Friday, December 05, 2008
Belly shot: 18 weeks
This is a week old, and I can already see a difference from when I took the picture a week ago. I have a bit of tenderness around my stomach--not on the skin, but in the inner tissue and muscle layers--from everything shifting around and moving upward and outward. I've gained 3 pounds so far and am feeling great.
This is totally random, but I had a dream about you the other night... I dreamed that (among other things) I invited you to stay at my house for your birth so you could have Pamela as your midwife, since she is local to me (and I hope I can have a birth with her at some point too!). Weird, huh?
ReplyDeleteThat's hilarious! Pamela would totally be worth the trip, though!
ReplyDeleteyou look great! looks like your uterus hasn't shifted forward yet. you're entering my favorite part of pregnancy...enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteOMGosh. I'm going to have to take a photo of myself to compare - I am *huge* compared to you. This is your second, right? I keep thinking I'm getting so much bigger because this is my third. Crazy.
ReplyDeleteYou look like me....when i was 15! : P
ReplyDeleteI was humungeous by 20 weeks with all the kids except the first. You must have abs or something...LOL
Love the hair! Are we gonna get weekly pics? So fun!
Abs? What abs? Seriously, my upper body and abdominal regions are not exactly buff. Most of the physical activity I do involves legs and butt muscles: walking, running, elliptical, etc. I should start swimming or rowing to get more balance my muscles.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know of good exercises that you can realistically do when you're pregnant to strengthen the abdominal muscles, especially those deep transverse ones that help hold everything together?
Rixa you look great! Glad to hear you feel good too.
ReplyDeleteBrisk walking is pretty good for your abs. Ha! You wouldn't know it until you try walking without 'em. Hope you'll never find out though. Targeted exercise is a good question. Plank pose.. Boat pose... you've got hands and knees stuff? like lifting opposite arm and leg (forgot what it's called), pelvic tilts, Cat pose? Pilates is even better, but I don't know what is pregnancy-safe there.
There are lots of ab and pelvic exercises recommended in the book Maternal fitness, preparing for the marathon of labor- by Julie Tupler. I found it on half.com when i was pregnant for .75 and some libraries have it too.
ReplyDeleteBellydancing!
ReplyDeleteHi Rixa,
ReplyDeleteI hate to comment on this, because I'm a lurker. I adore your site and really feel strongly that all your amazing information has made a difference to many many women, so thank you.
For the last couple days since I've seen your picture I've had this thought in my head and I felt like I should share it. I would love to hear your take on it and also wouldn't mind if you just pass it by, but it's been on my mind. Here it goes:
I worry when pregnant women start to share their weight gain or loss with others in a public format like their blog. I feel that in our society women worry so much about their weight and how they look when they are pregnant. From reading you for a very long time, I know this is not how you are, but I worry that other women start to think about how you've gained 3 pounds and they've gained more or less and then compare. I just wonder if it's necessary to share weight specifics. I'm saying this in the kindest way possible and I hope you take it that way. I would love to know your thoughts on this!
Again, thank you for all your amazing research and knowledge.
Jill - Mama to three sons.
Hey Jill--thanks for your comment. I hadn't thought about it that way and I suppose some women might take it--or even the belly shots--as some kind of unvoiced competition or idealized measure to which they feel obliged to match. I have a nerdy side that likes to keep track of all this stuff (you should see my pregnancy Excel sheets!) and so I put down my weight as part of my overall scientific curiosity about pregnancy. But yes, I do very much see your point. I'll have to think about this...
ReplyDeleteYou look great! I looked bigger than that right from the start of baby #1, LOL. And only 3lbs? Wow, I put on 3 lbs between taking the test and getting the + result, LOL. But it all evened out, and by the middle of each pregnancy I didn't really get any bigger.
ReplyDeleteI just read a book called "Painless Childbirth" by Giuditta Tornetta. I was hoping it would explain why I never really felt my labour to be 'painful'. However, the book goes into much, much more than just the actual delivery. It's all about an emotional journey throughout your pregnancy; you go back to when you yourself was being born....
Last pregnancy, I gained nothing the 1st trimester, 17 lbs the 2nd trimester, and 10 lbs the 3rd. It seems like I'm following the same pattern, since the only weight gain has been in the past few weeks. '
ReplyDeleteI haven't read that book; I should add it to my list. I just ILL'd the Maternal Fitness book.