This time is different. From the beginning to the middle (I'm nearly through my 2nd trimester), I've felt much calmer and smarter this third pregnancy. There was no need to rush to Google pregnancy symptoms and how to handle them. There's no baby shower list in the making. I'm not sorting through the thousands of options for a stroller or the best pump. Everything I need (and more) is tucked away in boxes in our basement. And at some point, possibly before the baby arrives, my husband will bring those boxes up and we'll start setting up for the baby. Or maybe I'll just have a handful of onesies washed, diapers & wipes ready and a few burp cloths on hand, since that's really all the baby needs in the beginning anyway.  But what has changed the most this pregnancy is my approach to exercise. ​

With my first child, I was afraid to workout. See, those Google searches led me to reading "don't lift more than a bag of groceries," and I listened (unfortunately!). Two years later when I was pregnant again, I hadn't established a workout routine in my short postpartum period and then my doctors told me to take it easy because of my placenta placement during my 2nd trimester. So once again, I did light walking and yoga occasionally for that pregnancy too. 

​But this third pregnancy is nothing like those first two. I'm entering my 23rd week of pregnancy and I feel so strong (and happy!) because I've maintained a safe workout routine this entire time. Even through the morning sickness and extreme fatigue of the first trimester, I'm SO thankful I pushed myself to show up for workouts and keep on track.

Now, in some ways, I didn't have a choice. During my maternity leave with my second child, I joined FIT4MOM for a Stroller Strides class. I loved being surrounded by a mom community first of all - and secondly, I felt safe knowing the workouts were designed specifically for postpartum (and prenatal) women like me. I stuck with it and trained to be an instructor myself. That was more than a year and a half ago.

So, when I found out I was pregnant with my third child, I was in the midst of teaching 1-2 FIT4MOM classes a week (while working full time too - that could be a full blog post on its own). As the instructor, I had to show up. It wasn't easy. At all. If I had the choice, I would have stayed home and went to bed (one class I teach is at 8pm!). But I had a commitment and I stuck with it. AND, I knew how to adapt my exercises for my growing baby, which gave me a great peace of mind. 

All this to say, I am so grateful for how this played out over the last several months. Again, I feel strong, which is something I couldn't say in my last two pregnancies. I can still see definition in my legs and arms. I lift my 2-year-old son with ease. I'm mentally better because I don't feel so limited by believing what I read on the internet my first pregnancy. 

And here's what I am most excited for: the postpartum recovery. I am SO curious how this will translate to my postpartum period, where I usually feel like I'm crawling out of a giant hole after giving birth. Will this make the birth easier? With I feel stronger immediately in the postpartum period? My gut is telling me "yes." And my drive to stick with this commitment to movement to see if that's true is stronger than ever. I'll let you know the results. But regardless of what happens then, sticking to a workout routine this pregnancy has already been worth it. I'm so glad this is how my 3rd pregnancy is working out (pun intended). 

**This is just my story, not medical advice. Listen to your doctors and your body. No two pregnancies are the same.

Seven years ago, I asked my new work colleague if he wanted to go to an event at the Vatican Embassy here in Washington, D.C. with me. He accepted and we met at the embassy as friends. I will never forget standing in the corner of the large room upstairs with a table of food spread out in front of us, when he said to me, "I read your blog post about your sister..." I was caught off-guard by his comment as he was probably one of ten people total who read that blog post. This man had done his homework. Not only that, but he seemed pretty moved by what I wrote and connected with it deeply in his own life.

It came as a great surprise to me then, but probably not to any of you reading this today, that the night at the embassy became our "last first date." Three years to the day later, we said "I do" in the middle of a global pandemic, under a marble dome on the National Mall. From an embassy to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, ours seems like a fairly DC centric fairy tale.

I start this first post back into the blogging space with that story because it remains the only time anyone ever told me, "I read your blog post." But if that blog post was good enough to land me a marriage proposal, certainly I should give it another go, right?

Life is very different today than it was back then. I'm now both a wife and a mom, as we've had two children in the last three years. I am deep in the trenches of the early motherhood space with a 2-year-old girl and a 10-month-old boy occupying a giant portion of my brain power and time.

But there is nothing like having a child to snap your priorities into perspective. I've always been passionate about the wellness space and I find my desire to focus on my family's health and well-being stronger than ever. As a certified health coach and fitness instructor, I know what I should be doing for my family's health, but knowing it is much easier than living it out every day. My goal here is to find - through trial and error - healthy solutions that actually work for you and your family. 

To kick it off, I'll be going on my own health journey and taking you with me. I've spent the entirety of the last four years either pregnant or breastfeeding. In that time, I carried three pregnancies - two to full term and one ending in a miscarriage. My body is drained, and my posture seems stuck in a hunched over position. As my son nears the one-year-old mile marker, it really does feel like I am coming up for air for the first time in a long while. It's time to do what they keep telling me to do on the airplane when I'm with my children: "Ma'am, please put on your own oxygen mask first."