Well, we've made it to term! We don't expect her to come for another 2-3 weeks but if she does decide to make an early appearance, we're mentally ready for her!
The biggest development of the week: after 36 weeks of thinking I'd avoided it, my feet have started to swell. My shoes do still fit but I do notice that they’re a bit more snug and my ankles are definitely a bit bigger than they usually are.
In more exciting news, Fudge’s aunt and uncle have arrived in HK! My sister and Jack’s brother are currently in quarantine together. Hopefully they survive spending the 14 days with each other and if all goes according to plan, they should be out just before Fudge arrives. We’ll see if Fudge cooperates though, only time will tell.
The week in general was pretty standard. In theory it was a short work week but I decided a few weeks back to work both the public holidays, it’s been a slow year and I’m about to take quite a bit of time off!
In terms of training, I actually had a pretty high energy week so I’ll get right to it.
Training
Monday
Managed to schedule an entire day from 10 - 6pm with only a 30-45min break between clients/meetings which didn't leave me much time to do much. The longest break I had was at 11am where I had 45min so I spent it using a foam roller and massage ball to relieve any tension/strain. My other 2 breaks were used: 1. getting lunch and then 2. going for a quick 20min walk just to get out of the studio.
Tuesday
Had a one hour gap between clients in the morning, I'd originally wanted to go for a podcast and walk but due to the rain I decided to stay in the studio and train. I wasn't really feeling it so I stuck to light weights and resistance bands, the main priority was just to move.
3 sets:
A1. 12 Squat to Presses
A2. 15 Banded No Moneys
A3. 3 Weighted Shoulder CARS
B1. 15 Seated Banded Rows
B2. 15 Banded Hip Thrusts
B3. 6 Standing Banded Shoulder Snow Angels
I then went for a 60min walk later in the afternoon to get a few extra steps into my day.
Wednesday
Woke up to watch the mess that was the first "Presidential" Debate before heading in for a client. I had a bit more motivation today to train properly but was mostly driven by the fact that I didn’t think I’d find much time to get back into the gym or studio until maybe Sunday. So I popped into the gym quickly before teaching the Post-Natal class in the afternoon:
Did a super basic pre-exhaust upper body session and then did some much needed lower body stretching.
3 sets:
A1. 12 Tricep Press Downs
A2. 10 Kneeling Push Ups
A3. 10 Kettlebell Halos
B1. 12 Bicep Curls
B2. 10 Face Pulls
B3. 20 Standing Oblique Marches
30 min lower body stretch
Thursday
Didn't do any training at all today. Mostly because we spent the day stocking the Airbnb my sister and Jack's brother are staying in with food but also because I had a very strange experience this morning which made me decide to take things a little more slowly today...
Woke up at 5:30 and by 6/6:15 I was hungry so I got some breakfast. Within 60s of finishing my last bite of food by body decided to change its mind and it completely rejected the meal. I went straight to the bathroom and threw it all up (sorry for that visual). I never once felt sick or ill, the feeling of nausea didn't slowly grow over time, nor did I feel terrible or weird afterwards. I simply brushed my teeth, drank the tea I’d made, had some water, and went to work and felt completely fine! The whole episode lasted maybe 15 seconds.
I decided not to panic unless it happened again at lunch or unless I noticed Fudge acting any differently. By 11:30 I was starving so had some lunch with no problems. Fudge was also acting completely normal so I decided to just keep cruising.
We'll just call today an anomaly.
Friday
Woke up in the morning in a slight panic that I'd overslept - I hadn't but it did take a few minutes to figure out what day it was and what time I had to be in the studio. I'd actually woken up 2 hours early so I decided to have a quick breakfast, walk halfway from home to the studio, and then start my day with a 30min stretch.
I finished with clients at 1pm and Jack and I then embarked on a stroll from Central to Tai Hang to say a very socially distant "hi" to our siblings (they went out to their rooftop and we stayed 4 floors below in the courtyard).
Didn't have time to do any other training but I did clock over 15k steps which, at 37 weeks, is good enough for me!
Saturday
Today was the last day of home improvements, after years of dealing with various failed iterations of frames/methods of hanging artwork we finally decided to do things properly which meant yet another date with some power tools and a vacuum.
We spent the afternoon running a few errands and doing a bit of window shopping before deciding to come home and lie on the sofa for a few hours (we’re currently powering through the amazing show that is Schitt’s Creek).
Sunday
Had a slightly busier Sunday than usual this week but we did find time for a super quick gym session in the late morning/early afternoon:
3 sets:
A1. 20 Walking Lunges
A2. 10 Ring Rows
B1. 12 Lat Pulldowns
B2. 12 Incline Chest Presses
C1. 6 Banded Frontal Raise Pulses
C2. 30s Kneeling Side Plank
Life in General
Apart from the swelling in my feet and my body rejecting a meal for the first time ever on Thursday morning, everything is going pretty smoothly.
I’ve noticed a drop in appetite recently, twice this week I woke up not hungry at all for breakfast which for me is a huge deal. I’m also not as hungry at meal times, I’m obviously still eating but I’m eating significantly less than I was even 2-3 weeks ago. It’s not even a craving or aversion issue, I think it’s just a lack of space in my stomach issue.
On the Braxton Hick’s front, if I’m getting them then I’m certainly not aware of them! I do experience the occasional glute or upper thigh cramp which goes
away within a few seconds but from my very basic research, they aren’t false labour contractions, it’s most likely just due to the pressure of Fudge’s head in my pelvis and is also probably just a bit of sciatica.
A lot of people asked me about sleep this week as this is the time pregnancy insomnia really starts to kick in. I thankfully do still pass out for a solid 8-9 hours a night but am mentally prepared for the day when that stops being the case. For now, I'm enjoying the sleep (cue all the "get your sleep now" advice!) and can't complain!
Now that we have less than 3 weeks to go a lot of people are asking how I'm mentally preparing and how I'm feeling. To be honest, at this point all women are entitled to their own approach to dealing with the uncertainty. If I'm honest, this was the part of pregnancy I was dreading the most because I'm really not a fan of not being in control of major aspects of life. I expected this to be the time where I was filled with anxiety and get worked up about not knowing where to be or what to do. To my own surprise, I'm genuinely still feeling pretty relaxed about it all. Whatever is about to happen is about to happen. I can’t do anything about the timing and I can't do too much to really prepare because I don't really know what to expect. I’m actually very surprised with myself, I don’t know where this side of me has come from but I’m certainly not going to question it!
I’m not overly laid back and chilled to the point where I don’t have a plan, that’s definitely not in my character! I have a few ideas for how I’d prefer to labour at home and when I’d prefer to go to the hospital, but I’m also very aware that more often than not, labour plans don’t pan out the way you’d like. I think the most important thing for me to do right now is just stay calm, be adaptable to the moment, and not overthink it too much. I trust myself, I trust Jack, I trust our medical team, and I trust Fudge! It's going to be a wild and painful ride (that's a given) but I think I'll just try and focus on the end goal and the incredible reward.
A year or two ago I met someone who likened preparing for delivery day to preparing for an ultramarathon. When you find out you're pregnant you'll have anywhere from a 6-9 months to prepare for the delivery. In that time you do all you can to put your body and your mind in the best possible position for the best possible performance, but at the end of the day the conditions on the day will ultimately be the deciding factor and you have to be flexible enough to accommodate for them. This analogy is definitely not appropriate for everyone but as a sportswoman, it works for me!
With that, I'll continue to do my prep work!
Have a wonderful week everyone!