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So It’s been a hot minute since I posted on my blog for NUMEROUS reasons (we’ve all been sick on and off since October and the holidays), but mainly because I’m pregnant and the first trimester is always the WORST! Yep – we’re expecting baby number 2 here in the Stammen house and we are both excited and nervous. Being pregnant again has proven to be very different this time around. Not only have I been having just different symptoms (nauseas every three days instead of every day – still tired all the time, hair isn’t as amazing as last time, skin is super dry….), but I also understand all the chaos that is coming down the road 🙂 It’s not as easy as being excited for a baby shower and picking out cute nursery stuff this time. I know what it entails to be a mom so I’m a little overwhelmed and also so excited to meet this miracle child! Also, the first few weeks of this pregnancy honestly dragged by since I basically knew I was pregnant like day 1 – but the last few weeks have flown by. I can’t believe I am 16 weeks in!

Since I’ve gotten a lot of questions about this pregnancy I figured why not answer them on my blog! So here we go!

Q: Did you get pregnant naturally this time?

A: Yep! After going through infertility and IVF to conceive our son Lincoln we were lucky to experience a spontaneous pregnancy this time. I actually ready that only 17% of former IVF patients ever get pregnant naturally so this was a huge shock to me and I obviously feel VERY blessed. I know that when we were trying to conceive with Lincoln, my hormones were all sorts of jacked up. My body was extremely deficient in estrogen and progesterone and my doctor told me I was basically like a prepuberty teen. I am sure that bodybuilding and competing had a small part to do with this but also I never had a consistent period – like EVER. Birth control was the only thing that kept me normal and when I came off the pill (about age 28) nothing ever really normalized again. Getting pregnant and breastfeeding honestly reset my entire body (including my metabolism). I got my period 9 months after giving birth to Lincoln and my cycles ranged from 30 days to 35 days.

Q: What did you do differently this time to get pregnant? 

A: Besides my body just resetting post-pregnancy, I also started tracking my cycles as soon as I got my first period. I don’t know about all of you but ovulation was like playing pin the tail on the donkey for me. It was random, all over the board, and even though I am in my 30’s I just never really understood the “pregnancy window”. So, after talking to one of my besties, she let me know that since my cycles varied in length that instead of counting 14 days from the start of my period I should count 14 back from when I got my period to get a more accurate window. Basically after doing that I realized a huge error I had been making. Instead of ovulating every 14 days I was ovulating every 19-21! That’s a whole week I had been off for like ever. I’m not even joking as soon as she gave me that advice I got pregnant the next month 🙂

Q: Are you finding out the gender? 

A: Oh my gosh of course! I do not have that patient personality to just dream of baby for 9 months. No way. I needed to know like yesterday 🙂 Anyway, we have a gender reveal ultrasound booked for week 18 at a little boutique office. Nick thinks hands down girl. I was thinking boy until I had a legit premonition it is a girl and now I am just 50/50. Any guesses?!

Q: Are you craving anything? 

A: On and off yes and no. The first trimester is just like carb city for me with both of my pregnancies. I literally think if you cut open my insides a few weeks ago I would just morph into a bagel. Now that I am feeling great I’m not having any aversions but I am super into apples and chocolate.

Q: Are you working out? How has it changed since you were not pregnant? 

A: Uggghhh this questions. Okay – so you know me – workout queen over here. I had a hiccup early on because we are finishing our basement so my basement gym has been ripped up since early November (it pains me not to be able to use the equipment). Luckily, it will all be back soon and assembled in a SUPER nice space where I will be taking clients full time after baby is born (woooo hoooo!). I did sign up for a gym membership at a really nice place about 35 minutes from my house. I chose that specific gym because they have excellent daycare. The downside is that every time I’ve brought Lincoln he caught some sort of sickness and infected our whole house so he hasn’t been for about 4 weeks. I currently get to the gym 2 – 3 days a week right now, basically 2 days when I have my nanny and one weekend day when Nick can take on daddy duty. I’m hoping to increase this amount once my basement gym is put back together. Overall, I am still doing the same workouts I did pre-pregnancy. Anything you were doing before you can resume doing as long as your body feels okay and you don’t feel like you are injuring yourself. Baby is completely supported in your womb and actually thrives off the endorphins you release (I swear this is why Lincoln has been been a dream baby). I stay away from all crunching motions and I don’t jump as much as I did before – but overall I’m still circuit training and working on my full body. I have lost a LOT of upper body muscle and that will be a goal of mine to improve post-pregnancy this time around.

Okay guys thanks for visiting! My goal for 2018 is to obviously post more and connect with you. Until next time, follow along with my instagram feed and stories (it’s updated way more frequently) – Instagram.com/heatherstammen