Pregnant workout buddies

It's become more and more humorous for me at the gym, as I get bigger.  Firstly, my outfits have taken on a new level of 'special' this past month.  I have outgrown my workout bottoms and because there's not much time left in my pregnancy, I decided to just borrow Adam's big basketball shorts.  My tops have also become too short, so I've been using baggy race t shirts, both mine and Adams.  That, combined with my compression socks, makes for a lovely ensemble.  I find people look at my face, immediately glance at my belly and then look away quickly so they don't get caught staring.  It's even better when I'm with Silvana because then it's twice the belly, twice the strange looks.

We have been meeting about once/week at the gym for years and have just continued on right through our pregnancies.  Today might be our last prenatal gym date and it was fairly comical.

 

Today our favourite elliptical machines were either broken or in use, so we used the other ellipticals until a few minutes in when Silvana's foot went numb.  So we switched to walking on the treadmill.  My pace and incline were too much for this very pregnant body and my lower abdominals started aching after 15 min. So we switched to spin bikes until both our girly parts were completely numb.  Then our favorite ellipticals were free so we finished off with a few minutes there, until Silvana's foot numbness set in again.

We laughed through the workout, as it is getting harder to find things we can both comfortably do.

The best part of our workouts is always the long stretching session afterwards, which mostly involves talking and awkwardly rolling out our pregnant bodies on the blue foam roller. Thanks Silvana for the good times!

The girl working at the gym's front desk was apparently talking about me to the manager because when I walked in she said, "there's the girl I was telling you about who is due any day now and is going to have her baby at the gym."  I laughed and said, "and you're going to deliver it right.  They train you for that kind of stuff don't they?"

My kids are bursting with excitement about their new baby sister.  Yesterday they made cards for her that they placed in her crib and today they made her some "toys" out of play-doh.

Kyla's disappointment this morning when she discovered baby hadn't come in the night was so sweet.  She cried and was very glum during breakfast.  It's tender for me to experience this pregnancy and the excitement through my children's eyes.  Kyla has been asking me all day, "are the tightenings getting stronger momma?"  She likes to feel my belly and how it gets firm when it tightens.  She also loves to move my bellly around in circles and say, "you're belly is like jelly momma."  Riley is more gentle and loves to gently hug his baby sister.  They both keep telling her to, "come out soon baby."

Baby time...maybe.

Well, here I sit at home, passing the afternoon while my kids are in school.  I had a stretch and sweep this morning, so I have been crampy all afternoon and am thinking my baby might enter the world soon....or not.  But it's a very real possibility now.  I try not to think overly about her method of entry. I mean really, how DOES a woman's body DO THAT.  It's so much nicer to just think of it as something simple and beautiful like a flower blooming or something.  Lol.  Joking aside though, I have so much awe and respect for the body as Gods supreme creation and I trust in the incredible processes that are soon to take place.

I just read through some old posts of races I've done and it was almost like reading about someone else's life.  Maybe it's in part because I've taken a break from racing the second half of this pregnancy but it feels like a bit of a distant memory.

That being said, each race is still a part of who I am.  Each experience we have changes us forever.  The real power in any experience of life is who we become from that experience.  Through racing I have learned to pace myself mentally and physically, to manage pain, to break hard things down into smaller pieces in my mind, to have short and long term goals, to have fun and enjoy myself, even when things are hard and that I am not a failure when things don't turn out as I had hoped.  The preparation for races has taught me that worry doesn't help me at all, so no point doing it.  That fear is a lie and to just tell those fearful thoughts, "we'll see."  That I create the future in my mind before I ever have a chance of creating it in reality.  That I am a strong, capable woman and can do hard things.

I'm counting on all these lessons to help me in this impending experience of delivering my baby girl.

Wish me luck and if you are so inclined, keep me in your prayers that all will go well.

The lesson of the varicose veins.

You know how sometimes you learn something, either while sitting in a church class, reading a book or just talking to friends and it's one of those "aha" moments? Where the message reaches down deeper than usually, strikes a chord and opens up your mind and heart to some new truth.

Then there's the harder won lessons, that come from getting your hands dirty...

The lessons that are the results of a life experience.  The prize taken from passing through something difficult or new...that takes time to learn.  These truths tend to sink a little deeper.  They reach deep inside and introduce us to ourselves.

My varicose veins have been a catalyst for one of these introductions.

Now, I know there are many health problems much more ominous and threatening than varicose veins.  I also know that if I had something worse, that would become my new lesson and I would care a lot less about these darn veins.

Please don't judge me for how much my veins bother me, I am human and a work in progress after all.

So when I look down at my legs and see this, it's hard for me.

It's hard for me to see my body change, as part of my sacrifice offered in having this child.  But I am learning, through time and talking to others, how to put this sacrifice into perspective.  I am being introduced anew to a part of myself that values motherhood immensely.

These legs that have swam, biked and ran through miles and miles of terrain are now straining to give life to my little girl.  I am grateful for all that my body has done and for what it is doing right now.

I guess the lesson I'm learning is this:
What good is a body if it's only function is to look good?  (Well, some would say, that's enough for them.)  It's not enough for me.  This body I've been given is a tool.  A gift.  A precious gift from a loving Heavenly Father and I get to choose what I do with it.  As I use it to do good, there will be a cost to my body.  It's inevitable.  I choose to make that trade, even when it's hard.  That's the lesson I'm learning and that's the introduction to myself that I'm experiencing.