Healthy mom-to-be, healthy baby?

Science Daily just published an article about research seeming to link a pregnant women's aerobic activity to her baby's good heart health. Until now, most studies have focused on effects of maternal exercise on the fetus - this new study, though, also looked at the first month of the baby's life in the big world. Read the full article here!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110407101406.htm

This seems to me to be one of those "duh" moments in science...wait a minute, you mean that the type of place where the baby grows for nine months actually affects how the baby develops? And even shapes his/her life outside? No kidding! I mean, we've known this about wine grapes for years, right? I remember that scene in that movie with Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline (you know...that one) when he shows her a bunch of bottles and has her smell each one...all kinds of herbs and flowers. Then he has her taste his wine again, and she was able to pick out all the different flavors and scents without a problem. What grows around the vine, what nurtures itself in the same earth, nurtures the grapes. I often wonder if my daughter would have the same love for chicken nuggets that my son does if I had gorged myself on fried chicken when I was pregnant with her. Instead she loves citrus and broccoli, which I was obsessed with during that pregnancy. Both my kids love to move, and my daughter can fall asleep with loud music on, a trait I credit to my regular attendance of rockin' kickboxing classes throughout her time in my tummy. Healthier hearts? Yes sirree, and a lot more than that besides.

So what are the do's and don't of prenatal exercise? You can find them in any pregnancy book. What you might not find is a real-life strategy for getting off the couch to walk around the lake when you're exhausted. Tips for motivating yourself to move while pregnant is coming up next on this blog - until then, just remember that your baby's heart is linked to yours, and you need to keep it going healthy and strong! :)

Why I'm going to the spa tomorrow

I indulge myself rarely. Like, really rarely. I grew up without much money in an environment where taking time to do something nice for yourself just wasn't done. I felt it was much more important to do things for and take care of others, and my passion for that was intense enough that it left little room for me. I'm using the past tense here, but honestly, it's a daily struggle for me to carve out even a few minutes of time for myself that I don't feel guilty about. So why the spa?

I decided last year that I really wanted to improve my credentials as a trainer. I have tons of experience and I know I'm good at what I do, but my certification was not one of the best. So I decided to go after the gold standard, the National Strength and Conditioning Association's Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist certification. I immediately freaked out that I wasn't going to be able to pass. This was a test that went further into the "micro" level of scientific information than I had gone before. My knowledge of bodies and how they work was sound, but not on the technical level of detail I knew would be required, and I had less experience working with athletes than with everyday peeps. Most people take the CSCS right out of school, when info is fresh in their minds. Most, I'm guessing, don't have two kids and a job to try to study around. So the obstacles were many, and I had to face a lots of my fears around not being "smart" enough and (more significantly) trying my best and failing.

Well, it turns out that I didn't fail! I took the test last week and passed by a good margin. I told myself a while ago that if I passed the test, I would get a morning at Olympus Spa. When I realized that the main hurdle for me wasn't passing the test, but just getting up the nerve to TAKE the damn thing, I revised that promise to myself - if I studied my hardest and took the test, that gutsy effort deserved to be rewarded. So I'm off tomorrow to contemplate the main thing I've learned from this experience, which is this: If you don't try, even when it's hard, you'll just never know. :)