20 week mark and IT'S A ….

… NOTHER BABY!

Kinda looks like a baby, anyway … 

We had our 20 week ultrasound last week, and everything is looking good.  No, we didn't find out whether Baby #2 is a boy or a girl.  I prefer not knowing until I meet him/her, and I feel like it's something I'm not supposed to know until the baby is born.  I'm still waiting to see if I feel some strong intuition one way or the other.  With Landon, by the time he was born, Justin and I were both sure we were having a boy.  We didn't even have a girl name picked out (well, I did, but Justin hadn't agreed to it.)  For the record, my guess right now is that this one is a girl, but I don't feel certain about it the way I did with Landon.  

"Hey, get the eff outta here."  -Baby #2 (left); Landon (right)

The ultrasound tech took some creepy 3D pictures.  The baby was shielding its face most of the time, which Landon did during his ultrasound too.  It's cool getting to see the baby, but I find myself feeling anxious during the process and don't really enjoy it.  I don't assume any medical test or procedure is completely safe and without risk, and apparently an ultrasound "expose[s] the fetus to a sound as loud as that made by a subway train coming into a station."  So it's a mix of emotions of "awww, baby's cute little hand is up by his/her face," and "ok, baby's trying to block out the noise with his/her hands -- let's stop sending deafening sounds into my uterus and leave the baby alone."  But we've opted out of genetic testing both pregnancies (avoiding an ultrasound at around 12 weeks), and my doctors' office only routinely does the one anatomy scan ultrasound at 20 weeks.  So hopefully all continues to go well (and this baby doesn't get quite as cozy in my belly as Landon did -- we had a second ultrasound at 9 days past his due date) and this is our only ultrasound.

On the CrossFit front, 14.3 went pretty well for me.  I got 7 deadlifts at 205#.  Deadlifts and box jumps are a couple of movements a lot of pregnant crossfitters probably steer clear of.  I know crossfitmom.com is cautious about heavy deadlifting once you're in the second trimester.  I'm certainly avoiding anything close to my max (310#), but I didn't have a problem with the weights in this workout, and I tried to stay focused on not letting my lower back do the work.  As for box jumps, I actually didn't realize that step-ups were allowed.  Justin doesn't like me doing box jumps, but I'm still comfortable rebounding with 20".  I did a workout with 24" box jumps today though and reset every jump. Maybe step-ups would have been the way to go, but they just seem kinda lame.  (So there's your solid argument for why to do box jumps instead of step-ups while pregnant.)

  

As for 14.4, I got the very common score of 180, finishing the cleans at an unimpressive 13:43.  I hate rowing, always.  Toes to bar are usually good for me, but my grip was gone after my first couple sets.  And a big belly doesn't make toes to bar easier (shocker).   I didn't have any hope of getting a muscle up -- I'm pretty sure I did my last muscle up for awhile a few weeks ago :(  (On the plus side, I get to look forward to the great feeling of getting muscle ups back after the baby is born.  It's like getting your first muscle up all over again.)

One more Open workout to go.  Burpees and thrusters, anyone?  Not too stoked that they saved the burpees for workout #5 -- my belly got in the way a lot less 5 weeks ago.  But Bobby informed me before 14.4 that I'm not going to qualify for Regionals this year anyway … he's probably right.  He's got a good shot at making it though.

#BobbyNoyce

Landon's also been training his butt off.

"Uncle Bobby ain't got shit on me!"

Working so hard, sometimes he can't even stay awake to refuel with his bacon and coconut water.

http://youtu.be/-6U88EhGALk

Open Workout 14.2 - 18 weeks pregnant

Another week down, three more to go.  I was happy to see chest-to-bar show up in one of the early workouts (because I'm only going to get bigger and heavier over the next few weeks).  I wouldn't say that chest-to-bar pull-ups are one of my (non-pregnant) strengths, but while training for Regionals and the Games last year, I got to where I was ok -- maybe even "decent" -- at butterfly chest-to-bar.  Add 15 prego pounds, and butterfly chest-to-bar pull-ups are no longer happening.  I can still kip them, and that's what I did ...

I'm a little ashamed to admit this, but this video is of the second time I did 14.2.  That's right.  I did 14.2 on Friday, then I re-did it on Sunday.  "But you're pregnant! Why would you re-do an Open workout? You shouldn't be pushing yourself that hard."  I went into this workout thinking I could get into the round of 14s, and I fell only four reps short on my first attempt.  I had a minute to do my second set of 12 pull-ups, and I wasn't that gassed -- I just couldn't string many pull-ups together (because I'm HEAVY).  I knew that if I used a shorter pull-up bar and did mostly singles for my last 12, I could unlock the next level.  (It's like Mario -- if the flagpole is in sight and a koopa kills you, you're not not going to try the level again, amiright?!)  So I did.  I got 84 reps on my first attempt and 115 reps on my second.  Success.  Was it necessary for me to re-do the workout?  Of course not.  Was it pointless?  Maybe.

Turns out, after viewing my game tape and comparing it to some of the videos of top scores I've seen posted on the internets, I need to re-think my squat depth standard.  I seem to be squatting way too low.  Maybe below parallel goes from a requirement to a suggestion once you've competed as an individual at the Games multiple times?  Obviously, I'm not trying to go to Regionals this year, and the difference between myself and the top athletes is a lot more than a couple inches per squat.  However, for there to be any legitimacy to the "sport of fitness," the standards need to be upheld at every level, particularly by the CrossFit "celebrities" who the masses are looking up to.  Why would box owners hold their athletes to a higher standard than someone HQ paid $2,014 for getting the top score?  I think every year during the Open I have moments where I realize the entire process is dangerously close to being a big joke.  Then I remind myself I should only worry about myself … and blog about my complaints to my many readers.

But rest assured, my hard-ass judge (Bobby Noyce) let me know that, pregnant or not, he wasn't going to let me get away with any shit.  He's pretty good at CrossFit too …

 

Another Pregnant CrossFit Open -- 14.1 at 17 Weeks

Yep, I'm doing the Open while pregnant (again).  Bring on the criticism.  I've participated in the Open since 2011.  Here are my Open finish stats:

• 2011, 27th in the North Central Region; competed on CrossFit 515's team at Regionals. 
• 2012, 6-7 months pregnant, 218th in the North Central Region.  
• 2013, 32nd in the North Central Region; competed on CrossFit 515's team at Regionals and the Games.

I'm not as far along in this pregnancy as I was in 2012, and while I don't consider myself to be "competing" in the Open, I'm still excited to see how I stack up.  (After this year, I plan to have at least a couple years of pregnancy-free crossfitting.)

Here I am taking on 14.1 at 17 weeks pregnant:

I finished 6 rounds + 19 double unders (289 reps).  In 2011, my best score was 303 reps (due to website issues, we had two weeks to do 11.1, and I did it 3 times.  Pretty amateurish … the website malfunction and the three-peat.)  In 2011, I remember this workout absolutely crushing me -- as this workout should.  If you are pretty good at double unders, this is a total gut check of a workout.  But while pregnant, I stay within my comfort zone, and I don't allow myself to go to that scary place where you're not sure if your body can keep pushing.  So for me, this workout wasn't that bad, and even though I was 14 reps shy of my 2011 score, I'm going to go ahead and declare myself more fit now at 17 weeks pregnant than I was in 2011.  

It's cool to see many other pregnant women participating in the Open, and I'm glad CrossFit continues to shed a positive light on the issue.  I wish I could ignore the comments, but I'm usually tempted to see what the trolls of the interwebz have to say.  A few days ago, Jason Khalipa posted a picture on Instagram of his (very pregnant) wife doing 14.1.  Most comments were positive and encouraging, but I couldn't believe the comments some people would make on someone else's Instagram picture.  I guess that's the downfall to being a CrossFit celebrity … or married to one.  One certain douchebag, @BodyShopStudio, had a lot of particularly ignorant comments on the subject.  One of my favorites:  "'doc can I continue to exercise?' Vs 'doc can I compete in the crossfit open n do snatches n double unders' come on bro!  It's not about crossfit yet again it's about going to extremes in your last trimester."  Then he says "it's just hard to argue with people who r uneducated on the matter."  Well, I can agree with him there.  By the way, Jason's wife posted a score of 70 reps (1 round + 30 double unders and 5 snatches) -- hardly "extreme."

I'll just take comfort in the fact that I'm not so famous that random jackasses comment on my social media posts … maybe someday.

156 days to go!