Written by Amy Hadsell, of Rowlett, TX
October 2011
I have always been pretty active and was a competitive gymnast up until I graduated from high school. After gymnastics, I began running and did a few triathlons. Then, a friend told us about the CrossFit website in 2004! It was pretty fun doing workouts off the main page, but I didn’t know what many of the exercises were and finally decided to find a local CrossFit trainer. I found Mary on the internet and tried a free workout with my husband and sister. Soon after trying out the free workouts my husband and I signed up for The Elements in Mary’s garage! We signed up for classes and this September marked our 3rd year at CrossFit Rockwall!!
Now for the exciting stuff! In December 2010 we found out that I was pregnant with our first child. The excitement was overwhelming, but I have to admit I wondered how I would keep up at CrossFit! I had worked so hard to achieve “rx’d” status on most of the WOD’s and wanted to make sure that I remained as fit as possible during the pregnancy so I wouldn’t be starting over after the baby was born. It ended up being pretty easy by following my doctor’s advice to simply listen to my body. Sometimes I had the strength and energy to kill a workout and sometimes I couldn’t get off the couch!
I listened to my body and stopped doing heavy weights pretty soon. I set a few goals early on. At 16 weeks pregnant my goal was to beat Tanya Wagner (2009 CrossFit Games Champion) in a WOD that she did when she was about 16 weeks pregnant: 8 rounds of 100m sprint and 8 burpees. I smoked her by a almost a minute!! (I have to admit it was body weight stuff, and the only WOD she did that I could even come close to doing.) Ring dips, pull ups, and a handstand were my goal for one month before delivery, and I did them! My last pull up was at 38 weeks!
During the last few months of pregnancy I began to replace most of my CrossFit workouts with walking in my neighborhood and made sure to complete 100 squats on each walk. (I even did squats during labor to try to speed things up!)
I had participated in four of CrossFit Rockwall’s Eat Real challenges. We eat mostly Paleo at home. I was determined to stay as strict as possible throughout the pregnancy. This was not as challenging as I thought it might be. I instantly had an aversion to anything sweet which lasted well into the second trimester. My non-Paleo cravings consisted of potatoes, cheese, and milk! It could have been worse...
Asa Austin Hadsell was born August 9, 2011 and weighed 7lbs 11oz. At his 3 day checkup he was down to 7lbs 5oz. The doctor told us that babies will lose weight in the first few days after birth, but should regain their birth weight by two weeks of age. The doctor warned us that babies who are strictly breastfed often need some supplementation to regain that weight. Our little Paleo baby surpassed his birth weight on day 9 at 7lbs 14oz! The pediatrician cancelled our 2 week checkup saying that it was not necessary. She said to keep doing whatever we were doing and she would see us at his one month checkup. This was quite an achievement because his diet was strict Paleo! We never had to supplement and at one month old, Asa weighed 10lbs 4oz and continues to stay Paleo!
I am convinced that eating Paleo and doing CrossFit were major contributors to my healthy pregnancy. I had many of the same discomforts that all pregnant women complain of, but mine only seemed to last a day or two and then my body would adapt. Everyone warned me that I would be miserable during the last month. I never reached a point where I felt miserable. To be honest, I desperately wanted him out toward the end, but not because I was miserable. I wanted him out so I could meet him of course, but also, so I could get back to my normal workout regimen, the team workouts and most of all the intensity!
I ended up gaining 20lbs total. Just short of two weeks after the birth of our son, I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight (and back in my pre-pregnancy jeans)! My weight loss immediately after pregnancy combined with my baby’s weight gain further justified the importance of strictly adhering to a Paleo diet. I look forward to easing back into CrossFit workouts and hopefully even competing again with Team CrossFit Rockwall!
