Andrea recaps how things went down with the delivery of her first child.

May 1st, we were digging holes to plant trees in (yes, WE) and my water broke! We got to the hospital a couple hours later and I still wasn’t contracting. I really didn’t want Petocin so they gave me a few more hours to get it going. Micah (my husband) and I walked (more like raced when the nurses weren’t looking) through the halls but to no avail. Petocin started at around 6:30 pm but I really didn’t feel anything until about 9pm. By the middle of the night I was at the highest dosage they could give me and Micah and I were falling asleep in between contractions! I labored through the night, hitting Micah to wake up at the beginning of every contraction and I felt his head hit my back and the deep sleeping breaths in between each one! Poor guy!

At about 9am I was 8 cm dilated but I was really feeling the urge to push – that was when I told Micah I wanted to throw in the towel and get the drugs. We didn’t know at the time but I had back labor, which is when the baby is head down, but facing up (ceiling) instead of down (floor) so with each contraction the back of his head was rubbing against my tailbone. Some women actually break their tailbone with this type of labor – luckily I was not one of them! But, the bone on bone issue does make labor a lot more painful. Plus I felt like I was having convulsions as I tried desperately not to push!

Thank God for my strong hubby – he kept me focused and coached me through each painful contraction so that I didn’t give up on the natural delivery! I started pushing at 11:20 am and Tripp was born at 12:21 pm and I’m so glad we made it without any meds! He was so alert and beautiful! He came out looking around, not even crying – what a trooper! He was 7lbs 6oz and 19.5” long. He took to breastfeeding perfectly (I’m thinking it’s a guy thing? hehe) and he’s been perfect these past few weeks.

Thank you all for your encouragement throughout the pregnancy! And if you’re pregnant or thinking about kids I’d try for the natural delivery. I can’t explain the feeling you get when you feel your baby coming out! It’s a high that is unimaginable and totally worth the hours of pain if you can believe me!

Now I’m counting down the weeks for 2 things… a good workout and… well…you know

Andrea Taylor checks in with just a few more days until her little guy arrives.

What a crazy week this has been! Tripp had been stubborn and stayed breech throughout the past few weeks. I really had my heart set on a natural delivery, and after talking and praying about it, Micah and I decided to have an aversion.

An Aversion, or ECV, is when 2 doctors push on the prego belly to get the baby to turn over. When you read about this online or in magazines, they say this is an “uncomfortable” procedure. Thank God my doctor is honest and warned me about how painful it is- and let me tell you- “uncomfortable” is a severe understatement. It is not harmful to the baby but holy moly does it hurt the mommy! There’s only a 50% chance it will work and it’s done in the 37th week to ensure the baby won’t flip back over to the breech position if it does work. Aversions aren’t done too often and I think it’s because C-sections are so common these days. Women usually aren’t opposed to having one if necessary. Of course I have to be a weirdo.

Here’s how it went down:

Thursday, April 15th Micah and I arrive at the hospital and have an ultrasound to check where baby’s head is. Just as it felt, he was still in the head up position. We head into the Labor and Delivery ward and get into our room. You have to be in this ward just in case an emergency C-section is needed if the baby’s heart rate doesn’t get back up after the procedure. I was given an IV and a shot of some medicine that relaxes your uterus (and also gives you heart palpitations- nice to feel like I’m on my training supplements again! Ugh!)

There were about 6 student nurses in the room, along with an ultrasound tech, 2 registered nurses and 2 doctors. My doctor is a tiny 5 foot 90 pound woman, the other doctor- a man- at least 6’2” with big hands! They put oil on my belly and started rubbing their hands around and all of a sudden POW! Man doctor’s fingers dug into my belly and under the baby’s bottom and he just went for it, pushing and pushing past my organs- the bladder was the WORST! My doctor was around the baby’s head pushing it down. 4 hands on my belly digging and pushing, digging and pushing- they were putting all of their weight into me. My husband only looked twice because he said he couldn’t bear to watch – he kept his head down on mine and whispered “breath . . . deep breaths . . . you got this”. I kept my eyes closed the whole time and concentrated on breathing. It must’ve been about 60 seconds of digging and pushing until they finally got him sideways. YIKES – I can’t even explain the pain. I knew exactly where he was when they stopped to check – I could’ve told them if I had the strength to talk! They went at it one more time and all of a sudden the pressure was gone – IT WORKED!!! Tripp flipped – thank you Lord! Everyone was cheering!

I rested in the hospital for about 3 hours after so they could monitor Tripp’s heart rate and I already know he’s going to be a great athlete by the way he recovered! He was back up to his baseline HR within about 15 mins and started squirming around as usual. My recovery, on the other hand, took a few days. I was so sore and tender to the touch. I felt fragile – like I couldn’t move certain ways or else I’d break!

It was tough. I can totally understand how a woman can go through that and say “absolutely never again” if it didn’t work for her. I don’t know how I would’ve felt if it hadn’t worked. It would have been an ugly experience and I hope the prego magazines and emails get in touch with the truth about this procedure. I wasn’t surprised because my doctor warned me and I went into it knowing it was going to hurt, but what about those women that think – “oh, it’s just uncomfortable, let’s try it.” You definitely need some mental prepping for this and I hope other women are told just as I was.

Since the aversion worked I now have a baby that’s “head down” and oh-my-gosh do I feel pregnant! Breech babies are so much more comfortable! Now I get these fun shooting pains down my legs and once in a while I feel like someone is stabbing me in the hip with a knife! I am thankful that these pains are nothing compared to the aversion though.

So, the bags are packed and loaded in the car and we just wait until this guy decides he wants to grace us with his presence . . . 2 more weeks. . .

While in Los Angles, I had the opportunity to shoot with NPC bikini competitor, fitness model, personal trainer and mom-to-be Andrea Taylor. The last time we shot it was the day after the NPC USAs and she was a blast to work with. The setting was a little different this time and she had a new addition to her body but it was every bit as fun. Andrea is 8 months pregnant and defines “fit pregnancy”.  As you can see from this sample shot she looks great!

Andrea Taylor 8 months pregnant with her first child.

Dre’s back with another hardbody Fit Pregnancy contribution…

Houston, we have a problem! The baby is breech and the little stinker just refuses turn over. Where this stubborn behavior comes from… I have no idea! My vision of a natural childbirth is dangling before me as I do everything my doctor suggests to make him flip. Ever been poked in your pinky toes with needles? It’s actually not that bad! I’ve been going to acupuncture and it’s amazing how much he responds to it but I can still feel his head above my belly button! So for now, the question of what kind of delivery I’ll have is still up in the air. Only about 4% of babies are breech but Tripp still has time to flip before we are forced to have a C-Section. Please pray that he does!!

The good news is I feel great! I’m still working out (despite the funny looks I get) and I don’t feel huge at all! Something worth noting: There was a study done about pregnant women and exercising. Because the hardbody way of life involves exercise, our babies have to “fight” for their nutrients. When women who exercise throughout their pregnancy suddenly stopped, they had abnormally large babies. This was due to the fact that the babies were so used to fighting for their nutrients, even after the mom stopped working out, the babies would still do that and ended up huge! So, keep up the movement preggos!

I had the pleasure of shooting with Isaac this past weekend and had a blast- as always! We took some very cute prego pics and I got a nice little workout (and a few “wows” from Isaac) with the lifting shots we took. Isaac got a glimpse of my “I have to prove I can still do this, that and the other thing, even though I’m pregnant” attitude- good for a laugh that’s for sure! As we were shooting, beautiful hardbodies were coming in to get their makeup and hair done and as I admired their rockin’ bodies, I would look down at my belly and smile. This pregnant body isn’t as bad as I was expecting! Sure, my mother patted my butt the other day and asked in her very kind way “Mi ija, are you swollen?!” Thanks mom. But despite her caring comment, I feel quite comfortable with my 24 pregnant lbs and can’t wait to see the shots Isaac took!

Dre checks in again as she nears the birth of her first child. Check out what the Hardbody mommy-to-be has to say.

I’m exhausted. Fortunately this happens only about once a week, which is very different from what I hear or read about in all the pregnancy articles out there. Girls at work swear to me that this will happen more and more frequently now. I hate this feeling! One day a week I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck.

The other 6 days out of the week are great! Most of the time I don’t even feel pregnant, at least until I put my hands on my hips… I swear they used to be closer together. Now my day to day dilemma is dealing with the extra weight being distributed ever-so-generously around my body. I’m 32 weeks into this and have gained about 20 pounds which is totally normal and healthy. I think about 15 lbs have planted themselves in my behind. I know this not only because I can see it growing, but my husband grabs, pinches, smacks and (insert any other verb here) it all the time! This isn’t the nice behind we all train for, it’s the soft kind. My excuse is that I needed some extra weight in the caboose to keep me balanced with the belly in front.

So, as we learned last time, I can’t run like I used to and I’m sorry but walking makes me feel like a loser. I went so far as to ask my doctor if I could jump rope instead! She literally looked at me like “are you serious?” Needless to say, I’m feeling a bit frustrated about the growing pregnant body and the fact that there’s not much I can do about it. Before, training was primarily to keep a healthy bikini body. Well, now that that’s not a plausible option, I’ve found a different goal: Natural Delivery.

I’ve never been a “medicine” person. When I get a headache, I know it’s for a reason so I find the reason and do something about it instead of popping a pill. So, my goal is to have a natural delivery. 99.9% of girls I say that to scream at me to “Take the drugs! Take the drugs!” So that little voice we’ve been talking about is now telling me “keep going, you’ve got a baby to deliver in 8 weeks!” I’ve been doing more yoga and more interval training since contractions come and go in intervals. I can picture it now, it hurts so bad and I’m just controlling my breathing as I would in an intense minute of burpees… hubby counting down 10-9-8…2-1 and relax. That’s my vision and I’m sticking to it!

Any advice from you Hardbody mommies who’ve been through natural delivery is definitely welcome!

Andrea Taylor checks in with her latest Fit Pregnancy Journal. She’s expecting her first child and is sharing some of the challenges of staying fit while being pregnant here on Hardbody.com.

When we train, we constantly compete with ourselves. That crazy voice in our heads does not let us slow down when we’re tempted to, plus we know that dreaded feeling when we realize that we could’ve worked harder. It’s tough to change your mindset from “the competitor” to “the mommy” when you’re pregnant!

For the first 5 months, I trained as usual- and felt great! I was starting to think this pregnancy thing was easy. . .until one night when Micah (hubby) and I went out for our normal run. About 1 mile into the run, my legs felt like they weighed 100 pounds each! And breathing? Forget it! I felt so lame and out of shape! I didn’t give in at first- no thank you! I spend hours every day yelling at my clients not to stop what they’re doing, push through the pain, focus on your breathing . . . I quickly learned this probably shouldn’t apply to me at 5 months pregnant. I simply could not run anymore. I threw my hands up, took a deep breath and said “I can’t go anymore. I give up.” Yup, the loser words. I said ‘em.

Micah stopped, held onto both of my shoulders, stared directly into my eyes and said “Honey, YOU’RE PREGNANT.” Thanks coach- I needed that! He laughed at my frustration and we enjoyed a nice stroll until I felt good again. After that it was all run/walk intervals (C’mon! Us Hardbodies don’t go down without a fight!).

When we shared my story of wretched defeat with the doctor she also had a laugh! She said there’s not a point in a pregnancy that a doctor can tell an active person that this is the time for them to stop. Instead, we have to listen to our bodies. Oh. . .ok. . listen to our bodies. So, when we feel like we can’t go on, then don’t? Little does she know about the voice I have to compete with!

Bottom line for us pregos: don’t be stubborn and make your body scream at you before you start to listen to it. Forget the voice- tell it to go play on the freeway until the little miracle is here- then it can come back with a vengeance!

Welcome NPC Bikini Competitor and Fitness Model, Andrea “Dre” Taylor’s first of many contributions during her first pregnancy. I’m sure you’ll find Dre has quite the personality and is much more than a pretty face and a rock’n hardbody. Enjoy.

A few weeks after the NPC USA’s I noticed I was retaining a lot of water- and my boobs would not stop growing! I didn’t go overboard after the show did I? What the heck have I been eating? Crazy thoughts ran through my head until my husband suggested taking a pregnancy test. Well…I guess we celebrated that 4th place win a little too much!! What a surprise and a blessing! We weren’t necessarily doing much to avoid baby making so we were very happy!

I’m sure many of you Hardbodies have been there, done that! And hats off to you girls! I wonder if the weight gain first hit you like it did me. You find out you’re pregnant and you’re so very happy, but then you realize the weight you’re gaining is not coming off anytime soon. In fact, it’s staying around and multiplying! That hit home for me at first. We spend so much time looking down at that scale obsessing over those numbers getting lower, or at least staying the same, I wasn’t necessarily prepared to see the opposite. As Hardbodies we have that disease, you know? If that scale moves up just a little, we’re focused on setting that thing straight immediately! The head game we play reminds me of the “Competitive Obsession” shoot Isaac did with Tracey Greenwood. Don’t you feel crazy sometimes? Now imagine playing that head game and being pregnant at the same time! Always talking to yourself, pushing yourself  “just one more minute…faster you wimp…don’t even think about touching that cookie…you have to be better” Ugh it makes me tired! The minute I started gaining weight I felt like I had failed in my training and my diet, like I should be working harder, but then the angel on my right shoulder told me to wake up and realize that I was growing a human being inside of me! How awesome is that?!

Instead of making sure my body was on point, pulled in and tight, I had 9 months to enjoy life the way we can only enjoy it in the off season. Let’s not go overboard, we know that doesn’t mean we get to sit on the couch and eat Bon Bons, but it does mean that we don’t have to follow that extremely strict diet. We get to eat cheese!! Yogurt!! And all the fruit we want!! (Seriously- how exciting is THAT!?) And that’s encouraged when you’re growin’ a baby!

So let’s face it, the numbers on the scale are only going up from here. Our job as a Hardbody and as a source of life is to make sure they go up at a healthy level. We still need to make good choices about what goes in our mouth. And working out? You and I both know you couldn’t pay us enough to stop working out! That doesn’t have to stop – in fact you’ll be amazed at how your body will tell you when you should slow down. You’ll probably fight that a little because we have that competitive spirit, but eventually you’ll have to give it up and slow down. I’m sure you’ll remember the day it happens just like I do!