pregnancy: take 2

So, as you may have heard, I didnt have a great pregnancy, labor or delivery with Jack. In fact, while working 40+ hours a week in a low paying, high stress job, I didnt have the energy to work out. By 32 weeks, I did walk around the beach some, but I was huge and uncomfortable, so you know I’m sure I was walking slower than most geriatric people. I vowed after a long 36 hour labor that I was not going to have a repeat delivery next time.

In late April, I was working out with a client, going for a quick 1 mile run. At the end of one mile, I was pooped and dizzy, including heart palpitations. For a split second I thought, what if I am pregnant? Nah. I’m sure I am just dehydrated. I continue the work out with the client and went on my merry way. A week or two pass by and I am acting…not myself. In fact, I end up crying in a silly argument. Bawling. Upset. Over something silly. And I think….nah. there’s no way. nah.

Well, my expected period did not show so I decided it was time to pee on a stick. In fact many. For days. Negative. Negative. Negative. See, i say to myself, I am not pregnant. No sir’ee. See all the negative tests? That means you are not pregnant. You are just late. Like you are for your hair appointments.

Except the night before mother’s day, I pee on the 4th stick of the week and I see this:

Can you see it? I share this with some of my friends online and the verdict was this: it was a blue dye test, which was known to give false positives and have watermarks. Yes, I think to myself, its a watermark! DUH!

So, on mother’s day, as we are about to have breakfast with some family, I needed to know I was right. Because I knew I was right. I was not pregnant. CVS was next door…so I pick up another test. A RED dye test, in fact (more accurate, they say). So, before I order myself a mother’s day mimosa, I go to the restaurant bathroom and pee on another stick.

Say whaaaaa? I was in shock. I really thought I was not pregnant. I thought wrong. It’s a good kind of wrong though. I guess I’ll have a mimosa next mother’s day holding my new bundle. What a great Mother’s Day gift-albeit a surprise.

So this is my experiment: can a former sedentary pregnant person have a better, more fit, healthier pregnancy and delivery the next time around? I want to know if I can keep my weight gain in check and have a faster labor and delivery. Can I resist 7 bags of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and eat broccoli and carrots instead? Can I get my tired, or so tired, butt out the door and get moving? Can I find myself gaining an appropriate amount of weight and lose it in a relatively fast manner? And in doing so, helping her prenatal and postnatal clients to do the same?

So, I am the test case. You will hear about the highs and lows over the next year as I look to have the best possible pregnancy I can have. I’ll be updating weekly, if not more for each of you to see. I’ll be the equivalent of a reality TV show. Except not on TV. So stay tuned.

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