Belly pics and exercising

I've learned that The Belly can look pretty huge, or relatively small depending on how you dress it...at least at this stage.  Here, I would say it looks pretty small.  That's me at 27 weeks.  Yahoo!  I've also learned that spending a bit of money on maternity clothes makes you feel much prettier.  Last time, I skimped on maternity clothes, and I felt pretty ugly most of the time.  I didn't even spend that much, but it's made a big difference.  Mostly, I went to St. Vinnies, bought some large tops, and sewed them in at the sleeves, but not the bottoms, or I added some elastic or little tie-backs.  CHEAP! 

I've been getting in really good shape actually.  Last pregnancy, I was in great shape, and it totally paid off with the delivery.  Besides the pushing, (Mr. big head, big shoulders) everything went really smooth and quick, especially for a first timer.  For Christmas, Chad got me a gym membership.  Ha, sounds awful....but it's not at all.  I really wanted one, but I'm not the type to spend money on it, so he took the guilt away for me.  I've loved it.  They have a daycare, a good one, so I can go as often as I want.  Since I got past the nausea, I've been going lots.  I LOVE zumba!  Now that my belly is big, I cannot look at myself in the mirror.  Bad idea.  Doing zumba moves, especially the ghetto booty ones, look totally WRONG when done with a pregnant belly, and when I say wrong, I just mean gross.  I admit, some of the moves are a bit wronchy, and when you add a pregnant belly to it.....bad.  So, I stand toward the back, and make sure someone is blocking my view to the mirror, and I try not to think about how weird it all looks, because really, nobody cares but me (hopefully), and I just want to have fun, and get some exercise.

In the fall, I started running again, and it felt so good, that I increased my mileage too fast, and I tweaked my right knee.  I rested it for 3 weeks, and it got better, but not all the way.  During the winter, there was a dull pain in it most of the time, and I wasn't interested in running with the weather and nausea.  When the nausea left, I wanted to start running again, but my knee would get aggravated so fast, and it would always hurt when I laid down to sleep.  It wasn't ever really PAINFUL, just a dull pain, a 1or 2 on a 1-10 scale.  By this point I was getting frustrated.  How could my knee still be hurting after 6 months?  I could only do zumba and elliptical at the gym.  I started hearing of all these fun 5ks coming up, (not that I would do them while pregnant, but I would like to do some after the pregnancy) and I knew I wanted to get my knee better.  I felt like not being able to run, would lower my quality of life, because I really enjoy it, and look forward to it...even though, I admit, I'm just a seasonal runner.  But, I honestly think of some of the runs I've done, not even races, and they're such great memories for me.  So, I finally made a doctors appointment.  They couldn't tell me what was wrong with my knee, but they could tell me there were no tears, and that it sounded like it was overused, and even everyday activities could keep me from recovering fully.   They started me with physical therapy.  I just hoped that it would help.  In the first session, I learned I have weak (ish) butt muscles...lol.  So, when those muscles aren't strong, your knees have to compensate.  They gave me some butt strengthening exercises....the very lovely kind that involve sticking your butt way in the air.  Chad loved to tease me.  I also tried to use my bum muscles a lot during my cardio, and she encouraged me to keep exercising.  I wasn't ever sure if it was bad or good, because it did aggravate my knee.  I was feeling good but my knee felt the same.  I was feeling a bit guilty, but I felt I deserved to spend the money to get my knee better.  The 2nd session, I learned that my right foot was twisting out when I ran.  When my toes were pointing straight, I felt like I was running pigeon-toed, but I wasn't.  She said that it would be easy to fix with training.  She also gave me some ankle strengthening exercises.  The next day, I went for a run, and made sure to have my toes facing straight.  My knee didn't hurt!  I couldn't believe it.  I still took it slow, but I was so happy.  Since then, it's gotten better.  It barely ever hurts!  It's easy for me to keep my toes straight.  I've also been working-out more, trying to build my leg and bum muscles.  I went on a run yesterday, and it was glorious.  The wild roses were blooming, perfuming patches of path, and I felt great.  I was SOOO happy!  I can run again!  I know that was long, but it's mostly for my memory.

Sorry, kinda boring, but I like exercise, and I'm proud of myself for doing what I needed to get better.  Yay!