Our 34 week appointment is on Wednesday, and I don't have any major concerns. I'm just hoping for a "normal" blood pressure reading and that I haven't gained too much weight.
I have crossed the threshold into territory that I wasn't supposed to enter. The app through my hospital suggested I stop gaining weight at 215 lbs. I have definitely logged a few days at 216 lbs, so I think that goal has been met and exceeded. More alarming perhaps is the increase in heart rate. I kind of stopped wearing my FitBit because it was too alarming. My "resting" heart rate is now in the 80s and just easy walking to and from the bathroom gets me up into the 110s (beats per minute). Let's not even discuss what happens when I'm exercising.
I'm still enjoying my HIIT (Fit4Baby) workouts. We've been swimming 4 times already. It's been fantastic. I use the word "swimming" lightly here because it's not like I'm doing 30 minutes of actual lap swimming or even treading water. Instead we spend about 45 minutes doing a combination of walking laps and very easy swimming. We also do some stretching in the water. More than the exercise, what I enjoy is the meditative aspect of watching the sunset or sun's rays as they reflect and refract in the pool. The landscaping is a bit more mature than pictured below.
What I love is when you are standing in the middle of the pool, it has an infinity edge so you just see the surface of the water and no ledge around the pool. The other awesome thing is that when people are swimming, the water runs into the drains around the edge of the pool which sounds like a fountain or babbling brook. I find the sound very relaxing and I always sleep better on nights after we swim.
I feel very fortunate to be living in Southern California and to be at the zenith of my pregnancy during the winter. We have had some pretty warm days (70s and 80s) which make for great outdoor swimming. Even when it's cooler, the pool is heated and we can still use it. I'd say the water temperature is in the 70s because yesterday when it was 83 degrees ouside the pool, the water felt cool but most other days the water feels warmer than the air temperature.
I would feel scared to be pregnant in winter in a place where it's icy and cold. I would also feel pretty bummed out if I were pregnant in So Cal in the summer because it's so hot here in Northridge that it would be difficult to get out and walk. My dear husband has been doing a great job of getting me out on days that we don't swim. We have some funny names for our walks "103" or "303" where the first digit is the starting location and the third digit is the distance. If it starts with a 1, then the walk starts from home. If it starts with a 3 then the walk starts from school. If it ends in a 1, then the walk is short.
This week is on the busy side for us. Besides the doctor's appointment on Wednesday, we have a breastfeeding class at the hospital on Thursday night. Tuesday we are going to "divide and conquer" where Mike is attending the Bicycle Advisory Committee Meeting and I will be going to the Ballet here at CSUN.
We scored a lot of cloth diapers this weekend from the Executive Director of the Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action and Sustainability (LARC) at UCLA. She so generously included reusable wipes and a diaper pail. Now I just have to re-wash them and take an inventory to see if we have reached the appropriate size stash to accommodate our baby when he arrives.
And now it's about time to get down to some actual work. I have been contacted by two faculty for help with making their documents ADA compliant. It's fun and kind of low-stress work, plus I know it's going to have the possibility of impacting students in a positive way so that motivates me to get on with the task.
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