Fitness: 1st & 2nd trimesters

As you may know, I went through IVF to get pregnant with little Coco. That’s actually how we got her name ❤️

Scott always texted me, well attempted to text me “XOXO” at the end of a conversation, and for whatever reason his phone always spellchecked-changed it to coco.

When we started the long process of preparing and trying for our miracle baby, I wanted a name for her so that I didn’t refer to the baby as “it.” Before I even got the news that I was pregnant, we started calling her Coco ❤️.

We knew IVF would work eventually, we had such a strong support system at RMA Norwalk and I listened to everything my Doctors and Nurses told me. When we finally were given word on February 7th, 2020 that I was in fact pregnant!!! We only referred to her as Coco! ( a little insight on her name)

I found out I was pregnant exactly in my 4th week, which was 9 days after my Embryo transfer. Throughout the process, my fitness routine had really dropped from where it has always been.

I grew up running track & field at a very young age and played every sport ever offered to me. In high school, I ran cross country, and played ice hockey and lacrosse. I eventually played hockey in college, which was what led me to Illinois.

My entire existence has always been sports and fitness. It’s so much a part of my life that I can’t imagine not running. I have an exceptionally hard time sitting still. If you know me, then you know I have that super annoying habit of continuously shaking my leg up and down creating a vibration in the entire room— I’m sorry. I honestly cannot help it.

When Scott and I made the decision to have a baby, my priority changed from setting a faster pace in my miles to being healthy for our baby girl.

Healthy is different for everyone and everyone’s fitness levels are completely different. But, healthy for me was getting pregnant through IVF, it wasn’t about being in my tip top physical capacity.

During IVF, my workouts were sporadic, especially depending on what I was going through hormonally from the medications. The first step was my egg retrieval, which meant about 3 weeks of shots and oral medications to get my ovaries in high gear.

As I prepared for my retrieval, I completely stopped running. I took some barre & CST50 (mega reformer) classes, mainly for my own peace of mind, but in no way was I focused on my weight. In fact, in the first time in probably a decade, put some weight on, I ate more than I usually do and I allowed the medicine to do its job.

My egg retrieval was in the end of October right around my birthday. It was a success. I had 18 eggs pulled from the procedure. As the days progressed they slowly dwindled away. My final number was five; three of which, were healthy little embryos! This was a huge success and I thank my lucky stars.

After my retrieval I had a few weeks where I was able to work out a bit and I was off of the hormones and medications (another huge plus for me.) I played tennis again, and I continued taking pure barre & CST50.

The next step was where the magic took place. My first embryo transfer was scheduled for December 22, 2019. I went back on oral medications for a few weeks and then back to the dreaded shots. On December 30th, 2020 I received the news that my transfer was unsuccessful.

I continued to cry in my bath robe for several hours and perhaps an entire day until I spoke to my doctor. He told me it was a numbers game, and this was just a minor setback but not to worry. He didn’t want me to stay upset, “be upset today, but tomorrow, we are focused on the future and the next chance.”

So, that’s what I did. I cried it out, then put on my big girl pants and focused on our baby Coco. When I was given word, a week or so after, I started back on the medication & shots. My new transfer date was January 30th, 2020.

As you know, this time: it was a Success!!

In the early weeks of pregnancy, I was extremely nervous and cautious. I didn’t do a single workout: I’m talking NO Pure Barre. NO CST.

I waited until my 10th week, after I was discharged from RMA Norwalk and after my first OB GYN appointment to consider getting back into my routine.

After positive messages from both offices and the go ahead from my new doctor, I proceeded with caution.

Scott bought me the Peloton Treadmill in February, it was delivered one week before Connecticut went under lockdown for our stay-at-home orders. This will forever be one of the best gifts I’ve ever received and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

My fitness goals for pregnancy are to stay fit and active. This is not just for me and my peace of mind, but I firmly believe it is healthier for mother and baby, that the mother stays fit. The healthier the mom: the healthier the baby.

I realize many people are not fortunate enough to have this option and some are told they cannot workout. However, the majority of women out there can and should! I believe everyone should get 30 minutes of exercise in a day and focus on getting 10k steps a day. If you weren’t a runner before pregnancy, you probably shouldn’t become one. But with any fitness change you should always discuss with your doctor.

I’ve always been a runner. It’s my passion. It’s my escape from reality, and it deters any stress I have. Running has always been my saving grace. It’s also a great way to stay in shape.

Bad day—> run Good day—> run

Week 10: After my doctors appointment and the go ahead to start my fitness back up: actually encouragement from the doctor, I started off slow.

Everything about pregnancy as a first time mom is new. I wasn’t sure about my balance, how fast I was able to push it, or how long I could run. So the first goal was to start slow, get my bearings back and then set realistic goals.

Running while pregnant isn’t about breaking goals (although it’s always nice to win) or set new records, but it’s about staying healthy for my baby girl and also mentally staying happy.

The first couple of times on the treadmill, I started with a very slow pace and tested out running a mile, then walking a few minutes, continue running a bit more, then return to walking. Very early on, I realized my fitness level hadn’t really left, and I was quickly running back at my normal pace for the same amount of distance.

Mind you, I was not running longer than an hour. On average I started off with 30 minute runs, and gradually I’ve made them a bit longer 45-60 minutes. For the month of March, I averaged about 3 miles a day for 5 days a week: 15miles a week. In addition to running and some walking, I threw in some prenatal yoga to loosen my muscles a bit and also added a daily strength routine: arms and legs, occasionally some core. For the first trimester, I was really just testing out what my body could do.

During this time I was also praying that all the rumors about morning sickness going away in the second trimester were true. For me, they were. Like clockwork, almost as soon as I reached 13 weeks my daily sick 🤒 hour went away. I was finally able to eat food other than mini bagels and Annie’s Mac and Cheese (which I think were the only two meals I was able to get in my body for weeks. )

Speed Run around 15 weeks

Once the morning sickness went away, I was able to get back into eating healthy and I got my energy back.

2nd Trimester:

In the month of April, I gave myself the goal of 100 miles. I surpassed that goal and finished with 112 miles. I continued with a strength workout on top of my cardio goals and occasionally took a few bootcamps to keep it exciting.

In the early days of “lockdown” I never left my house except for the few doctor appointments I had scheduled. As a result, I was very concerned I wasn’t getting enough steps in. So, after every run I made sure that I did a cool down run and then a walk to get more miles in. By the end of April, I was feeling incredibly strong. My speed & interval runs were averaging in the low 7 mins mile pace range and I could easily run 6:44 p/m with some pickups. So the rumors were true, 2nd trimester is the best. I can say this only in comparison to the 1st—but it’s true.

In the month of May, I set a running goal for 125 miles. Again, I surpassed this goal, achieving 160 miles and feeling incredibly strong. This month I really focused on getting more endurance runs in and only doing a speed/interval run 1-2x a week. As a result, I took my pace down a bit during my longer runs but I was running much further. By the end of the month, I was averaging 6/7 miles per run.

If you have concerns about your pace, and feel you may need to take it down a notch, a rule of thumb I was told, was to make sure you can hold a conversation while running. I like to sing along while running (hoping Scott can’t hear me.)

I bought one of those belly bands which were recommended on a few pregnancy-fit sites; however, my bump isn’t quite big enough where I’ve felt the need to wear. If/once I do, I’ll report back on that.

Now, starting the month of June and my final month of the trimester I’m setting a mileage goal of 125. I realize I was able to run 160 last month; however, I want to set a reasonable goal in case the growing bump slows me down a bit. 125 miles in a month is still admirable and still gives me a goal to aim for : 4 miles and then some per day. This would still make me happy, and I will be even happier to try and beat this goal.

Since I’m not doing CST or barre from home at the moment, I’m focusing on upping my strength goals. Ensuring I tone my arms multiple times a week, as well as lower body exercises. In all of my readings, it is clear that during pregnancy as the body grows, the ligaments also expand and your chance of injury is a bit higher. So as my weight increases with the bump, I want to ensure I’m strengthening the muscles that I’m not necessarily actively using while running.

Today for example :

• I woke up my lower core with 7 exercises: 1. Downward Dog to split knee hold 2. Side planks with reach 3. Pike to blank (with towels or sliders) 4. Slider Bear Plank 5. Hollow hold to V sit 6. Straight leg pulse up 7. Diagonal mountain climbers

• I ran 5.38 miles on a trail run to the ocean.

• I took a 10 minute arm toning class on my Peloton app

• Then to finish, I did legs: lunges, sumo squats, hamstring raises, and Jane Fonda’s for my inner thighs.
  

Interval workout around 18 weeks

This is just a typical day. Normally, I do not do legs every day. I tend to do it a few times a week. Whereas I generally always do arms whether it’s a longer workout with heavier weights or toning which I use 2/3 lb weights.

I am in my 23rd week of pregnancy, so I’m more than half way! I have about 5 weeks left of this trimester, so I will keep you posted on the month of June and the first part of July in my next fitness update.

In the next week, I will also share my nutrition. Where my goals have been. What has worked. What hasn’t, and how sometimes life happens and things don’t go to plan. However, having a plan is important and will get you back on track after a weekend food bender (it happens.)

if you have questions about a workout regime or running plan, feel free to reach out to me!! There are so many different things you can do to stay fit and keep yourself healthy!!