Bump Update: Week 17

 

This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. For more information, please read my disclaimer here.

Here is week 17! I had a doctor appointment this week and got to hear the baby’s heartbeat again. Leah loves hearing it and must watch Doc McStuffins when we get home each time. We also went out of town for a wedding and were in the car for 13-14 hours from Friday to Sunday. That made a few things more difficult. I also forgot to take an “official” bump picture, so you get one from the wedding! This week the baby is the size of a pomegranate.

 

Did you miss the Week 16’s Bump Update? Check it out here!

 

A Few Week 17 Highlights

 

Activity Level

I was still struggling with lower back pain this week but pushed through to get some workouts completed. They weren’t my typical workouts, but any exercise is better than none!

 

This week

 

Days of Strength Training: 1

I completed the first day of my prenatal strength training program this week since it was targeting my shoulders and triceps. I was unable to do days 2 and 3 with them affecting my back though.

Days of Other Workouts: 2 1/2

I took off cardio for this week as I have not been able to get back into running with facing sciatica and lower back pain. This week I did the following exercises:

• 30 minutes of yoga to help with my back pain
• 1 hour of virtual sports where I threw balls, kicked soccer balls, etc. (I was in pain the next day, so this counts!)
• 2 hours of dancing at a wedding (hey, I got a good amount of steps from it, so it must be exercise!)

 

Weight

Pre-pregnancy: +3lbs

This week: +1.2lbs

 

 

Symptoms

 

Increased Appetite

I am still so hungry! This week I made some pretty bad decisions when it came to eating. Let’s see… I ate an entire 12” thin crust pizza while out of town for a wedding (I out ate my husband!) and I had chocolate ice cream for lunch one day (it was a stressful day, okay?!). I am pretty sure I put on about 5lbs this week, so I am nervous about my 18-week weigh-in. Gaining 5-10lbs is normal at this point in your pregnancy, so I am not too concerned with my weight gain thus far. I will, however, work to get back on track this week.

 

Sciatica

My sciatica wasn’t too much of a problem this week. It sparked up on Saturday while we were at a wedding, but I stretched certain areas and sat down for a few minutes and it helped a lot.

Lower Back Pain

My lower back pain has still been consistent all week. Some days were worse than others and honestly 6-hour car rides each way to the wedding didn’t help. I plan to keep foam rolling and stretching my back as often as possible as I didn’t get to do that this past weekend. I also plan to do more yoga and possibly get a prenatal massage soon too.

 

Stress

My stress level and hormones were pretty bad this past week. It didn’t help that we went out of town and was away from Leah 2 nights in a row, the longest I’ve ever been away from her. I also had to spend about 6 hours on the phone and on chat with our local cable company with issues 2 days before we left. I am hoping to lay low next week and ease the stress away.

 

Cravings and Aversions

 

Cravings

• Still everything sweet hence, the chocolate ice cream for lunch.
• Stouffer’s Mac and Cheese. It’s just so cheesy and so good.

 

Sharing is caring!