Tag Archives: third trimester

Back in the saddle

The bike saddle, that is 🙂  My chondromalacia (AKA runner’s knee) mostly resolved itself, no medical attention necessary.

How did I know I had chondromalacia without visiting the doctor?  Well, I’m a bit of an expert in self-diagnosis.  Since I’ve been pregnant, I’ve also diagnosed myself with an ectopic pregnancy (based on no symptoms whatsoever), spinal meningitis, and appendicitis.  Being an expert doesn’t always mean you’re right 😉  If I had any interest in visiting the doctor or the ER, I would be a burden to the medical system, but instead I usually take my chances and let things run their course.

Anyway, chondromalacia is an overuse injury that is — SURPRISE! — made better by rest.  Rest is a four-letter word around here, but I was desperate, picturing weeks of pain, weeks without biking (and by the time I returned being too big and off-balance to bike safely), and not being able to get in many of the positions that help with a natural labor.  Basically, my knee would be injured forever and the world would stop turning.  The end.

Sometimes things spiral a bit out-of-control in my head.

Fortunately, a few weeks of taking it relatively easy — almost no biking, going down the stairs by placing both feet on each step, and reduced walking — did the trick.  I put my knee to the test last weekend, and this weekend I’ve been back to normal.

Yesterday I ran a number of errands by bike, including returning a few items of maternity clothes to JCPenney, which means I can say that, other than the belly bands (which I could have done without), I’ve only bought one NEW maternity clothing item.

This morning I biked to the season opener at Tower Grove Farmers’ Market, where strawberries, asparagus, and rhubarb greeted me — welcome back, friends!  After a quick stop to drop my purchases off at home, I was out again, headed to prenatal yoga at the Y.  (I credit the yoga, as well as other general leg muscle stretching, with helping my knee as much as the resting.)

There’s nothing like sickness or injury to make me appreciate my relative good state of health, something that I often take for granted.

Into the 3rd

Well, here we are at 28.5 weeks!  We got back from our trip almost three weeks ago now, and I realize I’ve written very little about it.  I spent the first two weeks exhausted, fighting the third cold I’ve had this pregnancy (poor little immune system), a Roman superbug, and diving right into a busy time at work.

After the sore throat, runny nose, etc., the superbug announced its presence in my sinuses last Monday with a sudden onset toothache affecting only the teeth on the top right side of my mouth.  For a few hours, I sat at my desk, feeling like my face was going to explode.  The tooth pain abated on its own, but since that time, I’ve upped the neti pot to twice a day, which seems to be working.

I’m actually trying to be good about resting my bum knee, which means almost no biking, because I need it to get me through an entire day in the saddle for the Cycling Savvy training this Saturday, followed by a community bike ride on Sunday.

I’m still keeping active with some walking, upper body weights, and the prenatal yoga class I just started.

I hope to get back on track here soon, with some posts on our time in Italy and green baby prep.  Until then, here’s hoping for sunny skies to dry up the soggy ground and healthy knees for biking!