Pregnancy Glow

Hi! I'm 19.5 weeks along today. *Almost* halfway done. Crazy!

I'm up 10lbs and feel great. I had to break down and buy some more maternity clothes. It's funny how much more comfortable they are. Ladies, don't keep squeezing into those tight pants. Buy the dresses, and mat jeans, and skirts. Trust me. 

My MIL and her co-worker keep thinking I've lost weight through this pregnancy. We laugh because it's so not true. It will especially not be true after this weekend because we are going to hit up the Wisconsin State Fair for the first time ever. A few years ago we saw a special on the Travel Channel and I've been dreaming of gorging on fair foods ever since. And naturally since this could very well be my only time going while pregnant, I'm going to indulge. Monday it will be back to gorging on the healthier foods that are a staple in my diet now, lol. I am a fruit monster lately. Bananas, apples, grapes, pluots, clementines, pineapples, melons, etc. Yum!

Other than that, I have been slacking on the regular walks. I did get out with a neighbor for a nice hour long walk this week so that was nice. I seem to do most of my walking in long spurts rather than little bits over multiple days. I think this will be my goal to work on the next few weeks. It's a great anxiety reliever and that is my only downside to pregnancy. 

Here is a bump pic from this last Wednesday. I've been told that I am glowing. I asked if that meant I was sweaty ;) But I think there is something to it. I have honestly never felt happier in my life. I love being pregnant. Absolutely love. I love my bunny bump!!!

Being pregnant after weight loss

You know, I've really been kicking myself for not blogging over here since getting pregnant. It just kind of dawned on me that there are other people who could be on their own quest to get pregnant or who are pregnant and also be on a weight loss (ok, hiatus for some of us) too. I'm far from the only one who is overweight and pregnant.

My main goal this pregnancy is to not balloon up or allow myself to gain back everything I lost. Sure, if I had been 130 lbs to begin with, gaining 40 would be no big deal. Except that was far from the case. I was 214 on the dot when I began our IVF cycle. I was really good with the bloat and the 4 lbs that I did gain from the cycle were minimal in my eyes. As of today, I'm 17 wks, 3 days pregnant and I am at 223.4, so just a hare under 10 lbs gained. At almost half way through this pregnancy, I'm happy with that. Especially since there have been complete and utter train wreck weeks. 

With it being summer, I do my best to never turn on the oven. That tends to limit some of the things I like to cook. At least K is the grill master and he grills some amazing dinners for us. I'm making a personal goal to try to get more veggies into my diet right away. I've been awesome with fruit but veggies have been sorely lacking. The bunny (baby) needs some carrots dangit! ;-)

You know what other goal I made? One that I'm not even sure I'll ever be able to test, lol. For my next pregnancy - and take this with a grain of salt as it took us 6.5 years to get here so who knows if we will have a second - I want to be thin enough to wear normal, cute maternity clothing. There is a huge gap in maternity fashion. I've been lucky to have a few pieces given to me by a friend, including an Old Navy dress I'm wearing today and to also be able to use some of my "fat kid" clothing still. Because of the 40 lb loss, I had a ton of room in many pants and tops. That's a huge bonus. 

So basically, here's my promise - I will try to keep blogging over here and not just on my every day blog. And as soon as I'm cleared after bunny's birth, I will be back on the train again.

Silence Explained

Hi!

No I haven't forgotten about this blog. Nor have I gone on a binge fest and gained back weight.

One of those is sort of true though. 

The Shamrock Shuffle was two days into stims (drugs) for the IVF cycle that my husband and I were undergoing. After that, no exercise was allowed by my RE (reproductive endocrinologist) through the remainder of the cycle. 

On 4/8 we had our embryo retrieval and then we transferred two perfect blasts on 4/13. 7 days later I got a BFP and it was confirmed with beta #1 two days after that! It had been six and a half years of battling infertility and was/is such a crazy reality right now. 

I'm currently 11 weeks pregnant with one little baby - or "the bunny" as we refer to it. I am Team Green and will not find out the sex unless we have to for some reason. My due date is December 29th. 

My workouts are restricted right now. I'm not allowed to do anything too strenuous and my heart rate should stay at or below 140bpm. I wasn't allowed to swim until the first u/s either. Basically the only thing I have been doing is going for 30 minute walks in the evening...when I haven't fallen asleep at 7:30 that is...

IVFs tend to make you gain some bloat and/or pounds and I'm happy to say that even with the massive amounts of bloating I had from the 21 retrieved embryos, to date I'm only up 4.5 lbs from the beginning of the cycle. I'm not trying to limit my foods and I haven't been tracking on MFP at all. :( It was weird figuring out how many calories I should be at to maintain. That was nearly double what I was doing for my weight loss! I have felt like some days I've completely gorged but then when I add it up, I'm totally fine. My personal goal is to not gain more than 20 lbs. My doctor has not given me a talk about weight gain - mostly because he knows how much I worked at the loss. He has let me know that he will bring me in earlier for the dreaded glucose test because women with PCOS w/IR have a hard time processing insulin as it is so they are more inclined to develop gestational diabetes. Personally I'm almost banking on it for myself. I've indulged in cupcakes but I'm trying to do my best with the sugars. 

So...that is my update! I'm obviously not going to be doing the Disney Half in 2015 but I'm very happy to have this "excuse" to skip it. I've already told K that I'm going to run the 2016 Half. Once this baby is born the weight loss game is back on (obviously after I'm cleared to work out again) and I'm positive that I will continue to have success. 

Shamrock Shuffle Wrap-Up

Here is my BoA Chicago Shamrock Shuffle Wrap-Up.

I would run this race again for sure. Maybe next time I will be allowed to actually go hard. And not jalk. Or maybe you prefer wog. Yes, a jog/walk. To clarify though, I never once walked any of the five miles. I know my nurse said to walk it. But I ran it...and by ran I mean that I jogged so damn slow that I didn't even pass the freaking walkers! LOL. No joke, I kept pace with the walkers. But I ran that whole damn thing! And you know what? I am perfectly happy with my results - honest.

Anyway, first things first. I have an awesome sister and since she lives closer to downtown, she went ahead and picked up our registration packets at the expo at Navy Pier on Friday morning. She said it was a good thing because Navy Pier is under construction and it was a nightmare to get to. Because of the crowds and limited space (all had to be outdoors bc of the construction), she wasn't able to walk around and look at the merchandise. This is one of my complaints about a lot of races. They only have all the fun t-shirts and socks and hats and gear at the expos. On race day I know they would sell a ton of product because people cross the finish line and are feeling pretty dang good about their accomplishments. Anyway, I'm getting side tracked here already.

We got a ride into the Loop from my FIL and then waited for my SIL and her fiance too meet us. He and K were to be our personal photographers on course, hahaha. We were in the third wave, corral J, and scheduled to hit the course at 9:15. 

Pre Race Pics

 

And we were off! K and SIL's FI started off about a just past the start line to try to catch us coming past in the beginning of the race. K had some fun catching pics of some random people, although he is mad he missed getting a shot of someone dressed as King Koopa.

 

There I am :) 

After we went past them they had directions to go to State St. to try to catch us coming up the street with the Chicago Theater sign behind us (yes, I planned a photo op). We hit mile 1 without any difficulty but I knew I would have to hit the first set of porta-potties because it was that time of the month and it was a very heavy day. I told my sis to not worry about waiting around with me and to just head off on the course on her own. I think she was a little relieved because she wanted to have a better time than what I was going to end up with.

So I am sitting in the line for the potty and K finds me :) He said it was a good thing I was wearing my shamrock beret because that is how he spotted me. Anyway, so I get into the stall...and there is no more toilet paper. And I had to change a tampon. I was *not* a happy camper. Thank god we had some water and tissue in the backpack K was lugging around. That is all I will say about that. This paragraph is my only true disappointment with the race and the organization.

So I get going, K snaps some pics of me and I am off again. I won't plan on seeing them again until the end so I started to take pics of myself and the route along the way.
Mile 2

Selfie taken somewhere between mile 2-3

Mile 3

 5k mark (sorry, pic is a bit blurry)

Jalking/wogging past the Sears Tower (excuse the double chin, lol)

Mile 4 - almost there!

On the very last hill (Roosevelt Bridge) about to make the final turn

The final stretch and the finish line

Post Race

I DID IT!!!!

Shamrock Shuffle Complete!!!

And I ran it all! My time was laughable - but I'm still 100% proud of the accomplishment.

I am so damn sore in my right hip right now. We just got back to WI and I'm laying on the couch. I have a 6:45 am doctor's appointment so I am going to crash. I will write a longer wrap up, complete with pictures, either tomorrow or Tuesday. I have a super crazy week coming up- big boss in town at work, RE visits/meds/monitoring for IVF, bridal shower for SIL this coming weekend, appraisal on Wednesday morning for our refinancing, etc. so I will do my best to get the race wrap-up done asap. 

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Weigh In Wednesday

I'm holding steady which is slightly miraculous seeing as though I feel I've been eating like a 900 lb. trucker. I'm constantly hungry. I have a feeling it is because of the birth control pills I just finished up in preparation for IVF.

And yeah - cat's out of the bag. I'm currently doing IVF and that is why I can't run the Shamrock Shuffle this week. I'm still going to finish it though, even if I feel like a fraud just walking it.

But the good news is that I am back to 214 lbs and my 40 lb loss! That is something I am very proud of. I just hope that in a month I will be gaining some pregnancy weight.Keep your fingers crossed for me. If this fails (please no) then my plans for running the Disney Half are still in play. If it works and I am able to carry to term, well then...screw the race ;-) I've been trying to beat infertility for over 6 years now. I need this to work.

Tasty Tuesday

I'm trying out something new here for Tuesdays. Since I'm in a weird place in regards to training and races, I need some other regular ideas to post about. So here comes my Tasty Tuesdays series. I'm going to try to share some healthier food dishes with you. Many will be ones I haven't tried yet myself but I have a goal of making everything I share :)

For the first installment, I have Skinny Italian Beef and Peppers

(Photo courtesy of Skinny Mom)

Decription:

"Get ready to give your pizza cutter a rest and dig into my beef and peppers casserole! This dinner is my answer to the challenge of cooking low-carb Italian meals, and the results couldn’t be more delicious! Peppers, onions, celery, and a little surprise (garbanzo beans!) balance out the hearty ground beef in this perfect weeknight meal! This dish keeps well in the freezer, making it a great make ahead meal, and the leftovers are easy to reheat and still taste fantastic for a small lunch!"

Now...this Chicago girl knows that Italian Beef is nothing to joke about. You just don't go around calling any meat you want Italian Beef...but I will give this one a pass because it sounds like a tasty meal. A friend made it this weekend and is eating it for lunch. I forgot to ask her how it was but I will try to report back as soon as I find out :)