Welcome to Gaia! ::

Yes the hormonal problems seem to be getting to me lately. At least I've noticed that for the past few months.

cry That's such a shame about Jenni, i hope she's coping ok with it, women have to go through so much all their lives with their bodies confused a lot of us seem to be suffering one way or another right now neutral

eek you are having a lot of negative side effects!
Doesn't sound like it's worth staying on it really neutral

i assume the doc has other things in mind for you try if this turns out to be no good.

I went with my mom to the fitness center today on a guest pass and I tried out the Stretching class that she attends regularly, and afterwards was shown some of the weight equipment and how to use them and I tried out the first row. I was shown which ones would be helpful for my upper-rib problems and low back strengthening. On Monday I'll go again with my mom and she'll sign me up for full membership. I think I'll go 3 days a week for Pilates and Stretching classes, and maybe some others.

Oh, and afterwards I went with my mom to the farmer's market and bought some yummy tomatoes and tried all kinds of samples of stuff like Raspberry Red Chili Ginger Jam and Pinon Garlic Mustard and Hickory Almond Mustard. Yum! Browsing the farmer's market fills my Harvest Moon (farming/selling) needs as well as my "I'm feeling healthier because I'm starting regular excercise" moods. lol

I've only been off Zoloft for a week! It feels like so much longer than that, but I checked my symptoms log and I stopped taking my last dose last Tuesday! Well, here's a noticeable change: I was finally able to cry this morning when Jade went to school! She's been in kindergarten a month, and it didn't hit me until this morning because the Zoloft numbed my emotions. When I saw her get on the bus behind a 5th grade (or so) girl, and she's SO tiny compared to her, I got a big lump in my throat and my eyes watered. The tight lump in my throat choked me as I walked all the way home.

And as per the workouts I've been doing with my mom, I think the sore muscles from our Monday arm-workouts gave me such knots in my shoulders near my shoulder blades that it gave me the most massive headache yesterday that wouldn't respond to ibuprofen, ice packs, laying down in the dark with eyes closed, or even falling asleep. The only thing that finally helped was an hour of trigger point massage near my shoulder blade and on my temple. In a little bit I think I'm going to soak in a hot bath and see if I can get my muscles to relax even more. sweatdrop

Well, I guess I can ask more questions tomorrow when I go in for my ultrasound, but the main reason why I finally took a home pregnancy test was because it occurred to me that I might not be able to continue doing the exercises I've been doing if I were pregnant. So, although I was really tempted by the idea of totally skipping over my first three months of morning sickness because I didn't know for sure that I was pregnant (that's what a friend of mine had happen!), I took the test to know for sure one way or another. I was really disappointed at first because I thought pregnancy would mean I had to give up my workouts, and I was so looking forward to being healthier! But a knowledgeable co-head of the fitness center knew a lot about what's safe and not during pregnancy, and he says it will actually make my pregnancy, delivery, and recovery easier and smoother! I'll just lighten up a little on the weights, and I won't be able to do some of the laying-on-my-tummy exercises when I get bigger..

When I asked the young lady who took my in-office pregnancy test on Thursday, she was less encouraging (but also seemed less knowledgeable) and kind of stuck to the saying "We always say not to start anything new after you're pregnant, but if you had been doing it already before pregnancy, it's ok to continue." Since I was about 4 weeks (or 2 weeks post-conception) when I joined the fitness center, and had been working out regularly for 2 weeks when I found out for sure, I figured my case was pretty borderline. My sister agrees that they probably mean, "Once you find out you're pregnant, don't suddenly go overboard and take up all these exercise programs because you don't want to get fat." But since this was something I was planning since New Years 2006 (one of my resolutions!), and I started working out near the same time I got pregnant, it should be fine.

I haven't been swimming in a while. Well, at the beach, yeah, but we only went like.. twice this year other than that. I know Jade enjoys it, and she really needs to keep up with her practice, so maybe I'll look into it for some Wednesdays when Jade gets out of school half-day, or maybe weekends (especially if they're special "warm water weekends" when they raise the main pool temp a little, otherwise it's so cold!)

I still have yet to talk to my OB. And it doesn't look like it will be for a while yet because at today's ultrasound they said the baby was still too small to measure, and to come back next week! But everything looks normal so far! My workouts felt good today, although I was SO TIRED before going in, and really felt like going home and napping instead (which is one reason why if I had home equipment, I know I wouldn't do it as much!) but I went, did the classes and routines, and actually felt more energized from it.