Size of Baby (per “What To Expect”) – Size of a cucumber. Approximately 2.5 pounds.
Weight Gain – 19 pounds. I can legitimately tell when the baby goes through a growth spurt. A few things happen in no order: her movements slow down, I eat more, and I am more tired. By the time my energy level resumes, my belly is bigger and my weight has gone up. Do a happy dance!
Movement – After a few days of less movement, things picked up drastically over the weekend. Rolls rather than punches. Even the girls can feel the baby move at this point. They often ask to touch my belly to feel the baby move. Too bad I can’t get her to do it on command.
Sleep – I don’t want to speak too soon, but I think I have finally beat my sinus infection. After a whopping TEN days on an antibiotic, the pain in my face has subsided enough that I am no longer taking Tylenol for relief. Hence, this has made sleeping much easier over the past week.
What I miss – Gosh, not much! I’m savoring the last few weeks of my last pregnancy.
Best Moments this Week – Memorial Day festivities. I am so thankful for those who sacrificed their lives to protect the incredible country that I live in. While we didn’t have any big plans for the weekend, we did end up staying busy each day.
We had been to a crawfish boil before, but we had never been to a shrimp boil. Saturday evening we joined some of my favorite Flywheel riders for our first shrimp boil. We were unprepared for how incredible the food would taste. My husband ended up eating more than his fair share of the delicious main course while the girls wore themselves out jumping up and down in the bouncy house. We left with full hearts and full bellies before crashing once we got home.
Memorial Day weekend is a huge travel weekend for many of our Charlotte friends. Since we had gone on our own vacation the week before, we felt no pressure to get out of dodge. That said, after Flywheel and a family breakfast Sunday morning, we hit the pool for our first swim session of the summer season.
It used to be a process to get the girls to stay at the pool for an hour before they were overheated and ready to go home. That phase has passed. We can now spend at least 2-3 hours at the pool before I have to suggest we take a break. Our youngest is the water bug. She has caught on to using her legs and arms to maneuver around the pool and has no fear. Let’s just say you have to keep an eye on her!
After two days of serious outdoor activities, we were sure the girls might hit the wall and take a nap for us on Monday. Nope. We had tickets to the Memorial Day Charlotte Knights minor league baseball game from a prior game rain cancellation that we opted to use. Start time was 2:05PM. We had tickets in a section that was situated in the scorching sun. While an usher in a shaded section helped someone to their seats, we took the initiative to sneak into some seats that were in that section.
The biggest highlights of the two and half innings that we made it through? The team store (we bought a girl’s soft bat and ball), Dippin Dots in the team replica hat and Homer the mascot. After an hour and a half, we trekked back to the car with tomato faces. It’s the effort that counts. They enjoyed it while it lasted.
Looking forward to – SUMMER! School is officially out. We celebrated on the last day with the rest of my daughter’s classmates toasting to ice cream sandwiches on the playground. I have taken the initiative to sign the girls up for some activities that they can participate in together this summer (as I anticipate I will experience some fatigue as the third trimester sets in). 
Gosh, ever since we got back from the beach my girls seem to have reached a new level of friendship. The conversations that they have together are literally priceless. The pictures don’t do justice how much they love (and hate) each other at times!
Cravings – Any and all food. As I said before, any time the baby is growing I feel my appetite increase. I feel like I was hungry all day every day this week. With decreasing space for my stomach, I also walk a fine line of what is enough and what is too much.
Symptoms – Pregnancy literally goes to my head. In ALL of my pregnancies, I have experienced significant symptoms in and around my face. The most common? Pregnancy congestion and sinus issues. Next up? Gingivitis and teeth pain. The only time I ever use a Netti pot or feel the need to constantly be cleaning my teeth is when I am pregnant.
Workouts – After an incredible week at the beach (and some much needed time off), I was back on my full group and personal training schedule this week. On the days that I feel the most tired, forcing myself to get a workout in tends to make me feel better. Routine and consistency are everything to me.
- Monday – I taught my regular 6:30 AM Flywheel class.
- Tuesday – See my garage strength workout below. Later in the afternoon, I taught my regular 3:30 PM Flywheel class.
- Warm up (2 Rounds)
- Row 2 minutes
- Curtsy Lunge with Band Extension x 15 each side
- Dead hang 45 seconds
- Miniband around thighs walk sideways 10 steps, 10 front raises each direction x 3 rounds
- Deadlift x 15
- Strength Circuit (3 Rounds)
- KB Swing to OH Press x 10 each side
- Pull up x 10
- TRX Squat x 25
- Pushup to Tricep Dip pass through x 10 each
- Warm up (2 Rounds)
- Wednesday – EASY DAY! Run/walk through neighborhood for 30 minutes (I accumulated approximately 2.5 miles). At a training session with my group later that evening, I also got some hang time in at the bouldering wall. Here is great drill to try for grip strength: Hang 10 seconds, 1 Pull Up. Do that as many times as you can before dropping. Move your hands if you can!
- Thursday – Most of my run group was out of town or busy (except for my girl Cara!). I reassured her that it would be okay for her to push pace ahead of me, but she insisted on staying with me as long as I was actually running. Thank you for that. I made it about halfway before I started walking on the recoveries.
- 800m warmup jog
- 6 Rounds (2:00 on, 1:00 off, 1:00 on, :30 off, :30 on, :30 off)
- 800m cool down
- 800m warmup jog
I accumulated approximately 4 miles before heading home to get my kids up and moving. We spent the morning at Chuck E Cheese before I headed to Flywheel to teach my 3:30 PM class.
- Friday – Sleep in. Check. With both kids out of school, I did my workout in the garage at lunch as my oldest ran around me practicing her own exercises. See strength work below:
- Warm up (2 Rounds)
- Jump Rope 2 minutes
- Turkish Get Up x 5 each side
- 15 Scapular Push Ups
- 15 TRX Lunges each leg
- 11’s workout
- Perform 10 Pull ups, 1 Pushup
- Next 9 Pull ups, 2 Pushups
- Etc., until you reach 1 Pullup, 10 Pushups
- Basic Strength Work (3 Rounds)
- 15 KB Swings
- 15 KB Overhead Press each side
- 15 Side Raises KB
- 15 Single Leg Squat TRX each
- Warm up (2 Rounds)
- Saturday – 30 minute WALK around the block! Two miles is all I had time for.
- Sunday – Double time baby! I taught the 7:30/8:30AM Flywheel class. I have to admit this will be the last time that I teach back to back Flywheel classes with no break until the baby is born. Mama needs time to hydrate and rest before jumping back on for round two!
Fly.Jen.Duf 