My husband and I are thrilled to announce that we are expecting our 2nd child this summer. We are filled with an immense amount of gratitude as we did not have to go through any fertility treatments. If you read my one of my first blogs (Fitness and Infertility Part II) you will know that I was diagnosed with PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) and it took us about 2 ½ years and numerous fertility treatments before we became pregnant with Caleb. We technically conceived naturally between our 4th IUI and a few days before starting IVF but I still believe that the fertility drugs did in fact help us get pregnant.
Many people say that it is easier to get pregnant with your first because ‘your body knows how to get pregnant.’ My endocrinologist (fertility doctor) does not believe that your body necessarily knows how to get pregnant but believes that women are more in tune with their body, understand their cycles better, know when they are fertile etc. We had asked when going through treatments if we would struggle with having our second child. The doctor could obviously not confirm either way but the main issue before was that I was not ovulating. I had read that pregnancy could ‘reset’ some women’s hormones with PCOS and their symptoms basically disappeared. Again, the doctor could not guarantee any of this. If I was ovulating again then I would have a better chance. I was getting worried after 4 months after stopping breastfeeding as my cycle had not returned. But then suddenly in April, I started ovulating again and had cycles, extremely irregular but still having cycles every month. We knew we would have much better chance this time around but still figured it would take a while. I went to my OBGYN for my annual checkup and she told me that we should try for 6th months (vs. waiting the full year again which is standard before starting fertility treatments) with everything being normal and if we had not conceived after that timeframe we would need to go back to the fertility doctor. Regardless, if my body remembered how to get pregnant or my hormones have been re-set, we are thrilled that it did not take long and that we will be blessed with our 2nd child.
I will continue blogging throughout my pregnancy on various topics but will be including personal experiences from this pregnancy and post-partum experience. I am just finishing up my first trimester and next week will be blogging on how different this pregnancy has already been compared to my first. However, first, I wanted to share my current exercise and nutrition plan as I get asked this question a lot from all my clients (pregnant and non-pregnant). I will continue to share my exercise and nutrition plan and how it is changing for each trimester.
Due to the fact I felt much worse at the beginning of this pregnancy compared to the last, my workout schedule has been completely varied and not nearly as structured. I also have a toddler which has changed my workout schedule dramatically.
Here is an example of a quasi-typical week for me with a few explanations. Remember, I was working out 6 days a week before I became pregnant so thought this might look like a lot to many, it was normal for me.
Monday: 1 hour Crossfit- If the workout was scalable and modifiable I went to class and though I did not have to modify much in the first trimester there were some moves I did not feel comfortable doing or if I knew it would be too high intensity, I would go to the gym instead.
Tuesday: Heated Yoga Class (I picked the yoga class based on a lower heat level, always was by the door and doubled my water intake, I would also leave the room if I needed to) **Note: your body is actually more efficient at dissipating heat when pregnant. However, I could not take these classes early on as they made me dizzy and will probably stop them around 30 weeks as I feel that I have to modify every move and do not enjoy it as much 🙂
Wednesday: Teach a 45 min Cycle/15 min Yoga Class
Thursday: Varies..sometimes Crossfit or gym which usually consisted of cardio and weights, usually 45 min to 1 hour long
Friday: Teach either a Barbell Strength Class (muscular endurance class, lots of reps) or Teach a Cardio/Strength Class
Saturday: Family Gym Day- I usually did whatever I felt like this day. Sometimes intervals on the elliptical or run on treadmill with weights.
Sunday: Rest
Throughout the week I also walked my dog 20-30 min most days of the week but this was a pretty slow pace.
Nutrition:
This was also a little all over the place as I dealt with morning sickness and some pretty strong food aversions for the first 8 weeks or so. As I talked about in another blog, one of the main things nutrition wise I changed when I found out I was pregnant was not working out on an empty stomach as I did not want low blood sugar. So I often was forcing myself to eat a little something before the workout.
Pre-Workout (if working out relatively early, if working out at lunch, I would eat one of the breakfasts listed):
One of the following:
- Kind Bar or Homemade Energy/Protein Bar
- ½ Banana with PB
- Homemade Oatmeal Pumpkin Pancake with PB
Breakfast:
One of the following:
- Plain Greek Yogurt with berries, low sugar granola (this was and is one of my cravings as I know granola is pretty much a fake health food 🙂 )
- Protein Shake with low carb almond flour banana bread with pb
- Scrambled eggs with cheese and veggies, ½ English muffin, fruit
- Homemade egg sandwich with sausage and cheese, fruit
Lunch:
One of the following:
- Most often leftovers from dinner
- Huge salad with protein, apple with pb
Snack:
This was often what I could stomach as a lot of my usual snacks were completely unappealing. Though I craved carbs, I always tried to get in some protein.
- Some type of fruit/nut bar
- Rice cake with nut butter, string cheese
- Yogurt with berries
- String cheese, a few crackers or pretzels
Dinner:
By dinner time I often felt better so I kept to my regular dinners which are protein and veggie based. I did find that I needed to add a little more carbs or otherwise I was hungry a few hours later.
- Protein: chicken, salmon or turkey burger, bison, grass fed beef, shrimp
- Vegetable: salad or Brussel sprouts, green beans, broccoli etc.
- Carb: Homemade sweet potatoes fries or some other starchy type of vegetable (spaghetti squash, zucchini etc.), brown rice, quinoa, couscous etc.
After dinner: Though I have always had a sweet tooth, I have been craving sugar even more so. I try to keep this in check but I do usually have a small sweet each night. This was usually some dark chocolate, a few pieces of candy we had left over from Christmas, a graham cracker with peanut butter or cookie butter or even a spoonful of peanut butter with a few chocolate chips on top J
All of this obviously changed from day-to-day and from week to week based on how I was feeling. I did not gain any weight my first trimester most likely because I was not working out as intensely (because I did not feel good nor have the energy), was nauseous and therefore not eating as much. I have already noticed my appetite coming back in the last few weeks. I will post my exercise and nutrition again later in the 2nd for you to see the modifications and adjustments.
As always, I welcome any questions or comments.
XOXO
Sara