Week 33. Im really pregnant now….. like super pregnant.

My belly is huge and everything is becoming so much more difficult. No one told me how uncomfortable sleeping would be. Precious sleep is not even that great anymore! Its so hard to get comfortable.
Sleep on your left side they say, left side gets numb.

Don’t sleep on your right side-rule breaker, its happening at times.

Try and sleep through the raging wrath of my unborn child squirming constantly. Bed time is seriously the hardest part of the day.
Last week I had a check in with the midwife and a growth scan update and well this just freaked me the hell out!

“Your coming to full term now so you really need to start thinking about what you want out of your labour.”

I want a baby……. surely thats the right answer.

Wrong Ro wrong.

“What pain relief do you want?”

All of it.

“What things might you like to do during the pregnancy?”

None of it.

Put me to sleep and wake me up when she arrives pleeeeeeease. Oh god please.

To say Im scared about what is fast approaching is the biggest understatement of all time. I just kind of figured that she would miraculously appear. I have been well and truly blocking out the middle part where I need to give birth to her. That may sound super strange to some but to others it may ring true.

Having talked to the beautiful Mum’s in my life I know my weird ass thought pattern has been shared by others and honestly it makes me feel so relieved and less like a freak who is unsure of what she is doing.

I am so lucky to have the women in my life that provide honest and open thoughts with me about their experiences. I would honestly be so lost, rocking back and forth in the foetal position if I didn’t have them to talk to.

At Barbell Babes Brigade we currently have three women that are pregnant. Mia who is coming into 37 weeks, myself at almost 33 and Helen at 16 weeks.

Mia is a Mum of two with a little girl on the way while both myself and Helen are first timers.

We are so lucky in our squad to be able to share anything we feel comfortable about. It is a judgement free zone where our ladies genuinely love and support each other in what ever time of their lives they are currently in.

We are all still currently training however all at different stages.

Mia: has trained 1-2x per week. Minimal strength loss. No pains and the easiest pregnancy to date.

Myself: trains 3-4x per week. Has had significant strength loss in relation to my overall strength. Had a fairly up and down pregnancy. No pains. Lots of sickness. Thyroid issues. Frequent visitor of the hospital for check ups.
Helen: trains 2-3x per week. Maintaining strength. No pains. All the sickness and headaches.

People are still asking why we are continuing to train.

To which my first answer is simply- because we enjoy it.

Training for all of us has and will continue to be a part of our lives. Not only has it provided such a strong foundation for our bodies to create life it has just as importantly provided us with the mental clarity to blow off some steam and take some time out for ourselves.

Training during pregnancy is definitely not about setting PB after PB. For me and for the other ladies, its our place to remember who we are and feel good about ourselves. Even if we do move at a much slower pace.

I can’t speak for the other two ladies but for me I am not training to minimise weight gain. This is quite often a common thought as to why women train during pregnancy. Maintaining a “healthy” weight in proportion to that individual is absolutely important but for me it was never the sole reason to continue to train. Don’t get me wrong, seeing the scale go up during the first few months scared me but it is most certainly a second thought now.

Im growing a human, of course Im going to gain weight if I need to.

Fun fact: I currently have gained 14kg. Starting at 59kg I now weigh 73kg.

I’ve recently seen a few more posts floating around on social media showing women doing their thing during their pregnancy. It is so good to see and I applaud everyone of you Queens! It sure isn’t easy! A lot of these posts however have also been quick to mention how little weight has been gained thus far in their pregnancy. Weight gain in pregnancy should not be a negative topic and for many women it is healthy.

Coming from a background where the scale weight has hugely dictated my overall happiness, these thoughts don’t just go away and I knew that there was a possibility that they would come up again. They can come up when you least expect it. In my first trimester I gained 7kg- this had me spiralling into a mental shit storm and I really had to work hard to get out of it. It wasn’t so much about the actual number that I had gained but more about comparison with others. I read many times that you shouldn’t really gain that much weight in your first trimester. I saw posts on social media of people training and saying they had gained nothing and here I am calculating how big I would be at full term. Why was I so different?

My second trimester it slowed down considerably and I began to take back control of my thought patterns through daily reflection and recognition. Currently in my third pregnancy weight gain is slow but steady and I’m embracing eating more to support the growth of my girl. Even though the last 7.5 months have most certainly been an up and down battle of emotions, I just see each stage as an adjustment period and a chance to learn. Adding life skills to my belt to help support others around me.

Every pregnancy is so different. Everyone has such a different experience and every women’s body copes differently.

Pregnancy is honestly one of the hardest things I’ve ever experienced and every single day it continues to baffle me how my body can grow a person.

She is kicking my ribs as we speak and although it is mighty uncomfortable I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Sending love out to all the expectant Mum’s out there! Your doing incredible x

P.S. For anyone interested: I believe Lexie has got some potential in making a good deadlifter in the future. Receiving a few measurements at her scan, she has got a pair of long arms just like her Mum! (Call me crazy lifting Mum)