I’m at 33 weeks and feeling huge, but I’m pretty proud of the fact that I’m still riding my bike. Maybe not as much as I’d like, my current job situation has limited me to weekend rides; Maybe not as fast as I’d like, I’m a turtle-ish 10 mph compared to my usual 20-25; But the weather has been holding nice and as long as it does, I’m going to get on my bike.
A lot of people have questioned me about this, and fair enough, I mean, I’m doing everything for 2 right now, but it goes to the core of who I am. I am a cyclist, not pro and not amazing, but it’s in my soul and something I can’t live without.
I’ve tried explaining to people in the past part of the reason why I ride – I feel it’s a lazy man’s exercise and I’m lazy! I’d rather sit on my butt and move my legs than walk, and I’d definitely rather do that then sit around waiting on a bus. So I bike. Possibly a little known fact but biking is one of the best exercises out there for you when pregnant. There’s no impact on your joints, the movements are fluid, it’s good exercise with little effort… All the reasons I bike anyway.
Back in September, sometime around 25 weeks I think it was, I rode 30 miles round trip to go to the Harry Potter Exhibit. It was probably too far a ride for me, but Bob909 and my friend Elaine were willing to go along at my pace and we had energy bars and lots of water to keep me going. When I told some people about this little adventure, I got a few tut-tuts, and frankly I don’t see why.
It’s frustrating hearing or reading how a pregonaut shouldn’t do things they used to do by people who aren’t and have not been pregnant. Even with my Halloween costume, some blog posted about it and criticized me for doing CosPlay when pregnant. (The irony being it was a blog geared toward techy girls and it was a Halloween costume… Hello! How does that figure?) The thing is, yes, being pregnant does change what you can do to a degree. You have to be cautious. You have to take it slower than you did. You do have to reduce the amount you do. You have to pay attention to your limits. But you can still do it. (I’ll be the first to admit that Bob909 is essential in helping me realize what those are sometimes.) But if your pregnancy is healthy there is no reason why you can’t continue doing things you did before being pregnant, you just have to adjust how you do it.
I suppose it’s like every part of being pregnant. You have to take anything anyone says to you with a grain of salt. Your pregnancy is yours and you have to do what’s right for you and your baby. Part of that is not losing yourself during this transition period. And I firmly believe that by doing that you’ll have a much happier post-partum. Of course, we’ll find out if I’m right about that in about 7 more weeks. Until then, as long as the weather permits, I’ll be riding.



This is the “Who Am I” post. I have to imagine that all women go through this question while carrying around some strange alien inside their body. Over the past 7 months this question has crept up but usually been squelched easily enough. This time it’s not so easy.

Here is our stroller, getting a cat scan. Hey, we had to test it out and make sure everything was working. Right?
How do I get from A to Z? It’s a constant question, especially when living in a large metropolitan area with loads of public transit and you don’t own a car. BP, that’s before pregnant, the weather tended to dictate how I got around town. Being a cyclist means having different concerns. Traffic congestion isn’t one of them, I know I’m never going on the highway. It was usually a thought of, do I want to take the lakefront trail or has it filled up with too many pedestrians at this point. I preferred not to ride in rain, but could and would, just altering routes for increased safety. Winter in Chicago always challenged my convictions, but I tried my best to be on my bike if there was no snow and I had clean warm gear; failing that it was public transit all the way.
Yes, I’m a bit behind on this post, but we’re well on our way to having this wee one at this point. Almost a month ago exactly we had our 20 week check up which includes a surprisingly long ultrasound while they examine the little bot to make sure all is well and, if you want to find out, what exactly you’re going to have. Turns out, we’re having a girl and we couldn’t be more excited!