The Diary of a Pregnant Crossfitter: Part Nine - WODs, Kettlebell, and Ultrasounds

Just a general update today - I have all kinds of things to say so I figured I'd pop in for a general post.  First of all, I'll follow up with my last post - my shoulder has made a full recovery!  I had gone to my therapist at the Myofascial Treatment Center that week and told her what happened, and even she was impressed with the recovery I had made already and the range of motion my shoulder still had.  She gave me a few simple exercises I can do to make sure I don't wind up with bursitis (inflammation of the bursa, which is a sac of fluid that helps cushion joints and reduce friction in the bones as they move), and suggested I ice the area on and off for another 24 hours to help release the last of the swelling.  She also suggested to not use it as vigorously as I did when I injured it for the next two weeks, but use it within my comfort so I can maintain strength in it.  Which I figured I could do anyway, so I was glad I was correct in assuming that!

So the Thursday after the injury (four days later), I did a WOD that went easy on my shoulder but was still a decent enough workout.  I did:

3 rounds, each consisting of:
20 walking lunges carrying a 25lb weight overhead
10 65lb back squats (I had the barbell racked and I stepped under it to get it on my back, so all I was using my shoulders for was stabilizing the bar, not actually holding it)
20 bicep curls with 10lb dumbells
25 overhead triceps lifts (I don't know the technical name for those, so hopefully you know what I'm talking about) with 10lb dumbells

All of these motions felt comfortable on my shoulder, so I was definitely glad for that!

Then last Sunday, a week after the injury, I did a little bit more, but still careful not to overdo it.  It was an intense WOD as far as cardio goes, but still not too strenuous on my shoulder.  I ran a lap around the lake as a warmup (about 160 meters), then came back for:

21-18-15-12-9-6
Thrusters with a 45lb barbell (so that's holding the bar across my chest, going down into a squat, and pushing the bar up over my head as I go back up to stand.  When I twisted my shoulder, I was going from that standing position with the bar overhead and bringing it back down to my back for a back squat, and I dropped it behind me on the way down.  Plus it was a 65lb bar, so this time I had less weight and wasn't putting it anywhere else but overhead - and I did it SLOWLY so as not to lose control.  I was successful!)
Burpees

As you can imagine, that was some intense cardio!  Justin was staining the deck while I worked out, and laughed at me as I huffed and puffed, but he got a picture of me mid-thruster:

Ah, I love my home WODs - can't beat that view!

Anyway, that week I started going to a 30 minute kettlebell class at a local park, which will be held every Tuesday and Thursday evening.  I missed kettlebell!!  It's similar to Crossfit in that it uses the whole body for most of the moves, engaging coordination and balance as well as strength and cardio, but everything is done with a kettlebell.  Justin had to make a run to Belleville that morning, so he stopped at Play it Again Sports to pick up my own kettlebell for me - a 20lb black bell.  He was going to get me a colored one but they were $30 more expensive!  That's nuts!  So he stopped to pick up some purple spray paint and made it a little cuter for me - he's the best :)

It was fun working out with a group again, and it was a very laid-back environment too.  Of course I had to modify things - so when we were on our backs for crunches and situps I just held the bar and did "bench press" lifts and "skull crushers" (hold the bell straight up with both arms and, keeping your upper arms stationary, bend at the elbows bringing the bell down to your forehead - great for forearms and triceps!).  It was a good workout!

 
I didn't do any Crossfit at home that week because of the two kettlebell classes, so I was sure to get in a WOD this morning on the patio.  I did:

21-15-9
65lb dead lifts
Burpees
65lb push press (kind of like a thruster only without the squat, so just repeatedly pushing the bar up overhead and bringing it back down to your chest)
Tricep dips (I put my hands on the bench of our picnic table behind me, put my legs out in front of me and held my body straight, and dipped down to the ground and back up again, kind of like a pushup only backwards)

ZERO shoulder pain.  It's like it never happened!

In other news, we got an ultrasound on Wednesday, so we got to see our little nugget!

Sometimes he looked like Harlee, and sometimes he didn't, so I'm really curious to see what he looks like in person!  I guess I'll know in a little over a month and a half - yikes!

That's so weird to think about... that's really not that far away.  The majority of the time I don't feel like I'm in my 3rd trimester at all.  I usually feel like I'm just entering my 2nd trimester - the stage in pregnancy where you've got all the energy and you feel fantastic most of the time.  At this point in pregnancy with Harlee I was exhausted all the time, SO done with being pregnant, couldn't move comfortably, couldn't really do ANYthing comfortably, I waddled when I walked, I had horrible low back pain, my feet and ankles were swollen beyond recognition, and I was already a good 50+ pounds overweight.  This time I've still got tons of energy (most of the time - I've been noticing more spells of fatigue creeping in every now and then where all I can think about is falling into bed and not waking up for several hours, but it's not very often, thank goodness), I'm actually NOT done being pregnant (but probably because this is the last time I will be so I do actually want to make the most of it and savor this unique experience in life), I can still move comfortably like sitting down or standing up, which I don't need to use my arms to do, I'm not waddling (or at least I don't feel like I am!), I have NO pain thanks to the myofascial treatments mostly, I have NO swelling thanks to a healthier diet and the experiment I've been doing on myself (which I'll share later, as I've said before), and I've only gained 20lbs this entire pregnancy, which at least 10-15 of those are the kid, so yay!

I can't stress enough to any woman wanting to become pregnant to EXERCISE and STICK WITH IT throughout the whole pregnancy, it does WONDERS.  I can't get over the difference it's made in this pregnancy as compared to how I felt carrying Harlee.  You will not regret the decision to stay in shape through pregnancy.  It's not only amazing to feel good even this far into the 3rd trimester, but it's super empowering too.

Have a great weekend!

Catch up:
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six 
Part Seven 
Part Eight