Moms Into Fitness First Trimester: DVD Review

I am very excited to share this review because I found a DVD series that I think is great. I think Moms Into Fitness Pregnancy First Trimester is a solid workout. It is the first in 4 part DVD collection.

The host is Lindsay Brin, who actually was part of a big study on prenatal exercise. If you watch the extra features on the DVD, you can hear her talk about the findings and recommendations.

What you need:
yoga mat/towel

hand weights (she uses 2 sets:5 pounds and 8 pounds; the person doing modified exercises uses 3 and 5 pound weights, I just just 5 pound weights for all exercise)

What you get:

The DVD features a 30-minute aerobic section and a separate 30-minute yoga practice

What it is like:

I am not sure if it is being pregnant (and I pray it is), but at times I felt winded and I know 3 months ago, it wouldn't have phased me too much. The aerobics remind me a lot of a step class without the step (grapevines, knee-repeaters). But she sprinkles in some long sets of muscle work. We are talking squats, lunges, triceps, biceps, shoulders and more. So you will do some aerobic exercises and then some muscle conditioning. She finishes with a core workout including plank poses, crunches, downward dog and of course, kegels (which I still haven't mastered out of the bathroom since I am worried I am going to mess up and have an accident. How's that for full disclosure?).

The yoga section is good. It isn't a cake walk but you do end feeling refreshed.

Why I like it:

First off, I like Lindsay. She isn't pregnant, but she does have 2 women who are in the advertised trimester, in this case, the first. She seems really friendly and informed. Second, I was treating myself with kid gloves before this video. I didn't think I could do plank, crunches, and some of these weight exercises. It makes me feel confident to knowing she was part of this study and is recommending these exercise.

The videos are trimester specific. So she is aware of different concerns/pregnancy symptoms. For instance, in the first trimester, you are more tired and fatigued, so she discusses that. She alludes to the fact that in the second trimester, she doesn't do any exercises that has you flat on your back.

I also feel like I have accomplished something when I do the Moms Into Fitness Pregnancy First Trimester workout. It certainly isn't the hardest workout I have ever done, but for pregnancy, I think it taxes me an appropriate amount. It moves quickly, when you are sick of aerobic, you move to weights and when you feel tired, you are moving back to aerobics.

I personally bought a 4-pack from Amazon which has one video for each of the three trimesters, plus a Moms into Fitness Bootcamp DVD for post-delivery. Here is the link if you are interested and I have also included the link to just the 1st trimester DVD.

Crunch Yoga Mama: DVD Review

I just completed my first prenatal exercise video: Crunch Yoga Mama . I started the video at 8:30am, at the peak of my morning queasiness and sluggishness. While doing the video, I was able to forget about my morning sickness, which gets high props from me.

The instructor is pregnant herself and the class is made up of women in all trimesters, and all shapes and sizes. They clearly aren't pregnant fitness models, which I appreciated. The workout is 40 minutes. They do have a person showing modified poses. All you need is a yoga mat and if you need help reaching poses, they suggest using a towel.

When I started the video, I thought this was way to easy, but I am also only 7 weeks pregnant and don't have a belly. As we went on, some poses were more challenging. The instructor tries to make connections to your breath and your baby. She also shows you some poses that might help release pain and tension during child birth. There is a section where you are doing squats and kegels. I still need to spend some time trying to locate the right muscles.

Overall, I could see myself doing the Crunch Yoga Mama DVD about two or three times a week. It works your back, hips, arms, and legs and of course, can help with stress relief. While it wasn't very challenging, I did find myself getting dizzy from time to time, which helped me realize this isn't a time to challenge myself. I feel like this is a great workout coupled with a long walk.

Prom Dates and Cabbage Patch Kids

I am becoming convinced it is easier for a dorky clarinet player from the high school marching band to land a date with varsity-football prom king than it is to get an H1N1 vaccine.

Last week at my appointment at the RE's I asked the doctor about the vaccine. She told me I definitely should get it but for political reasons her department didn't get any and won't get any.

I called my OB and after two calls, Nurse Rachel told me, they are out of dosages now but I am not high priority. First priority goes to people with chronic illnesses (and pregnant) such as diabetes, asthma, and so on. Second priority goes to pregnant moms who are near full term 36 weeks or more.

I am in the bowels of the third priority group. I was told to call back next week to see if they had a date for the new dosages arrival. I did ask if they were getting the vaccine without thimerosal and she said she hadn't heard of it but it is about the amount of mercury you'd eat in a seafood dinner.

On the news I saw some community colleges were offering the vaccine up for the public. A friend of a friend has a kid with a heart condition so they stood in line for 2 hours and got turned away. My sister-in-law said her pediatrician doesn't have any.

The reminds me of the hey day of Cabbage Patch Kids when I left the store with my sad little rain check in hand.

I Scream You Scream

Why is it that the only thing that sounds remotely appetizing is ice cream? I don't even have much preference on flavor, pretty much looking for cold goodness without the taxing chore of chewing.

Up until yesterday, I have been wishing I had some real pregnancy symptoms just to let me know the baby was growing. Even though I saw a heart beat Friday, by Sunday, I was nervous again. I felt kind of blah when I woke up yesterday but it quickly subsided.

Today is a different story. There is no throw up involved, I just feel gross. I think the adult word to use is queasy. I started my morning with saltines-in-bed, courtesy of my doting hubby. It is now 2pm and I haven't shaken this feeling.

This makes me think how hard this must be when you already have one kid and are pregnant with a second or third.

Last week me is telling this week me, "be careful what you wish for".

Heart of the Matter

Today was the day I have been building to for 1.5 years, my first real, non-emergency, ultrasound. I was a wreck. By the time my doctor came in, I was in near panic mode. In my heart of hearts, I knew the baby was fine. But the lack of symptoms and the flashbacks of the miscarriages gnawed at my confidence.

Once the ultrasound wand was in place, I immediately saw something and the doctor said, "We have a baby!" I was fighting back tears and once she said that flicker was my baby's heart beat, I just sat there with tears streaming down my face. It was such a relief and made it feel so real. It is such a bizarre notion that there are two hearts within me now.

The dating of the pregnancy was utterly confusing to me. If I went by my last period, I would be due 6/18. But I ovulated on day 16, not 14. Fertility Friend put my due date at 6/20, which happens to be Father's day. I thought I was 5 weeks 5 days. My doctor said she was surprised we say the heart rate so soon. She came back after tabulating my due date and said 6/19. So a day sooner than I expected, but said I am not going to be 6 weeks until Monday, not Sunday as I had thought. It's a day in the other direction. I was too happy to try and figure it out.

I asked what my chances are of miscarriage after seeing a heart beat and she just said, "much lower and it goes down each week". Since that does nothing for me, I looked it up on the Internet and different places report ranges of 4-10%.

So now that my baby is doing great, it is time to celebrate that I haven't had any morning sickness. Maybe this is my body's way of making up to me for the mutant fibroid and miscarriages.

She said I should definitely get the H1N1 vaccine and was happy I already had the seasonal flu shot.

H1N1 Vaccine while Pregnant

The H1N1 vaccination is the hot topic for pregnant women and nursing moms. The vaccine contains a mercury preservative and some believe mercury is linked to autism. Researchers however, assert there isn't a link between mercury and autism. They are making a vaccine without thimerosal, the additive that has mercury in it for pregnant women and children.

Here are some links from the CDC and American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which both strongly recommend vaccination.

http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/pregnant_qa.htm
http://www.acog.org/departments/dept_notice.cfm?recno=20&bulletin=4983

I am planning to call my OB next week for her recommendation. However, on the ACOG link, they give doctors a script to say to their patients, so I have a feeling she is going to recommend it.

I still haven't decided what to do. I luckily got the seasonal flu shot prior to being pregnant. What have you decided? What did your doctor recommend?

Where'd you put my symptoms?

Truly, is there anything greater than over-anlayzing every twinge, hunger pain, and wave of nausea in the two week wait (TWW) between ovulation and the anticipated date of your next cycle?

Well this time around, I had almost nothing to read into whatsoever. The only "symptom", which isn't even a text book pregnancy sign, was a weird, heavy feeling in my uterus. It felt like an anchor pulling down on it. Had it not been for the fibroid surgery, I wouldn't even know what my uterus felt like, but this bizarre feeling felt similar to how my recovering uterus felt when I went for a long walk post op.

While others on the baby boards are feeling sore boobs, nausea, exhaustion, I had pretty much nothing. I started to get really discouraged. Despite my lack of symptoms I tested positive on 9dpo and eagerly waited for my symptoms to arrive.

Yes, this seems masochistic, why would I want to feel crappy? Once you have a miscarriage, you stop feeling so much sympathy for people complaining about pregnancy symptoms because the symptoms mean everything is going great, your hormones are ramping up and the baby is growing. I needed some reassurance.

By my 4th night away, I had to test, just to make sure I was still pregnant. I told myself I just need to get through 14dpo, to rule out a chemical pregnancy, and then I would feel more secure.

The test was significantly darker than the barely-a-line for 9dpo. It kept me happy for a couple days, but it didn't quell the craziness.

At first my DH was hesitant to be cute about the baby, which upset me because it made me feel like he didn't think it was going to work out. Then he became so cute (i.e. asking me to pick a letter as we walked around Florence and we would rally baby names back and forth) that I worried that I was setting us both up for major disappointment. Isn't he lucky that he gets to deal with me?

By the time I was 4.5 weeks, I had only the slightest pain in the girls. I started to get really concerned. I wasn't particularly tired and wasn't even sleeping well from the time change.
3 days before we left, the breast pain ramped up and I felt much relief.

At 8am, the day after we returned, I went for a blood test and had my results at 10:30am. I was hoping for my number to be 1408 (based on the doubling of the original 22 beta result) and it was 3598! They said I should come in for an ultrasound this week, my 5th week.

My appointment is in three days and I have to say I am utterly freaked. My breast pain has diminished significantly and I am nervous that when I go on 5weeks 5 days for the ultrasound, it will be too early to see the heartbeat and I will be a wreck until they test again next week.

So to date, my only symptoms are fleeting breast pain, finger nails grown at crazy rate, I wake up hungry in the middle of the night (could be jet lag) and a bit of dizziness when I get out of bed.

I know, I know, be careful what you wish for.