Four Month Update from a Pregnant MotherRunner

Looks like there's more than an Avocado there…perhaps its the Jalapeño Chips? Mmmm. Chips and Guacamole. Now I'm hungry.

I'm officially 16 weeks today and currently carrying around one extra avocado (in addition to the one I ate for breakfast) according to my pregnancy app.

The last few weeks have been quite easy actually, nausea and fatigue are long gone and I'm back to a steady regime of running and cross training. With the exception of this week since I've been fighting a cold (blah). So here's what's going on:

Running: For the most part I feel really strong on my runs. I have noticed that the hamstring tendonitis that I dealt with last fall and resolved over the spring/summer with PT is coming back. I've revamped my cross training to include my PT drills and a lot of glute work. Like this workout. I'm wondering if it has to do with changes in my hips due to pregnancy? Perhaps things are starting to move and shift or there is strain on different muscles that is revealing some residual weakness? Not sure. But I think the two are connected since my hips were pretty weak last fall (about 12 months postpartum) and that's when I had the biggest issues with the hamstring tendonitis.

I'm averaging just about 20 miles a week and that feels about right for now. I want to maintain two cross training days a week and don't really feel the need to run more than 4-6 miles on a run. So the mileage will probably stay around there for a while.

My easy pace is still in the eights and I can still run a bit faster comfortably without my heart rate jumping too high. I'm just running by feel and getting out there so I can have my time of solitude and thought.

Cravings: Hot. Spicy. Crunchy. Jalapeño Kettle Cooked Chips do the trick. However I experimented yesterday with some alternatives (that aren't deep fried) like Cayenne Kale Chips and Jalapeño Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower. They did the trick and didn't leave me with that oh.so.gross feeling I had after consuming half a bag of Jalapeño chips.

Skin: Pimples are cropping up like I'm 14 all over again. It's rather unpleasant. And this weird (and kind of gross) thing call angular cheilitis, cracks in the corner of your lips that won't heal. Apparently caused by stress and vitamin deficiency. I'm trying not to stress and beefing up the vitamin intake and it seems to have resolved itself.

Fear: I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried (as I think every mom is). After going through what we went through with Jack, I wonder if there will be something "wrong" with this baby too. Our fetal survey ultrasound is coming up and for some reason I keep thinking that something will crop up and we will go through what we went through with Jack all over again. It's funny though, the fear isn't as strong as it was with Jack. I had the same fear that something was wrong, it was so prevalent I had multiple discussions with my midwife about it. But with Jack, even after his fetal survey ultrasound (where everything checked out OK: his condition went undetected by ultrasound) I could never shake the feeling that something was wrong. Maybe intuition? Who knows.

--Sarah

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