"That" professor...

      Apparently it doesn't take much to become something of an urban legend around here. I figured this would happen as I began to show more, but it's interesting HOW it is happening. So, the phenomenon that intrigues me about how my lifting habits come up in conversation apparently with many people who see or know me is that it is THE WOMEN who judge me negatively, yet the men-folk all but ask for my autograph, showering me with compliments and seemingly genuine notes of praise. Don't get me wrong, I have had plenty of girlfriends and female gym-goers gush over me and how I have tried to maintain fitness throughout my pregnancy, but now that EVERYONE knows I'm with-child, the nay-sayers reveal themselves in various ways. Just yesterday, I met with one of my advisees (she's dual-enrolled in another program on-campus so some of her classmates are not Exercise Science students) and she informed me of how she overheard a classmate talking about me and how horrible it was to see me doing deadlifts at the gym. "She's going to hurt that baby, it can't be healthy to do things like that" and so on, according to my student. Proudly I can report my student not only came to my defense but provided a quick rebuttal as to why and how her concerns were invalid (of course this is her telling me the story, but I doubt she is lying. Why would she? I'm not teaching any of her classes this semester so no bonus points for butt-kissing at the moment....). Her story continued something like once her classmates knew I was her adviser, they all referred to me as "that" professor who does crazy shit in the gym while pregnant. I told my student that if they wanted to see crazy pregnant people, I can show pictures of women smoking and turning up a bottle of Jack, or the children of women who smoked crack throughout their pregnancy. Now that shit is crazy. Doing a few reps of romanian deadlifts while pregnant because A- it's part of my "routine" and B- it helps keep back pain at bay... not so crazy by comparison. 

      Among my colleagues, I get the impression I have a similar "air" about me because I'm relatively small given my stage of pregnancy. It no longer bothers me when people gasp in shock when I tell them I'm almost 34 weeks because I know that our son is healthy and growing like crazy despite my lack of a huge belly.  How do I know this? Well, here's what we found out today: T2 is 5lbs 6 oz. Right now. Technically I have a little over six weeks of "baking" left to do. So if babies gain an average of a pound a week in the last 4-6 weeks, we are totally on pace to have a 9 or 10-lb baby. I'm kind of hoping for a late March delivery date given what we know now :) I've gained 22lbs overall so I think between his growth rate and how much longer we COULD have left to go, I will easily hit 30lbs and that was the exact middle point of the "range" I was given by my dietician friend for what I should expect to gain without adding "unnecessary" weight. Even one of the doctors in the practice I am using for OB care told me, this is a direct quote, "there is absolutely no benefit for your baby if you gain fat weight. Don't listen to people telling you you're too small. Your size does not matter. He gains nothing by you gaining fat. Keep doing what you're doing, I wish more patients were like you." Yeah, bitches. ::drops mic::

On a final note, I posted pictures from a few weeks ago when I visited my hometown for a fabulous friends-and-family baby shower and it was a total blast. I got to see close friends that I REALLY wish I saw more often, alas they all live in various parts of the country, none all that close to me. What I failed to post until now is a public thank-you for what was technically my FIRST baby shower almost a month ago thrown by my awesome book club girlfriends. I've been with this group for almost a year but I've only attended maybe three actual "meetings" because of schedule conflicts, etc. and still these girls dedicated our last club outing to me in several special ways. First, they had all brought their favorite childhood books to contribute to T2's library. SO SWEET. Then, then had brought onesie's to decorate for him (which they did over several bottles of wine after I had left to let my husband in the house after accidentally locking him out). I got the onesies a few weeks ago so along with the books, THIS was my first official shower and I feel so blessed to know these awesome ladies. If you check out the designs, you can despite knowing some of these girls for less than a year, they know me pretty well already ;) As much as I bitch about other women being bitches sometimes, I definitely am lucky to have some very cool women in my corner. Thank you ladies, you all know who you are and I love ya for it :)