Training for two: week 39

39 weeks down...
This weekend is baby's due-date. Keep your fingers crossed that my workout this weekend involves lots of ab exercise!

Friday: 1 mile walk

Saturday: 2.5 mile walk

Sunday: 2.5 mile walk + spectating at the Marine Corps Marathon
Despite my jumping up and down and cheering, I'm seriously glad this little runner baby didn't decide to make his debut at mile marker 22...

Run Like You Stole Something

One marathoner joked that it looked like I was the one stealing something... A watermelon! (How she had the energy to crack jokes 4 hours into a marathon, I'll never know...)

Monday: 2 mile walk

Tuesday: prenatal yoga + 2 mile walk

Wednesday: rest day
No excuses. I just felt lazy.
I did spend all day working from home seated on my exercise/stability ball. That has to count for core exercise, no?

Thursday: Yet another prenatal appointment... there may or may not be a workout today.


THE TALLY:
10 miles walked  + 0 miles run + and a bit of yoga


WHAT I LOVED READING THIS WEEK:

I'm working on crocheting a baby blanket, and I'm not on Metro so much these days, (no need to be that lady who gives birth at a metro station!) so there's not much to report in the new books department.

One of the articles I did enjoy reading was a Fit Pregnancy piece on birth preferences (rather than a birth plan). One paragraph, in particular, sums up my perspective on this issue (and what I've chosen to do):

By writing your preferences instead of a plan, you maintain the understanding that circumstances beyond your control may change and you’ll need to adapt your preferences accordingly. Women who end up with an epidural when they hoped to go without or a cesarean when they wanted to avoid it often report feeling like they failed. Women, hear me out: You CANNOT FAIL at birth. You can only do what you can with the circumstances you are given – that is the best you can do for yourself and your baby.

I was first introduced to this preferences vs. plan philosophy while reading Birthing from Within: An Extra-Ordinary Guide to Childbirth Preparation by Pam England. I read (and loved) the book many months ago, but I apparently never posted a review.

Birthing From Within was recommended by my prenatal yoga teacher. Some bits of the book are a tad... new-agey? (Is that a word?) But aside from the birth-art monologues, the book is a very no-nonsense guide to labor and delivery options.

The book is intended to help each expectant mother figure out what she'd like to have happen during labor, but the guidance is blended with a solid dose of realism. The author is very clear that home births have advantages, but they will not be pain-free vacations with scented candles and sensual massage. England also is clear that, despite all best intentions, some complications require cesarean birth and 24 hours of back labor might make you rethink that epidural.

And as long as everyone is safe at the end of the process, it's all OK...


Public Service Message from Captain Obvious: These posts are not intended to be a set of week-by-week pregnancy workout guidelines. Every woman needs to do what's right for her and her baby, with a doctor's guidance, of course. I'd just like to keep y'all up to date on how things are going in my little world.