Almost Fabulous (and Fitbit’s AMAZING Customer Service)
Hello!!!!
It’s been a while. This week is the first week I’ve felt almost normal. Besides a growing belly and some 7 pm “morning” sickness, I could almost forget I’m pregnant.
So much to talk about. Body image while pregnant? Expectations of others? Dealing with unexpected life turns? Accepting cellulite? Growing older? Missing my kettlebells?
I think for today I’ll just stick with the easy subjects, like missing kettlebells, since my brain is just now coming out of survival mode.
So back to missing my kettlebells. When I first found out I was pregnant I panicked decided I was going to have an amazing fit pregnancy and keep up my kettlesbells, yoga, and walking. I wasn’t planning anything hardcore, I was just planning to keep up a regular routine to maintain my fitness level.
Didn’t happen.
I worked out for a few more weeks (thankfully I got my Oregon, the last of the 48 states, workout in). Then one day I found myself unsteady and leaning on the side of the RV while my head and stomach spun and retched. My days of safely swinging kettlebells came to a screeching halt. For the next 8 weeks, it was a good day if I managed to get out of bed for a few hours and even then I usually walked around feeling like I had just drank a bottle of bleach. I tried ginger, lemon, magnesium, deep breathing, praying, begging, sleep, more sleep, and finally resorted to Unisom. It’s considered safe during pregnancy but as someone who doesn’t like to even take Tylenol, it was a hard decision. But was the only thing that made me felt like I wasn’t dying. (I never throw up with morning sickness. Instead I just feel like I’m going to ALL. THE. TIME. My mouth waters, stomach retches, head spins, and I feel this pressure on my throat making it really hard to swallow.)
Now at 15 and half weeks, I’m feeling almost fabulous and I think it may be time to pull those kettlebells out again. I’m a little sad I won’t have the fit pregnancy I had hoped for. I know I’ve already lost a lot of strength but I’m ready to maintain what I have left and hopefully gain a little back.
I’m also ready to start walking regularly again. I’ve been walking irregularly for the past 3 or 4 weeks depending on the day. It felt good to be walking again until I lost my Fitbit Zip. I’ve used a number of devices but have never liked one as much as my Zip. I was getting ready to buy a new one but decided to email the company just to make sure I could synch a new Fitbit Zip to my old account (You can!) because I didn’t want to lose all my old data (I didn’t.). It turns our Fitbit has THE. MOST. AMAZING. CUSTOMER. SERVICE. EVER.
Let me say that again. Fitbit has the MOST AMAZING CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER! I was a loyal customer before but I’m a die hard customer now.
Not only did they give me an long list of ways to help me find my Zip (which I did but still couldn’t find it), they offered to replace my old one. What?!?!?!? A quick Google searched showed that this is not an uncommon practice of Fitbit.
I’m so happy to be tracking my steps again (I’m not tracking calories.) and I’m feeling motivated to reach my goal of 3,000,000 steps. Although with about 8 weeks of very little walking, 3 weeks of being Fitbit Zip-less, and only two and half months left of the year, I’m not sure I’ll make it. I need an average of 12,000 a day to reach my goal which isn’t impossible but could be hard depending on our travel.
Speaking of travel.
We have also been back in our hometown after TWO YEARS of traveling! CRAZY!!! It gets even crazier because we have decided to stay on the road. Yep, I’m going to be a pregnant traveling nomad. We have some big decisions to make. For starters where to have the baby???? We may come back to California for the birth or head to Florida or we are even considering going to Indiana so I can be close to my sister. It’s a bit more complicated because my first child was a c-section and my second was a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). The hospital in my hometown has banned VBACS since my second child. My doctor who I have been seeing for the last 14 years said to give me a cesarean for this pregnancy would be “criminal” (his exact word) since my second birth was a successful VBAC. He wants me to be able to VBAC but his hands are tied due to the hospital ban. It doesn’t seem like doing something that women have been doing since the beginning of time should be so difficult but it is. No too mention the complications with insurance. My current insurance plan is no longer going to be available come January since it doesn’t meet the Affordable Care Act requirements. If we don’t go to the insurance exchange we will automatically be moved to a plan with a higher deductible and higher monthly premiums. It’s a bit of stressful time to be pregnant in that regard. On the good side my pregnancy will no longer be a preexisting condition. So there’s that. Anyway, there is A LOT more I could say (and will eventually say) about women’s birthing rights or our decision to keep traveling but for now I’m sticking with this simple update.
Well that’s my life in a nutshell. How about you? Anyone else love wearing a pedometer? Had a successful VBAC? Keeping up with your workouts? Is the Affordable Care Act affecting you in any way? (BTW I’m not necessarily “anti”…in fact I think we may be one of those instances where it is actually going to be helpful…I just don’t like this state of flux since that we need to make some major healthcare decisions over the next few months.)
Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn
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Journey with our family on the road at Newschool Nomads as we travel fulltime in RV through the United States.
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Glad to hear that you’re feeling better!! I can really relate to the lost strength/endurance. I’m almost six weeks post-op after my (robotic) hysterectomy and I’m still on restrictions and feeling so lethargic. My energy is completely sapped… from all the resting! Such a catch-22. I’m hoping that I can get back into gear here soon, too. Have fun and good luck with the birthing decisions. That is so weird about banning VBAC… and a major bummer! xo
I’m sorry to hear about your surgery. I saw it on FB but didn’t see any details. Yeah the resting truly is a catch-22. I hope you are on the upswing now! Thanks for the well wishes. xo
Thanks! I didn’t post any details (except in comments when people asked). It was time, as I had a large-ish (and growing) fibroid. I’m really glad I had the surgery when I did, once my doctor told me what she found! It’s so hard for them to really know what’s happening until they get in there.
Thank YOU for the wishes… I’m definitely on the mend, just trying to be patient. xo
I love my FitBit too. I originally came across your blog while researching tracking devices and you were one of the reasons I chose the FitBit Zip. It is absolutely the best ‘bang-for-your-buck’! Simply and the Zip is nice and small. I didn’t want to have to wear a bracelet. I also bought one for my Dad (78 years old) and we track one another online. He’s always teasing me about catching up to him!! But lately I’ve been kickin’ his @#*!
Congrats on the little one on the way.
Just Keep Swimming ~ Dory
Hi there! I’m so happy you love your Zip. I’m always nervous when I review something that I love that people will go out and get it and then not like it. So it’s so nice to hear you are enjoying yours as much as I enjoy mine! So cool you and your dad are both wearing it. Fun!!!!! Thanks for stopping by again!
Heck of a job there, it ablltuoesy helps me out.
You may feel ‘almost’ fabulous but let me tell you, you’re 100% totally fabulous & it was so great spending the day together!
Awww thanks Debs! You are fabulous yourself!!!! I was WONDERFUL to get a day with you!!!! xoxoxo
I missed reading your posts! I am glad you are feeling better.
Awww thank you!!!
Glad you are feeling better! The “morning” sickness you described (really all day sickness) is exactly what I had with the kid. No fun.
As you know, I love my Fitbit Zip. Their customer service sounds amazing! Hope you’ll reach 3,000,000 steps by the end of the year!
Thank you Andrea!
I don’t have a Fitbit but I have an Omron pedometer that I love. Thinking about the Fitbit force. I am less likely to lose a bracelet!
It’s so neat that you will have a true Nomad birth, lol! I’m so excited for you all- and I don’t think you are as unfit as you feel. You are going to have a fit pregnancy because you already were fit!
I hate about your hospital deal- I am sadly very negatively affected by this healthcare mess. Our lab is small and they’ve had to let some people go. Our premiums are set to go up maybe 400 dollars which will come out of my check since my employers won’t be paying any more than they already are. We’ve taken a big hit with all of this (healthcare in general) and many doctors are retiring so there will be even longer waits! It’s crazy. But I just have to trust The Lord and know that He will provide.
Anyhow, I hope if you are anywhere close to me on your way to Florida that you will let me know!!!
I agree about Fitbit! They responded within hours to my inquiries about my USB dongle when it stopped working. Who does that? Not just once, but they responded within hours several times to my questions. Then they replaced the dongle within days! They rock!