33rd Week Update

Development at 33 Weeks

Summer has started to make an appearance in Maine, and the temperatures and humidity have gone up quite a bit this week! I have been a little bit nervous about how the heat is going to affect my ability to walk dogs, since last summer there was a good month long period where it was above the 90s. So far its gotten into the 80s, which feels more stifling than it would to non-pregnant me, but so far I've been fine. I am trying to make sure I stay super hydrated, which is tough since I also have to worry about keeping the dogs hydrated, and I can only carry so much without feeling too weighed down at this point of my pregnancy. A lovely person in my yoga class suggested I try drinking coconut water which is even better at hydrating you than water because it is packed with electrolytes (more than sports drinks). So I have been doing that, and have found it immensely helpful. I have been drinking tangerine flavored Vita Coco Coconut Water (http://vitacoco.com/) which is really delicious, thirst quenching, and packed full of nutrients. I immediately feel my body temperature drop when I drink it which is comforting when I am so worried about over-heating and dehydration. They are kind of expensive though, so I tend to drink half a container before I walk and the other half when I get back. Then I sip on the dogs water while I'm actually walking.

Another way I have made things easier for myself this summer is I cut back on my dog walks. I had been walking two walks a day up until last week, (one with just a single dog, and the other with a pack of dogs). I decided to drop the single dog walk and give her to the person who will eventually take over for me. She lived on the top floor of her building and the stairwell always got really hot so I would find myself panting just going up to get the dog. Plus she has been getting quite stubborn in her old age, and the frustration of trying to get her to walk wasn't really worth it. Now that I am just walking the big dogs all together, I already feel a huge difference in my energy levels. I feel like I can enjoy my walk more now, I don't get over tired or too out of breath now, and I overall think it was a good decision for me. But boy was it hard for me to make that decision! I know I could still handle walking all the dogs, but I am used to pushing myself and I know that 8 months into pregnancy in summer heat is not the time to be pushing myself at all. I really don't want to end up going into early labor and having my baby premature so that I can't take him home right away. So (with the help of lots of people) I convinced myself to cut back, and it feels good.

As far as new things with the pregnancy, I have been getting short of breath much more often now. Sometimes when I am talking I find myself out of breath after a couple of sentences and have to pause to breath a bit before I continue. I find myself squatting or holding onto support above my head more often because these positions give me more space and allow me to breath easier. I guess this is perfectly normal, and will go away once the baby drops down, so I haven't been alarmed by the change. I just try to take it easy and practice with the different types of relaxation breathing we learned in hypnobirthing when I feel especially short of breath.

Our hypnobirthing class actually concluded this week, and we are still really glad that we took it. I really don't feel afraid at all for birthing our baby now, only a bit nervous about what to do with him after he is born. But people reassure me that it's pretty straight forward and simple for a while, so even that part doesn't really make me nervous anymore. I am just feeling more and more excited each day.

The last thing I want to mention is regarding my prenatal yoga class. Now there are a lot less people in my class since a lot of the people I started with have already had their babies. Last week it was just me and two new people who are 11 and 14 weeks pregnant. Hopefully they will keep coming so I am not ever all alone! Yoga has still been really great for me, and I find myself doing a lot of yoga at home intermittently throughout the day to help with any breathing difficulty, nausea, or soreness I feel throughout the day. I am still loving inversions and do headstands and shoulder stands regularly. It's really funny to do shoulder stands now because my big belly totally eclipses the view of my feet. One pose I can no longer do is supta baddha konasana (or reclined bound angle pose). This bums me out because this used to be the most wonderfully relaxing and restorative pose I did in yoga. Unfortunately, this pose makes me incredibly nauseous and short of breath now so I'm not supposed to do it. It's interesting because I used to do this pose just lying on the ground without any support. During my first trimester, I put a bolster behind my back, then by the second trimester I was using two bolsters for support and felt completely spoiled by this luxurious pose. A few weeks ago I bumped up to three bolsters because I started feeling nauseous with just two. But now even three isn't good enough and I just have to sit in regular baddha konasana against the wall. I know it's just because of where my baby is positioned inside me and where he is putting pressure on my organs that has forced me to have this transition, but it's still a bummer because I loved that pose. Now I have trouble even sitting in chairs with soft backs because any sort of reclining back makes me nauseous. Alas, I suppose sitting on the floor with good posture is better for me anyways!

Me doing headstand (33 weeks pregnant)

Me doing headstand (33 weeks pregnant)

* Note that you shouldn't attempt to do inversions such as shoulder stand or headstand while pregnant if you hadn't used them regularly in your yoga practice prior to being pregnant. Pregnancy is not the time to learn new poses!