18 Weeks and Counting

Every Tuesday I progress another week in my pregnancy.  This past Tuesday I hit the 18 week mark. I've been feeling a lot more energetic since I hit the 2nd trimester.  Even though I'm still exhausted by 9:30 every night, I no longer feel the urgency to crawl into bed everyday after work for a nap.  But don't get me wrong; I'm still more tired than usual. I've never been big on sleeping in on the weekends but now, I don't find it difficult at all to sleep until 9:30 or 10 on Saturdays and Sundays (and I even score the occassional breakfast in bed). 

My body is definitely changing a lot.  The doctor explained that when your preg, your muscle tone changes, you get more clumsy and you just won't feel as strong as maybe you're used to.  Meanwhile I'm thinking yea yea yea, I'm in good shape, I rarely feel weak... I probably won't notice too many changes other than my belly protruding more and more.  YEA RIGHT.  I thought wrong.  I feel as dainty and vulnerable as I've ever felt.

I've maintained running 2-3 times/week and each time, I notice my strides getting shorter and shorter, slower and slower... as onyx basically drags me around the neighborhood.  As long as I keep a slow pace, it still feels good to run.  When I try to keep Will's pace (keeping in mind I used to outrun him... I had to throw that in there :) I feel a sense of panic and totally don't enjoy the workout.  So, I usually run alone or let him and onyx run ahead of me so I don't feel pressure to keep up. 

The other day, I decided to do some squats and lunges (in light of my growing rump and thighs).  Afterwards, I felt like I had done a full on back workout; the next day I had to take Tylenol for the pain. I was like WHAT?  Will and I theorized that my back muscles are compensating for other muscles that aren't working normally due to being pregnant.  Whether we're right or wrong, all I know is that my body is definitely changing as the doctor expalined it would.

I think I've gained somewhere between 8-10 lbs so far.  I'm trying to love it but, it's certainly a challenge at times to not critique myself when I'm used to being in shape.  Most of the time though, I'm embracing it and absolutely loving seeing my stomach grow and grow.  Over the past two weeks or so, it has popped out quite a bit. 

This weekend Wade, Jenni, Will and I are staying at Cindy and Otho's house.  The boys are hunting during the day while Jenni and I lounge by the pool and treat it as a mini-vaca. Since I've spent some time updating this blog today, I decided to take a new picture of my bump to share.  I'll try to keep a more regular photo update....