Thanks so much for all of your notes and comments....the pregnancy is doing awesome - I am feeling great and I have MUCH to update you on!!

Stat Update:

• Weeks: 35
• Weight Gain: 19 (average is around 25)
• Fundus (belly measurement): 33 cm or 33 weeks
• At last doc appt I had only gained about 3 ounces which kind of worried me but the doc said it wasn't an issue at all - because I have been gaining weight consistently and my belly is still growing, doc says everything is on track.
  

Monday is my next doc appt (tomorrow) and they will actually do the FULL check up if you know what I mean. With a little less than 5 weeks to go, maybe I will have a little dilation - maybe??

We had two incredible baby showers - one for family and close friends and another with close friends and co-workers. We received tons of wonderful gifts and had a great time!! I have a bit more work to do on the baby room and then will take some pics for you. We have the essentials - crib, diapers, car seat. :) Here are a couple pics from the showers (we are waiting to get more pics from people who took more pics and I will post them for you soon!):



Other fun facts:

• No stretch marks - YEAH!!! :) Still rubbing the tummy butter every morning and then put on my Bella Band over top. I think it is working!
  
• Workouts are definitely getting harder - I am sure it is a combination of additional weight gain, diaphragm getting smaller and just having a bigger belly.
  
• Sleep is the biggest challenge right now - tough to find a comfortable position and lots of peeing throughout the night.
  
• No swelling - rings still fit. YEAH!
  
• LOTS and LOTS of baby movement - getting kicked in the ribs - LOTS and is sometimes painful - I find myself stretching out as long as I possibly can to give the little critter more room.
• Not so much room in the tummy right now lots of small meals and snacks.
  
• Workouts right now are still 3-4 body pump style workouts a week and 3-4 cardio sessions - usually Spin or Elliptical. Will probably go back to walking or even some light jogging in a week or so (once the baby is full term to encourage delivery :) hee hee). Also want to do some yoga again to make sure I am fully stretched and ready.
• Jody is getting more and more excited about our new family unit and he is going to be an AMAZING daddy. I fall in love with him more each day thinking about what a great dad he will be.
  

Now, the bad news.....we have had a number of family health challenges over the last month which is one of the main reasons I haven't been posting much. My father in law had double by-pass heart surgery. He did NOT have a heart attack but instead listened to his body - he had very low energy, tingliness in his arms and tightness in his chest. He went to the doc and they found out he had 95% blockage in his main artery. If he would have had a heart attack he would have died instantly with how bad the blockage was....I am so thankful he went to the doctor. He had his surgery about 3 weeks ago and is feeling so much better. Very weak but better. We are so thankful the doc found it so he can enjoy many, many years with his grand baby.

And for the really bad news, my step-dad Jack was diagnosed with bladder and prostate cancer about 2 months ago. He went to the Mayo clinic and had been going through chemo and radiation when they rechecked him and found neither tumors had decreased in size. They then did a bone biopsy and found the cancer has metastasized in his bone. Because he has stage 4 bone cancer they have given him about 4 weeks to live. After talking to my doctor about the situation, she ok'd us to drive to Iowa to see him and say our goodbyes. While the 9 hour trip in the car was not the most comfortable in my current pregnant state, Jody and I were so glad to be able to go visit and spend some time with him to say our goodbyes. It was also really good for my mom to see the baby belly in all its glory - life affirms life and I think me being there eased some of her pain. We also set up a Caring Bridge site for her so that she can post about Jack's health and people can stay updated through the journal versus calling constantly and my mom having to repeat the same thing over and over again. Jody made mom and Jack both laugh a ton which was great to see smiles and hear laughter.

My mom and Jack have been together for 12 years and he is a wonderful person who has had a fantastic life. While it is ending too soon (he is 68), he has done so many amazing things and has had tons of memories to take with him. He has three children and many grand children and has been a great member of our family. I love him dearly and will miss him terribly. I hope this baby will provide a welcome distraction to my mother during her grief....she is going to be a wonderful grandmother and I can't wait for her to meet our new addition.

I can't stress enough how important it is for all of us to live each day in as healthy a way as possible. Both my father in law and my step dad smoked for many many years (35 and 25 years respectively) and didn't exercise or eat well. While it is tragic their health has taken a turn it certainly makes me even more grateful for the health choices I have made - not smoking, exercise and eating well. While I can't stop anything bad from happening, I can certainly decrease the chances.

And make sure that you cherish each moment with those you love - make sure they know much you love them.

Thanks again for your comments and checking in on me....will keep you posted over the next few weeks as we get closer to BABY TIME! :)

Love you guys!
Jess