Love of Pregnancy?

We have now made it to almost 18 weeks.  In the beginning, this felt like it would be so far away.  Looking back, it actually does go quite quickly.

I feel about the same way I felt in my first trimester.  I know I’m very lucky that I did not have to suffer through any of the common symptoms of pregnancy, mainly, morning sickness.  Overall, I think I have had a very easy pregnancy thus far.  

I am still very curious why women tell me they LOVED being pregnant.  I’m still waiting for this to hit me.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining.  I am very lucky and thankful that we were able to get pregnant.  I just cannot say that I love being pregnant.  No, it’s not difficult for me, but love it? Nope, at least not yet.
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I use to hear of women that complained of getting ‘fat’ while pregnant.  I thought this was a selfish or superficial thought.  I get it now.  I really did think that you just gradually get this nice, cute little belly that grows over time.  I knew that some people over eat and use the term ‘eating for two’ and get bigger than others, but overall, I just thought it was a process where you just grow this cute belly bump.  I was so wrong.  I sit here at 18 weeks, and I still feel fat.  My stomach is growing, but it’s not just a cute little baby bump.  I feel like I’m growing out everywhere.  I can fit in some of my clothes still, but just not very comfortably, and I have one pair of maternity jeans, and they are too big.  I guess I am just in that awkward stage.  Sometimes it gets hard not to feel self conscious about it all.

I still have not felt any of my baby’s movements.  I was told this can happen between 17-21 weeks.  Maybe this is when it feels more real.  Right now I seem to just have constant heartburn, a constant dull headache everyday and what feels like constant stretching going on in my lower abdomen, which sometimes hurts to even cough, sneeze and blow my nose, especially after working out.  None of these symptoms are terrible, and I don’t notice them at all times of the day.

I was very lucky that little Baby Lamperski allowed me to run the Philly Half Marathon one week ago today.  Besides a few bathroom stops, the baby was very accommodating to me.  Luckily, only one stop was during the race, at mile 7.  I felt really good, it was a breeze through around mile 8-9.  My first stop was at mile 7 for use of the bathroom, there was a line, and some nice gentleman let me go in front of him, very nice!  This break still lasted 4 minutes with the waiting.  I took a gel there and water.  I stopped again going up a long gradual hill.  I think this was around mile 9.3, and I walked for about 3/10 mile up the hill.  Just didn’t want to exert myself too much, and kept reminded myself that this race was not a race for me, and just about having fun.  This was also the point I started to feel ligament pain.  My doctor said this was normal, and nothing to worry about.  I stopped one more time at mile 12.  Only b/c I felt very dehydrated.  It was much warmer that we thought it would be, it was in the upper 50’s, but it was over 90% humidity.  Not a hot humid, but I was sweating a lot and very thirsty.  It was always so crowded around me at all times, so I didn’t stop for many water breaks, I should have carried my own water.  So, starting around mile 11 I was looking for water, they only had a Clif Shot station.  I was so thirsty that I was starting to get worried about the baby.  So, I stopped and walked at 12, thinking maybe there would be a station at 12.5, but as I got to about 12.3 I could see no stations, so I just decided to run very slow to the finish, faster to get water that way.  

I finished with a time of 2:06, my slowest half marathon to date, but I think I was smart the whole time.  There were a few points where I had to argue with myself about time.  A few times I just wanted to keep going, or pick up the pace, but I had to remind myself, time does not matter and to just make sure you feel good the entire time so the baby stays safe.  So, I enjoyed the course, I looked around at all of the sights and people, and had a good time.  Since my longest run was 10 miles before this, my legs were hurting a bit toward the end.  I think this may be the first race where I think I was smiling just about the whole time!

It was fun, and I’m happy I was able to complete a half marathon at 17 weeks pregnant.  When I finished I crossed over to the full marathon finish chute and got to see Chris finish shortly after me, with a time of 2:38, for 26.2 miles!  Good day for him as well!  (I started the race 15 min’s late due to a line for the bathroom, so started with a slower corral.)

Tomorrow we go for the 18 week anatomy scan, ultrasound.  We should be able to find out if Baby Lamperski is a boy or girl!  We could have found out at my 16 week appointment, but the baby wouldn't cooperate and kept it's legs tightly closed.  I really haven’t had any sort of intuition on this.  My guess is a boy, but this is purely a guess and I wouldn’t put money on it.  I base this on the fact that my belly seems to be growing out high up, which I think they say is a sign of a boy.  Really, no other reasons, but just a guess.  Chris’s guess is a girl.  Can’t wait to find out tomorrow!!  Then we can get started on planning the nursery!