The last few weeks of pregnancy are a serious waiting game. Labor can happen at any time, so I am just laying low, paying attention to my body, and trying to fit in exercise when I can… but, every day gets a little harder to work out. I’m super round, slow, and off balance… my feet get incredibly tired at an alarming rate (less than an hour of standing at a time and I’m toast), and I’m just anxious for babe’s impending arrival.

I am not working currently, I’ve slowly weened myself from work to prepare for the weeks to come, but have found myself incredibly restless with not much to do each day leading up to labor. So I have been doing the two workouts my body seems to be ok with; walking and swimming.

Swimming is quite a production for me now; having to change beforehand, lug all my stuff into town to the pool, swim for 45 minutes, shower, lug all my stuff back to the house, etc etc… BUT… swimming is heaven on earth for this pregnant lady for one reason which I can break down into two simple words: ZERO GRAVITY. All the extra weight is lifted when I’m in the pool, and I stay cool, and swimming is second nature to me. I’ve been swimming my whole life, so the water is one of the few places where I actually still feel normal. Aside from my endurance being compromised, and all the extra drag in the water from my belly, my swimming stroke is unaffected by pregnancy, which is an amazing and rare feeling.

Walking, on the other hand, is a bit more of a challenge. Interesting right? Well, gravity is there, full force, for one… and my hips and lower back REALLY feel each step about a mile into each walk. My neighborhood is quite hilly, which I am thrilled about for post-pregnancy hill training, but right now, its challenging. I am so lucky to live in a neighborhood with lots of horses, so there are a lot of secret little equestrian trails I can jump on throughout my walks, making them more like gentle hikes, which I enjoy much more.


The scenery on these trails is awesome, and when I’m on a trail, I focus more on each step, making sure to keep my footing (thanks pregnancy balance!), rather than how much longer I have to go. I’ve been managing about 2 miles each walk, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but at 39+ weeks, that’s enough for me. (See my last post on expectations during pregnancy.)

Yesterday I went out on the trails, just trying to loosen up my legs, and get outside for a bit, and I decided to test out some new sandals. My feet haven’t swelled up quite like other mom-friends warned me they would, but sandals just feel SO much better than shoes. But wearing flip flops on the trail just wont fly, so I gave these shoes a try.

Once again, my love for Keen footwear lives on. With the weather shifting to warmer and warmer temperatures, my feet have been getting hot and swollen on my hikes, so these sandals did the trick!! I’m pretty excited to have these for summer hikes with little Stan.

Aside from that, all I am doing now is waiting. Waiting for little Stan to come out into the world and play with me. I have 5 days left til my due date, and unfortunately no signs of labor yet, which is a little discouraging. But, at my next appointment we will hopefully see some progress.

I have 7 days until little Stanley is due.

Finding out I was pregnant feels like years ago. YEARS. Yep, that’s what pregnancy feels like for me… forever. I don’t know if its the anticipation of labor and finally meeting our little man, or the anticipation of being able to figure out life with a little one, while trying to gain some of my old self back, or a mixture of the two, but they’ve both contributed to the fact that I AM READY for him to be here. As ready as I can be.

Pregnancy is/was hard, at least for me. It wasn’t anything like I thought it would be. I was extremely active before getting pregnant, teaching group fitness at multiple gyms, training for triathlons, running obstacle course races (mainly Spartan Races) and getting trail runs and hikes in on the weekends. I loved being busy and active.

Pregnancy changed everything for me. My body suddenly rejected everything I once loved to do. Everything became extremely difficult… except sleeping. Ha.

My body had become foreign to me, and I felt like I was placed in a strangers body. I was suddenly lethargic, nauseous (oh the nausea!), and not motivated at all to exercise. And when I did exercise, it was so different. My endurance had disappeared, I was winded from the get go, and it was extremely discouraging. Everything I had worked so hard for was suddenly replaced by this new body that was too busy building a healthy baby to keep up with my expectations.

Expectations. There in itself, was my underlying problem. I had really high expectations to be this super-active super pregnant lady, unfazed by the common pregnancy symptoms everyone else regularly experienced and talked about. And boy did those expectations go out the window. I had NO IDEA what being pregnant was all about.

That isn’t to say I am not super thrilled at how my pregnancy has gone. I have had zero health issues, no complications with baby, and a healthy heartbeat and active little boy in there for the past 9 months. I really have no room to complain. BUT, once you pass week 36, the window for any and all complaining is open… so I’ve heard. 🙂

I’m ready to start this new chapter of mommy-hood, even if it is the most terrifying uncharted territory of all time. I’m ready to experience the outdoors with my little one, and maybe get back to where I once was physically… eventually. I’m not in a rush, but lets be real, I want to at least be able to walk for longer than 20 minutes without feeling like I just ran a half-marathon.